TCM Comments Ted Turner Tribute/Gone With the Wind (1939)

Good evening. I'm Ben Mankiewicz. Welcome to Turner Classic Movies. Before this network went on the air on April 14th, 1994, executives bandied about different ideas for what to call the channel. This process went on for months. Those execs planned focus groups to brainstorm suggestions. But then one day, they received a memo reading as follows, "The name of the new channel will be called Turner Classic Movies." The memo was signed R.E.T. Those initials stand for Robert Edward Turner the third, known to everybody as Ted Turner. Like everything in his expansive media empire, Ted Turner called the shots. But there was no tension about the name. Everybody agreed his name needed to be represented because the channel was the spawn of his foresight. Ted Turner died Wednesday at the age of 87. Tonight, we salute this larger-than-life figure, the man who transformed television from 24-hour cable news to sports superstations to, most significantly for us, saving, preserving, and showcasing classic movies. In December of 2018, Ted Turner returned to TCM's home in Atlanta, where I had the privilege of sitting down with him for a conversation about the considerable impact of his career. Getting that man to take a bow for starting CNN and TCM was not easy. A few months later, we honored Ted at the 10th TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood with a video tribute that also celebrated TCM's 25th anniversary. We have that salute to Ted Turner for you now, which includes my conversation with our maverick founder. Even though he refused to use that word about himself. I'm thinking real mavericks don't call themselves mavericks. Following the tribute, we'll present one of Ted's favorite films. It's also the first movie to ever air on TCM. Gone with the Wind. But first, let's take a look at the legacy making career of Robert Edward Turner.

Thanks for doing this. This is an honor to sit here with you. So, thank you.

The word that gets tossed around a lot with you is maverick.

You don't?

When you say you knew, your gut told you.

A little bit. Not too much. When you had channel 17, the other local independent station went out of business. So, all of a sudden you could buy all these old movies and there was no competition for the movies.

Uh-huh.

Yeah. But they're more popular than ever. How come?

People do like old stuff.

They liked you before. What's the smartest business decision you've ever made?

In a celebrated life projected large in the public eye. Your complete attention. He's been cast as visionary, philanthropist, environmental activist, and unparalleled provocateur. The best advice is never to do anything. You'll never get in trouble if you don't do anything. But on the other hand, you'll never get anywhere either. But of all the roles embraced by Robert Edward Ted Turner III, perhaps his most profound cultural impact has been made as champion of classic film. He saw something in me nobody else ever did. Ted Turner had the vision. He's the only one that knew outside of the movie buffs like us, he's the only one that knew the value of these great movies and the need to preserve them. Previously, classic movies were only screened in small revival theaters or broadcast in altered form. "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" But with the advent of Turner Classic Movies, these enduring works finally had a home. Every film, including original trailers and rare archival material, was presented with unprecedented care and curation to an appreciative and often influential audience. Turner Classic Movies is an oasis on the cable channels. I have to just go on the record and say I love TCM. 25 years later, Turner Classic Movies continues to grow in reputation and scope. It gets better. Not just as a network, but as an inspirational rallying point for an expanding community of passionate movie fans. For Ted Turner, the birth of TCM is but one milestone in a grand career deserving of its own Hollywood epic. It's a compelling journey from rescuing his family's billboard company at age 24, then expanding into television where he transformed a small independent station into a global media empire. "I risked everything at every turn in the road. I had a plan to rule the world." In business and in love, Turner's appetite for adventure and discovery was insatiable. It's like a roller coaster, but it's very, very exciting. With each bold, often miraculous venture, he continued to defy critics and confound competitors. "You dream, dream big." In 1986, Turner made an audacious move to acquire a motion picture studio, the legendary Metro Goldwyn Mayer. When the dust settled, Turner emerged with ownership of a vast library of classic films from the MGM, RKO, and Warner Brothers vaults. "We now own the greatest programming that's ever been created over the last 50 years." This included the most celebrated films of all time from Hollywood's mythic golden age. "Got to have a great show with a million laughs and color and a lot of lights to make it sparkle." Such old films were financially undervalued at the time, but Turner sensed, he knew these movies could still resonate with audiences young and old. "They, um, stuff that dreams are made of." Throughout his life, Turner often leveraged his business holdings and even personal wealth to advance global causes like world peace and protecting the environment. Never failing to put his money where his remarkably quotable mouth was. "We have to all work together. All the people in the world have to work together to save our planet and ourselves." For Turner, financial gain was never a true mark of success. "We are having our 10th annual TCM Classic Film Festival. It's a long way to go for just a party." "Just for the record, it's a really good party." On the occasion of Turner Classic Movies 25th anniversary and the 10th annual TCM Classic Film Festival, the staff and fans of Turner Classic Movies salute the matchless legend who made it all possible. "He's looking at you, kid." Ted Turner, an elemental force of determination, savvy, and prescient vision whose presence still informs our mission as acknowledged keepers of the flame for the spirit of classic film.

Gone with the Wind is the first film we showed on Turner Classic Movies when our first host, Robert Osborne, introduced it on April 14th, 1994. The choice of film was easy because it was one of our founder, Ted Turner's, favorites. Turner died last week on May 6th. We owe a great debt to him as does everybody who loves classic movies and respects the power of those films to enrich and improve our lives by connecting us to each other. Creating TCM was an audacious endeavor in the 1990s, coming at a time when few people seemed to value old movies. People called TCM Ted's Folly, but he knew that great storytelling is timeless, and he knew there was real value in protecting, preserving, and presenting the rich history of movies, making them easily accessible to people of all generations. In the words of our boss at TCM, Charlie Tabish, who's been the head of programming for better than 30 years, thank you, Ted, for your vision and for trusting us with TCM. Of course, Turner Classic Movies is only one aspect of Ted Turner's professional legacy, which includes TBS, TNT, the Cartoon Network, as well as his most revolutionary achievement, 24-hour cable news at CNN. Ted told us at the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival that TCM and CNN are the two professional achievements he was most proud of. And our friend, actress Jane Fonda, said just 11 days ago at this year's TCM Classic Film Festival that she agreed, adding that Ted, who she called her favorite ex-husband, talked to her about the idea of TCM on their very first date. When Ted moved on from his pioneering work as a media mogul, reluctantly I should add, he enthusiastically focused on philanthropy, especially his passion for environmental conservation and human rights. My favorite part of my conversation with Ted, which we aired before Gone with the Wind, came when I asked him, "How come these old movies were as popular as ever?" "Because," Ted said grinning, "people like old stuff." He was right. People do like old stuff. Old stuff has a story to tell. It has history. And none of us will ever really appreciate new stuff till we understand where it came from. Coming up, the professor, Jacqueline Stewart, is taking us deep into Hollywood history with Silent Sunday night. She'll have several comedy shorts starring Laurel and Hardy. Habeas Corpus kicks it all off next on Turner Classic Movies. Next on TCM, a silent Sunday with Laurel and Hardy. Then Pather Panchali, and later Aparajito. It's Apu times two on TCM Imports tonight.