TCM July Schedule Is Celebrating Singers as Stars All Month Long
The month of July sees a bit of a changeup at TCM as the network abandons its single-star spotlight in favor of summer music vibes — specifically singers who were stars in movies.
Throughout July, TCM devotes its Monday evening programming to Hollywood classics featuring iconic singers who successfully made the leap from the microphone to the silver screen, showcasing star power that wasn’t limited to a single medium. It kicks off Monday, July 6, at 8pm ET with Billie Holiday in New Orleans.
The full July TCM schedule of singers in films is below. Just looking for the full month calendar? Scroll to the bottom to download.
Monday, July 6 – Begins at 8pm ET
Everett Collection
The first film in the lineup, 1947’s New Orleans, marked the only feature film appearance of Billie Holiday (who was virtually ignored by the movie studios despite her talents), pairing her with her childhood icon Louis Armstrong as the duo performed original songs that would end up becoming jazz standards.
Up next is 1957’s Jailhouse Rock, widely considered the definitive work of Elvis Presley’s cinematic career, fundamentally shaping his image, his musical legacy and the blueprint for the rock ’n’ roll film genre. Other artists highlighted include Harry Belafonte (1959’s The World, the Flesh and the Devil); Frank Sinatra (1960’s Ocean’s 11); Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon (1964’s Muscle Beach Party); Ethel Waters and Lena Horne (1943’s Cabin in the Sky, a trailblazing musical featuring an all-Black cast); Bing Crosby (1933’s Going Hollywood); Rudy Vallee (1938’s Gold Diggers in Paris); and Maurice Chevalier (1934’s The Merry Widow).
Monday, July 13 – Begins at 8pm ET
Everett Collection
From the rock ’n’ roll energy of the Beatles and Roger Daltrey to the soulful storytelling of Barbra Streisand and Johnny Cash, tonight’s “Singers as Stars” lineup features legendary musicians who possessed a magnetic screen presence and commanded the spotlight. Starting things off is 1971’s Carnal Knowledge, directed by Mike Nichols (The Graduate) and featuring Ann-Margret and Art Garfunkel, which remains one of the most brutally honest and provocative films ever made about modern intimacy — so much so that it led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that helped legally define what constitutes “obscenity” in art.
Next up, 1976’s A Star Is Born revolutionized music in film, with Streisand insisting on recording her vocals live rather than following the standard practice of prerecording them before filming. The picture, also starring Kris Kristofferson, was the first presented in Dolby Stereo, which brought surround sound to theaters. Other artists taking center stage tonight include Willie Nelson in Honeysuckle Rose (1980), Daltrey in Lisztomania (1975), Mick Jagger in Performance (1970), Cash in 1961’s Door-to-Door Maniac (originally titled Five Minutes to Live), Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (1959), Connie Francis in Looking for Love (1964) and the Fab Four in A Hard Day’s Night (1964).
Monday, July 20 – Begins at 8pm ET
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
Tonight’s lineup moves from workplace comedy to fantasy, action, and offbeat character pieces. The evening begins with 9 to 5 (1980), the smash comedy starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, whose title song became one of Parton’s signature hits.
The night’s TCM premiere is Ruthless People (1986), the dark comedy starring Bette Midler and Danny DeVito as a wildly mismatched married couple whose mutual hatred collides with a botched kidnapping plot. Midler’s performance as the loud and unexpectedly resilient Barbara Stone gives the movie much of its comedy, especially as the kidnappers discover that her husband is in no hurry to pay her ransom. The rest of the lineup includes The Wiz (1978), with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson; Truck Turner (1974), starring Isaac Hayes; One-Trick Pony (1980), starring Paul Simon; Ensign Pulver (1964), with Tommy Sands; and Ten Little Indians (1965), featuring Fabian.
Monday, July 27 – Begins at 8pm ET
MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection
The celebration concludes with an eclectic lineup, beginning with Moonstruck (1987), the romantic comedy starring Cher in her Oscar-winning role as Loretta Castorini, a widowed Brooklyn bookkeeper whose engagement is disrupted by her fiancé’s intense younger brother, played by Nicolas Cage.
The evening continues with Six Degrees of Separation (1993), featuring Will Smith in one of his early dramatic film roles, and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), starring David Bowie as a British officer in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. The late-night lineup includes Smithereens (1982), with Richard Hell; Down by Law (1986), featuring Tom Waits; The Player (1992), with Lyle Lovett among its large ensemble; and Who’s That Girl (1987), starring Madonna.
Barb Oates, Brian Bishop, T’Neil Gooden, and Miriam Norwitz were all contributing writers.