Actress/filmmaker Illeana Douglas, TCM's Guest Programmer for April, joins TCM host Robert Osborne in introducing and commenting upon some of her favorite films—three of which are comedies starring her grandfather, the distinguished Melvyn Douglas. Her first choice among her grandfather's films is the sparkling Ninotchka (1939), in which he shares "amazing" chemistry with Greta Garbo and defines himself as a great comic actor under the direction of Ernst Lubitsch.

Illeana also loves the combination of Melvyn Douglas, Cary Grant and Myrna Loy in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Hous (1948); and admires the Paddy Chayefsky script for the political satire The Americanization of Emily (1964), in which her grandfather plays a wayward admiral in search of a hero during the D-Day invasion. Having won acclaim in many television and feature-film roles including 1999's Message in a Bottle, Illeana Douglas has also written, directed and produced several film projects such as 2004's Supermarket.

by Roger Fristoe