TCM To Honor Ted Turner At Its 10th Annual Classic Film Festival

By Josh Albarran

From left to right: Turner Broadcasting founder Ted Turner (5th person on the right) alongside director Arthur Hiller, actress Arlene Dhal, Jane Powell & Celeste Holm, actor Van Johnson and TCM host Robert Osborne in the switch on ceremony for Turner Classic Movies' first day on the air at New York City's Times Square on April 14, 1994.
(Turner Broadcasting System Inc.)

NEW YORK - April 3, 2019 -- 25 years ago, an billionaire running an cable company from Atlanta, Georgia named Ted Turner in front of millions at New York's Times Square launched an 24 hour day commercial-free network known as Turner Classic Movies, presenting the best of Hollywood's finest from the golden years of cinema. TCM announced Wednesday that Mr. Turner will be honored at its annual Classic Film Festival, which its celebrating its 10th anniversary to be held in Hollywood April 11-14.

TCM, was one of the many proprieties Mr. Turner created at his Turner Broadcasting System unit. Prior to TCM's debut in 1994, Turner brought the film library of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer when he acquired the struggling studio from Culver City in 1986 before he sold MGM back to its previous owner 74 days later but Ted kept the pre-1986 MGM library to himself. Mr. Turner would used that thousands of classic MGM films (including some from Warner Bros. and RKO) on its cable networks at the time TBS (along with the simulcast on its local Atlanta station WTBS, later became WPCH in 2007 and sold by Turner Broadcasting in 2017) and TNT.

Most of the Turner-owned library films that produced in black & white like Casablanca and the cartoons shorts had been colorized on air its late 1980s airings something we never seen before decades after TV switch from black & white to color (TNT along with TBS had aired Casablanca in color in the early years of that network, but after that there is no color version of that film to this day on either networks or on DVD/Blu-ray releases just the original B&W version).

The 1939 David Selznick-produced film Gone with the Wind with Clark Gable (left) and Vivien Leigh (right) is Ted Turner's favorite film of all-time. Mr. Turner called it "the greatest movie ever made."
(Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)

In 1990s, Mr. Turner would launch two cable channels dedicated to showcase Turner's MGM library. First, the cartoon shorts like MGM's Tom and Jerry and the pre-1948 Looney Tunes along with Hanna-Barbera programs Turner acquired from Taft Broadcasting years ago and original produced programming were broadcast on the Cartoon Network when it premiered in October on 1992. And then finally, the remainder parts of its library such as The Wizard of Oz, Swing Time and Ted's favorite film of all-time Gone of the Wind featuring Clark Gable & Vivien Leigh would headline the new Turner Classic Movies channel that debuted on April 14, 1994. Mr. Turner also played in an small role in Hollywood, including an cameo in the 1993 box-office successful film Gettysberg produced by Turner's production company based on the events of an real-life battle taking place in 1863.

Since its debut 25 years ago, TCM continues Mr. Turner's tradition of presenting uncut and unedited classic Hollywood films every day with no commercials, including an guide of hosts (including the late founding host Robert Osborne) talking about the behind the scenes on how an movie is made during primetime every day and weekend afternoons on-air. TCM also has an fan-interactive Backlot membership program and an number of activities for movie lovers across the county such as the TCM Classic Film Bus Tour and the TCM Classic Film Festival. Recently as part of major reconstructing announcement by WarnerMedia in March of this year, TCM along with Cartoon Network and Adult Swim will be moving to its sister company Warner Bros. after 25 years operated at Turner Broadcasting, giving WB an golden key to program its own library of films and television shows to and the complete control of those networks.

When asking about 25 years of TCM, Mr. Turner replied, "Turner Classic Movies was a passion of mine, born of my love of classic films." He also said he was "very proud to have played a role in honoring these great works through the years, hope they continue to provide just as much joy and entertainment to TCM as they have to me."

Ted Turner in the 1992 award-winning TNT documentary MGM When The Lion Roars, an three-part series that tells the story of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios including its final years of the original era when Turner briefed own MGM.
(Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)   

In addition to TCM, TBS, TNT and Cartoon Network, Mr. Turner also created and launched CNN, the world's first 24-hour a day cable news channel and an major player as worldwide news organization having own an number of many breaking news coverage such as the Gulf War and September 11, 2001 terror attacks as well as major award wins and several accomplishments since it debuted back in 1980. Ted was also served as Vice President of Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) from 1996 after the company acquired Turner Broadcasting until 2001, but remain on its board of directors until 2006 to pursuit other projects including the Turner Foundation, which raise millions of dollars to charity including the United Nations in which Mr. Turner is an long-time supporter to the UN when it comes to nuclear threat crisis and climate change.

We want to give an round an applause and congratulated Mr. Turner on accepting this special honor and to everyone at Turner Classic Movies on celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.