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Norma Shearer films Note: This article is being revised and expanded. Please check back later. Turner Classic Movies' Norma Shearer month comes to a close this evening, Nov. 24, '15, with the presentation of the last six films of Shearer's two-decade-plus career. Two of these are remarkably good; one is schizophrenic, a confused mix of high comedy and low drama; while the other three aren't the greatest. Yet all six are worth a look even if only because of Norma Shearer herself – though, really, they all have more to offer than just their top star. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the no-expense-spared Marie Antoinette (1938) – $2.9 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made up to that time – stars the Canadian-born Queen of MGM as the Austrian-born Queen of France. This was Shearer's first film in two years (following Romeo and Juliet) and her first release following husband Irving G.

Norma Shearer films Note: This article is being revised and expanded. Please check back later. Turner Classic Movies' Norma Shearer month comes to a close this evening, Nov. 24, '15, with the presentation of the last six films of Shearer's two-decade-plus career. Two of these are remarkably good; one is schizophrenic, a confused mix of high comedy and low drama; while the other three aren't the greatest. Yet all six are worth a look even if only because of Norma Shearer herself – though, really, they all have more to offer than just their top star. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the no-expense-spared Marie Antoinette (1938) – $2.9 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made up to that time – stars the Canadian-born Queen of MGM as the Austrian-born Queen of France. This was Shearer's first film in two years (following Romeo and Juliet) and her first release following husband Irving G.

In today's roundup: Essays on Krzysztof Kieslowski's Blind Chance, Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, Nicholas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces, Wim Wenders's A Trick of the Light and actresses Rafaela Ottiano and Marceline Day; interviews with Pedro Costa (Horse Money) and John Magary (The Mend); the new trailer for Adam McKay's The Big Short, based on the book by Michael Lewis and starring Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt; and Clint Eastwood may lure Doris Day back in front of a camera. » - David Hudson...

In today's roundup: Essays on Krzysztof Kieslowski's Blind Chance, Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, Nicholas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces, Wim Wenders's A Trick of the Light and actresses Rafaela Ottiano and Marceline Day; interviews with Pedro Costa (Horse Money) and John Magary (The Mend); the new trailer for Adam McKay's The Big Short, based on the book by Michael Lewis and starring Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt; and Clint Eastwood may lure Doris Day back in front of a camera. » - David Hudson...

Greta Garbo movie 'The Kiss.' Greta Garbo movies on TCM Greta Garbo, a rarity among silent era movie stars, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” performer today, Aug. 26, '15. Now, why would Garbo be considered a silent era rarity? Well, certainly not because she easily made the transition to sound, remaining a major star for another decade. Think Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, William Powell, Fay Wray, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Warner Baxter, Janet Gaynor, Constance Bennett, etc. And so much for all the stories about actors with foreign accents being unable to maintain their Hollywood stardom following the advent of sound motion pictures. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer star, Garbo was no major exception to the supposed rule. Mexican Ramon Novarro, another MGM star, also made an easy transition to sound, and so did fellow Mexicans Lupe Velez and Dolores del Rio, in addition to the very British...

Many film actors have become box office stars thanks to one character, but while Sean Connery and Christopher Lee managed to break away from 007 and Dracula, Anthony Perkins’ was forever overshadowed by his infamous alter ego Norman Bates. For some actors, one film role was enough to give them lasting cinema immortality; if it hadn’t been for their performances as the Wizard of Oz and Ming the Merciless, Frank Morgan and Charles Middleton would have been long forgotten.

The following ten actors achieved their cult status in the horror and fantasy genre on the strength of one film. Although these working actors appeared in a variety of movies, it is that particular character and their well received performance that has pushed any other notable film work into the background!

Max Schreck (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens – 1922)

Rafaela Ottiano (The Devil-Doll – 1936)

Margaret Hamilton (The Wizard of Oz – 1939)

Stanley Ridges (Black...