TCM Schedule for Saturday, August 10, 2019 -- Summer Under the Stars: Rita Moreno

[Staph]

Today's Star is the amazing Rita Moreno - an EGOT winner! Her TCM bio:

A much-loved star of the stage and screen, Rita Moreno achieved a rare feat in the entertainment industry by winning an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy Award throughout her illustrious career. From her early years in theater to the height of her film stardom, Moreno proved she was a force to be reckoned with, delivering scene-stealing performances in timeless classics such as "Singin' in the Rain" (1952), "The King and I" (1956), and "Carnal Knowledge" (1971). She also fell victim to blatant stereotyping in show business, often landing roles as a sexpot or foreigner in film and on television. Moreno challenged the system with her show-stopping performance in "West Side Story" (1961), one of the most loved film musicals of all time. The role earned Moreno an Academy Award in 1962, paving the way for Hispanic actors to land sizeable and profound roles, while also cementing the hardworking and multi-talented star's place as a shining legend of the stage and screen.

Rosita Dolores Alverio was born on Dec. 11, 1931 in Humacao, Puerto Rico to a farmer and a seamstress. In 1937, she moved to Spanish Harlem in New York City with her mother, Rosa Maria, and shared a tiny apartment with their relatives. Moreno began her professional career before she reached her teen years. At 11, the future star earned money by dubbing Spanish-language versions of American films. Just a few days shy of her 14th birthday, Moreno (who had adopted her stepfather's surname) made her Broadway debut in the 1945 Belasco Theatre production of "Skydrift," opposite Arthur Keegan and Eli Wallach. Using the stage name Rosita Moreno, the young actress landed her first feature film role in the drama "So Young So Bad" (1950). This led to more musical film appearances for the up-and-coming star, including supporting parts in "The Toast of New Orleans" (1950), "Pagan Love Song" (1950), and a featured role as silent screen vamp Zelda Zanners in the what most consider the greatest musical of all time, "Singin' in the Rain.

"In March 1954, Moreno graced the cover of LIFE magazine, posing in a seductive, over-the-left-shoulder profile along with the headline "Rita Moreno: An Actresses' Catalog of Sex and Innocence." Even though the article pushed Moreno's career to the forefront of the entertainment industry, it also glorified the Hollywood stereotype of Hispanic actresses as "sexpots." During a Miami Herald interview later on in her career, Moreno revealed she felt humiliated whenever she was offered a role as a "Conchita" or "Lolita" in Western films, where she was often asked to act barefoot. When Moreno was not cast in vampy roles, she played exotic characters, from an Indian exchange student on the television series "Father Knows Best" (CBS, 1954-55; NBC, 1955-58; CBS, 1958-1960), to the young Burmese wife Tuptim in the 1956 musical "The King and I." Moreno admitted she took on the roles, no matter how stereotypical and degrading they were, simply because she wanted to remain in show business.

Moreno finally broke out of the Hollywood mold when she was cast in the feature film adaptation of "West Side Story." The groundbreaking Broadway musical debuted in 1957 and retold William Shakespeare's classic "Romeo & Juliet" in an urban New York setting with rival street gangs the Jets and the Sharks. The 1961 film, directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, wanted to cast actors who looked believable as teenagers. Moreno stepped in for the role of Anita - originally played on Broadway by Chita Rivera - the Puerto Rican girlfriend of the Sharks' leader Bernardo (George Chakiris). As Anita, confidante of the film's heroine Maria (Natalie Wood) and the equivalent of the Nurse in Shakespeare's play, Moreno stole every scene she was in, especially with her rendition of the song-and-dance number "America." She also delivered a moving performance in a scene in which rival gang the Jets assaults Anita, which was considered the film's climax. The role earned Moreno a well-deserved Academy Award in 1962 for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. "West Side Story" won several other Oscars that year as well, including Best Picture.

Despite her breakout performance and Oscar win, it took a decade for Hollywood to cast Moreno in a role that truly showcased her depth and versatility as an actress. In the 1971 Mike Nichols-directed drama "Carnal Knowledge," Moreno played a hooker, starring opposite Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel as longtime friends faced with sexual and emotional issues concerning their relationships with various women. Moreno's career reignited even further that year when she appeared on the children's variety series "The Electric Company." The program employed sketch comedy and musical performances geared to help elementary age children improve their reading skills. Moreno was part of the original cast that also included Morgan Freeman and Bill Cosby. At the height of its popularity, that included a Grammy Award and several Emmy wins during its run, "The Electric Company" was cancelled in 1977 because it could not generate profit, unlike its more successful counterpart "Sesame Street" (NET, 1969-70; PBS, 1970- ), which licensed its Muppet characters for merchandising.

Moreno continued working in the world of children's television, often appearing on "The Muppet Show" (ITV, 1976-1981) for which she won her first Emmy Award in 1976 and hosting "The Muppets Go Hollywood" (1979). Moreno made a triumphant return to Broadway in 1975, starring in Terrence McNally's play "The Ritz." Her portrayal of a gay bathhouse entertainer with Broadway aspirations earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She reprised her award-winning role in the 1976 feature film version. Moreno continued to work steadily in feature films and on television, earning more accolades for her guest appearances on "The Rockford Files" (NBC, 1974-1980), and recurring roles on "American Family" (PBS, 2002-04) and the harrowing prison drama "Oz" (HBO, 1997-2003). She solidified her status as a Hollywood icon when she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995. So moved was the actress at being recognized that she wept uncontrollably during the unveiling ceremony. U.S. presidents often recognized Moreno's contribution to the arts, as well, including a Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush in 2004 and a National Medal of Arts from Barack Obama in 2009.

By Marc Cuenco

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- TOAST OF NEW ORLEANS (1950)
A New Orleans fisherman fights snobbery to become an opera star.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Mario Lanza, David Niven
C-97 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Nicholas Brodszky (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "Be My Love"

Although they had previously appeared together in That Midnight Kiss (1949), Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza did not get along while making this film. While shooting the love duet scene from "Madame Butterfly," Grayson recalled that Lanza kept trying to French kiss her, which was made even more unpleasant by the fact that he kept eating garlic before shooting. To counter this, Grayson had costume designer Helen Rose sew pieces of brass inside her glove. Each time Lanza attempted to French kiss her, Grayson would smack him in the face with her brass-loaded glove. One of these smacks was included in the movie.


8:00 AM -- SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
A silent-screen swashbuckler finds love while trying to adjust to the coming of sound.
Dir: Gene Kelly
Cast: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds
C-103 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jean Hagen, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Lennie Hayton

With the death of Debbie Reynolds on December 28, 2016, Rita Moreno, who played the part of Zelda, is the last surviving star of the movie.


10:00 AM -- LATIN LOVERS (1953)
An heiress searches for true love while vacationing in Brazil.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Lana Turner, Ricardo Montalban, John Lund
C-104 mins, CC,

The difference in the way Ricardo Montalban's and Rita Moreno's characters are presented here speaks to Hollywood's attitude toward Latin actors at the time. While Montalban is cast as a "Latin lover" (in the tradition of Rudolf Valentino and Gilbert Roland) Moreno serves merely as a romantic rival for Lana Turner but is not considered worthy of being an object of desire herself. It would be nearly a decade longer, when Moreno won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for West Side Story, before this inequity would finally be addressed.


12:00 PM -- FORT VENGEANCE (1953)
Outlaw brothers turned Mounties clash over their different attitudes toward law and order.
Dir: Lesley Selander
Cast: James Craig, Rita Moreno, Keith Larsen
C-75 mins, CC,


1:45 PM -- SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD (1955)
In 1769, a Spanish expedition to California seeks to conquer the land and discover its famed gold treasures.
Dir: Robert D. Webb
Cast: Richard Egan, Anthony Quinn, Michael Rennie
BW-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The real Father Junipero Serra was beatified (called "blessed&quot by the Catholic Church some years ago, which is the first step towards sainthood. He is now referred to as Blessed Junipero Serra.


3:45 PM -- THE LIEUTENANT WORE SKIRTS (1956)
A middle-aged man is left to tend house while his wife is accepted by the Air Force training program and becomes a Lieutenant.
Dir: Frank Tashlin
Cast: Tom Ewell, Sheree North, Rita Moreno
C-99 mins, Letterbox Format

Tom Ewell, a decorated WWII pilot, is recalled to active duty in the Air Force. He dons his uniform to report for duty, but it's 1953, and the Air Force separated from the Army in 1947. His uniform isn't "AF Blue" - it's Army Air Force GREEN!


5:45 PM -- SUMMER AND SMOKE (1961)
A small-town spinster's repressed love for the local rebel spells danger.
Dir: Peter Glenville
Cast: Laurence Harvey, Geraldine Page, Rita Moreno
C-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Geraldine Page, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Una Merkel, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Hal Pereira, Walter H. Tyler, Sam Comer and Arthur Krams, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Elmer Bernstein

The original Broadway play "Summer and Smoke" by Tennessee Williams opened Oct. 6, 1948 at the Music Box Theatre and ran for 102 performances. Ray Walston was in the cast in a supporting role.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: RITA MORENO



8:00 PM -- POPI (1969)
A Puerto Rican immigrant hatches a series of zany schemes to insure his children's future.
Dir: Arthur Hiller
Cast: Alan Arkin, Rita Moreno, Miguel Alejandro
C-113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Filmed in part in Miami.


10:00 PM -- WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
A young couple from dueling street gangs falls in love.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
C-154 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Chakiris, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Rita Moreno, Best Director -- Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins (For the first time a directing award is being shared.), Best Cinematography, Color -- Daniel L. Fapp, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Boris Leven and Victor A. Gangelin, Best Costume Design, Color -- Irene Sharaff, Best Sound -- Fred Hynes (Todd-AO SSD) and Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Film Editing -- Thomas Stanford, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, and Best Picture

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ernest Lehman

Roger Ebert places this movie on his "Great Movie list"; but he said this movie has been diminished by the increased standing and cult status of "Singin' in the Rain" over the years. Ebert gives West Side Story 4 stars; but he says the following; "Although "West Side Story" was named the best picture of 1961 and won 10 Academy Awards, it is not much mentioned by movie fans these days, and the old warhorse "Singin' in the Rain" is probably more seen and certainly better loved. "West Side Story" was the kind of musical people thought was good for them, a pious expression of admirable but unrealistic liberal sentiments, and certainly its street gangs at war - one Puerto Rican, one the descendants of European immigrants - seem touchingly innocent compared to contemporary reality". Roger Ebert goes on to damn West Side Story with faint praise: "So the dancing is remarkable, and several of the songs have proven themselves by becoming standards, and there are moments of startling power and truth. "West Side Story" remains a landmark of musical history. But if the drama had been as edgy as the choreography, if the lead performances had matched Moreno's fierce concentration, if the gangs had been more dangerous and less like bad-boy Archies and Jugheads, if the ending had delivered on the pathos and tragedy of the original, there's no telling what might have resulted. The movie began with a brave vision, and it is best when you sense that vision surviving the process by which it was turned into safe entertainment."


12:45 AM -- THE RITZ (1976)
A mobster hides from a hitman in a gay bathhouse.
Dir: Richard Lester
Cast: Tony De Santis, Ben Aris, John Everson
BW-91 mins, CC,

Abe Lefkowitz, the doorman at The Ritz, asks Gaetano Proclo, "You ever been in a place like this?" Proclo replies, "Oh, sure. We have a Jack LaLanne's in Cleveland." Jack LaLanne (1914-2011) was a bodybuilder who founded the American physical fitness movement. He opened America's first health & fitness club in Oakland, CA, in 1936, and had fitness clubs throughout the USA. (The joke is that Proclo thinks he's checking in to a health club, when in fact it's a gay bathhouse.)


2:30 AM -- MARLOWE (1969)
Detective Philip Marlowe probes the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles in search of a woman's missing sister.
Dir: Paul Bogart
Cast: James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O'Connor
C-96 mins, CC,

James Garner and Rita Moreno first met and became great friends on this project. She'd later have a recurring role in Garner's The Rockford Files (1974).


4:15 AM -- CARNAL KNOWLEDGE (1971)
Onetime college friends cope with the sexual revolution of the '60s.
Dir: Mike Nichols
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Arthur Garfunkel
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ann-Margret

The fight scene between Jack Nicholson and Ann-Margret took a week to shoot. At the end, both performers had lost their voices.

[mapol]

1. I watched the 1961 film version of West Side Story on TCM, on August 10th!

The 1961 film version of West Side Story, which is my all time favorite film, hands down, still shines for me years later. I never get tired of seeing it over and over again, whether it be on TV, or on a great big, wide screen, in a real movie theatre with the lights down low, as it's really and truly meant to be viewed, and sharing the experience with a whole bunch of other people, whether I know them or not.