Starry, Starry Night(s)

<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaf-WUz-kc9cTd75h6Mfm2n6rB83FLPbCFgDjUiH3yRdM4QjknqWIjctCdJ-1xPOo1l11yyRwI7Yqw7IlvoNh1mFUhs5xKFIwnwyC0XyBeo4mHPa0-LIvmxUdRbFPJkcNJmNQJp8M6vUv1/s1600/shooting+star+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaf-WUz-kc9cTd75h6Mfm2n6rB83FLPbCFgDjUiH3yRdM4QjknqWIjctCdJ-1xPOo1l11yyRwI7Yqw7IlvoNh1mFUhs5xKFIwnwyC0XyBeo4mHPa0-LIvmxUdRbFPJkcNJmNQJp8M6vUv1/s1600/shooting+star+2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>TCM'S ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF STARS DRAWS TO A CLOSE </b></div><br />Since 2003, August on Turner Classic Movies has meant a 31 day parade of stars, each day filled with the films of a different star, each star honored for 24-hours of what is known and celebrated as "Summer Under the Stars." <br /><br />This year, many received a day of their own for the first time. I was  surprised to discover that Charles Laughton, Montgomery Clift and Ronald Colman hadn't been featured before. I wasn't at all surprised but was infinitely thrilled to find that Jean Gabin, icon of the French cinema, was to be honored for the first time. <br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br />In his introduction to Renoir's brilliant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Bête humaine </i>(1938), Ben Mankiewicz remarked that Gabin was to Europe what Bogart was to the U.S. Many have called Gabin ‘the world’s coolest movie star;’ indeed, Jean-Paul Belmondo seems something of a poser by comparison.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjbDaAuj5RDvcG-UFPB8JfvrKuzY3KS1bkg_s2br0o1qShyphenhyphenEARTA5e0cV4mmRoZgjmWUHa64n6g1jCGjp7uQYM8UMmdE68U7WP_hJoxwOJN_jWyGzA91ALrgL6nENk6d8BcbVA-eNR58X/s1600/la+bete+humaine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjbDaAuj5RDvcG-UFPB8JfvrKuzY3KS1bkg_s2br0o1qShyphenhyphenEARTA5e0cV4mmRoZgjmWUHa64n6g1jCGjp7uQYM8UMmdE68U7WP_hJoxwOJN_jWyGzA91ALrgL6nENk6d8BcbVA-eNR58X/s320/la+bete+humaine.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gabin and Simone Simon, <i>La </i><i>Bête humaine</i> (1938)</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />I’m no stranger to the charms of Jean Gabin. Many years ago, when a profusion of revival houses regularly screened foreign classics, I had the great luck to see Gabin's best known films - Jean Renoir’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Grande illusion</i> (1937) and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> La Bête humaine</i> (1938),  Marcel Carné’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Jour se l</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">éve </i>(1939) - on the big screen. And last February, while working on a post about Ida Lupino for a film noir blogathon, I watched for the first time Gabin’s American film debut, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moontide</i> (1942); Lupino co-starred. It's an oddly charming bit of dock-side noir and it rekindled my interest in the magnetic M. Gabin.<br /><br />Once I realized TCM would soon be honoring him, I sat down in front of the DVR with my copy of the channel's "Now Playing" guide. I’ve been watching what I recorded ever since...some films more than once. Of those I hadn't seen before, two from 1954 stood out. The early '50s had been a period when the French actor's career seemed to be just about over. Not so, as it turned out.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYURQqMqxVxkQpr6rxnvGV8cFhfqKVWW_4PFlPIDxX1HvHXLJUXjA1rkpeA5JvpWZH0Zg3bGWZjuW4DmNXWUFZtrCKw1fAe7SW_XkYBZcxxBn6S7JO2LgulOm70flD4RNiy-Bew6wnLx3S/s1600/touchez-pas-au-grisbi-07-g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYURQqMqxVxkQpr6rxnvGV8cFhfqKVWW_4PFlPIDxX1HvHXLJUXjA1rkpeA5JvpWZH0Zg3bGWZjuW4DmNXWUFZtrCKw1fAe7SW_XkYBZcxxBn6S7JO2LgulOm70flD4RNiy-Bew6wnLx3S/s320/touchez-pas-au-grisbi-07-g.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Touchez pas au grisbi </i>(1954)</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Jacques Becker's <i>Touchez pas au grisbi </i>was the film, according to Mankiewicz, that "marked Gabin's return to prominence" (others have termed it his "spectacular comeback"). In it, Gabin portrays Max the Liar, a lifelong criminal, well respected among his underworld peers, who has pulled off his last great heist and is set to 'retire.' Gabin's Max is as confidently matter-of-fact and laconic as any successful, self-possessed businessman. His treatment of his women as well as the men who serve him is fairly off-hand. Only his partner, the luckless Riton, seems to stir visible affection in fatalistic Max.  Director Jacques Becker, though not of the school, was an influence on the French New Wave, and this film preceded Melville's rather similar <i>Bob le flambeur</i> and Dassin's <i>Rififi</i> by a year. A very young Jeanne Moreau appears in a supporting role.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rJ37yKiP3Qw" width="420"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Marcel Carné’s <i>L’Air de Paris </i>is an entirely different sort of film.</span></span> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Very popular in its day with audiences, though not with French critics (those </span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">enfants terrible </i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">of </span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Cahiers du Cinema</i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">), it is romantic and charming, with Gabin portraying Victor, a character softer than, though as blas</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> as Max, opposite the magnificent Arletty (of </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Carné’s </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Les Enfants du paradis</i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">, and Gabin's co-star in </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Carné’s </span></span><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">La Jour se l</i><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">éve</i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">) and Roland Lesaffre. Victor is a one-time boxer, now a trainer, who has discovered a young fighter (Lesaffre) he believes he can take to the top; his wife Blanche (Arletty) is less enthusiastic.</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ4M-CLnRLWeApHeGtFjy9YtUkhQI5DghnSQEVPntNHLlj2w5lrvoOqBylz8-2pNALpN3cEKbFVvC2PSiZjbQ_NPaiw2G6CGJdN1XxR9ZFRUEDTbqKvvVwQpgYZCARPfJR0ZYIj-tSnhih/s1600/arletty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ4M-CLnRLWeApHeGtFjy9YtUkhQI5DghnSQEVPntNHLlj2w5lrvoOqBylz8-2pNALpN3cEKbFVvC2PSiZjbQ_NPaiw2G6CGJdN1XxR9ZFRUEDTbqKvvVwQpgYZCARPfJR0ZYIj-tSnhih/s200/arletty.jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arletty</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Jean Gabin was a great star of French cinema's era of “poetic realism" in the '30s and '40s. Gabin's screen presence and style were ideal for the films of this age. Solid, earthy, worldly-wise, there is understated longing in those knowing eyes, a passion for life in that working-man's frame. His career spanned the '20s through the '70s; Gabin died in 1976 at age 72.</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />I will be saving and viewing these films for some time to come. I've also rented <i>Zou Zou </i>(1934) co-starring Josephine Baker, and Carné’s <i>Le quai de brumes </i>(1938). With more to come: Renoir's <i>French Can-Can </i>(1955), about the beginnings of the Moulin Rouge.<br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">August 31 marks the end of "Summer Under the Stars" and on that day the spotlight goes to Marlene Dietrich, a supernova of a movie and concert star if there ever was one. TCM last bestowed this honor on her in 2003.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn90MeLbJSIvMMmd8zE2uEDKsLne6s0OiUdQOu1kxUyIFbRrJUQKrQ7vNKVSuiFRSeeazBABkfE2N6DndAWtjdalEiLn1K7lQXwFopTui5UYkZBN2n9TPdaha3KPMogW98RuvlUB-qAyZY/s1600/jean+gabin+dietrich+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn90MeLbJSIvMMmd8zE2uEDKsLne6s0OiUdQOu1kxUyIFbRrJUQKrQ7vNKVSuiFRSeeazBABkfE2N6DndAWtjdalEiLn1K7lQXwFopTui5UYkZBN2n9TPdaha3KPMogW98RuvlUB-qAyZY/s320/jean+gabin+dietrich+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin, 1946</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Except for her early German films, I've seen all of Marlene Dietrich's movies many times, but I'll still be watching and recording much of her day on TCM. Dietrich is one of those timeless luminaries of film who never ceases to fascinate, particularly in those legend-making classics of the 1930s she starred in under the direction of cinematic magician, Josef von Sternberg. One of the day's not-to-be-missed highlights is the documentary <i>Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song </i>(2001), the work of her grandson David Riva.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin were romantically involved for several years in the 1940s. Dietrich gave Josef von Sternberg her loyalty and credit for her career, a life-long marriage and a ranch in the Valley to her husband Rudi - and her charms to various and sundry, but it was Gabin she remembered as the great love of her life...<i>je comprends</i>.</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VlA0EbSHRFA" width="420"></iframe></div><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Marlene Dietrich, August 31, "Summer Under the Stars" on TCM</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><u>All Times Eastern/Pacific</u>: </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">6:00 am/3:00 am <i>The Monte Carlo Story </i>(1957), with Vittorio De Sica</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">7:45 am /4:45 am<i> Knight Without Armour </i>(1937), with Robert Donat</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">9:45 am/6:45 am <i>The Lady is Willing </i>(1942), with Fred MacMurray</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">11:30 am/8:30 am <i>Kismet </i>(1944), with Ronald Colman</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1:15 pm/10:15 am <i>Stage Fright </i>(1950) with Jane Wyman, directed by Alfred Hitchcock</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">3:15 pm/12:15 pm <i>Rancho Notorious </i>(1952), with Mel Ferrer, directed by Fritz Lang</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">4:45 pm/1:45 pm <i>Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song </i>(2001), documentary</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">6:30 pm/3:30 pm <i>Shanghai Express </i>(1932), with Clive Brook, directed by Josef von Sternberg</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">8:00 pm/5:00 pm <i>The Scarlet Empress </i>(1934), with John Lodge, directed by Josef von Sternberg</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">10:00 pm/7:00 pm <i>The Devil is a Woman </i>(1935), with Lionel Atwill, directed by Josef von Sternberg</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">11:30 pm/8:30 pm <i>Manpower </i>(1941), with George Raft, Edward G. Robinson, directed by Raoul Walsh</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1:30 am/10:30 pm <i>A Foreign Affair </i>(1948), with Jean Arthur, directed by Billy Wilder</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">3:30 am/12:30 am <i>The Blue Angel </i>(1930), with Emil Jannings, directed by Josef von Sternberg</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

Arletty Jean Gabin Jean Renoir Jeanne Moreau Marcel Carne Marlene Dietrich Roland Lesaffre TCM The Lady Eve (author) Starry, Starry Night(s)

TCM'S ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF STARS DRAWS TO A CLOSE Since 2003, August on Turner Classic Movies has meant a 31 day parade of stars, each day...

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