Turner Classic Movies is a
movie-orientedMovie channels are television specialty channels that present movie content.Popular movie channels:* AMC * ClassTV MSNBC * Cinemax * Kino Polska * Encore * For you * Fox Movie Channel...
cable television channel, owned by the
Turner Broadcasting SystemTurner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...
subsidiary of
Time WarnerTime Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the
Turner EntertainmentTurner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
and MGM,
United ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, RKO and
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
film libraries. TCM is headquartered at the Techwood Campus in Atlanta, Georgia, in Midtown.
About TCM
Unlike AMC (TV channel), Turner Classic Movies is essentially commercial-free, advertising only TCM products, promos for specific films scheduled to air on the channel in primetime, typically using the film's original movie trailer. It also airs promos for special programming and featurettes about classic film actors and actresses in between features. TCM's content has also remained mostly uncut and uncolorized (depending upon the original content of movies, particularly movies rated by the
MPAAThe Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
after 1968). Because of the uncut and commercial-free nature of the channel, TCM is formatted similarly to a premium channel; as such, viewers might find that certain films, particularly those made from the 1960s onward, may feature nudity, sexual content, violence and strong profanity; the channel also features premium channel-style ratings bumpers seconds before a film starts.
From time to time, the channel shows restored versions of films, particularly old silent films with newly commissioned musical soundtracks. TCM is also a major backer of
WGBHWGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
's
Descriptive Video ServiceThe Descriptive Video Service is a major United States producer of video description, which makes visual media, such as television programs, feature films, and home videos, more accessible to people who are blind or otherwise visually impaired...
program, and many of the films aired on the network have visual description for the blind and visually impaired, which are accessible through the
SAPSecond audio program , also known as secondary audio programming, is an auxiliary audio channel for analog television that can be broadcast or transmitted both over the air and by cable TV.-Usage:...
option through a television or cable/satellite receiver.
As a result, viewers interested in tracing the career development of actresses like
Barbara StanwyckBarbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
or
Greta GarboGreta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
or actors like
Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
or
Humphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
have the unique opportunity to see most of the feature films made during their careers, from beginning to end. Unlike AMC and
Fox Movie ChannelThe Fox Movie Channel is a channel which shows movies uncut and commercial-free.-Overview:Movie content consists mainly of selections from 20th Century Fox's library of releases through the 1990s and movies produced exclusively for television. Widescreen versions are shown whenever available....
, Turner Classic Movies presents many of its features in their original screen
aspect ratioThe aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
(widescreen or full screen) whenever possible. TCM also regularly presents widescreen presentations of films not available in the format on any home video release. In 2008 TCM was given a
Peabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for excellence in broadcasting.
History
Eight years before the launch of TCM, Ted Turner had acquired Metro Goldwyn Mayer, but shortly after sold the studio while retaining the library for itself. The vast library of Turner Entertainment would serve as the base program upon its launch; Turner Classic Movies officially debuted on April 14, 1994 at 6 p.m. ET with Ted Turner ceremonially launching the channel in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's
Times SquareTimes Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
district. The date was chosen for its significance as "the exact centennial anniversary of the first public movie showing in New York City." The very first movie ever screened on TCM was the 1939 classic epic
Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, exactly what its sister station, TNT, had aired as its debut program six years before.
At the time of its launch, TCM was available to only approximately one million cable subscribers; the channel served as a competitor of AMC (at the time, called
American Movie Classics), which had a virtually identical format to TCM as both cable channels ran mostly pre-1970 films; though by 2002, AMC had reformatted itself to feature films from all eras, leaving TCM as the only cable movie channel devoted entirely to classic films.
Before the creation of TCM, quite a few titles from its vast library of movies were broadcast — with commercial interruptions — on Turner's
TNTTurner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
channel, along with Turner's controversial colorized versions of black-and-white classics such as
The Maltese FalconThe Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...
. When TCM was created in 1994, however, colorization did not carry over to the new channel. As Gary R. Edgerton wrote in the winter 2000 issue of
The Journal of Popular Film and Television, TCM immediately advertised itself in April 1994 "with the promise: 'uninterrupted, uncolorized and commercial-free!' Attitudes had evidently come full circle. Colorization was now unfashionable and unprofitable — even for Ted Turner and his colleagues at TBS."
In 1996, the Turner Broadcasting System merged with
Time WarnerTime Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
. Not only did this put TCM and Warner Bros. under the same corporate umbrella, but it also gave TCM access to the post-1949 Warner Bros. library (which itself includes other acquired properties such as the
LorimarLorimar, later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American television production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993...
,
Saul ZaentzSaul Zaentz is an American film producer and former record company executive. He has won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and in 1996 was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award....
, and National General Pictures libraries); incidentally, TCM had already been running some of Warner's film titles through a licensing agreement with the studio made prior to the launch of the channel.
In 2000, TCM launched the annual
Young Composers Film Competition, inviting aspiring composers to participate in a judged competition. Grand prize has been the opportunity to score a restored, feature-length silent film, mentored by a well-known composer, with subsequent premiere of the new work on the TCM channel. As of 2006, films which have been rescored include
Camille (1921) with
Rudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
, two
Lon ChaneyLon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
films,
Ace of Hearts (1921) and
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928), and
Greta Garbo'sGreta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
The Temptress (1926).
More recently, TCM has collaborated in boxed set DVD releases of previously unreleased films by noted actors, directors, or studios. The sets often include bonus discs including documentaries and shorts from the TCM library. In April 2010, TCM held the first TCM Classic Film Festival, at the Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Grauman's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Hosted by
Robert OsborneRobert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...
, the four-day long annual festival celebrated Hollywood and its movies, and featured celebrity appearances, special events and screenings of around 50 classic movies including several newly restored by the Film Foundation, an organization devoted to preserving Hollywood's classic film legacy. Upon completion of the festival, TCM announced that they would hold a second festival in 2011.
Programming
TCM's vast library of films spans several decades of cinema and includes thousands of film titles. TCM's programming season runs from February until the following March of each year when a retrospective of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated movies is shown, called
31 Days of Oscar31 Days of Oscar is a programming franchise aired each Oscar season by the U.S. and Asian Turner Classic Movies cable networks during the month of the Academy Awards...
. Gaps between
featuresIn the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
are filled with theatrically released movie trailers and classic short subjects (from series such as
The Passing Parade,
Crime Does Not Pay,
Pete Smith SpecialtiesPete Smith was a film producer and narrator of "short subject" films from 1931 to 1955....
,
Robert BenchleyRobert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
, etc.) under the banner name
TCM Extras (formerly
One Reel Wonders). In 2007, some of the short films featured on TCM began appearing on TCM's website. In part to allow these interstitials, Turner Classic Movies airs its feature films at the top or bottom to the hour, or at one-quarter past or before the hour, instead of in varying time slots. The network also airs original content, mostly documentaries about classic movie personalities and particularly notable films.
Movie library
Besides MGM,
United ArtistsUnited Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
and Warner Bros. releases, TCM also shows films under license from
Universal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
,
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
,
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
,
Walt Disney ProductionsWalt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
,
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
,
StudioCanalStudioCanal is a French-based production and distribution company that owns the third-largest film library in the world...
and
Janus FilmsJanus Films is a film distribution company. It was one of the first distributors to bring what are now regarded as masterpieces of world cinema to the United States...
. Most pre-1950 Paramount releases are owned by
EMKA, Ltd.EMKA, Ltd. is an in-name-only division of Universal Studios' television unit whose sole function is overseeing Paramount Pictures' pre-1950 sound feature film library. EMKA was formed by MCA in 1957 .In the aftermath of the landmark 1948 United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc...
/
NBC Universal Television DistributionNBCUniversal Television Distribution is the television distribution arm of the NBCUniversal Television Group in the United States, and is a subsidiary of General Electric...
, while Paramount (currently owned by
ViacomViacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
) holds on to most of its post-1949 releases, which are handled for television by
Trifecta Entertainment & MediaTrifecta Entertainment & Media is an American entertainment company founded in 2006. The company's founders previously held jobs as executives at MGM Television. Trifecta is primarily a distribution company and also handles advertising sales in exchange for syndication deals with local television...
. Columbia's output is owned by
Sony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
through
Sony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
, the films of 20th Century Fox (owned by the
News CorporationNews Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
), are handled for television by
20th Television20th Television is an American television production and syndication company that was formed in 1992 by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, a division of the Fox Entertainment Group, part of News Corporation....
, and Walt Disney Productions (owned by
The Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
) has their output handled for television by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. TCM occasionally shows some classic films from
20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
,
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
,
Universal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
and
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, but they are licensed individually.
Although a vast majority of the movies shown on Turner Classic Movies are from the 1930s through 1960s, some are more contemporary; it is not uncommon for TCM to air films released in the 1970s, 1980s or (in rare cases) the 1990s and early 2000s.
Hosted and special programming
Most feature movies shown in prime time (8 p.m.-2:30 a.m.
Eastern TimeThe Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
) are presented by film historian
Robert OsborneRobert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...
, who has been with the network since its launch in 1994 (with the exception of a period beginning in July 2011, due to an extended medical leave following an undisclosed minor surgery, during which guest hosts presented each night's films; Osbourne is slated to return on December 1, 2011). More recently, movies shown during the daytime on weekends are presented by
Ben MankiewiczBen Mankiewicz is an American radio and television personality, known for his work as a TV journalist, news anchor, and film critic...
,
talk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
host (
The Young TurksThe Young Turks is a progressive Internet talk show via live web stream and YouTube, and starting in late 2011, a weeknight news and political commentary program airing on Current TV. It was Sirius Satellite Radio's first original talk programming. The Young Turks claims to be the first Internet...
),
Herman J. MankiewiczHerman Jacob Mankiewicz was an American screenwriter, who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane . Earlier, he was the Berlin correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the drama critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott, said that Herman Mankiewicz was...
's grandson and great-nephew of
Joseph L. MankiewiczJoseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...
. As such, TCM is the last remaining movie channel in the United States to feature hosts providing information about a film prior to the movie, a practice once used by some premium channels until the late 1990s.
The EssentialsThe Essentials is a weekly film showcase on Turner Classic Movies airing Saturdays at 8pm EST, spotlighting a specific movie and containing a special introduction and post-movie discussion...
is a weekly program on Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET, spotlighting a specific movie and containing a special introduction and post-movie discussion; the spotlight movie is often replayed the following Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. The current hosts are Osborne and
Alec BaldwinAlexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
. Each August, TCM suspends its regular schedule for a special "month of stars", featuring entire days devoted to a single star, offering movies and specials pertaining to the star of the day; however, Turner Classic Movies airs a "Star of the Month" year-round, except during special programming, in which every Wednesday during each month starting at 8 p.m. ET the majority of (if not all) feature films from a classic film star are shown during primetime and the late night/early morning hours.
"Silent Sunday Nights", airing Sunday nights at midnight ET, features
silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s from the United States and abroad, usually in the latest restored version and often with new music scores; "Silent Sunday Nights" is occasionally pre-empted for other special programming. Following the "Silent Sunday Nights" feature(s), "TCM Imports" airing on Sunday nights around 2 a.m. ET, is a weekly presentation that features foreign films; "TCM Imports" previously ran on Saturdays until the early 2000s. TCM also features a monthly program block called the "TCM Guest Programmer", in which once a month the channel features a selection of films that are favorites of that month's celebrity guest, in which the guest discusses the film with Robert Osborne (an offshoot of this block featuring TCM employees was done throughout the month of February 2011). In addition, TCM occasionally commemorates a recent death of a classic film star by running a 24-hour marathon of their signature film work in their honor.
In October 2006, the network premiered
TCM UndergroundTCM Underground is a weekly late-night cult film showcase airing on Turner Classic Movies. Developed by TCM programmers Millie De Chirico and Eric Weber, it was originally hosted by industrial rock/heavy metal musician and independent filmmaker Rob Zombie. TCM Underground began airing Friday the...
, a Friday late-night series hosted by rocker/filmmaker
Rob ZombieRob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
, which features a number of
cult filmA cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
s personally selected by Zombie. Films in the series include
Plan 9 from Outer SpacePlan 9 from Outer Space is a 1959 science fiction film written and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson and Maila "Vampira" Nurmi...
(1959),
Sisters (1973),
Night of the Living DeadNight of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
(1968),
Bride of the MonsterBride of the Monster is a 1955 sci-fi horror film starring Bela Lugosi, along with Tor Johnson, Tony McCoy and Loretta King Hadler. It was produced, directed and co-written by Edward D. Wood, Jr....
(1955),
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), and
Electra Glide in BlueElectra Glide in Blue is a 1973 film starring Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop in Arizona and Billy Green Bush as his partner. The name stems from the Harley-Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle issued to traffic cops....
(1973). Rob Zombie no longer hosts "TCM Underground", and the presentation no longer has a host.
In the summer of 2007, the network began airing "Funday Night at the Movies", hosted by voice-over actor
Tom KennyThomas James "Tom" Kenny is an American actor, voice actor and comedian. He is especially known for his long-running-role as SpongeBob SquarePants in the television series of the same name, as well as the live-action character Patchy the Pirate, Gary the Snail and the French narrator based on...
(best known as the voice of
SpongeBob SquarePantsSpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
). This series of programming, which lasted throughout the summer, brought classic films such as
The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
(1939),
SounderSounder is a 1972 film starring Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks, Carmen Mathews, Taj Mahal, Eric Hooks and Janet MacLachlan. It was adapted by Lonne Elder III and directed by Martin Ritt from the 1970 Newbery Medal-winning novel Sounder by William H...
(1972),
Bringing Up BabyBringing Up Baby is an American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and released by RKO Radio Pictures....
(1938),
Singin' in the RainSingin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
(1952),
Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonMr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 American drama film starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart about one man's effect on American politics. It was directed by Frank Capra and written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story. Mr...
(1939),
The Adventures of Robin HoodThe Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
(1938), and
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 adventure film starring Kirk Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre as Conseil. It was the first science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Productions, as well as the only science-fiction...
(1954) to a whole new generation of children and their families.
For the summer of 2008, TCM launched "Essentials Jr.", a youth-oriented version of its
The Essentials weekly series hosted by actors
Abigail BreslinAbigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....
and Chris O’Donnell, which included such family-themed films as
National VelvetNational Velvet is a 1944 drama film, in Technicolor, based on the novel by Enid Bagnold, published in 1935. It stars Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp and a young Elizabeth Taylor....
(1944),
The Courtship of Eddie's FatherThe Courtship of Eddie's Father is a 1963 romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Glenn Ford as a widowed father, with a young son to care for, played by Ron Howard....
(1963),
Meet Me in St. LouisMeet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 musical film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which tells the story of an American family living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904...
(1944),
Captains Courageous (1937), and
Yours, Mine and OursFor the remake of this film starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo see Yours, Mine and Ours Yours, Mine and Ours is a 1968 film, directed by Melville Shavelson and starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Van Johnson...
(1968), as well as more eclectic selections as
Sherlock Jr. (1924),
The Music Box (1932),
Harvey (1950)Harvey is a 1950 film based on Mary Chase's play of the same name, directed by Henry Koster, and starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. The story is about a man whose best friend is a pooka named Harvey—in the form of a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall invisible rabbit.-Plot:Elwood P...
,
20 Million Miles to Earth20 Million Miles to Earth is a 1957 American science fiction film written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. The film was produced by Charles H. Schneer's Morningside Productions for Columbia Pictures and directed by Nathan H. Juran...
(1957),
Mutiny on the BountyMutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time...
(1935),
On the TownOn the Town is a 1949 musical film with music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944, although many changes in script and score were made from the original stage...
(1949), and
The Man Who Knew Too MuchThe Man Who Knew Too Much is a suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. The film is a remake in widescreen VistaVision and Technicolor of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name....
(1956). In 2009,
John LithgowJohn Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
became the host of "The Essentials Jr." All featured programming has their own distinctive feature presentation open for the particular scheduled presentation.
Bill HaderWilliam "Bill" Hader is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a creative consultant on the hit show South Park and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his supporting roles in comedy films such as Superbad, Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder,...
serves as host of the 2011 season of
Essentials, Jr.
In December 1999, TCM debuted "TCM Remembers", which is a tribute to recently deceased film personalities (actors, producers, composers, directors) airing occasionally during promo breaks between films; the segments appear in two forms: following the recent death of a single particular film personality, the segment will feature clips of the work during the deceased's career; in addition during the second half of the month of December each year, a compilation "TCM Remembers" interstitial will run honoring most (if not all) of the film personalities who died during the calendar year. Very often, when a well known actor, producer, or director dies; the network will devote an entire day to showing movies associated with the individual, within a few days after the person has died.
TCM HD
In June 2009, Turner Classic Movies launched a
high definitionHigh-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
version of the channel, showing the same programming as its standard-definition channel. Initial programming was not in native high definition and was instead upconverted from standard definition, but benefited from the greater bandwidth allocated to the channel. Programs available on the high definition feed are broadcast in upconverted
1080i1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...
.
TCM Vault Collection
The Vault Collection consists of several different DVD lines of rare classic films that have been licensed, remastered, and released by Turner Classic Movies. These releases are the DVD debuts of all of the films featured in the collection. The initial batch of DVDs are pressed in limited quantities and subsequent batches are Made-On-Demand (MOD).
- Universal Collection — Films licensed by TCM from the Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
vault.
- The Lost RKO Collection — RKO films from the 1930s.
- TCM Archives — A series of DVD boxsets released by Warner Home Video featuring Pre-Code and Silent Films
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
which includes the Forbidden Hollywood series.
- TCM Spotlight — A series of DVD boxsets released by Warner Home Video featuring the popular Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
and stars such as Esther Williams, Errol Flynn, and Doris Day.
International versions
TCM is available in many other countries around the world. In Canada, Turner Classic Movies debuted in 2005 on the Shaw Cable system and Shaw Direct satellite service.
Rogers CableRogers Cable Inc., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, in Manitoba, Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.The...
started offering TCM in December 2006 as a
free previewFree preview, sometimes referred to by the portmanteau nickname "freeview", is a term, most commonly used by cable television, referring to when cable systems offer a pay-TV service to customers for free for a short period of time.-History:...
channel for all digital customers, and added to the analogue package in February 2007. While the schedule for the Canadian channel is generally the same as the U.S. channel, some films are replaced for broadcast into Canada due to rights issues and other reasons. Other versions of TCM are available in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
,
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
,
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
,
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The UK version operates two channels, including a spinoff called
TCM 2TCM 2 is a British television channel. It is a UK-only spin-off channel from the UK version of TCM, and shows the popular films from the Turner Entertainment library . Films are shown from 20:00 to 04:00 from Monday-Sunday, and the following week includes a new line-up...
.
External links
See also
- TCM 2
TCM 2 is a British television channel. It is a UK-only spin-off channel from the UK version of TCM, and shows the popular films from the Turner Entertainment library . Films are shown from 20:00 to 04:00 from Monday-Sunday, and the following week includes a new line-up...