TCM to Light up Summertime with Seventh Edition of Popular Summer Under the Stars

Each August, movie fans come out of the sun and park themselves on the sofa for the latest edition of Turner Classic Movies'(TCM) ultimate movie star showcase: Summer Under the Stars. Returning for its seventh year, the festival dedicates each of its 31 days to one of Hollywood's most enduring personalities. Assembled from the network's library of more than 5,000 films, this one-of-a-kind festival is an opportunity for viewers to enjoy a varied selection from each star's body of work, uncut and commercial free.

More than half of the month's actors and actresses featured in this year's Summer Under the Stars are first-timers to the festival. The 17 memorable performers include six Oscar winners: James Coburn (Aug. 4), Gloria Grahame (Aug. 13), Yul Brynner (Aug. 26), two-time winners Gene Hackman (Aug. 21) and Fredric March (Aug. 24), and honorary recipient Harold Lloyd (Aug. 5). Other stars getting their first showcases include James Mason (Aug. 2), Marion Davies (Aug. 3), Dirk Bogarde (Aug. 10), Red Skelton (Aug. 19), Miriam Hopkins (Aug. 20), Sterling Hayden (Aug. 22), Merle Oberon (Aug. 25), Ida Lupino (Aug. 27), Jean Arthur (Aug. 30) and Claire Bloom (Aug. 31).

This year's Summer Under the Stars also features 42 feature films making their premiere on TCM, nearly twice as many as last year. Movies making their first appearance on TCM during the festival include The Grapes of Wrath (1940), An Affair to Remember (1957), Les Miserables (1935), Mississippi Burning (1988), The Innocents (1961) and Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955).

TCM's popular franchises The Essentials, co-hosted by TCM's Robert Osborne and Emmy®-winning actor Alec Baldwin, and The Essentials Jr., hosted by Emmy winner John Lithgow, will continue throughout Summer Under the Stars. Saturdays at 8 p.m. (ET), The Essentials offerings include The Grapes of Wrath (Aug. 1), The Man Who Came to Dinner (Aug. 8), An Affair to Remember (Aug. 15), The Asphalt Jungle (Aug. 22) and Lolita (Aug. 29). Sundays at 8 p.m. (ET), The Essentials Jr. will feature Heaven Can Wait (Aug. 2), Notorious (Aug. 9), It Happened at the World's Fair (Aug. 16), Gaslight (Aug. 23) and You Can't Take It with You (Aug. 30).