And Just Like That… Mario Cantone Is Spending Summer Under the Stars at TCM

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And just like that… it’s August again —the last gasp of vacations, the first days of school, the long, treacherous hiatuses of our favorite talk shows, and a Turner Classic Movies tradition like no other. Starting August 1, TCM —which was recently seemingly saved by WB head David Zaslav —will once again highlight 31 stars across 31 days for Summer Under the Stars. The event has recurred annually since 2003, and this year, blended into usual mix of starry icons of legends past, are names like Mexican-American actor Pedro Armendáriz, iconic character journeyman James Gleason, and Italian sex symbol Gina Lollobrigida.

Perhaps the real coup this year, however, are weekly appearances of “And Just Like That…” star Mario Cantone, who will join for not one… not two… but four nights of programming — once weekly —for four of his absolute favorites. Cantone has become a reliable presence at TCM, headlining the October series Creepy Cinema and showing up to introduce screenings each April at its classic film festival. And for Cantone, the job is the dream.

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“It’s sick that I willed this into my life,” the comedian told IndieWire. “Because all I wanted to do was be on TCM.”

And Cantone knows how to grab the viewers, offering delectable impressions of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford —among others —and the latter he gets to extoll on August 27. In addition to undoubtedly serving up witticisms in Crawford’s voice, Cantone will offers insight as only a true fan can.

Crawford’s image hasn’t had an easy road since her death in 1977. Following the publication of her daughter Christina Crawford’s memoir “Mommie Dearest” and the subsequent film —the definition of unintentional camp —Joan Crawford is often confused with Faye Dunaway. While both consummate performers with sterling resumes and Oscars, they are not the same. Part of the camp comparisons, though, might be indebted to movies like Cantone’s first choice, “Torch Song,” from 1953 —which he admits is not a good movie.

“It’s important because it was her return to MGM. She was fired years before. They gave her used sets, used tracks, used costumes. It was not a great welcome back and bad script, but it’s hilarious,” Cantone said.

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Crawford had to sing in the movie, but though she tried to record the tracks, it just didn’t prove to be up to be convincing as a major Broadway star, which she plays in the movie.

“She was very frustrated with herself and trying to get [the songs]. I feel really bad for her, because she wants to be able to sing it. So [the studio] gets India Adams [to dub her]. And even with the frustration she had of not being able to do it herself, she was so kind to India Adams. She sent her gifts. She wrote her notes, saying, ‘If I act in this movie as well as you sing in this movie, then we’ll be all set,'” Cantone related. “Joan Crawford was… I think she was a good woman. I mean, I think she was a survivor. She was tough. She had to do everything she could to just to survive in this business.”

The second film he will introduce he believes offers another “bizarre” shade of Crawford: 1957’s “The Story of Esther Costello.”

“When it starts out, you’re like, ‘This is terrible and she’s not very good in it.’ And then it starts to go and she becomes really good at it halfway through. And the story is interesting. It’s very Annie Sullivan-Helen Keller,” he said.

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Cantone will also help feature Judy Garland on August 6, and he could not resist choosing what he believes to be her greatest performance —“A Star is Born,” for which she infamously lost the Oscar to Grace Kelly in “The Country Girl,” though the Academy was confident enough she’d win to send a TV crew to the hospital where she had just given birth to her son, Joey. With “A Star is Born,” Cantone believes you get a two-for-one.

“It’s a great movie and and the other thing is, [her co-star] James Mason in that is pretty amazing. He’s dangerous and scary and funny and brilliant and caring and loving, but there’s so many facets to his to his character. It’s so layered. He’s amazing at it, and she’s freaking great,” he shared.

A lesser-known project will be Cantone’s second introduction for Garland, the rarely screened 1963 film “I Could Go On Singing.”

“There’s that scene in it where she’s talking about, ‘They want to roll me out like a piece of pastry and have everybody take a a big bite of me.’ She’s talking about herself. And she wrote that scene. She pretty much wrote that scene. I mean, it was written differently. And they just redid it, it was one take, and they just kind of kept the kept the camera on her, and they pulled in and that was it,” he explained.

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The other pair of stars Cantone will be on hand for are Shirley MacLaine and James Cagney —scheduled for August 13 and August 20, respectively. Cantone says that, though the “Yankee Doodle Dandy” star is one of his all-timers, he doesn’t do much of a Cagney impression —he just loves his work in movies such as “Love Me of Leave Me” (1953) and “The Mayor of Hell” (1933), two films that show different shades of Cagney’s rough-and-tumble persona.

“I think he was like the De Niro of his time,” Cantone said. “Even with De Niro, there’s a bigness to them. Not subtle, but yet they ground the performance just in the way that they do it. I don’t even think that’s training. That’s just who you are, right? You know, Bette Davis hated modern acting. She always thought, ‘If you want to see a documentary. Go watch it.’ [She thought] you should lift it up. It needs to be heightened. And he could do that. Yet the character is still really grounded and honest and true and amazing.”

As for MacLaine, who turned 91 in April and rose to prominence in the waining days of the Hollywood studio system, Cantone couldn’t resist presenting her Oscar-winning role in 1983’s “Terms of Endearment,” (He does have a bit up his sleeve doing MacLaine’s “Give my daughter the shot!” freakout), but he was most excited to get the chance to introduce “Sweet Charity” (1969), the curious Bob Fosse-directed musical —a box office misfire at the time —that anticipates “Cabaret” (1972) while still harkening back to an earlier style of movies musicals.

“I love Sweet Charity. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s Fosse’s first film. It’s important. She’s great. John McMartin is great. You got Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly, who are phenomenal,” he said.

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This all goes down just as Cantone is wrapping up the third season of “And Just Like That…” The finale will drop on August 14, following a string of episodes that has put a spotlight on Cantone’s arsenal of talent —and allowed him to share the screen with Broadway legend Patti LuPone.

“It’s just one scene [with LuPone], but it’s a doozy, and then next week [July 31] I have a plot line that’s insane. It’s like… I don’t know how Michael Patrick king thought of this thing, but it’s hilarious. It’s one of my favorite things I ever filmed,” he previewed.

For a full schedule of TCM Summer Under the Stars, visit the TCM website.

And for an example of Cantone’s impressions, I refer you to this appearance on “What What Happens Live.”

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