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The Screen Actors Guild has been presenting its annual life achievement award for many decades. The most recent recipient for 2025 was double Oscar winner Jane Fonda.

For the 2023 event, Sally Field was the latest veteran performer to receive the Screen Actor’s Guild life achievement award. Starting in 1995, audiences around the world have been able to enjoy this celebration of a beloved thespian’s work, crammed right in the middle of a nail-biting awards telecast. In honor of De Niro’s accomplishment, let’s take a look back at every person to be given this prize since the event was first televised. Our gallery includes Helen Mirren, Robert De Niro, Alan Alda, Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Betty White, Shirley Temple, Barbra Streisand, and more.

SAG began handing out a career achievement prize to actors who left their mark on both the big screen and small in 1962. It wasn...

The effort to restore neglected films doesn’t get more rewarding than this 4K rebirth of Lewis Milestone’s version of the acclaimed Somerset Maugham story. Loaned from MGM, Joan Crawford tries on the role of Sadie Thompson and holds her own opposite Walter Huston’s fire & brimstone preacher. It’s still a major achievement of the pre-Code era, an adult story that doesn’t water down its ‘dangerous’ themes: it’s exactly the kind of show that the censors didn’t want made.

Rain

Blu-ray

Mary Pickford Foundation / Vci

1932 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 94 + 76 min. / Street Date September 27, 2022 / Available from Mvd / 29.95

Starring: Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, Fred Howard, Ben Hendricks Jr., William Gargan, Mary Shaw, Guy Kibbee, Kendall Lee, Beulah Bondi, Matt Moore, Walter Catlett.

Cinematography: Oliver Marsh

Art Director: Richard Day

Film Editor: W. Duncan Mansfield

Original Music: Alfred Newman

Screen adaptation by Maxwell Anderson from the play by John Colton,...

After skipping the virtual ceremony in 2021, the Screen Actors Guild once again presents its annual life achievement award in 2022. Oscar, Emmy and Tony winner Dame Helen Mirren receives the honorary SAG trophy.

For the 2020 event, Robert De Niro was the latest veteran performer to receive the Screen Actor’s Guild life achievement award. Starting in 1995, audiences around the world have been able to enjoy this celebration of a beloved thespian’s work, crammed right in the middle of a nail-biting awards telecast. In honor of De Niro’s accomplishment, let’s take a look back at every person to be given this prize since the event was first televised. Our gallery includes Alan Alda, Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Betty White, Shirley Temple and more.

SEEHelen Mirren movies: 12 greatest films ranked from worst to best

SAG began handing out a career achievement prize to actors who left their mark...

Exclusive: SAG-AFTRA won’t be handing out a SAG Life Achievement Award this year for the first time in 40 years. It’s not that no one was deserving – this year of all years – but because of the pandemic and a shortened TV timeslot for its awards show, the union decided that it would be better to skip a year and present the award live and in-person next year.

Going into this awards season, SAG-AFTRA had planned for its 27th annual SAG Awards to be a two-hour show, as it had been in years past. The home page for the Screen Actors Guild Awards noted initially that it would be a “fast moving two-hour show.” This year’s pre-taped, one-hour show, featuring 13 awards presentations, will air April 4 on TNT and TBS.

The SAG Life Achievement Award is the union’s most prestigious honor, presented for “outstanding achievement in fostering...

Two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro is the latest veteran performer to receive the Screen Actor’s Guild life achievement award at this weekend’s 2020 ceremony. While not nominated individually, he is also competing for the top film ensemble prize as part of “The Irishman” cast alongside Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Anna Paquin, Ray Romano and more.

SEE2020 SAG Awards nominations: Full list of Screen Actors Guild Awards nominees

Starting in 1995, audiences around the world have been able to enjoy this celebration of a beloved thespian’s work, crammed right in the middle of a nail-biting awards telecast. In honor of De Niro’s accomplishment, let’s take a look back at every person to be given this prize since the event was first televised. Our gallery includes Alan Alda, Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Betty White, Shirley Temple and more.

SEEAlan Alda Interview: ‘Marriage Story’

SAG began handing...

The most notorious pre-Code shocker comes to Criterion — and proves to be a superior drama with an entirely mature, sound outlook on the political issues around women’s sexuality and personal freedom. Taken from a raw novel by William Faulkner, this tale of rape and terror stars Miriam Hopkins in one of the bravest, best performances of its era. Truth-telling like this always comes at a price — Temple Drake was a prime target for the oppressive Production Code, with the result that Hopkins’ achievement was banned and unseen for over thirty-five years.

The Story of Temple Drake

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1006

1933 / B&w / 1:33 Academy / 71 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 3, 2019 / 39.95

Starring: Miriam Hopkins, William Gargan, Jack La Rue, Florence Eldridge, Guy Standing, Irving Pichel, Jobyna Howland, William Collier Jr., Elizabeth Patterson, James Eagles, Harlan Knight, Jim Mason, Louise Beavers, Grady Sutton, Kent Taylor, John Carradine.

Cinematography:...

One of America’s favorite holiday movies plays strangely today, and despite being one of the most popular pictures of its year, really should have disturbed people when it was new as well. Director Leo McCarey and his glowing stars Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman do remarkable work, and the show has its heart in the right place… but the values built into the story are painfully wrong-headed. We don’t expect ’40s films to adhere to today’s so-called enlightened PC values, but some of the attitudes in this one make us want to throw things at the screen. Taken from a beautifully remastered new restoration, Olive’s Signature Edition is flawless.

The Bells of St. Mary’s

Blu-ray

Olive Signature

1945 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 126 min. / Street Date November 26, 2019 / available through the Olive Signature website / 39.95

Starring: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, William Gargan, Ruth Donnelly, Joan Carroll, Martha Sleeper,...

Alan Alda is the latest veteran performer to receive the Screen Actor’s Guild Life Achievement Award. Starting in 1995, audiences around the world have been able to enjoy this celebration of a beloved thespian’s work, crammed right in the middle of a nail-biting awards telecast. In honor of Alda’s accomplishment, let’s take a look back at every person to be given this prize since the event was first televised. Our gallery includes Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Betty White, Shirley Temple and more.

SEEAlan Alda receiving 2019 Screen Actors Guild life achievement award

SAG began handing out a career achievement prize to actors who left their mark on both the big screen and small in 1962. It wasn’t until the inaugural awards ceremony in 1995 (for the film year 1994) that they began televising the event. The 31 people rewarded prior to that (and not featured in our gallery above...

Fritz Lang continues his take-no-prisoners indictment of America’s curious relationship with crime; this time he presents the thesis that an innocent man can be a pawn in cosmic game of injustice. Three-time loser Henry Fonda, the glummest actor in ’30s films, doesn’t mean to rob or kill, but gosh darn it, They Made Him a Criminal. Those considerations aside, it’s a wonderful cinematic achievement, made all the better by a decent digital restoration.

You Only Live Once

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1937 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 86 min. / Street Date July 25, 2017 / 29.98

Starring: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane, Jean Dixon,

William Gargan, Jerome Cowan, Charles ‘Chic’ Sale, Margaret Hamilton, Warren Hymer,

Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Ward Bond, Jack Carson, Jonathan Hale

Cinematography: Leon Shamroy

Art Direction: Alexander Toluboff

Film Editor: Daniel Mandell

Original Music: Hugo Friedhofer

Written by Graham Baker and Gene Towne

Produced by Walter Wanger

Directed by Fritz Lang...

Yes, it is a perfect title for a horror picture, but it belongs to an early film noir -- or as we discover, a murder thriller that previews the classic '40s noir visual look. Victor Mature is the man on the spot for a killing, Betty Grable and Carole Landis are a pair of sisters in danger, and Laird Cregar is the creepiest police detective in the history of the force. I Wake Up Screaming Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1941 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 82 min. / Street Date November 1, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar, William Gargan, Alan Mowbray, Allyn Joslyn, Elisha Cook Jr. Cinematography Edward Cronjager Art Direction Richard Day, Nathan Juran Film Editor Robert L. Simpson Original Music Cyril J. Mockridge, Harold Barlow Written by Dwight Taylor from the novel by Steve Fisher Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

My,...

Behind Green Lights

Written by Charles G. Booth

Directed by Otto Brower

U.S.A., 1946

*This film is in the public domain and can be viewed legally and for free online. However, the version currently circulating has a small continuity glitch early in the film at about the 1-minute mark. The movie will suddenly play about 5 seconds of a scene that chronologically comes a couple of minutes later. It is the only technical issue with the print however. The rest of the movie plays out perfectly fine.

On what began as an ordinary night at the police station, Lt. Sam Carson (William Gargan) is notified of a vehicle parked on the sidewalk just in front of the building. Within the vehicle is the body of the late Walter Bard (Bernard Nedell), a private detective recently engaged in some rather politically relevant cases. Among the suspects possibly involved in man’s...

Constance Cummings: Actress in minor Hollywood movies became major London stage star. Constance Cummings: Actress went from Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra to Noël Coward and Eugene O'Neill Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades on stage, in films, and on television in both the U.S. and the U.K., died ten years ago on Nov. 23. Unlike other Broadway imports such as Ann Harding, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, and Claudette Colbert, the pretty, elegant Cummings – who could have been turned into a less edgy Constance Bennett had she landed at Rko or Paramount instead of Columbia – never became a Hollywood star. In fact, her most acclaimed work, whether in films or – more frequently – on stage, was almost invariably found in British productions. That's most likely why the name Constance Cummings – despite the DVD availability of several of her best-received performances – is all but forgotten.

Adolphe Menjou movies today (This article is currently being revised.) Despite countless stories to the contrary, numerous silent film performers managed to survive the coming of sound. Adolphe Menjou, however, is a special case in that he not only remained a leading man in the early sound era, but smoothly made the transition to top supporting player in mid-decade, a position he would continue to hold for the quarter of a century. Menjou is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Day today, Aug. 3, as part of TCM's "Summer Under the Stars" 2015 series. Right now, TCM is showing William A. Wellman's A Star Is Born, the "original" version of the story about a small-town girl (Janet Gaynor) who becomes a Hollywood star, while her husband (Fredric March) boozes his way into oblivion. In typical Hollywood originality (not that things are any different elsewhere), this 1937 version of the story – produced by...

Cecil B. DeMille on the set of Four Frightened People. Image via Doctor Macro.Classical Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille, subject of a recent retrospective at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, is charged in pages upon pages of film history and criticism with codifying modern Hollywood spectacle, often through the lens of Old Testament biblical narrative. However, bookended by his prolific (and oft revered) silent work, and his late career showmanship are a string of virtually un-regarded films that push the director’s ideology into something bordering Naturalism. Specifically, This Day and Age (1933), Four Frightened People (1934), and Reap the Wild Wind (1942) are wholly uninterested in the Christian mythology that defines his more canonical work (The Ten Commandments, 1923 and 1956, King of Kings [1927], Sign on the Cross [1932], etc.); instead they exploit DeMille's scale and sense of melodrama in order to attempt the rather lofty task of explaining the role of man in...

Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt': Alfred Hitchcock heroine (image: Joseph Cotten about to strangle Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt') (See preceding article: "Teresa Wright Movies: Actress Made Oscar History.") After scoring with The Little Foxes, Mrs. Miniver, and The Pride of the Yankees, Teresa Wright was loaned to Universal – once initial choices Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland became unavailable – to play the small-town heroine in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. (Check out video below: Teresa Wright reminiscing about the making of Shadow of a Doubt.) Co-written by Thornton Wilder, whose Our Town had provided Wright with her first chance on Broadway and who had suggested her to Hitchcock; Meet Me in St. Louis and Junior Miss author Sally Benson; and Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville, Shadow of a Doubt was based on "Uncle Charlie," a story outline by Gordon McDonell – itself based on actual events.

In honor of James Garner I was watching A Man Could Get Killed (1966), an easy-going spy caper which makes decent use of its star's easy-going charm, and noted that director Ronald Neame had swiped, from The 39 Steps, Hitchcock's transition from screaming woman to screaming train whistle, only it wasn't a train whistle in the Neame version (I forget what it was). Still, as Neame had actually worked for Hitchcock, I thought it was an Ok little homage.

I was surprised to find the same device reprised in the next film I watched, The Argyle Secrets (1948), and this time I was again forgiving because the moment was so amusingly over-the-top. The scream comes from a burly policeman who's just looked at the headline of his paper and realized that his house-guest of moments before is wanted for murder. The scream looks like this:

It's one of a number of odd moments that invigorate a twisty,...

Lionel Barrymore movies: rare Night Flight. (See previous article: “Lionel Barrymore: More Than Drew Barrymore Great-Uncle.”) Last recommendation: Clarence Brown’s Night Flight (1933), a TCM premiere and a rarity not seen (because of rights issues) since who knows when. Night Flight boasts a remarkable cast, including both John and Lionel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Robert Montgomery, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and William Gargan. That’s four Academy Award wins, plus five nominations and one Honorary Oscar. Lionel Barrymore movie schedule on Friday, August 10 6:00 Am West Of Zanzibar (1928). In this silent film, a mad African dictator plots revenge on the trader who stole his [...]...

(Fritz Lang, 1937, Studiocanal, 12)

Fritz Lang is one of the few directors with truly substantial bodies of film in both the silent and the sound era, though he rarely had the budgets or creative freedom during his Hollywood years that he'd enjoyed in 1920s Berlin.

This classic of social-conscience cinema, his third film after fleeing from Nazi Germany, stars Henry Fonda as a three-time loser, unjustly convicted of murder and on the run with his pregnant wife (Sylvia Sidney). It is at once a great prison melodrama, an expression of Lang's fascination with fate and destiny, and a powerful attack on the death penalty and the stigmatisation of ex-convicts. Fonda (here anticipating his Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath) has rarely been better, Sidney is heartbreaking as his devoted wife, and the supporting cast is a gallery of familiar character actors (Margaret Hamilton, Barton MacLane, William Gargan, Ward Bond et...

Silent All Quiet On The Western Front: TCM's Library of Congress Tribute [Photo: Kay Francis, Leslie Howard in British Agent.] Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 8:00 Pm The Constant Nymph (1943). A composer finds inspiration in his wife's romantic cousin. Dir: Edmund Goulding. Cast: Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith. Bw-112 mins. 10:00 Pm Baby Face (1933). A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire. Dir: Alfred E. Green. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook. Bw-76 mins. 11:30 Pm Two Heads On A Pillow (1934). Once-married attorneys face off during a heated divorce case. Dir: William Nigh. Cast: Neil Hamilton, Miriam Jordan, Henry Armetta. Bw-68 mins. 12:45 Am All Quiet On The Western Front (1930). Young German soldiers try to adjust to the horrors of World War I. Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray. Bw-134 mins. 3:15 Am : Will Rogers Winging Around Europe (1927). Bw-0 mins. 3:30 Am...

James Earl Jones, 2008 SAG Life Achievement Award recipient 1962 Eddie Cantor 1963 Stan Laurel 1965 Bob Hope 1966 Barbara Stanwyck 1967 William Gargan 1968 James Stewart 1969 Edward G. Robinson 1970 Gregory Peck 1971 Charlton Heston 1972 Frank Sinatra 1973 Martha Raye 1974 Walter Pidgeon 1975 Rosalind Russell 1976 Pearl Bailey 1977 James Cagney 1978 Edgar Bergen 1979 Katharine Hepburn 1980 Leon Ames 1982 Danny Kaye 1983 Ralph Bellamy 1984 Iggie Wolfington 1985 Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward 1986 Nanette Fabray 1987 Red Skelton 1988 Gene Kelly 1989 Jack Lemmon 1990 Brock Peters 1991 Burt Lancaster 1992 Audrey Hepburn 1993 Ricardo Montalban 1994 George Burns 1995 Robert Redford 1996 Angela Lansbury 1997 Elizabeth Taylor 1998 Kirk Douglas 1999 Sidney Poitier 2000 Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee 2001 Edward Asner 2002 Clint Eastwood 2003 Karl Malden 2004 James Garner 2005 Shirley Temple 2006 Julie Andrews 2007 Charles Durning 2008 James Earl Jones 2009 Betty White 2010 Ernest Borgnine 2011 Mary Tyler Moore James Earl Jones photo: Mark Hill/TNT...

Joan Blondell on TCM: Dames, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am The Reckless Hour (1931) A young innocent almost ruins her life for the love of an unfeeling cad. Dir: John Francis Dillon. Cast: Dorothy Mackaill, Conrad Nagel, H. B. Warner. Bw-71 mins. 7:15 Am Big City Blues (1932) A country boy finds love and heartache in New York City. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. Cast: Joan Blondell, Eric Linden, Jobyna Howland. Bw-63 mins. 8:30 Am Central Park (1932) Small-town kids out to make it in the big city inadvertently get mixed up with gangsters. Dir: John G. Adolfi. Cast: Joan Blondell, Wallace Ford, Guy Kibbee. Bw-58 mins. 9:30 Am Lawyer Man (1933) Success corrupts a smooth-talking lawyer. Dir: William Dieterle. Cast: William Powell, Joan Blondell, David Landau. Bw-68 mins. 10:45 Am Traveling Saleslady (1935) A toothpaste tycoon's daughter joins his rival to teach him a lesson. Dir: Ray Enright.

Ralph Bellamy on TCM: Sunrise At Campobello, The Awful Truth Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Carefree (1938) A psychiatrist falls in love with the woman he's supposed to be nudging into marriage with someone else. Dir: Mark Sandrich. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Ralph Bellamy. Bw-83 mins. 7:30 Am The Secret Six (1931) A secret society funds the investigation of a bootlegging gang. Dir: George Hill. Cast: Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown. Bw-84 mins. 9:00 Am Headline Shooter (1933) A newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot. Dir: Otto Brower. Cast: William Gargan, Frances Dee, Ralph Bellamy. Bw-61 mins. 10:15 Am Picture Snatcher (1933) An ex-con brings his crooked ways to a job as a news photographer. Dir: Lloyd Bacon. Cast: James Cagney, Ralph Bellamy, Patricia Ellis. Bw-77 mins. 11:45 Am The Wedding Night (1935) A married author falls for the beautiful farm girl...

Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, Sunrise at Campobello Ralph Bellamy was what many would call a "dependable" player: always there (nearly 100 movies), always capable, (almost) always losing the girl. Why Bellamy never became a major movie star is beyond me — especially considering that guys like James Stewart, Fred MacMurray, Dick Powell, Don Ameche, Joseph Cotten, etc. were top leading men of that era. Perhaps Bellamy was just both too good-looking and too intelligent-looking to keep Ginger Rogers from Fred Astaire (Carefree), Irene Dunne and Rosalind Russell from Cary Grant (The Awful Truth and His Girl Friday, respectively), and Anna Sten from Gary Cooper (The Wedding Night). All four films — in addition to 11 other Ralph Bellamy movies — will be presented on Turner Classic Movies on Sunday, August 14, as part of TCM's "Summer Under the Stars" film series. [Ralph Bellamy Movie Schedule.] Unfortunately, there are no TCM premieres, but included are a few lesser-known titles, e.g.

Over my time authoring Top 10 Tuesdays (or Thursdays if your editor is slow!) for Owf, I’ve submitted a couple of articles chronicling the best full-length films available to watch online (Part I and Part II). My attention focused on YouTube’s offerings in these previous lists, but today I turn to the Internet Archive. This site is dedicated to offering the general public as much content as possible – whether it’s live concerts, television shows or indeed feature films – for free viewing/listening or download. As I’ve previously mentioned, this content is in the Public Domain, which means the reproduction and offers of free viewings or downloads is entirely legal.

As a relentless fan and tireless advocate for classical Hollywood fare, The Internet Archive is one of my favourite sites out in the stratosphere of the interweb! Read on to find 10 classic films that you really have no excuse not to watch…...

William Gargan, Miriam Hopkins, Jack La Rue in Stephen Roberts' The Story of Temple Drake Cinefest 2011, a four-day festival of rare American films, kicked off earlier today in Syracuse, NY. According to organizers, Cinefest features "great films … from the vaults of the world's greatest libraries and obscure specialties we are noted for from private collectors!" [Cinefest 2011 schedule.] Among the highlights at this year's Cinefest are the East Coast premiere of the Museum of Modern Art's restored print of the racy pre-Code Miriam Hopkins vehicle The Story of Temple Drake (1933), based on William Faulkner's Sanctuary; the Dolores Costello vehicle Glorious Betsy (1928), which earned Anthony Coldeway an Academy Award nomination for Best Adaptation; and Norman Taurog's The Phantom President (1932), a comedy musical starring Broadway legend George M. Cohan (James Cagney won an Oscar for playing him in Yankee Doodle Dandy), Claudette Colbert, and Jimmy Durante. Also, Joe May's [...]...

(Volumes 1 and 2) How can I say I enjoyed watching these new two-disc sets from Sony when most of the films aren’t very good? The answer lies in the peculiar fondness film buffs like me harbor for second-tier Hollywood movies of the 1940s and 50s and the people in them. For instance, Night Editor (1946) is an undistinguished B movie about a married cop who’s led astray by a femme fatale…but the femme in this case is a startlingly beautiful Janis Carter. You can’t take your eyes off of her as she leads William Gargan into a whirlpool of…...

Global phenom though it's been, the Korean New Wave has been as badly hit by the 2008 economic crisis as any national industry, a situation that opened the door in the last two years for a variety of dirt-cheap indies, most notoriously Yang Ik-joon's "Breathless," which took South Korea by storm. The far less flamboyant example is Noh Young-Seok's "Daytime Drinking," a peripatetic generation-z comedy that's as eventless, but as seductive and wistful, as a real afternoon boozing spree.

In fact, it's a difficult movie to stay sober for. The cultural context, provided neatly on the Canadian DVD notes by Asian film obsessive Grady Hendrix, is simply that Koreans drink a lot, and they drink a lot of soju (a cheap, low-amp, sweetened vodka potion, consumed at the rate of almost seven gallons per adult per year), and so movies like Noh's (and Hong Sang-soo's, among others) express a reality...