October 2005 – Robert Mitchum

Saturday October 1 – Starring Erich von Stroheim

10:00 AM Death Takes a Holiday (1934)

2:00 PM Cleopatra (1963) – an all new capsule review!

6:15 PM Black Narcissus (1947) – Deborah Kerr plays a nun sent to a remote hilltop in the Himalayas to establish a convent on the site of an “ancient” brothel. She is assisted by a local Prince (Sabu) who craves an education and a handsome English government official (David Ferrer) while she struggles against the jealousy of a local beauty (Jean Simmons!) and a straying nun (Kathleen Byron). Breathtaking cinematography and color despite the dull plodding story; won Oscars for its Color Art Direction-Set Decoration and Cinematography. Flora Robson Jenny Laird and Judith Furse also appear.

8:00 PM The Grand Illusion (1937) – this week’s TCM Essential is a classic World War I P.O.W. film by director Jean Renoir. It was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and stars among others Jean Gabin & Erich von Stroheim (also known for his writing and directing films such as Greed (1924)). The scenes of the French prisoners trying to escape their German captors have been copied such that they’ve become staples in films like The Great Escape (1963).

11:30 PM Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Sunday October 2 – Ernie Kovacs

8:00 AM The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

10:00 AM Show Boat (1936) – it’s hard for me to choose between this one and the 1951 version. Lots of great songs of course in both. This one has Irene Dunne who’s hard to beat as well as Allan Jones Charles Winninger Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson (who sings “Old Man River”). Directed by James Whale (Frankenstein (1931)) it was added to the National Film Registry in 1996.

12:00 PM The Major and the Minor (1942)

2:00 PM Magnificent Obsession (1954) – one of the early Douglas Sirk soapers has Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda (1948) who received her last of four Best Actress Oscar nominations) as a woman whose husband’s death (and her subsequent blindness!) was in part caused by a reckless wealthy playboy played by Rock Hudson. That’s the simplest part of this otherwise convoluted ( unbelievable) and almost religious-based story which begins with Hudson’s character wanting to make it up to the older yet attractive widow with whom he falls in love. This remake of the 1935 film by the same name was responsible for launching Hudson’s career as the original had been for Robert Taylor’s. Supporting cast members include Barbara Rush as Wyman’s skeptical daughter Agnes Moorehead as her nurse-friend and Otto Kruger as the purveyor of Wyman’s deceased husband’s do unto others anonymously “religion”.

6:00 PM The Grand Illusion (1937) – TCM Essential repeat; see my October 1 comments

8:00 PM Bell Book and Candle (1959) – the inspiration for TV’s Bewitched series? A publisher played by James Stewart is attracted to a witch (Kim Novak) whose brother (Jack Lemmon) and aunt (Elsa Lanchester) can also conjure up spells as can “rival” a witch (Hermione Gingold). Like Stewart’s character Ernie Kovacs plays a writer who is also a mere mortal but unlike him he believes in them (e.g. witches and warlocks).

12:00 AM Nosferatu (1922) – one of the scariest films ever made (even though it’s over 80 years old!). This silent features Max Schreck in the title role a vampire who prays on people (most notably a woman) for blood based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” novel.

4:30 AM Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1932) – probably worth seeing for Fredric March’s Oscar winning Best Actor performance of Robert Louis Stevenson’s titled character if not Miriam Hopkins sexy pre-code performance as the object of his obsession. Rose Hobart plays March’s fiancee.

Monday October 3 – Robert Mitchum TCM’s Star of the Month

9:00 AM Trader Horn (1931) – full review!

11:15 AM Red Dust (1932)

12:45 PM Mogambo (1953)

6:15 PM Born Free (1966) – a great movie to see with preteen children who love animals with an unforgettable score. It’s about a game warden and his wife in Africa who befriend a lion cub which grows to big to keep as a pet. So they then have to teach it to be able to survive on its own. The titled song and John Barry’s score won Oscars (his first of four!).

8:00 PM The Night Of The Hunter (1955)

10:00 PM Cape Fear (1962) – I haven’t seen the updated version of this one yet but I did really enjoy this version which stars Gregory Peck & Robert Mitchum (though it is hard to watch at times). Also with Polly Bergen Martin Balsam even Telly Savalas. #61 on AFI’s 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies list. Mitchum’s Max Cady was voted #28 villain by AFI.

Tuesday October 4 – Robert Mitchum TCM’s Star of the Month

7:30 AM Holiday Affair (1949)

8:00 PM Out of the Past (1947)

10:00 PM Crossfire (1947)

5:30 AM Blood On The Moon (1948) – O.K. full review!

Wednesday October 5 – Robert Mitchum TCM’s Star of the Month

7:00 AM Animal Crackers (1930) – the Marx Brothers find themselves involved in a stolen painting farce. Groucho plays a famous hunter invited to be a houseguest by Margaret Dumont; Chico’s his assistant Harpo’s a professor (!) and Zeppo appears as well. Otherwise there is almost no plot or purpose other than to feature Groucho’s monologues (including #53 on AFI’s Top 100 Movie Quotes list “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don’t know.”) Chico’s piano playing and Harpo’s harp talents as he chases a blonde around the premises or the brothers’ other antics. Lilian Roth plays Dumont’s daughter.

9:00 AM The Bank Dick (1940) – a W.C. Fields classic! Fields plays a self unemployed family man whose family: wife – Cora Witherspoon Mother in Law – Jessie Ralph daughter – Una Merkel barely tolerate his presence. He literally falls into a job at a bank as a security guard where he quickly gets his prospective son-in-law (Grady Sutton) to embezzle some money to buy a seemingly worthless investment. Enter the bank examiner (Franklin Pangborn) who must be distracted before the money can be returned. Directed by Edward Cline.

2:30 PM Blood on the Sun (1945) – O.K.

6:00 PM Madigan (1968) – This average crime drama’s production values make it feel like a made-for-TV movie and with good reason: it was produced by Frank Rosenberg directed by Don Siegel and its screenplay was written by a couple of TV series writers. One exception besides (only) sometime TV director Siegel is its motion picture cast: Richard Widmark in the title role Henry Fonda in the original title role (when the film was to be called “The Commissioner” like the Richard Dougherty novel on which its based) Inger Stevens and James Whitmore. Another exception are the overt “everyone’s having one” extramarital affairs which like the unnecessary and gratuitous nudity in today’s films seem thrown in (because they can) to differentiate it from television of the time. Like his role in this movie Harry Guardino was to become even more well known playing New York City police detectives on television as were a lot of the other supporting players (e.g. look quick for Conrad Bain from TV’s Diff’rent Strokes as a hotel clerk) in this film. Emmy winner Susan Clark midget Michael Dunn Don Stroud and Emmy nominee Sheree North round out the cast; Steve Ihnat’s overacting as the criminal Widmark & Guardino pursue is almost laughable.

8:00 PM The Sundowners (1960)

Thursday October 6 – Robert Mitchum TCM’s Star of the Month

10:00 AM The V.I.P.s (1963) – average; an all new capsule review!

12:00 PM The Night Of The Iguana (1964) – a cult classic!

4:00 PM Anne Of The Thousand Days (1969) – an all new capsule review!

8:00 PM The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)

10:00 PM Midway (1976) – average war film with silly subplot involving Charlton Heston and his “son” Edward Albert; otherwise it features an all-star cast which includes (a bunch of future TV stars and): Henry Fonda James Coburn Glenn Ford Hal Holbrook Robert Mitchum Cliff Robertson Robert Wagner Christopher George Kevin Dobson Pat Morita Dabney Colman Tom Selleck and even Erik Estrada uncredited.

12:30 AM Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) – pretty good; full review!

5:00 AM Till The End Of Time (1946) – O.K. an all new full review!

Friday October 7 – Robert Mitchum TCM’s Star of the Month

10:30 PM Rachel And The Stranger (1948) – O.K. full review!

12:00 AM The Lusty Men (1952) – pretty good an all new full review!

2:00 AM Testament des Dr. Mabuse Das (1933) – this is a very unique crime-horror film by director Fritz Lang and a recommended one! Though you may be lost as I was initially it doesn’t take too long to figure out what is going on: the titled character (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) has plans to create havoc and destroy order in the World (not unlike Hitler?). However his detailed instructions have to be carried out by others like Dr. Baum (Oscar Beregi Sr.) because Mabuse is in an insane asylum! In fact Mabuse dies and his ghostly soul inhabits Baum’s who then directs the minions to do terrible deeds. One of these henchmen is an ex-con named Thomas Kent (Gustav Diessl) who’s recently fallen in love with Lilli (Wera Liessem) from whom he’d borrowed (and repaid) money after he was released from prison. Kent is uncomfortable with performing his role and after an ingenious escape with Lilli ends up assisting the (feared by all criminals) police Commissioner Lohmann (Otto Wernicke playing the same character he did in Lang’s M (1931)) who’d been trying to figure out what happened to a former associate named Hofmeister (Karl Meixner) and the assassinated Dr. Kramm (Theodor Loos). Hofmeister had been drummed out of the department for accepting a bribe but had learned (during the first several minutes of the picture accompanied only by the pounding sounds of printing presses) both Mabuse’s name which he etched on his apartment window and of his counterfeiting plans.

Saturday October 8 – Resistance Not So Futile After All

8:00 AM The Shanghai Gesture (1941) – so so an all new capsule review!

3:00 PM Splendor In The Grass (1961)

5:15 PM West Side Story (1961)

8:00 PM To Have And Have Not (1944) – this week’s TCM Essential

10:00 PM The Guns of Navarone (1961) – a very good World War II action film starring Gregory Peck as the Captain of an elite group of specialists hired to snuff out two big German guns that control a Greek sea channel the Allies want to be able to traverse with their ships. Only problem is the guns are built into an impregnable rock bunker 400 feet above sea level! David Niven Anthony Quinn Anthony Quayle James Darren Irene Papas and Richard Harris (among others) are also in the cast. The film won an Oscar for Best Special Effects and was nominated for Best Picture Best Director (J. Lee Thompson) Writing Editing Sound and Score.

Sunday October 9

8:00 AM Casablanca (1942)

10:00 AM Carefree (1938)

11:30 AM The Yearling (1946)

4:00 PM Run Silent Run Deep (1958) – rated the 3rd best submarine film by USAA members (behind Das Boot & The Hunt for Red October) this WW II film provides its two stars Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster a chance to argue. Jack Warden and Don Rickles also appear in this Robert Wise directed film.

6:00 PM To Have And Have Not (1944) – TCM Essential repeat

12:00 AM The Unknown (1927) – a Tod Browning directed Lon Chaney silent classic! In this horror drama Chaney plays a criminal who hides his identity by wrapping up his arms such that he appears as an armless man attraction in a traveling circus. He has a helper (John George) the only other one who knows the truth that helps him wrap and unwrap his arms. But he can feed himself and throw knives his act with his feet! He falls in love with his assistant (Joan Crawford!) as he exploits her irrational (pseudo-sexual) fear of men with arms. He ends up killing her father (Nick De Ruiz) in a dispute; Crawford witnessed the strangulation though she only saw the perpetrator in the shadows. To cast off suspicion Chaney goes away to have his arms surgically removed; he plans to return to Crawford and pursue a more open relationship. However while he’s away the strongman (Norman Kerry) helps Crawford to overcome her fear and the two fall in love. When Chaney returns truly armless he is furious and enacts a vicious revenge against the strongman.

3:00 AM Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1941) – though nominated for 3 Oscars (B&W Cinematography Editing and Score) most agree that this was one of Spencer Tracy’s lesser films – a waste of a good cast which included Ingrid Bergman as the street woman the Hyde character menaces Lana Turner as Dr. Jekyll’s comely fiancée Donald Crisp as Turner’s disapproving father Ian Hunter as Jekyll’s closest friend Barton MacLane and C. Aubrey Smith among others.

Monday October 10 – Robert Osborne’s Picks

6:00 AM The Big House (1930) – pre-code prison drama with Wallace Beery Robert Montgomery & Chester Morris as the cons Lewis Stone as the warden. Leila Hyams plays Montgomery’s sister. Montgomery as a newbie is shown being checked in to the prison where he later meets Beery and Morris. Beery kind of runs things on the inside planning the escapes. Morris actually does escape and ends up meeting and pursuing Montgomery’s sister. Oscar nominations for Best Picture Beery; it won for Frances Marion’s Writing & Sound.

10:30 AM Night Must Fall (1937) – Hitchcockian

3:45 PM Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) – not Hitckcockian the director attempted screwball (vs. dark) comedy with predictably poor results

5:30 PM They Were Expendable (1945) – a terrific film about the surprising successes of the PT boats during World War II initially thought unworthy of any role in the conflict. Directed by John Ford and starring Robert Montgomery John Wayne Donna Reed Ward Bond Leon Ames and more; it was nominated for two Oscars Special Effects & Sound.

8:00 PM Dangerous (1935) – full review!

11:30 PM Dangerous When Wet (1953) – O.K. full review!

4:30 AM Safety Last! (1923) – Comedian Harold Lloyd’s most famous silent comedy featuring the classic scene where he climbs a skyscraper and ends up clinging to a clock as he hangs out stories above the ground over traffic. Added to the National Film Registry in 1994.

Tuesday October 11 – Directed by Sidney Lumet

10:15 AM Society Lawyer (1939) – O.K. B movie; full review!

6:45 PM Henry Goes Arizona (1939) – O.K. B movie; an all new full review!

8:00 PM & 11:00 PM Private Screenings: Sidney Lumet (2005) – a TCM premiere documentary!

9:00 PM 12 Angry Men (1957)

12:00 AM The Pawnbroker (1965)

2:00 AM Network (1976)

4:15 AM Long Day’s Journey into Night (1962)

Wednesday October 12 – Dead in the Water

7:15 AM The Hill (1965) – British soldiers who commit crimes such as desertion are send appropriately to a desert stockade in North Africa. Harry Andrews plays their sadistic keeper who frequently makes them run up a steep hill as punishment; Ian Bannen plays a more sympathetic guard Michael Redgrave the prison’s medical officer. Some new prisoners including Sean Connery and Ossie Davis arrive that must deal with these circumstances each in their own way. Directed by Sidney Lumet based on Ray Rigby’s play and screenplay.

11:30 AM The Cocoanuts (1929) – O.K.

1:15 PM Horse Feathers (1932) – very funny Marx Brothers film in which Groucho as the newly appointed president of a college tries to improve the school’s reputation by trying to build a winning football team. Naturally Chico Harpo and Zeppo (playing Groucho’s son) assist while Thelma Todd & David Landau work at cross purposes; Nat Pendleton appears as a football recruit that’s also a hindrance for the brothers. #65 on AFI’s 100 Funniest Movies list.

2:30 PM A Night at the Opera (1935) – classic comedy from the Marx Brothers added to the National Film Registry in 1993. Groucho and Sig Ruman compete for Margaret Dumont’s affections by trying to sign the best singing talent for their operas. Allan Jones is one of the tenors; Kitty Carlisle (known to many of us younger fans as Miss “To Tell the Truth”) also appears.

4:15 PM A Day At The Races (1937) – Chico and Harpo Marx “enlist” Groucho a horse doctor to help a young woman (Maureen O’Sullivan) save a sanitarium from bankruptcy by winning a stakes race at the track. #59 on AFI’s 100 Funniest Movies list.

8:00 PM Jaws (1975)

Thursday October 13 – Guest Programmer: Jessica Walter

12:00 PM Journey For Margaret (1942) – pretty good full review!

8:00 PM Citizen Kane (1941)

10:30 PM On The Waterfront (1954)

2:45 AM I Never Sang for My Father (1970) – full review!

Friday October 14 – Meet George Seaton

11:15 AM The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) – pretty goofy comedy horror film starring its director (Roman Polanski) as the klutzy assistant of a bumbling professor (Jack MacGowran) who’s trying to rid Transylvania of its vampires which include Count von Krolock (Ferdy Mayne) and his feminine son (Iain Quarrier). Several scenes of titillation a staple of such films with “actresses” Jessie Robins and Sharon Tate before she was to become Polanski’s ill-fated wife. Alfie Bass as the unfaithful then cursed innkeeper and Terry Downes as the hunchbacked servant also appear.

8:00 PM Airport (1970)

10:30 PM The Country Girl (1954) – an all new capsule review!

Saturday October 15 – Snow Jobs

8:00 AM Berlin Express (1948) – an all new capsule review!

9:30 AM Animal Crackers (1930) – the Marx Brothers find themselves involved in a stolen painting farce. Groucho plays a famous hunter invited to be a houseguest by Margaret Dumont; Chico’s his assistant Harpo’s a professor (!) and Zeppo appears as well. Otherwise there is almost no plot or purpose other than to feature Groucho’s monologues (including #53 on AFI’s Top 100 Movie Quotes list “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don’t know.”) Chico’s piano playing and Harpo’s harp talents as he chases a blonde around the premises or the brothers’ other antics. Lilian Roth plays Dumont’s daughter.

12:00 PM The Westerner (1940)

2:00 PM The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)

6:00 PM Forbidden Planet (1956)

8:00 PM Swing Time (1936) – this week’s TCM Essential

10:00 PM Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954)

12:00 AM Doctor Zhivago (1965)

3:30 AM The Snow Devils (1965) – a TCM premiere!

Sunday October 16 – Steve McQueen

6:00 AM Possessed (1947) – full review!

8:00 AM Waterloo Bridge (1940) – an all new full review!

12:00 PM The Time Of Their Lives (1946) – full review!

1:30 PM Going My Way (1944)

4:00 PM Gigi (1958)

6:00 PM Swing Time (1936) – TCM Essential repeat

8:00 PM Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool (2004) – a pretty new documentary

9:30 PM Bullitt (1968)

12:00 AM The Phantom of the Opera (1925) – an essential silent starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin. Added to the National Film Registry in 1998.

Monday October 17 – Music by Quincy Jones

12:30 PM The Strawberry Blonde (1941) – Directed by Raoul Walsh starring James Cagney Olivia de Havilland Rita Hayworth & Jack Carson and set in a simpler time (around the turn of the 20^th Century) this average romance drama contains some unusual elements (Cagney’s character is a budding dentist!) but is basically a story about appreciating what you have. Carson marries the titled woman (Hayworth) “stealing” her away from Cagney who later marries de Havilland. Years later Cagney gets to see the reality of what it would have been like to have been married to the shallow “Hayworth” (when he’s asked to pull Carson’s tooth) and hence better appreciates his own wife. Alan Hale plays Cagney’s “bar rat” old man; George Tobias plays a friend; George Reeves plays a strapping young lad who scraps with the older Cagney; and Una O’Connor also appears.

4:15 PM The Search (1948)

6:00 PM Suddenly Last Summer (1959)

8:00 PM The Color Purple (1985)

11:00 PM Walk Don’t Run (1966) – Cary Grant’s last film a remake of The More The Merrier (1943) not so good otherwise

3:00 AM The Pawnbroker (1965)

Tuesday October 18 – Time to Downsize

6:00 AM Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1932) – probably worth seeing for Fredric March’s Oscar winning Best Actor performance of Robert Louis Stevenson’s titled character if not Miriam Hopkins sexy pre-code performance as the object of his obsession. Rose Hobart plays March’s fiancee.

11:00 AM The Old Maid (1939)

4:45 PM Old Acquaintance (1943)

8:00 PM The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) – a TCM premiere!

1:00 AM tom thumb (1958) – nothing great about this Russ Tamblyn (in the title role) feature story-wise though it is a decent family film that did win an Oscar for Best Effects; and you can catch Peter Sellers and Terry-Thomas in supporting roles.

Wednesday October 19 – Val Lewton Horror

6:00 PM Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

8:00 PM Cat People (1942) – this above average horror flick stars Simone Simon as a beautiful foreigner with a mysterious past that marries a New Yorker played by Kent Smith. But there’s something strange about her she’s afraid of consummating their marriage for fear of reviving an ancient curse that will turn her into a leopard! Tom Conway plays a psychiatrist Smith’s character hopes can cure her of her fear. Directed by Jacques Tourneur this film was added to the National Film Registry in 1993. Remade in 1982 with an interesting “twist” and starring Nastassja Kinski John Heard Malcolm McDowell and Annette O’Toole.

10:30 PM I Walked With A Zombie (1943) – I’ve been a little confused as to why this Jacques Tourneur directed film is considered a horror classic. Frances Dee stars as a nurse assigned to help a comatose patient (Christine Gordon) the wife of Tom Conway’s character who’s mysteriously drawn to a purveyor of voodoo. James Ellison plays Conway’s half brother; Edith Barrett plays his mother; James Bell plays the clueless doctor. It’s not a bad film or anything I just didn’t think it was anything special.

3:30 AM The Body Snatcher (1945)

Thursday October 20 – Epic Westerns

9:30 AM The Crowd Roars (1938)

8:00 PM Dances With Wolves (1990) – a TCM premiere!

11:30 PM Duel In The Sun (1946) – to see the ending of this film is to see something truly odd & unusual. Gregory Peck and AA Best Actress nominated Jennifer Jones headline an all-star cast including Joseph Cotten Lionel Barrymore Herbert Marshall Lillian Gish (also nominated) Walter Huston Charles Bickford Harry Carey Otto Kruger even Butterfly McQueen. Directed by King Vidor; produced by David O. Selznick.

3:00 AM How the West Was Won (1962)

Friday October 21 – Movie Spoofs

6:00 PM Bright Victory (1951) – full review!

8:00 PM Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) – though not a good movie it’s fun to try and identify the film noir clips used by director Carl Reiner in this comedy starring Steve Martin and Rachel Ward.

2:00 AM M (1931)

4:00 AM The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

Saturday October 22 – Pick Your Poison

6:00 AM Killer McCoy (1947) – better than the original full review!

8:00 AM The Set-Up (1949) – an all new essential capsule review!

10:00 AM The Wild One (1953) – A somewhat disappointing film about a gang of men led by Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin with nothing better to do than put on leather and ride motorcycles every weekend with typical mob mentality outcomes. I’m guessing this had a bigger impact at the time now it’s pretty dated (even silly at times).

2:30 PM 3:10 To Yuma (1957)

4:30 PM Dances With Wolves (1990)

8:00 PM Arsenic And Old Lace (1944) – this week’s TCM Essential

10:15 PM The Court Jester (1956) – beautiful color production – a four star comedy that was added to the National Film Registry in 2004. It’s #98 on AFI’s 100 Funniest Movies list. Starring Danny Kaye in the title role it also features Glynis Johns as his assistant/love interest Basil Rathbone as his foe and Angela Lansbury as a Princess who falls for him among others.

12:00 AM Whistling In The Dark (1941) – fair an all new full review!

3:00 AM Monsieur Verdoux (1947) – a most unusual film directed written and starring Charles Chaplin who received a Best Writing Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for his work. In it he plays a Bluebeard a man who murders women for their money. Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winner Martha Raye plays the one that got away. Orson Welles is credited for giving Chaplin the idea. A black comedy of the first degree and decidedly better than Hitchcock’s The Trouble With Harry (1955) eight years later.

Sunday October 23 – Abbott & Costello

8:00 AM Angels In The Outfield (1951) – this original version of the divine assisted baseball team is an enjoyable comedy worth seeing if you haven’t. The lead cast includes Paul Douglas Janet Leigh (miscast too young!) Keenan Wynn Lewis Stone and Spring Byington. The supporting players include Hall of Fame ballplayers Ty Cobb & Joe Dimaggio as well as Bing Crosby (as himself) and Barbara Billingsley!

12:00 PM Gambit (1966) – check it out! Also an all new extended capsule review!

4:00 PM Charade (1963) – an entertaining romp pairing Audrey Hepburn with Cary Grant in a comedy mystery that includes some other named actors in humorous roles: Walter Matthau James Coburn & George Kennedy. Directed by Stanley Donen.

6:00 PM Arsenic And Old Lace (1944) – TCM Essential repeat

9:30 PM Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) – one of the best horror movie spoofs featuring this famous duo in one of their best comedies. The “boys” play shipping company employees charged with handling the delivery of Dracula (Bela Lugosi) & Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange) artifacts to Frank Ferguson’s museum. Abbott is upset that Costello has a beautiful girlfriend (Lénore Aubert) who only really wants the dim-wit’s brain – she and Dracula have a plan to restore the monster. The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) warns the duo but has problems of his own given the full moon. An attractive insurance investigator (Jane Randolph) and a duped professor (Charles Bradstreet) also figure in the story as does Vincent Price (uncredited) the voice of the Invisible Man. Added to the National Film Registry in 2001.

12:30 AM The Eyes of the Mummy (1918) – an Ernst Lubitsch silent with Pola Negri and Emil Jannings I’ve not seen!

3:00 AM The Ghost Breakers (1940) – I haven’t actually seen this one other than this clip;-)

Monday October 24 – Alfred Hitchcock (Obsession and Repression)

6:00 AM Romance On The High Seas (1948) – not bad full review!

4:00 PM Midnight Lace (1960) – O.K. thriller an all new capsule review!

8:00 PM Hitchcock (1973) – the TCM premiere of this Richard Schickel “The Men Who Made the Movies” series

9:00 PM Vertigo (1958)

11:30 PM Psycho (1960) – with something special added

1:30 AM Spellbound (1945)

3:30 AM Marnie (1964)

Tuesday October 25 – Alfred Hitchcock (Romantic Suspense)

8:00 AM Dangerous (1935) – full review!

9:30 AM The Great Man Votes (1939) – rarely shown gem full review!

11:00 AM Long Day’s Journey into Night (1962)

2:00 PM Smash-Up the Story of a Woman (1947) – somewhat melodramatic but watchable; an all new capsule review!

4:00 PM The Country Girl (1954) – a fairly new capsule review!

6:00 PM The Lost Weekend (1945)

8:00 PM To Catch a Thief (1955)

10:00 PM Notorious (1946)

12:00 AM Rebecca (1940)

2:15 AM Suspicion (1941)

Wednesday October 26 – Alfred Hitchcock in Britain

8:00 PM Jamaica Inn (1939) – not his best but not too bad either; full review!

11:30 PM Murder! (1930) – only fair; an all new capsule review!

1:15 AM Number Seventeen (1932) – interesting but not a classic full review!

2:30 AM Juno and the Paycock (1930) – a TCM premiere!

4:15 AM The Skin Game (1931) – a TCM premiere!

Thursday October 27 – Alfred Hitchcock (Political Intrigue) … and an unadvertised William Wyler tribute!

6:30 AM The Heiress (1949)

8:30 AM These Three (1936)

12:30 PM The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

3:30 PM Mrs. Miniver (1942)

6:00 PM The Little Foxes (1941)

8:00 PM The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

10:15 PM The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) – a TCM premiere!

2:15 AM Sabotage (1936)

3:45 AM Hitchcock (1973) – an encore presentation of this Richard Schickel documentary

5:00 AM The Lady Vanishes (1938) – recently poorly remade with Jody Foster … on an airplane! Enjoy this much better film!

Friday October 28 – Alfred Hitchcock (Everyday Killers)

7:00 AM Topaz (1969) – one of the director’s worst films!

3:15 PM Road to Morocco (1942) – one of the better Bing Crosby-Bob Hope “Road” films Best Writing Oscar nomination with Dorothy Lamour & Anthony Quinn. Added to the National Film Registry in 1996.

4:45 PM A Night at the Opera (1935) – classic comedy from the Marx Brothers added to the National Film Registry in 1993. Groucho and Sig Ruman compete for Margaret Dumont’s affections by trying to sign the best singing talent for their operas. Allan Jones is one of the tenors; Kitty Carlisle (known to many of us younger fans as Miss “To Tell the Truth”) also appears.

6:30 PM Monkey Business (1931) – not quite as funny as most of their movies but still a pretty good Marx Brothers film featuring a few classic scenes. The four brothers are traveling to America as stowaways on a cruise ship during which they become involved with competing “gangsters”. Groucho falls for one of their molls played by Thelma Todd.

8:00 PM Shadow of a Doubt (1943) – including something special!

10:30 PM Strangers On A Train (1951)

12:30 AM Rope (1948) – a technical achievement not much else

2:45 AM Bon Voyage (1944) – An interesting little Alfred Hitchcock short (less than 30 minutes) produced to help the war effort about an espionage event involving a downed RAF flier (John Blythe) and the French Resistance during World War II. Watch it and be taken in … then be prepared to be surprised. An early (?) experiment by the director in presenting the same situation from two different viewpoints to intrigue his audience.

3:15 AM Frenzy (1972) – a TCM premiere!

5:15 AM Family Plot (1976) – only fair

Saturday October 29 – Alfred Hitchcock (Wrongly Accused)

10:00 AM The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

12:00 PM The Lusty Men (1952) – full review!

3:15 PM Don’t Give Up The Ship (1959) – if you like Jerry Lewis … full review!

7:00 PM Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest (2000) – excellent informative documentary about the making of Alfred Hitchcock’s best film!

8:00 PM North By Northwest (1959) – this week’s TCM Essential

10:30 PM Saboteur (1942)

12:30 AM The Wrong Man (1956) – an all new capsule review!

2:30 AM Young and Innocent (1937) – a TCM premiere!

Sunday October 30 – Alfred Hitchcock’s Blondes

8:00 AM She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)

10:00 AM South Pacific (1958) – Worth watching if you haven’t seen it. The beach scenes with Mitzi Gaynor “washing that man right out of her hair” and the guys led by Ray Walston are hilarious. Some scenes are filtered with different colors which I personally find distracting. Lead Rossano Brazzi John Kerr and Juanita Hall as “Bloody Mary” are also noteworthy.

1:00 PM The Ghost Breakers (1940) – I still haven’t actually seen this one other than this clip😉

4:00 PM Roman Holiday (1953)

6:00 PM North By Northwest (1959) – TCM Essential repeat

8:30 PM Rear Window (1954)

10:30 PM The Birds (1963)

12:45 AM The Lodger (1927) – an all new full review!

2:30 AM The Trouble With Harry (1955)

4:15 AM Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) – a rare Hitchcock misfire a comedy!

Monday October 31 – Home Sweet Home – HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

6:00 AM Nosferatu (1922) – one of the scariest films ever made (even though it’s over 80 years old!). This silent features Max Schreck in the title role a vampire who prays on people (most notably a woman) for blood based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” novel.

10:15 AM Mad Love (1935) – Peter Lorre is a masterful surgeon who’s so obsessed with a married stage actress (Frances Drake) he has a full size wax statue made of her. When her concert pianist husband (Colin Clive) ruins his hands in an accident Lorre’s character surgically replaces them with the hands of a knife throwing murderer (Edward Brophy) that’s just been executed. Ted Healy plays a reporter who learns of it; Keye Luke plays the doctor’s assistant. The last of eight films directed by Oscar winning cinematographer Karl Freund (The Good Earth (1937)).

11:30 AM Cat People (1942) – this above average horror flick stars Simone Simon as a beautiful foreigner with a mysterious past that marries a New Yorker played by Kent Smith. But there’s something strange about her she’s afraid of consummating their marriage for fear of reviving an ancient curse that will turn her into a leopard! Tom Conway plays a psychiatrist Smith’s character hopes can cure her of her fear. Directed by Jacques Tourneur this film was added to the National Film Registry in 1993. Remade in 1982 with an interesting “twist” and starring Nastassja Kinski John Heard Malcolm McDowell and Annette O’Toole.

1:00 PM Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) – this is a sci-fi film which holds up today who can forget the ending with Kevin McCarthy! Directed by Don Siegel it was added to the National Film Registry in 1994.

2:30 PM Village Of The Damned (1960) – pretty good horror film about a strange occurrence which causes a rash of births nine months later. The offspring are children which grow up too fast and possess special abilities which give their parents cause for worry. George Sanders plays a professor who recognizes their capabilities first and initially educates them until he realizes what he’s helped to create. Check out their eyes!

4:00 PM The Birds (1963)

6:00 PM Psycho (1960)

8:00 PM Poltergeist (1982) – Featuring AFI’s 29^th best movie quote “They’re here!” this modern day horror story (written by Stephen Spielberg) received three Oscar nominations (Sound Effects Editing Visual Effects and Score) and features Craig T. Nelson JoBeth Williams Dominique Dunne Oliver Robins and Heather O’Rourke as family members who are terrorized by unknown forces in their home. Beatrice Straight plays a doctor and Zelda Rubinstein plays a clairvoyant. Tragically actresses Dunne & O’Rourke both lived short lives.

10:00 PM The Uninvited (1944)

12:00 AM The Haunting (1963) – This horror classic earned the director (producer) Robert Wise a Golden Globe nomination. It stars Julie Harris Clair Bloom Richard Johnson and Russ Tamblyn among others.

2:00 AM Horror Castle (1963) – a TCM premiere!

3:30 AM The Castle of the Living Dead (1964) – a TCM premiere!