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Turner Broadcasting System: Turner Classic Movies

May 17, 2009  •  Post A Comment

Turner Classic Movies celebrated 15 years on the air April 14, a scant two weeks after the announcement the network was being honored with a Peabody Award as a haven for film fans.
“It’s a wonderful network, this dedicated presenter and preserver of vintage films, and … no other in the cable spectrum has stayed truer to its original mission,” the Peabody board said.
“It’s like getting the Pulitzer Prize in journalism, and what I think is so wonderful is that the entire channel was acknowledged,” said longtime TCM host Robert Osborne. “I loved them saying we received it for our presentation and for staying true to our original idea. I’m very proud of the channel and it is important when you’ve got something good like that going that you are able to stay true to your original aims. We have done that.”
TCM has always had a single mission: to present classic films in their original format, uncut and commercial-free. “TCM is important because of what is happening on television today with some of the programming that is out there. For a lot of people, TCM becomes like an oasis,” said Mr. Osborne. “If you check out TCM, nine times out of 10 it’s something you will want to watch, and you can watch with the whole family because most of the movies made in those days were for everyone.”
In today’s economic times, remaining commercial-free hasn’t been easy, but TCM programmers believe strongly in presenting films as they were originally seen in theaters. “We’re trying very hard to stick to that. A movie is constructed with a certain rhythm, particularly when you get into something like the Hitchcock catalog,” said Mr. Osborne. “His movies have a mood to them that is destroyed if you cut them up for TV. You lose the suspense.”
TCM also has been at the forefront of finding rarely seen gems and preserving them. “The watch guards at TCM are pretty strict,” said Mr. Osborne. “We have wonderful people who love movies and treat them like they’re children, so they don’t want anything mucked around with. I’m very glad they have that kind of mindset. I love when we find movies that haven’t been shown much on TV.”
“Our programming department is wonderful about licensing movies we don’t own to give a new look to the channel every month,” he added. “It’s not just the same films every month. There are fresh titles all the time.”

19 Comments

  1. Mr. Osborne,
    I am trying to locate an old movie probably from the 40’s. I watched it late one night in the 60’s after work. I don’t know title or actors. The story line is as follows:
    A family man who worked at a bank is accused of embezzlement(but innocent). To spare his family embarrassment, he changes clothes with a hobo and leaves on a train. The family assumes he is dead.
    He has been working at a school as a maintenance man. He returns to his home town and peers into the family window at Christmas time. The family now grown is around the piano singing Christmas carols.One of the sons come onto the porch and ask him what he wants. Then the wife comes out on the porch but does not recognize him(older with a beard.
    I cried for sevral hours after watching this movie.
    Would love to find it again
    Enjoy your program and insights
    Love TCM Betty

  2. Mr. Osborne: I have been looking for a copy of a film I appeared in fifty years ago. I was pleasantly surprised while on an Alaskan cruise to have it come on my T.V. Screen. It is “Cry Tough”, released in 1959. Produced by Hecit-Hill-Lancaster, directed by Paul Stanley, released by Universal Pictures. Please let me know me know where I can locate and purchase a copy,
    With great appreciation of your fine work and show! AL MEDINA

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