Film prof lands Turner Classic Movies guest spot

  College of Arts & Sciences   Arts+Culture  

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – It was a dream come true for Carrie Specht, associate professor of Film and Television Production at La Sierra University. But to land the coveted once-yearly non-celebrity guest programmer spot with Turner Classic Movies she had to stand out from thousands of other contenders. 

<p>Carrie Specht, La Sierra University associate professor in the Department of Film and Television Production poses with Turner Classic Movies host&nbsp;Ben Mankiewicz on set last November. Specht won a once-yearly&nbsp;audition to serve as a&nbsp;TCM non-celebrity&nbsp;guest programmer. (Photos: courtesy of Turner Classic Movies)</p>

Carrie Specht, La Sierra University associate professor in the Department of Film and Television Production poses with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz on set last November. Specht won a once-yearly audition to serve as a TCM non-celebrity guest programmer. (Photos: courtesy of Turner Classic Movies)

A connoisseur of classic films, Specht joined the competition for TCM Backlot fan club guest programmer while attending the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood last April. TCM staff videoed her introduction audition of the 1939 film, “Goodbye Mr. Chips,” an impromptu choice. “Then the powers that be at the network chose their favorite one. And that was me,” she said. 

An email in July informed Specht that of the plethora of video entries received at the festival and online, hers was the winning audition. In November, TCM flew Specht to Atlanta for the production of the episode in which she served as guest programmer for a series of movies she curated. Specht appeared on TCM on Nov. 25 alongside host Ben Mankiewicz. “[They] treated me like a super star with a private driver, a four star hotel, and my own dressing room,” Specht said. “I was allowed to pick the films I wanted to introduce and I was interviewed by … Mankiewicz who is a mega star amongst classic film fans.”

Specht selected four films for TCM viewers – “Goodbye Mr. Chips,” “Lilies of the Field,” “The Thing from Another World,” and “Sherlock, Jr.” She presented introductions for each movie and commentary afterward through interviews with Mankiewicz.

A TCM Backlot website article noted that Specht is particularly interested in movies about people who “mold the minds of youth.” This interest and her own vocation as an educator influenced her selection of the film “Goodbye Mr. Chips” starring Robert Donat in his Oscar-winning role as a teacher. 

TCM regularly invites Hollywood’s celebrities to serve as special guest movie programmers and appear at its festivals. This lengthy and star-studded roster has included such luminaries as Kurt Russell, Rob Reiner, Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Anjelica Huston, Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito and many others. Once a year, a non-celebrity guest programmer is chosen from the ranks of the TCM Backlot fan club to serve as programmer for a day.

“TCM selects only one [non-celebrity] guest host per year,” said Rodney Vance, chair of La Sierra’s Department of Film and Television Production. “It's a great tribute to Professor Carrie Specht's knowledge of film history that she was selected for this singular honor. Our students can be confident they are getting an outstanding education at La Sierra University's film department.”

For information about La Sierra University’s Department of Film and Television Production visit https://lasierra.edu/film-and-television/

'Goodbye Mr. Chips' intro

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