TCM Host Robert Osborne Passes

I really enjoy TCM.

They have some of the best movies to watch.

Many occasions I tune it just to see what’s on. If the movie was about over I would always wait and see if there would an additional information segment that would cover more information on the film or the actors or director (and I’m disappointed when that additional segment isn’t at the end of the movie).

Most of the time that information would come from Robert Osborne. He would provide that extra fact or story that would make the movie even more memorable.

Osborne had such a love for movies.

You could tell just by watching him. When he interviewed people in the business there was such attention paid to each and every word they said. I especially enjoyed the essentials which was on Saturday night. There would be Osborne paired with Alec Baldwin or Sally Field.

They would pick movies they thought were essential to see. They would have an introductory spot which would set the scene for the movie. Give a little back ground and then roll film. At the end they would come back and discuss the scenes that really made the movie an essential. It was such a joy to watch. Many of the movies I’d seen and did think they were essentials.

But some I hadn’t seen or in some cases even heard of. And at the end after watching the film and hearing their insights it made me recognize that I did indeed just watch an essential.

More on Osborne from the Post:

His ingratiating personality and insider knowledge led to work as a host on The Movie Channel from 1986 to 1993. American Movie Classics tried to recruit him as a daytime host, but he accepted an offer from the upstart TCM because it featured more of the fare he treasured — from Marx Brothers comedies of the 1930s to later works by directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Mel Brooks. And it was a chance to work in prime time.

As the suave, soothing public face of TCM, Mr. Osborne delivered revelatory tidbits before and after each screening, and he gently coaxed stars well past their prime (Patricia Neal, Tony Curtis, Betty Hutton) to speak tantalizingly of their career highs and lows.

Erudite without being snobbish, Mr. Osborne conveyed a seemingly limitless ardor for the job. He could enthuse about the 1940 Ann Sothern vehicle “Congo Maisie” as much as the Oscar-winning epic “Gone With the Wind” (1939).

The TCM host worked hard to intrigue first-time viewers, garnishing his segments with stories about backstage affairs and egos run amok amid filmmaking, and he tried to find new approaches to entice more-experienced viewers such as himself.

Osborne's enthusiasm for movies was unmatched. I will miss him and his insights in to movies. But most of all I will miss the joy of movies he conveyed when he talked about them.