Not a lot to be excited about on TCM this week. I briefly considered going with the TCM Five, but I instead decided to include a few things of interest already on DVD. In lieu of time for further research, I’ve basically just written out my reasons for the picks. As always, all times are EST and program days begin at 6:00 AM.

Saturday October 6

8:00 AM To Be or Not to Be (Lubitsch, 1942) - BW-100 mins. - Like Ninotchka, this is a Lubitsch film I’m not entirely sold on. I appreciate it completely, for what it was doing and when it was doing it, but the magic isn’t there for me like with some of his other films. Still, any Lubitsch is good viewing and this was, tragically, Carole Lombard’s final role. Robert Stack is pretty darn good here also. Released on DVD by Warner Bros.

Sunday October 7

2:00 AM Family Diary (Zurlini, 1962) - C-114 mins. - I’ve not yet seen any of Zurlini’s work, but I’m nevertheless interested in seeing this because it stars Marcello Mastroianni and is unavailable on DVD. I know little about the film, aside from it being an Italian drama about two brothers, played by Mastroianni and Jacques Perrin. It doesn’t show up very often and, despite some releases by the fine NoShame label (now seemingly missing in action), Zurlini is fairly unknown. IMDB lists MGM as the original theatrical distributor.

Monday October 8

1:30 PM Fifth Avenue Girl (La Cava, 1939) - BW-84 mins. - I like the idea of hiring Ginger Rogers to “pretend” to be your gold digging mistress. That’s what Walter Connolly does here, just to annoy his family. How can this go wrong? Coming off My Man Godfrey and Stage Door, director Gregory La Cava was on a hot streak. Those two films are his only DVD releases in R1, though this is available on a French R2 disc. That’s a minor shame, as I’d like to see more 1930s comedies period, particularly on DVD. Warner Bros. owns the rights to this, originally made for RKO.

4:30 PM Love on the Run (Van Dyke, 1936) - BW-81 mins. - A Gable-Crawford teaming directed by Thin Man helmer W.S. Van Dyke. It’s a romantic comedy and sounds strangely similar to It Happened One Night, with Crawford as an heiress and Gable a reporter. (Wow did they love wacky heiresses back then.) Not to be outdone though, this one has spies! Probably not great, but I’m sure it’s a nice way to spend 81 minutes. Unavailable on DVD, made for MGM, and home video rights probably owned by Warner Bros.

5:30 AM The Jackie Robinson Story (Green, 1950) - BW-77 mins. - Baby Face director Alfred E. Green helmed the Hollywoodization of Robinson’s breaking of baseball’s color barrier. It’s included in TCM’s monthlong look at the biopic. Certainly not a great film, but an undeniably fascinating one with Robinson playing himself only three years after his major league debut. Ruby Dee plays his wife Rachel. I think biopics tend to work best when the person’s story isn’t common knowledge, but Jackie Robinson’s life was so incredible that he may be an exception. Spike Lee has wanted to make a movie about Robinson for years now, but I believe he’s given up on trying to secure the necessary funds. Right after Jamie Foxx’s Oscar win there were reports of him starring as Robinson in a new film, with Robert Redford playing Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, but that, thankfully, hasn’t come to pass as of now. There’s also a reasonably good television movie from 1990 about Robinson’s court-martial, starring the great Andre Braugher, but it’s not on DVD. This film, however, is on DVD, in numerous public domain editions, as well as a release by MGM.

Thursday October 11

10:30 AM The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Huston, 1948) - BW-126 mins. - Sort of a filler pick because WB released a really great two-disc special edition DVD a few years ago, but the film is so good that it’s worth mentioning. The best of the Huston-Bogart teamings and I’m always fighting between deciding whether Bogart’s finest performance is here or as Dix Steele in Ray’s In a Lonely Place.

8:00 PM The Ox-Bow Incident (Wellman, 1943) - BW-76 mins. - This was made and released on DVD by Fox so it’s not normally shown on TCM. I’m not sure why they’re showing this and not Henry Fonda’s other Fox films like The Grapes of Wrath or, even, Daisy Kenyon. (Drums Along the Mohawk and My Darling Clementine are scheduled for December during a spectacular John Ford tribute.) Regardless, it’s a great (though upsetting) little Western/morality tale and one I’ve heard cited by Clint Eastwood several times as being a personal favorite. Fonda was so obviously interested in socially important parts that reflected his own political sensibilities. The R1 Fox Studio Classics DVD of this is very good and includes an episode of A&E’s Biography series on Fonda.

1:15 AM The Rounders (Kennedy, 1965) - C-85 mins. - Burt Kennedy is an interesting figure in the history of the Western genre. He collaborated on several films with Budd Boetticher, notably Seven Men from Now, and then made a series of comedic Westerns. This was one of the early ones, and stars Henry Fonda and Glenn Ford as a couple of aging cowboys. Peter Fonda and Warren Oates both appear uncredited. Another MGM production, probably controlled by Warner Brothers, and unreleased on DVD.

Friday October 12

6:00 PM The Satan Bug (Sturges, 1965) - C-115 mins. - I haven’t seen it, but I’m intrigued by the presence of John Sturges, using this as his follow-up to The Great Escape. The plot concerns germ warfare and a mad millionaire, things that seem cheesy until you remember that very combination poses a potential threat now. Richard Basehart and Dana Andrews lead the cast. The film was released theatrically by United Artists, and is unavailable on DVD, with MGM controlling home video rights.

9:30 PM Strait-Jacket (Castle, 1964) - BW-92 mins. - Four William Castle films in a row on TCM prime time this evening. I don’t think I’ve watched any of his films, but this one seems like a good entry point. The TCM guide says, “murder follows an axe murderer home when she’s released from a mental hospital.” In a real stretch, Joan Crawford is the axe murderer. The more famous Castle film The Tingler, with Vincent Price, airs at 12:45 AM. There’s a Sony DVD of this on the market, reviewed favorably by DVD Savant. “Bring me the axe!”