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TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 11, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: Tab Hunter
In the daylight hours, TCM is showcasing the costumes of Orry-Kelly, winner of three Oscars and a nominee for another one. Then during prime time, TCM is featuring Tab Hunter. Take it away, Roger!On what would have been his 88th birthday, TCM remembers Tab Hunter (1931-2018) with three films from his 1950s heyday as a teen heartthrob. Also showing are two screenings of Tab Hunter Confidential (2015), a documentary about the actor's life and career produced by Hunter's husband, Allan Glaser. The documentary, a TCM premiere, will be presented by Glaser and TCM Noir Alley host Eddie Muller.
Tab Hunter Confidential (2015) was inspired by Hunter's best-selling 2005 autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, co-written with Eddie Muller. Like the book, the documentary covers the actor's life and career as well as his long struggle about revealing his homosexuality. Along with Hunter's own commentary, we hear from such friends and associates as Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner, Clint Eastwood and Dolores Hart. In addition to hosting the documentary on TCM, producer Glaser and author/noir expert Muller also appear in the film itself.
The very prototype of a Hollywood Golden Boy, Hunter was first noticed for his stunning good looks, with chiseled face, blond hair and a tanned, athletic body that seemed most at home on horseback, in the surf or on ice skates. At his peak, along with roles that exploited his youthful attractiveness, he found opportunities to demonstrate genuine acting talent. Later in life he found humor in his image as a gay icon and what he termed a "swoon-bait sweetheart," acting in films costarring the outrageous actor Divine.
Hunter was born Arthur Andrew Kelm in Manhattan, the son of a Jewish father and an immigrant German mother. When his parents divorced a few years after his birth, Arthur's mother took him and his older brother Walter to California to live with her parents. She reclaimed her maiden name, Gelien, and also changed her sons' surnames. As a teenager, Arthur (or Art) Gelien attended Catholic schools and became an accomplished figure skater. At 15, he lied about his age to join the U.S. Coast Guard and was discharged when his true age was discovered.
The name "Tab Hunter" was bestowed upon him by Hollywood agent Henry Willson, whom Hunter met through his friendship with actor Dick Clayton. Willson was famous for grooming young male actors and finding catchy first names for them. His other clients included Rock Hudson, Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun and, later, Troy Donahue.
Hunter's first film role was a minor part in the Joseph Losey film noir The Lawless (1950). His breakthrough movie was the British-made Island of Desire (1952), the story of an older woman (Linda Darnell) and a beautiful young man (Hunter) who are marooned together on a desert island in the South Pacific during World War II. Hunter's physique was much on display, and he created a sensation among young film fans.
In the mid-1950s, Hunter entered into a seven-year contract with Warner Bros., where he would become the studio's most popular male star through the remainder of the decade. His films for that studio included the stylized Western Track of the Cat (1954), in which he played Robert Mitchum's younger brother; a pair of movies in which he teamed with his friend Natalie Wood, The Burning Hills and The Girl He Left Behind (both 1956); and the William Wellman war film Lafayette Escadrille (1958).
A highlight of Hunter's Warner years was Damn Yankees (1958), a screen version of the Broadway hit in which he is baseball player Joe Hardy to Gwen Verdon's devilish temptress Lola. Singing came naturally to Hunter, and he had a successful recording career that included two major late-1950s chart toppers, "Young Love" and "Ninety-Nine Ways." It was said that Jack Warner established Warner Bros. Records to accommodate Hunter.
On loan-out, Hunter appeared for Columbia in They Came to Cordura (1959), a Western starring Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth. But movie opportunities seemed to dwindle in the 1960s, and Hunter tried a TV sitcom that bore his name as well as a number of theater appearances including summer stock productions and, later, dinner theater. In 1964 he made a short-lived Broadway appearance opposite Tallulah Bankhead in The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. In the late 1960s, he settled in Europe for a time and made a handful of "Spaghetti Westerns."
Since the 1950s, Hunter had also worked regularly in television, sometimes stretching himself as an actor with such roles as troubled baseball player Jimmy Piersall in "Fear Strikes Out" on the Climax! TV series. He was Emmy-nominated for the title role in a Playhouse 90 episode, "Portrait of a Murderer", playing opposite and holding his own with Method-trained actress Geraldine Page.
A Hunter film highlight of the 1970s came with a supporting role in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), starring Paul Newman. The 1980s saw a revival of his career with two Divine vehicles, John Waters' Polyester (1981) and Paul Bartel's Lust in the Dust (1985), which Hunter and Allan Glaser co-produced.
Hunter also appeared in the musical sequel Grease 2 (1982) and the horror film Cameron's Closet (1988). His last movie role was in Dark Horse (1992), a drama for which he wrote the original story about the recovery of an injured horse. He died from cardiac arrest on July 8, 2018, three days before his 87th birthday.
Below are the movies in TCM's tribute to Tab Hunter.
Battle Cry (1955) was a major milestone in Hunter's early career, casting him in the romantic lead of this film version of the Leon Uris bestseller set during World War II. He plays a young Marine who has an affair with an older woman (Dorothy Malone) before shipping out to fight at Guadalcanal. Mona Freeman plays the girlfriend waiting at home, and Aldo Ray is a tough-talking fellow Marine. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the hit film became one of Warner Bros.' top-grossing films of the year.
Gunman's Walk (1958) gave Hunter the film role he considered his favorite. Playing against type, he is the arrogant, drunken, murderous son of cattleman Van Heflin. James Darren plays the more stable brother in this Western made by Columbia and directed by Phil Karlson. In addition to providing one of his showiest roles, the movie gave Hunter a chance to display his superb horsemanship.
That Kind of Woman (1959) gave Hunter another favorite role as a paratrooper during the WWII period who meets an older woman (Sophia Loren) on a train and falls in love with her. (The younger man-older woman storyline was by now a familiar one for him.) In this film, directed by Sidney Lumet, Loren is the mistress of a millionaire (George Sanders) but can't resist the charms of the handsome young Hunter.
by Roger Fristoe
Tab Hunter Confidential (2015) was inspired by Hunter's best-selling 2005 autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, co-written with Eddie Muller. Like the book, the documentary covers the actor's life and career as well as his long struggle about revealing his homosexuality. Along with Hunter's own commentary, we hear from such friends and associates as Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner, Clint Eastwood and Dolores Hart. In addition to hosting the documentary on TCM, producer Glaser and author/noir expert Muller also appear in the film itself.
The very prototype of a Hollywood Golden Boy, Hunter was first noticed for his stunning good looks, with chiseled face, blond hair and a tanned, athletic body that seemed most at home on horseback, in the surf or on ice skates. At his peak, along with roles that exploited his youthful attractiveness, he found opportunities to demonstrate genuine acting talent. Later in life he found humor in his image as a gay icon and what he termed a "swoon-bait sweetheart," acting in films costarring the outrageous actor Divine.
Hunter was born Arthur Andrew Kelm in Manhattan, the son of a Jewish father and an immigrant German mother. When his parents divorced a few years after his birth, Arthur's mother took him and his older brother Walter to California to live with her parents. She reclaimed her maiden name, Gelien, and also changed her sons' surnames. As a teenager, Arthur (or Art) Gelien attended Catholic schools and became an accomplished figure skater. At 15, he lied about his age to join the U.S. Coast Guard and was discharged when his true age was discovered.
The name "Tab Hunter" was bestowed upon him by Hollywood agent Henry Willson, whom Hunter met through his friendship with actor Dick Clayton. Willson was famous for grooming young male actors and finding catchy first names for them. His other clients included Rock Hudson, Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun and, later, Troy Donahue.
Hunter's first film role was a minor part in the Joseph Losey film noir The Lawless (1950). His breakthrough movie was the British-made Island of Desire (1952), the story of an older woman (Linda Darnell) and a beautiful young man (Hunter) who are marooned together on a desert island in the South Pacific during World War II. Hunter's physique was much on display, and he created a sensation among young film fans.
In the mid-1950s, Hunter entered into a seven-year contract with Warner Bros., where he would become the studio's most popular male star through the remainder of the decade. His films for that studio included the stylized Western Track of the Cat (1954), in which he played Robert Mitchum's younger brother; a pair of movies in which he teamed with his friend Natalie Wood, The Burning Hills and The Girl He Left Behind (both 1956); and the William Wellman war film Lafayette Escadrille (1958).
A highlight of Hunter's Warner years was Damn Yankees (1958), a screen version of the Broadway hit in which he is baseball player Joe Hardy to Gwen Verdon's devilish temptress Lola. Singing came naturally to Hunter, and he had a successful recording career that included two major late-1950s chart toppers, "Young Love" and "Ninety-Nine Ways." It was said that Jack Warner established Warner Bros. Records to accommodate Hunter.
On loan-out, Hunter appeared for Columbia in They Came to Cordura (1959), a Western starring Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth. But movie opportunities seemed to dwindle in the 1960s, and Hunter tried a TV sitcom that bore his name as well as a number of theater appearances including summer stock productions and, later, dinner theater. In 1964 he made a short-lived Broadway appearance opposite Tallulah Bankhead in The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. In the late 1960s, he settled in Europe for a time and made a handful of "Spaghetti Westerns."
Since the 1950s, Hunter had also worked regularly in television, sometimes stretching himself as an actor with such roles as troubled baseball player Jimmy Piersall in "Fear Strikes Out" on the Climax! TV series. He was Emmy-nominated for the title role in a Playhouse 90 episode, "Portrait of a Murderer", playing opposite and holding his own with Method-trained actress Geraldine Page.
A Hunter film highlight of the 1970s came with a supporting role in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), starring Paul Newman. The 1980s saw a revival of his career with two Divine vehicles, John Waters' Polyester (1981) and Paul Bartel's Lust in the Dust (1985), which Hunter and Allan Glaser co-produced.
Hunter also appeared in the musical sequel Grease 2 (1982) and the horror film Cameron's Closet (1988). His last movie role was in Dark Horse (1992), a drama for which he wrote the original story about the recovery of an injured horse. He died from cardiac arrest on July 8, 2018, three days before his 87th birthday.
Below are the movies in TCM's tribute to Tab Hunter.
Battle Cry (1955) was a major milestone in Hunter's early career, casting him in the romantic lead of this film version of the Leon Uris bestseller set during World War II. He plays a young Marine who has an affair with an older woman (Dorothy Malone) before shipping out to fight at Guadalcanal. Mona Freeman plays the girlfriend waiting at home, and Aldo Ray is a tough-talking fellow Marine. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the hit film became one of Warner Bros.' top-grossing films of the year.
Gunman's Walk (1958) gave Hunter the film role he considered his favorite. Playing against type, he is the arrogant, drunken, murderous son of cattleman Van Heflin. James Darren plays the more stable brother in this Western made by Columbia and directed by Phil Karlson. In addition to providing one of his showiest roles, the movie gave Hunter a chance to display his superb horsemanship.
That Kind of Woman (1959) gave Hunter another favorite role as a paratrooper during the WWII period who meets an older woman (Sophia Loren) on a train and falls in love with her. (The younger man-older woman storyline was by now a familiar one for him.) In this film, directed by Sidney Lumet, Loren is the mistress of a millionaire (George Sanders) but can't resist the charms of the handsome young Hunter.
by Roger Fristoe
Enjoy!
7:00 AM -- FASHIONS OF 1934 (1934)
A con artist and his beautiful assistant take on the fashion world.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: William Powell, Bette Davis, Frank McHugh
BW-78 mins, CC,
Two things are notable: the only time the studio glamorized Bette Davis (she hated it) and a stupendous Busby Berkeley number where women's belly-buttons are prominently featured (under the code they would disappear for almost 25 years).
8:45 AM -- MADAME DU BARRY (1934)
True story of the legendary courtesan who was mistress to France's King Louis XV.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Dolores Del Rio, Reginald Owen, Victor Jory
BW-79 mins, CC,
At the end of the movie, viewers may be puzzled by the King's lamenting that his daughters have run away from him, and by Madame Du Barry's friend's insistence that she not touch the King. The reason is that Louis XV died of smallpox. However, the word is never mentioned in the movie, nor does the King's face exhibit any smallpox rash or pustules.
10:15 AM -- BABY FACE (1933)
A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook
BW-76 mins, CC,
In spring of 1933 this film was submitted to the New York State Board of Censors, who rejected it, demanding a number of cuts and changes. Warner Brothers made these changes prior to the film's release in July 1933. In 2004, a "dupe negative" copy of the film as it existed prior to being censored was located at the Library of Congress. This uncensored version received its public premiere at the London Film Festival in November 2004, more than 70 years after it was made.
11:45 AM -- NOW, VOYAGER (1942)
A repressed spinster is transformed by psychiatry and her love for a married man.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
BW-117 mins, CC,
Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Gladys Cooper
For the first scene after Charlotte's metamorphosis, Hal B. Wallis asked Orry-Kelly to put her in a wide-brimmed hat so the audience wouldn't get a full look at her new face until later. He also wanted to maintain a sense of her shyness. Jack L. Warner objected to the choice, but Wallis ignored him.
1:45 PM -- CASABLANCA (1942)
An American saloon owner in North Africa is drawn into World War II when his lost love turns up.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid
BW-103 mins, CC,
Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- Michael Curtiz, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch, and Best Picture
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Humphrey Bogart, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Claude Rains, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Arthur Edeson, Best Film Editing -- Owen Marks, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner
Film debut of Joy Page. She was the stepdaughter of studio head Jack L. Warner and played the young Bulgarian wife. She, Humphrey Bogart and Dooley Wilson were the only American-born people in the credited cast.
3:30 PM -- LES GIRLS (1957)
Three showgirls recall different versions of their time together touring Europe.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall
C-114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Winner of an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Orry-Kelly
Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- William A. Horning, Gene Allen, Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle, and Best Sound, Recording -- Wesley C. Miller (M-G-M SSD)
On the DVD, Taina Elg says the original cast was supposed to include Cyd Charisse as the American girl, Leslie Caron as the French girl and Kay Kendall as the English girl. Cyd Charisse decided to do Silk Stockings (1957) instead, so Mitzi Gaynor took her part. At one point, Kay Kendall didn't want to do the film and Taina Elg was tested for her part. Ms. Kendall took the part after all, but then Leslie Caron withdrew. Tania Elg was tested for THAT part and received her first major film role.
5:30 PM -- AUNTIE MAME (1958)
An eccentric heiress raises her nephew to be a free spirit.
Dir: Morton DaCosta
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne
C-143 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Rosalind Russell, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Peggy Cass, Best Cinematography, Color -- Harry Stradling Sr., Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color -- Malcolm C. Bert and George James Hopkins, Best Film Editing -- William H. Ziegler, and Best Picture
All in all it was a smooth shoot, save for a minor hiccup or two along the way. For instance, Coral Browne had an alarming hair mishap early on. "For me, the atmosphere became chaotic because the day before I was due on the set the hairdresser dyed my hair from dark brown to platinum blonde and it all fell out overnight on the pillow!" she recalled according to Richard Tyler Jordan's book But Darling, I'm Your Auntie Mame!. "I arrived on the set bald!" After Browne's head was treated by a doctor, a solution was assembled. "Costume designer Orry-Kelly had to quickly improvise a turban, and I played my first scene in this way," said Browne.
TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TAB HUNTER
8:00 PM -- TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL (2015)
The story of matinee idol Tab Hunter from teenage stable boy to closeted Hollywood star of the 1950s.
Dir: Jeffrey Schwarz
Cast: Tab Hunter, Robert Wagner, Clint Eastwood
BW-90 mins, CC,
Following the likes of Richard Chamberlain, Tab released his tell-all 2005 memoir revealing his homosexuality. The book entitled "Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star" outlines a late 1950s relationship with actor Anthony Perkins that lasted several years. Other briefer flings mentioned included dancer Rudolf Nureyev, actor Scott Marlowe and ice-skater Ronnie Robertson. The book was actually written in 2003 but held in release for two years.
9:45 PM -- GUNMAN'S WALK (1958)
A rancher's rebellious son tries to teach him that violence is no longer an answer.
Dir: Phil Karlson
Cast: Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Kathryn Grant
C-95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Tab Hunter always felt that this was one of his best films because it allowed him to show that he was a talented actor and not just a pretty face. He was also able to use the superb horsemanship he had developed over many years of riding, jumping and working with horses, both recreationally and in competitions.
11:30 PM -- THAT KIND OF WOMAN (1959)
A kept woman falls in love with a young paratrooper during the final days of World War II.
Dir: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Sophia Loren, Tab Hunter, Jack Warden
BW-92 mins, CC,
During filming on location in New York, Keenan Wynn was the guest star on I've Got a Secret (1952), his secret being that he was going to offer one of the panelists a walk-on part in this movie. Henry Morgan won the part, and a picture taken of he and Sophia Loren was presented on the following week's program.
1:18 AM -- GOOD EATING HABITS (1951)
In this educational short film, tips on proper nourishment are given.
Cast: James Andelin
BW-10 mins,
1:30 AM -- TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL (2015)
The story of matinee idol Tab Hunter from teenage stable boy to closeted Hollywood star of the 1950s.
Dir: Jeffrey Schwarz
Cast: Tab Hunter, Robert Wagner, Clint Eastwood
BW-90 mins, CC,
The name "Tab Hunter" came from agent Henry Willson who wanted to "tab" the actor wannabe with a catchy new name. "Hunter" came from his skills as a horseman who rode hunters and jumpers.
3:15 AM -- BATTLE CRY (1955)
A group of Marines eagerly await deployment during World War II.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Mona Freeman
C-148 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner
"Battle Cry" was the movie playing at the Texas Theater in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963, where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested after assassinating President Kennedy.