CATCH A CLASSIC
TCM Spotlight: Growing Up on Screen: ‘Elizabeth Taylor & Roddy McDowall’ TCM, beginning at 7 p.m.
Two more actors whose fame extended from their days as child stars through their adult careers are spotlighted tonight. First up are four films starring Elizabeth Taylor. This lineup begins with the Oscar-winning drama National Velvet (pictured) (1944), featuring Taylor in her first major role, which she filmed while just a tween, as a young girl with a passion for horses. After that is Father of the Bride (1950), the classic comedy featuring Taylor, then in her late teens, as the titular bride, with Oscar nominee Spencer Tracy playing her father. As Taylor grew into her late 20s, her acting range also grew, and that was particularly noticeable in tonight’s next movie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). The adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play earned Taylor her second Best Actress Oscar nomination. This evening’s final Taylor film, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), earned the then30-something star a Best Actress Oscar win. She costars in the powerful adaptation of Edward Albee’s play with then-husband Richard Burton. Following Taylor’s films, into the late night and early morning, enjoy three films from across Roddy McDowall’s long career. First is Lassie Come Home (1943), the classic family drama that launched the beloved Lassie film franchise. Here, a teenage McDowall stars as a Yorkshire lad who has a profound bond with the titular collie. Next, a 20-something McDowall portrays an idealistic student who goes on the run from Communist authorities in an Iron Curtain country in The Steel Fist (1952). Finally, in The Cool Ones (1967), a late-30s McDowall plays a music promoter who sets up a pop singer with a dancer in a romantic match as a publicity stunt for a new TV series.