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Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,226
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

 

http://www.tcm.com/schedule/index.html?tz=est&sdate=2019-08-1

 

 

Rod_Steiger_Al_Capone_2.jpg

Love to see TCM give the all-day treatment to outstanding players like Rod Steiger.  They skipped "On the Waterfront", but here are two other favorites:

 

8:00 p.m. Eastern--  "In the Heat of the Night".  Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Lee Grant.   In a film full of interesting performances, Steiger's nuanced Mississippi sheriff is deservedly lauded.  Writer Stirling Silliphant ("Route 66") handed him a juicy script,  Sidney Poitier collaborated in producing the delicate chemistry the two developed, and Steiger pulled down a Best Actor Oscar.

 

12:45 a.m. Eastern--  "The Big Knife".  Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters

 

Yay!  One of my favorite films ever about "behind-the-scenes" Hollywood.  It's a film noir, in fact, and very dark, so be warned.  Directed by Robert Aldrich, from a Clifford Odets play, so you know it's informed by a very "inside" knowledge. 

 

Jack Palance is a conflicted, very successful actor whose wife (Ida Lupino) is on the verge of leaving him for having "gone Hollywood" in a big way.   Palance is being pressured by a devious, powerful studio head, fiendishly played by Steiger.   The film ruthlessly displays the scandal behind Hollywood's false front, and the compromises and treachery in every day dealing.  Riveting, gang!

 

Rod Steiger transforms himself for every role:

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,187
Registered: ‎07-26-2014

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

I was a teenager the first time I saw a Rod Steiger movie called "The Pawnbroker" which I've never seen shown on tv.  Don't see it on TCM list either. Smiley Sad

Years ago, I did find the dvd in the $1 bin at a Dollar Store.

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."


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Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,053
Registered: ‎07-20-2011

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

@Oznell  I love Rod Steiger. I don't think I've ever seen The Big Knife. I'm intrigued. Rod Steiger could play any role, as you stated. The cast is phenomenal and for being dark, Jack Palance....... I also liked JP in lighter roles. 

Setting up DVR now.

Thanks as always for not only your reminders but your fantastic narrations.

Happiness is not a destination, it is a way of life.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 28,716
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

How could they skip On the Waterfront and Oklahoma??

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,915
Registered: ‎06-15-2014

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

@Mz iMac one of the truly great movies of all time.

Steiger was breathtaking. 

It doesn’t seem readily available.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,915
Registered: ‎06-15-2014

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

Consumate actor. Excellent in every role ala Philip Seymore Hoffman. They immerse themselves in the role so completely it is amazing.

Ala Meryl Streep. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,095
Registered: ‎09-02-2011

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

@Oznell                    - thank you.

 

 

     Have an errand to complete...definitely will watch Steiger in The Heat of the Night. Haven't seen that one in a long time.

 

   What a one of a kind giants of any actors.  [ 5 stars.]

 

 I have not seen The Big knife- always enjoy Shelley Winters.

 

    Hope:

Just might make it since time wise; I did very little today. 

 

      Sidney Poitier was an established actor as extraordinary !

 

 Though,

Very little of Lee Grant but always thought she was quality in anything she did.  I remember when she was black listed. 

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 38,159
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

@Oznell   How about No Way to Treat a Lady, have you seen this?  I don't know if I have ever seen The Big Knife, but if it was on tv ever in decades past, I must have, lol.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,226
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

I haven't seen "No Way to Treat a Lady",  @mousiegirl.

 

You very well might have seen "The Big Knife".  Here, you can check your memory against this EXTREMELY entertaining and typically "overwrought" original trailer:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXFx-MMwIvs

 

I'm mad that TCM is airing it so late, so that many people will end up missing it-- it's so good!  Even in that short clip, you can see how "charged" Rod Steiger is, in playing the corrupt movie studio head.   I adore Ida Lupino too-- she looks so cool and elegant in her Fifties' outfits...  And that "high style" postwar California house-- love!

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,054
Registered: ‎06-14-2010

Re: THURSDAY IS ROD STEIGER DAY ON TCM

The Pawnbroker was such a superb role for Steiger and he deserved an Oscar.  Of course On the Waterfront and In the Heat of the Night were also great acting roles for him.  He definitely rates a TCM day and was one of the best in the movies.  I also thought his role in Oklahoma was a change of pace and while he played the bad guy he also sang.