Sydney Greenstreet in Casablanca (Nov. 24, 8:00 PM)
We're into the first full week of a new month on TCM, which means that it's time for a new Star of the Month on TCM. This month, that's going to be Sydney Greenstreet, whose movies will be airing every Wednesday night in prime time on TCM. Greenstreet was really more of a supporting actor than a star, but he memorably brightened up almost every move he was in. That started with his very first movie, The Maltese Falcon (Nov. 3, 8:00 PM), in which he plays one of the merry nuts looking for the jewel-encrusted statue that is the stuff dreams are made of. Greenstreet was 61 when he made this movie, having before that had an entire career on stage.
While The Maltese Falcon might be Greenstreet's best-known performace, the other one that comes really close is in Casablanca (Nov. 24, 8:00 PM) as a local who won't particularly help people get those letters of transit. I didn't realize that Greenstreet was in They Died With Their Boots On (Nov. 25, 6:00 AM). I've got that one on DVD as part of an Errol Flynn box set, so it looks like this month I'll finally get around to doing a post on it.
TCM says that Greenstreet had roles (ie. not playing himself in a cameo or reused footage) in 22 movies. Most of those were made at Warner Bros. and are part of the old library that Ted Turner got back in the 1980s, which is why TCM is going to be able to show all 22 of those films. There were a few loan-outs to MGM, and one movie that TCM says is a premiere.
One other movie airing on that Wednesday before Thanksgiving is Christmas in Connecticut (Nov. 24, 10:00 PM), which would be a perfect way to start off the Christmas season.
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