Summer Under the Stars 2019: Some Thoughts

Once again, I am throwing myself into the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars Blogathon sponsored by Journeys in Classic Film.

For those not familiar with either Summer Under the Stars or the SUTS Blogathon, each August on Turner Classic Movies the network has twenty-four hours of films focusing on one particular actor/actress. Some are internationally known, while others are pretty much forgotten by today's audiences. Kristen Lopez, who runs Journeys in Classic Film, invites people to submit articles centered on that day's player in a blogathon.

There is usually for Summer Under the Stars one or two minority performers, at least one silent film star, at least one foreign-language star and a few living performers.

I am surprised at the number of living performers this year: five of the thirty-one players are still with us as of this writing: Rita Moreno, Liv Ullmann, Shirley MacLaine, Dustin Hoffman and Kirk Douglas. Moreno fills in the traditional Hispanic player, Lena Horne fills in the traditional African American player, Ullmann is our foreign star, and Buster Keaton is the silent film player.

In the obscure actors/actresses we have Brian Donlevy and Leila Hyams, though I would argue other names that I do know may qualify as 'obscure': Paul Lukas, Walter Brennan, June Allyson and Susan Hayward among them. That is the great thing about Summer Under the Stars: it gives lesser-known actors their own moment in the sun.

This year I set out to do something I have never done before: review a film or television appearance from every featured player. As part of that plan, I sought out films that I had never seen, since I believe part of SUTS' plan is to get people to see films they have not seen or heard from before.  

In other years, I have contributed a few articles, but this is the first and probably last year where I will write one for every player. It's a hard endeavor, but I welcome the challenge.

With that, I begin this year's Summer Under the Stars Blogathon.