Dorothy Dandridge night

TCM is spending the evening showing a bunch of movies starring Dorothy Dandridge, even though it's not her birthday. That having been said, it's not at all uncommon for TCM to spend an evening honoring somebody whose birthday it isn't; usually it's somebody either behind the scenes or an actor who isn't as well-remembered as he or she should be. As for Dandridge, she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Carmen Jones, a movie I recommended back in July 2009. That kicks of tonight's salute at 8:00 PM.

Carmen Jones is followed at 10:00 PM by Bright Road, a January 2010 recommendation that still doesn't seem to be out on DVD, which I find a bit of a shame. The third interesting film is The Harlem Globetrotters, at 11:30 PM. I presume you can all guess what it's about, but the interesting thing is that it's got the circa-1950 Globetrotters all playing themselves. (Dandridge plays the love interest of a young man who wants to be a Globetrotter.) This one, I think is a TCM premiere and is also not on DVD.