Turner Classic Movies, U.S. (TCM) will have an evening of Jean Seberg movies on July 11th into early the 12th, 2009! While TCM has shown some of Jean's films throughout the years, this is the first time the cable channel has devoted an evening to Jean.
[Note: these films are not subtitled and all are in English.]
In keeping with Jean's US roots, the times are Central Standard Time zone (CST). Please refer to your local listings for your location:
The evening begins with The Mouse That Roared at 7:00 PM. This was Jean's first commercial and critical success, and her third film. This 1959 comedy co-starred Peter Sellers (in three roles) and played for two continuous years at the New York Guild Theatre. A political and social satire, it grossed more than $50 million by the mid 1980s.
In the French Style at 8:30 PM. Jean's adieu to the 'American Girl in Paris' films she became famous for was this independent film from 1963 written by Irwin Shaw and directed by Robert Parrish. The film is in two parts: in the first, Jean plays a teenager who goes to Paris to paint. The second is the same character a few years later who has become part of the jet set crowd. After Jean and Romain Gary had a private dinner with President and Mrs. Kennedy at the White House, this romantic drama was shown there upon request by Francophile Jacqueline Kennedy.
Bonjour Tristesse at 10:30 PM. Now labelled a classic, Jean's second film with director Otto Preminger was met with mixed reviews upon its release in 1958. Despite a stellar cast including David Niven, Deborah Kerr and Mylene Demongeot (who will be featured in the documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg), gowns by Givenchy, based on the international bestseller by Francoise Sagan, expectations initially fell short.
Lilith at 12:15 AM [June 12th]. Arguably the best performance of Jean's career, it was certainly applauded by a vast majority of reviewers in 1964 and she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama. Jean plays the title role in this psychological drama with Warren Beatty, Peter Fonda and Kim Hunter. Like Bonjour Tristesse, it has been rediscovered and now hailed a masterpiece by a number of European critics. Lilith was director Robert Rossen's last film and one Jean considered as one of her favorite works.
Paint Your Wagon at 2:15 AM. After having made films in most every genre in a variety of countries, Jean played the lead female role in the Western/Musical Paint Your Wagon from 1969. Co-starring Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Ray Walston and Harve Presnell, it was directed by Joshua Logan with music by Lerner and Lowe, Nelson Riddle and Andre Previn. Much has been written about this work which ran overbudget by several million dollars and took several months to film; however, it ranked as one of the Top five grossing films of the year and showed a profit--and ushered in a new generation of Jean Seberg fans who knew little or nothing of her previous work.
Thank you to TCM for scheduling these films and paying tribute to Jean Seberg!
Visit TCM's Starring Jean Seberg event webpage here:
http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=240894&mainArticleId=240891
Mouse repeats on Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 7:30 am.
