A backloaded week, the schedule does well by Akira Kurosawa on Tuesday by giving the full day to the director’s films. Also more movies with Ginger Rogers, including many not on DVD in R1, find their way to the television this week. Tough to complain. As always, all times are EDT and program days begin at 6:00 AM.

Tuesday March 23

6:00 AM Sanshiro Sugata (Kurosawa, 1943) - BW-79 mins. - The monthlong celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of director Akira Kurosawa’s birth concludes next week on TCM, but today is the big one, giving the entire schedule to Kurosawa-san. The first four films being shown, beginning here, are only available in R1 as part of Criterion’s massive (and expensive) 25-film box set released last year. So, cheers to TCM for finding time to show these harder to see efforts. Sanshiro Sugata was the first real feature Kurosawa directed. It’s set in the 19th century and concerns a young student’s experiences with the martial arts of jujitsu and judo. A sequel was made a couple of years later, though Kurosawa was apparently unhappy about having to do it. TCM has that one scheduled for 10:00 AM today. Another of the movies exclusive to the Criterion set, The Most Beautiful, airs next at 7:30 AM.

9:00 AM The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (Kurosawa, 1945) - BW-59 mins. - Very short Kurosawa adventure about a 12th century lord who goes into enemy territory with a group of samurai. This too is available in Criterion’s AK100 box but might at some point, along with the other three not yet widely available films, turn up as an Eclipse set. Something worth noting is that TCM today is not only showing 13 Kurosawa pictures, but the 8 airing before prime time are in chronological order and make for an interesting look at the evolution of his career.

5:30 PM Stray Dog (Kurosawa, 1949) - BW-122 mins. - The day’s line-up culminates in what I consider to be Kurosawa’s first truly great film. Toshiro Mifune plays a rookie detective whose gun is stolen by a pickpocket on a bus. While undercover trying to retrieve his firearm, Mifune realizes how easily his postwar path could have led him to a life on the other side of the law. Very noir and very compelling. Criterion’s individual DVD release is solid, though the Kurosawa Blu-ray upgrades have been coming fast and furious lately so I wonder how much longer it will be until we have this title in high definition.

Wednesday March 24

5:45 PM Junior Bonner (Peckinpah, 1972) - C-100 mins. - The two films Sam Peckinpah made with Steve McQueen - The Getaway, also from 1972, being the other - brought out the best in both men. I get the feeling that some Peckinpah admirers see them as commercial concessions but I couldn’t be fonder of either. The modern western Junior Bonner, with McQueen as a fading rodeo star prone to discord, is as tender as it is tough. The film is a whiskey-soaked character study that seemingly could have only been made in the 1970s. Since the MGM R1 DVD doesn’t display the Scope photography in anamorphic widescreen, and I’m not sure any other region has disc that is enhanced, those with the TCM HD channel can finally enjoy an upscaled, anamorphic presentation. Last year’s McQueen retrospective at Lincoln Center in New York didn’t even feature Junior Bonner. I heard the programmer of the series say that a print of sufficient quality couldn’t be found.

8:00 PM Vivacious Lady (Stevens, 1937) - BW-90 mins. - Remember that idea I had for a Ginger Rogers box set from Warner Bros.? You can catch three of the pictures mentioned on TCM tonight, including Bachelor Mother at 9:45 PM and 5th Ave. Girl at 2:15 AM. Vivacious Lady, though, is a gem and definitely one of those movies where it’s tough to figure out why a DVD in R1 hasn’t been issued yet. Jimmy Stewart plays a professor with a buttoned up family who finds an unlikely wife in a nightclub singer (Rogers) and then struggles to keep the marriage a secret. Ginger has rarely been more appealing. It was done for RKO, and there is a disc available in France from Editions Montparnasse (under the title Mariage incognito).

Thursday March 25

7:00 AM Upper World (Del Ruth, 1934) - BW-73 mins. - The Ginger Rogers Star of the Month extravaganza continues with one of her earlier pictures that doesn’t show up very often on the schedule. It’s kind of a strange film that really feels like two different movies. Initially, our old friend Warren William is seen playing with his son and being a wealthy family man married to Mary Astor. When he meets a showgirl (Rogers), William lightens up and enjoys the attention he wasn’t getting from his wife. Things are going well until J. Carrol Naish sees a blackmail opportunity and the film then darkens considerably. Several different moods for such a short picture. Definitely worth a look. It’s Warner Bros., and not available on DVD.

2:00 AM The Happy Ending (Brooks, 1969) - C-112 mins. - When Jean Simmons died earlier this year TCM had a tribute and included this but I missed it. As with Elmer Gantry, she’s directed by Richard Brooks, who also wrote the film and was married to Simmons at the time. The result was an Oscar nomination for the actress. Plot descriptions emphasize that Simmons’ character is a middle-aged woman who abandons her family in order to find herself. I’m interested to see how everything plays out considering the immediate tendency to prejudge a situation like that. A pretty good supporting cast includes John Forsythe, Lloyd Bridges, Teresa Wright, Bobby Darin, Shirley Jones and Tina Louise. The Happy Ending isn’t on DVD in R1. It looks like MGM should have the rights.

4:00 AM The Pumpkin Eater (Clayton, 1964) - BW-110 mins. - The theme of the night is “Families in Crisis.” We move from one Oscar-nominated performance to another. Anne Bancroft here is a much-wedded woman unable to find what she wants in life. Peter Finch and James Mason co-star. The screenplay is by Harold Pinter. Columbia released, but no DVD in R1. A disc can be had in the UK via Moviemail.

Friday March 26

8:00 AM A Life of Her Own (Cukor, 1950) - BW-109 mins. - Lana Turner plays a model who finds success and, ultimately, the married Ray Milland. This was Turner’s first film after a two-year hiatus. A remarkable cast includes Ann Dvorak as a model losing her youth and other well-known names like Tom Ewell, Louis Calhern, Barry Sullivan, and Jean Hagen. It was done for MGM so Warner Bros. should control. It’s not on DVD.

11:30 AM No Questions Asked (Kress, 1951) - BW-81 mins. - Barry Sullivan also pops up here, now in the lead role. He’s a lawyer who finds himself framed for murder. He’s joined by Arlene Dahl and Jean Hagen again. There’s a noirish vibe to it apparently. The screenplay was by Sidney Sheldon. Harold Kress, known more as an editor who won a pair of Oscars, directed but soon enough went back to editing. This is MGM and now Warner Bros. No DVD.