Joel McCrea, TCM'S Star of the Month for May, once claimed he never received a script that didn't have Gary Cooper's fingerprints on it--Cooper being one of Hollywood's great superstars and McCrea, in his own opinion, being a "consolation alternative" producers would go to when their first choice wasn't available.

This month on Turner Classic Movies we're out to prove there was much more to McCrea than even McCrea realized and we'll give you some 42 shining samplings showing that he was always much more than any "also ran." There's no denying that there were times the tall, lanky actor (6 ft. 3 in.) did benefit greatly when Cooper (also 6 ft. 3 in.) turned down a script, one prime example being 1940's Hitchcock thriller Foreign Correspondent, which we'll be showing on May 9. That was first offered to Coop who passed on it because, he later told Hitchcock, "It was a thriller, and thrillers, to me, were basically unimportant B-pictures and I didn't want to get involved in something like that." After the success of Correspondent with McCrea in the star spot, that movie even receiving a "Best Picture" Academy Award nomination, Cooper said, "Turning that one down was one of the dumbest decisions I ever made."

One source of pride for the modest McCrea was the fact that writer-director Preston Sturges specifically wrote the marvelous screenplay Sullivan's Travels (1941) not for Gary Cooper or anyone else, but for McCrea; it turned out to be one of the best of all movie comedies and we'll be showing it on May 2, along with two other exceptional delights in which he stars, Sturges' hilarious The Palm Beach Story (1942), with Claudette Colbert, and George Stevens' ultra-witty The More the Merrier (1943), with Jean Arthur.

One of the primary assets of this fine actor, besides his likeability, wholesome good looks and down-to-earth persona, was his versatility: indeed, he made films in all genres and we'll be showing samplings of them every Wednesday in primetime. Westerns, however, did become his mainstay, particularly in the last 30 years of his career (1946-76) when, like his friend Randolph Scott, McCrea refused to work in anything but outdoor, western-oriented stories because, he said, "I think it's unattractive for an older fellow trying to look young, falling in love with attractive girls, that sort of thing. Besides," he added, "I always felt more comfortable with boots on, riding a horse." (We'll devote two nights to McCrea Westerns on May 23 and May 30).

One thing you won't see is McCrea in a military uniform, leading soldiers into battles in World War II movies. That he also refused to do. McCrea felt that since he was not a member of the military during any war, it would be wrong for him to pretend to be a soldier, and particularly unfair to those who did the actual fighting. Quite a fellow, Mr. McCrea. Typical of him, too, is the fact he never made a public comment when no less than Katharine Hepburn once specifically pointed to him as being "an actor on the magnificent level of Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart. There's no sham about Joel McCrea," she said. "He's the real thing." Here at TCM, we're very pleased to have the pleasure of his company all month long.

by Robert Osborne