As part of its annual "Race & Hollywood" series, Turner Classic Movies presents Latino Images in Film every Tuesday and Thursday nights in May starting at 8 PM EST. Hosted by TCM's own Robert Osborne and film historian Chon Noriega, the 32 film retrospective traces the evolution of how Latinos have been portrayed (both positively and negatively) on the big screen. Some of the highlights include:Tortilla Flat (1942)- An adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel about a group of paisanos (fellows/countrmen) who live on the California coast, this movie stars John Garfield, Spencer Tracy, and Hedy Lamarr.
Giant (1956)- Starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and in his final big screen role, James Dean, a major subplot of this epic is the racism against Mexican-Americans in Texas.
Blackboard Jungle (1955)- One of the earliest films about juvenile delinquency, this movie features Raphael Campos as student Pete Morales.
Stand and Deliver (1988)- This fact-based story stars Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante, a dedicated high school math instructor who successfully teaches his underachieving students calculus.
My Family (1995)- Tracing three generations of a Mexican-American family, this drama features Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, and Jennifer Lopez.
For a complete list of movies that TCM will feature in the Latino Images in Film festival, as well as other information on the retrospective, please click here.
3 comments:
You are a posting Demon. These are some excellent post by the way :-) These are some classic films listed here. I saw Tortilla Flat before I moved to Texas, good flick. In Giant one of the main characters marries a Mexican girl and Rock gets involved in a hell of a fight defending her honor. I never get tired of seeing Stand and Deliver of Blackboard Jungle. Hold up...no La Bamba???
Yeah, Malcom, the hubby and I caught the promo for this earlier tonight. I knew I could count on you to post the info here (smile).
I hope to catch a few of these. Loved Giant and wouldn't mind watching it again.
Pjazzy: Thanks! Luckily, I had the time to get these posts up. I am interested to see what Chon Noriega has to say about Spencer Tracy playing someone of Latin origin in Tortilla Flat. That fight you are referring to in Giant is one of my favorite movie dustups.
In case you didn't check the TCM schedule, they are showing "La Bamba" during this retrospective.
Lori: I hope to watch Giant myself. It's been awhile since I've seen it.
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