Who Needs Screen on the Green?

For many in the DC area, Monday nights in July and August mean watching movies down at the Mall during the annual Screen on the Green. It's a great chance to get together with some friends and family and take in some of our nation's cultural treasures (as long as you don't end up sitting near some of these types). Tonight they are showing The Apartment and next week is the series finale, Superman.

I started watching older movies a couple of years ago during a random trip to Blockbuster when I came back with Casablanca. It's been a great trip ever since, a "hobby" that combines my love of history with the movies. The stories, the acting, the music, the dialogue - many of today's movies don't even come close to some of the products of the studio system during the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood. So while Screen on the Green is a fun way to catch a few great films and meet the rest of the city, for classic movie fans every August means something special on Turner Classic Movies, the Summer Under the Stars programming. Every day this month, TCM airs a full day's worth of films dedicated to a different movie legend. (Say what you want about Ted Turner, TCM is one of television's finest channels).

Here are a few of my top picks for this month:

Claude Rains (Tuesday, August 5)

Peter Lorre (Wednesday, August 13)

Rita Hayworth (Friday, August 15)

Barbara Stanwyck (Tuesday, August 19)

Edward G. Robinson (Wednesday, August 20)

Ava Gardner (Thursday, August 21)

Ingrid Bergman (Monday, August 25)

Marlon Brando (Friday, August 29)

Katharine Hepburn (Saturday, August 30)

Spencer Tracy (Sunday, August 31)

To check out the rest of this year's Summer Under the Stars schedule, click here. Look at that one-two-three punch at the end of the month...Not a bad way to end the summer.