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TCM Schedule for Thursday, August 27, 2020 -- Summer Under The Stars: Claudette Colbert
Day twenty-seven of Summer Under the Stars features Claudette Colbert. Tell us more, anonymous TCM biographer!Inimitably charming, witty and sophisticated star of American films from the start of talkies till the mid-1950s, and later a most welcome presence on the stage and in occasional TV. Born in Paris, Claudette Colbert moved to New York when her banker father encountered financial setbacks. Initially intending to become a commercial artist, she studied with speech teacher Alice Rossetter to overcome a slight lisp. Rossetter encouraged Colbert to audition for a play she had just written, "The Widow's Veil" (1919), and so one of the most durable careers in show business began with an appearance as an Irish bride (complete with red wig and brogue).
Colbert made her Broadway debut four years later in "The Wild Westcotts" and managed to keep busy in a series of mostly unrewarding stage roles. In 1925 playwright Frederick Lonsdale insisted that Colbert be replaced in the lead role of his "The Fake." Forced to either leave the show or accept the role of understudy (she chose the latter) the disheartened ingenue could not have foreseen that sixty years later she would be starring on Broadway at age 82 in a revival of Lonsdale's "Aren't We All?" (1985).
Colbert's break came in 1927 when she essayed a role that would later seem like classic miscasting: the sluttish Lou in "The Barker." Her seductive use of her trim figure led Walter Winchell to dub her "Legs" Colbert (an apt nickname given the means by which Colbert's character in "It Happened One Night" practiced the fine art of hitchhiking). Playing the object of Lou's seductive wiles was boyish Norman Foster, who would soon become Colbert's first husband. The success of "The Barker" led to Colbert's screen debut (and her only silent feature), "For the Love of Mike," directed by Frank Capra. After the film was panned critically and failed financially, its leading lady vowed, "I shall never make another film."
Two years later, however, unable to follow up the success of "The Barker," Colbert took another stab at the movies, signing with Paramount and working at the old Astoria studios so that she could continue her New York stage work. Her carefully modulated alto voice and brisk sincerity quickly gained critical approval in a series of modest soaps and melodramas. Moving to Hollywood, her career rose with such notable features as "The Smiling Lieutenant" (1931, directed by Ernst Lubitsch), Cecil B. DeMille's "The Sign of the Cross" (1932), in which Colbert's Empress Poppaea took a famous bath in asses' milk, and James Cruze's "I Cover the Waterfront" (1933), where she touchingly portayed a child of the wharves who must choose between a transgressive father and a crusading reporter.
It was, however, with "It Happened One Night" (1934, also directed by Capra), that Colbert, on loan-out to struggling Columbia Pictures, really achieved top stardom. Cast as the silk purse which held Clark Gable's rough diamond, Colbert's chic elegance and supple wisecracking were matched by a low-key warmth and humanity that audiences fell for. Convinced that a comedy performance could not cop her the Best Actress Oscar for the year, Colbert was on board a train for New York when she was stopped and whisked to the Academy ceremonies to collect her prize. She had reached her peak and continued in a series of roles that epitomized the tongue-in-cheek Colbert persona: secretaries and struggling actresses who captivate the horsey set ("The Gilded Lily," "She Married Her Boss," both 1935), aristocrats who work as maids or working women who masquerade as aristocrats ("Tovarich" 1937; the superb "Midnight" 1939, one of her best), and young society matrons who indulge in screwball antics ("Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" 1938, unfortunately her only other film with Lubitsch; Preston Sturges's zany classic, "The Palm Beach Story" 1942).
With her round apple-face, prominent cheekbones, trademark curled bangs, puissant playfulness and glistening timing, Colbert is usually associated with romantic comedy. She also distinguished herself, though, in dramas ranging from the pioneering psychological study, "Private Worlds" (1935) to the gentle slice of schoolteacher Americana, "Remember the Day" (1941). Free-lancing more as the 1940s progressed, she did not eschew mother roles in such films as the moving if overly idealized "Mrs. Miniver in America" saga, "Since You Went Away" (1944). Several of her late 40s films (especially the modest "The Egg and I" 1947, which launched the highly popular Ma and Pa Kettle characters in supporting roles) did well enough at the boxoffice to sustain her career, but apart from the restrained, sensible study of women in Japanese concentration camps, "Three Came Home" (1950), Colbert's film career gradually declined in quality, activity and scope. "Let's Make It Legal" (1951) was a belated farewell to the type of comedy she had made her own, while "Texas Lady" (1955) was a watchable but routine Western which only utilized Colbert's zest.
TV took up much of the slack in the mid-50s; Colbert also returned to the stage opposite fellow sophisticates Noel Coward (in "Island Fling" ) and Charles Boyer (in "The Marriage Go-Round" ). Apart from a notable period of inactivity in the late 60s after the death of her second husband, Colbert's later career was marked by several very successful comebacks on both stage ("The Kingfisher" 1978) and TV ("The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" 1987) where she displayed the same stylishness and intelligence which made her such a wonderful archetype of the modern working woman.
Colbert made her Broadway debut four years later in "The Wild Westcotts" and managed to keep busy in a series of mostly unrewarding stage roles. In 1925 playwright Frederick Lonsdale insisted that Colbert be replaced in the lead role of his "The Fake." Forced to either leave the show or accept the role of understudy (she chose the latter) the disheartened ingenue could not have foreseen that sixty years later she would be starring on Broadway at age 82 in a revival of Lonsdale's "Aren't We All?" (1985).
Colbert's break came in 1927 when she essayed a role that would later seem like classic miscasting: the sluttish Lou in "The Barker." Her seductive use of her trim figure led Walter Winchell to dub her "Legs" Colbert (an apt nickname given the means by which Colbert's character in "It Happened One Night" practiced the fine art of hitchhiking). Playing the object of Lou's seductive wiles was boyish Norman Foster, who would soon become Colbert's first husband. The success of "The Barker" led to Colbert's screen debut (and her only silent feature), "For the Love of Mike," directed by Frank Capra. After the film was panned critically and failed financially, its leading lady vowed, "I shall never make another film."
Two years later, however, unable to follow up the success of "The Barker," Colbert took another stab at the movies, signing with Paramount and working at the old Astoria studios so that she could continue her New York stage work. Her carefully modulated alto voice and brisk sincerity quickly gained critical approval in a series of modest soaps and melodramas. Moving to Hollywood, her career rose with such notable features as "The Smiling Lieutenant" (1931, directed by Ernst Lubitsch), Cecil B. DeMille's "The Sign of the Cross" (1932), in which Colbert's Empress Poppaea took a famous bath in asses' milk, and James Cruze's "I Cover the Waterfront" (1933), where she touchingly portayed a child of the wharves who must choose between a transgressive father and a crusading reporter.
It was, however, with "It Happened One Night" (1934, also directed by Capra), that Colbert, on loan-out to struggling Columbia Pictures, really achieved top stardom. Cast as the silk purse which held Clark Gable's rough diamond, Colbert's chic elegance and supple wisecracking were matched by a low-key warmth and humanity that audiences fell for. Convinced that a comedy performance could not cop her the Best Actress Oscar for the year, Colbert was on board a train for New York when she was stopped and whisked to the Academy ceremonies to collect her prize. She had reached her peak and continued in a series of roles that epitomized the tongue-in-cheek Colbert persona: secretaries and struggling actresses who captivate the horsey set ("The Gilded Lily," "She Married Her Boss," both 1935), aristocrats who work as maids or working women who masquerade as aristocrats ("Tovarich" 1937; the superb "Midnight" 1939, one of her best), and young society matrons who indulge in screwball antics ("Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" 1938, unfortunately her only other film with Lubitsch; Preston Sturges's zany classic, "The Palm Beach Story" 1942).
With her round apple-face, prominent cheekbones, trademark curled bangs, puissant playfulness and glistening timing, Colbert is usually associated with romantic comedy. She also distinguished herself, though, in dramas ranging from the pioneering psychological study, "Private Worlds" (1935) to the gentle slice of schoolteacher Americana, "Remember the Day" (1941). Free-lancing more as the 1940s progressed, she did not eschew mother roles in such films as the moving if overly idealized "Mrs. Miniver in America" saga, "Since You Went Away" (1944). Several of her late 40s films (especially the modest "The Egg and I" 1947, which launched the highly popular Ma and Pa Kettle characters in supporting roles) did well enough at the boxoffice to sustain her career, but apart from the restrained, sensible study of women in Japanese concentration camps, "Three Came Home" (1950), Colbert's film career gradually declined in quality, activity and scope. "Let's Make It Legal" (1951) was a belated farewell to the type of comedy she had made her own, while "Texas Lady" (1955) was a watchable but routine Western which only utilized Colbert's zest.
TV took up much of the slack in the mid-50s; Colbert also returned to the stage opposite fellow sophisticates Noel Coward (in "Island Fling" ) and Charles Boyer (in "The Marriage Go-Round" ). Apart from a notable period of inactivity in the late 60s after the death of her second husband, Colbert's later career was marked by several very successful comebacks on both stage ("The Kingfisher" 1978) and TV ("The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" 1987) where she displayed the same stylishness and intelligence which made her such a wonderful archetype of the modern working woman.
Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- PARRISH (1961)
When his mother marries into the tobacco business, a young man struggles to find himself.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Troy Donahue, Claudette Colbert, Karl Malden
C-138 mins, CC,
The final feature film for superstar Claudette Colbert. Her previous film was Texas Lady (1955) and she would not appear again on any screen, large or small, until the mini-series The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987).
8:30 AM -- THE SECRET HEART (1946)
A recent widow tries to help her emotionally disturbed stepdaughter.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson
BW-97 mins, CC,
After filming The Secret Heart (1946) together, Claudette Colbert and co-star June Allyson became such great friends in real life Colbert became godmother to Allyson's daughter Pamela.
10:30 AM -- THE SECRET FURY (1950)
A mysterious figure tries to stop a woman's marriage by driving her mad.
Dir: Mel Ferrer
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan, Jane Cowl
BW-86 mins, CC,
Vivian Vance (Leah) and Philip Ober (Gregory) were married. This is the only film they both appear in, but they have no scenes together.
12:15 PM -- IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD (1939)
A runaway poetess helps a fugitive prove himself innocent of murder charges.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee
BW-86 mins, CC,
Claudette Colbert's first picture for MGM.
2:00 PM -- WITHOUT RESERVATIONS (1946)
A woman writer falls for a war hero who's a perfect match for the hero of her latest novel.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Claudette Colbert, John Wayne, Don DeFore
BW-101 mins, CC,
Claudette Colbert's character travels to Hollywood to make a movie from her best-selling novel. Already cast is Lana Turner in the female lead. She meets John Wayne's character and decides to take him for a screen test, as the perfect type to play the male lead. Wayne would later star with Turner in The Sea Chase (1955).
4:00 PM -- THREE CAME HOME (1950)
A woman fights to survive as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Patric Knowles, Florence Desmond
BW-105 mins, CC,
It was while filming this movie that Claudette Colbert sustained the back injury that forced her to give up the part of Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950) to Bette Davis.
6:00 PM -- TOMORROW IS FOREVER (1946)
A scarred veteran presumed dead returns home to find his wife remarried.
Dir: Irving Pichel
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, George Brent
BW-104 mins, CC,
First credited screen appearance of Natalie Wood.
7:45 PM -- THE HOLLYWOOD YOU NEVER SEE (1934)
This promotional short film offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of "Cleopatra" (1934).
Dir: Herbert Moulton
BW-10 mins,
TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: CLAUDETTE COLBERT
8:00 PM -- IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
A newspaperman tracks a runaway heiress on a madcap cross-country tour.
Dir: Frank Capra
Cast: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly
BW-105 mins, CC,
Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Clark Gable (In 1996, Steven Spielberg anonymously purchased Clark Gable's Oscar to protect it from further commercial exploitation, gave it back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, commenting that he could think of "no better sanctuary for Gable's only Oscar than the Motion Picture Academy".), Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Claudette Colbert (Claudette Colbert was so convinced that she would lose the Oscar to write-in nominee Bette Davis that she didn't attended the ceremony originally. She was summoned from a train station to pick up her Academy Award.), Best Director -- Frank Capra, Best Writing, Adaptation -- Robert Riskin, and Best Picture
Since this movie was filmed near the end of 1933, all of the actors are of course no longer alive. The last surviving credited (and possibly uncredited as well) cast member was the star, Claudette Colbert, who died in 1996 at the age of 92, 62 years after this film's initial release. As the last survivor of this film, she was dumbfounded at its continued popularity and reputation as a classic masterpiece of American cinema decades later for a film that neither she nor Clark Gable wanted to do.
10:00 PM -- THE EGG AND I (1947)
Newlywed city slickers decide to give country life a try as chicken farmers.
Dir: Chester Erskine
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Marjorie Main
BW-108 mins, CC,
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Marjorie Main
The incredibly sloppy pig is named Cleopatra, an obvious reference to Claudette Colbert's most famous role in Cleopatra (1934).
12:00 AM -- THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942)
To finance her husband's career, a married woman courts an eccentric millionaire.
Dir: Preston Sturges
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor
BW-88 mins, CC,
In the long dolly shot of Joel McCrea and Mary Astor strolling on the pier from Rudy Vallee's yacht, Preston Sturges makes a rare Alfred Hitchcock-style appearance as the chubby, moustachioed leader of the crew toting Claudette Colbert's luggage.
1:45 AM -- DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK (1939)
A young couple fights off Indian attacks to start a farm in the Mohawk Valley.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver
C-104 mins, CC,
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Edna May Oliver, and Best Cinematography, Color -- Ray Rennahan and Bert Glennon
Henry Fonda is a direct descendant of the Fondas that settled in the Mohawk Valley in the mid 17th Century. Henry's 5th Great Great Grandfather, Douw Jellis Fonda, who was too old to fight in the Revolutionary War, was killed and scalped in 1780 by an Indian that supported General Sir John Johnson and the Tories. At the same time, Henry's 4th Great Grand Father Adam Douw Fonda and his brother John Fonda were taken as prisoners and held in Canada for two years.
3:45 AM -- BOOM TOWN (1940)
Friends become rivals when they strike-it-rich in oil.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert
BW-119 mins, CC,
Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harold Rosson, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic) and Douglas Shearer (sound)
The only reteaming of Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert after their Oscar winning performances in It Happened One Night (1934).