I’ve had a lot of positive attention from my article on potential Warner Bros. box sets and I appreciate that. I have virtually no confidence that any of those sets will ever happen, but my suspicion that people are still interested in such releases has been confirmed. On to TCM, a place that rarely disappoints! As always, all times are EST/EDT and program days begin at 6:00 AM. Watch out for the time change right in the middle of Heat Lightning!

Saturday March 13

1:45 AM Heat Lightning (LeRoy, 1934) - BW-64 mins. - I was going to mention this movie anyway, but after recently seeing Ann Dvorak in Three on a Match, also directed by Mervyn LeRoy and co-starring Lyle Talbot, I’m especially anxious to see her again. She’s billed behind Aline MacMahon, who plays Dvorak’s sister and the proprietor of a gas station. Fugitive Preston Foster swings into town and creates problems for the ladies. The cast also includes Glenda Farrell and Jane Darwell. People seem intent on comparing the picture (unfavorably) to The Petrified Forest. Done for Warner Bros., it’s not on DVD. Mae West’s last screen appearance until Myra Breckinridge almost 30 years later, a comedy called The Heat’s On, follows at 3:00 AM.

Sunday March 14

12:00 AM The Magician (Ingram, 1926) - BW-79 mins. - A Rex Ingram-directed silent done for MGM and starring Paul Wegener from Der Golem. Wegener plays the title character, an alchemist who wants to create life in his laboratory. He just needs a little help in the form of an innocent female’s blood. Alice Terry will do the trick. The movie is considered a precursor to James Whale’s Frankenstein. It’s not on DVD to my knowledge, and should be controlled by Warner Bros. Tonight’s TCM Import is Family Diary, an Italian drama from director Valerio Zurlini and starring Marcello Mastroianni. You can catch it at 2:00 AM, though I found the film a little slowgoing the last time TCM showed it.

Monday March 15

6:00 AM Miss Pinkerton (Bacon, 1932) - BW-66 mins. - If you like George Brent or enjoy movies from the early to mid-1930s then today promises to be a happy one on the TCM schedule. In Miss Pinkerton, the first of ten straight movies featuring Brent, Joan Blondell stars as a private nurse sent by police inspector Brent to the home of a murdered man to look after his aunt and keep her eyes open for clues as to who the killer was. Niven Busch and Lillie Hayward were among the credited writers. It’s a Warner Bros. property, not on DVD.

9:45 AM The Keyhole (Curtiz, 1933) - BW-69 mins. - Brent’s co-star this time is Kay Francis. He’s a private investigator hired by her husband to follow her, though he ends up smitten. These sorts of pictures are great examples of TCM’s everyday importance. They aren’t particularly well-known, no DVD release, and seemingly less relevant by the day. TCM is virtually the only legitimate way to see movies like this because you just know Warner Bros. isn’t taking a chance on putting out movies in this situation on DVD. Future Warner Archive titles? Maybe, but I wouldn’t even hold my breath there either given the general lack of established (meaning marketable) star power and the surely imperfect film elements. The William Wellman-directed Lily Turner follows at 11:00 AM and Desirable, done by Archie Mayo, is next at 12:15 PM.

2:45 PM Living on Velvet (Borzage, 1935) - BW-76 mins. - Bette Davis in the comedy Housewife continues Brent’s day at 1:30 PM, but I’m more keen to see Frank Borzage direct Francis and Brent alongside Warren William. Francis is engaged to the latter before becoming the object of guilt-ridden pilot Brent’s affection. Also Warner Bros., and also unreleased on DVD. TCM showed this one back in September of ‘08 when Francis was Star of the Month but I don’t think it’s been on since.

Tuesday March 16

8:45 AM The Mind Reader (Del Ruth, 1933) - BW-70 mins. - That Warren William, you can’t get rid of him. Though who would want to, I guess. One of the pictures I mentioned as being an excellent inclusion in a possible Forbidden Hollywood volume can be seen this morning on TCM. William plays a con artist who passes himself off as a mind reader. Allen Jenkins is his buddy and Constance Cummings is the woman who might be able to save him. No one usually singles out Roy Del Ruth, but the guy directed a whole lot of pre-Code films that still feel fresh. I’ve had enough good experiences with his movies that seeing his name on something from this time period gets my attention.

10:45 PM High and Low (Kurosawa, 1963) - BW-143 mins. - My Akira Kurosawa pick this week is on the short list of his best work. Toshiro Mifune plays a businessman who initially thinks it’s his son who has been kidnapped, though it ends up being the child of his chauffeur who was taken. Ethical quandaries abound, and Kurosawa makes sure to emphasize class distinction whenever possible. Great, great film. Also highly entertaining and “modern” in feel. I reviewed the most recent Criterion Collection DVD when it was released.

Wednesday March 17

9:15 AM The Irish In Us (Bacon, 1935) - BW-84 mins. - It’s a TCM tradition to play Irish-themed films on St. Patrick’s Day and there’s probably no better classic Hollywood pairing for the occasion than James Cagney and Pat O’Brien. The film’s brothers O’Hara include Cagney the boxing promoter, O’Brien the police officer, and Frank McHugh as a fireman. All three live with their mother in New York. Olivia de Havilland has the female lead, a pretty girl who comes between Cagney and O’Brien. A comedy, the picture was done for Warner Bros., but hasn’t seen the light of day on DVD.

2:30 PM Peg O’ My Heart (Leonard, 1933) - BW-87 mins. - I’ve really warmed to Marion Davies over the years and can completely understand why lots of people don’t think she’s gotten her due as a comedic actress. Here she’s an Irish girl who becomes heir to a British estate. Somewhat amazingly, Davies was in her mid-thirties but played a teenager. William Randolph Hearst’s production company did the picture and MGM released it. Not on DVD, but Warner Bros. should have the rights. The much-unloved Clark Gable starrer Parnell follows at 4:00 PM.

11:30 PM Professional Sweetheart (Seiter, 1933) - BW-73 mins. - After dark, TCM switches from Irish to Ginger, as Ms. Rogers can first be seen in the Busby Berkeley musicals 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933 as part of her Star of the Month celebration. Then it’s on to a couple of pre-Code RKO comedies directed by William Seiter and co-starring Norman Foster. The second is Rafter Romance, a cute little picture unseen for decades before TCM helped unearth it not too long ago. First, though, we have Ginger as a radio singer who rebels from her pure image for a publicity stunt that pairs her with random hick Foster. I don’t think there’s a DVD for this one (Rafter Romance can be had from TCM on DVD-R), and it might have been a good choice for my imaginary Ginger Rogers set (or perhaps for the imaginary Vol. 2!).