“31 Days of Oscar” is now over so it’s back to the weekly browsing of the TCM schedule for interesting and rare showings. Generally, March looks to be a very strong month for the channel but this week may not be the best. The Friday picks do look odd and appealing so take that as a hint of things to come. I’ll have more next week. As always, all times are EST and program days begin at 6:00 AM.

Sunday March 7

6:00 AM Riffraff (Ruben, 1936) - BW-94 mins. - Jean Harlow plays a worker at a tuna cannery who finds herself involved with hot shot fisherman Spencer Tracy. They marry, but trouble ensues after he loses his job and she goes to prison. The picture was made for MGM but, like most all of the WB’s Harlow properties, hasn’t been released on DVD. There was talk at one point of a box set but who really knows what’s going on over there now. It might be a good sign that the Harlow films haven’t been sent to the Warner Archive yet.

12:15 AM Show People (Vidor, 1928) - BW-79 mins. - Charming little silent comedy starring Marion Davies as a Southern belle who goes to Hollywood with her father to become a movie star. A very funny film, with the satire far more biting than you might expect. Director King Vidor even plays a version of himself. William Haines co-stars as Davies’ actor friend who gets left behind as she becomes increasingly popular. Warner Bros. now controls the rights, though it was made by MGM. I’m hopeful for a DVD release but it’s more likely that Show People will join another Vidor-Davies silent, The Patsy, in the Warner Archive.

Monday March 8

6:00 PM Two Weeks in Another Town (Minnelli, 1962) - C-107 mins. - In the same vein as The Bad and the Beautiful, this reuniting of Vincente Minnelli with star Kirk Douglas has the latter play a director trying to make a comeback picture in Rome. The cast also includes Edward G. Robinson, Cyd Charisse, George Hamilton, and Claire Trevor. A birthday tribute to the late Charisse ends with this showing. Most of the other pictures are on DVD but this one, made for MGM and now with Warner Bros., is not.

Tuesday March 9

8:00 PM Ikiru (Kurosawa, 1952) - BW-143 mins. - TCM is honoring the 100th anniversary of director Akira Kurosawa’s birth in a big way this month. Twenty-six of Kurosawa’s films will be shown, including a few that are otherwise tough to see. Of the selections tonight, a good choice to watch would be Ikiru, about a civil servant (Takashi Shimura) who learns he doesn’t have very long to live and dedicates himself to getting a playground built. It’s a warmly sentimental film but not really overly so, and it’s a good distance from the samurai and crime pictures for which Kurosawa usually garners the most attention. Criterion has the film out in a nice special edition DVD.

Wednesday March 10

6:00 PM Merry Andrew (Kidd, 1958) - C-103 mins. - Michael Kidd directs Danny Kaye in this story of an unlikely circus clown. Kaye plays an English teacher who meets acrobat Pier Angeli while on an archeological jaunt in Italy. It’s a musical, if you enjoy those. Sounds reasonably fun, and it’s in CinemaScope. Looks like this was released by MGM theatrically, but nothing DVD-wise. Warner Bros. likely has the rights. Ginger Rogers’ Star of the Month celebration begins afterward with her Fred Astaire pairings.

Thursday March 11

5:15 PM Police Dog Story (Cahn, 1961) - BW-63 mins. - Several dog-themed movies make up the afternoon schedule today. I thought this movie, apparently about a police dog who joins an arson investigation, might be interesting. It doesn’t even have enough votes for a rating at IMDb. United Artists put it in cinemas, possibly giving MGM the rights now. No DVD.

12:00 AM Over 21 (Vidor, 1945) - BW-105 mins. - Based on a play written by Ruth Gordon (Maude to Bud Cort’s Harold and an Oscar winner for Rosemary’s Baby), this newspaper comedy has Irene Dunne married to editor Alexander Knox. After he goes into the military, she ends up writing his articles to appease Knox’s oblivious publisher (Charles Coburn). See Coburn also in fine form earlier in the evening in The Lady Eve at 8:00 PM and The More the Merrier at 10:00 PM. Those are both on DVD but Over 21 isn’t. It was a Columbia release.

Friday March 12

2:15 PM Return from the Ashes (Thompson, 1965) - BW-108 mins. - An intriguing lineup here on Friday afternoon, with five films starring Samantha Eggar on the schedule. I’ve only seen The Collector, airing at noon, but it’s a brilliant work and really hinges on the performances of Eggar and Terence Stamp. In Return from the Ashes, she plays the stepdaughter of a wealthy Jewish widow (Ingmar Bergman veteran Ingrid Thulin) who marries gigolo Maximilian Schell. A murder plot ensues. The Mirisch Corporation produced the picture and United Artists released. MGM probably could release it on DVD but hasn’t.

6:15 PM The Walking Stick (Till, 1970) - C-101 mins. - Here Eggar plays a woman with polio who gets conned by stranger David Hemmings. It’s interesting how in both of these, as well as The Collector, Eggar seems to become the victim of a predatory male. MGM did The Walking Stick in the U.S. so Warner Bros. likely has the rights. I don’t believe it’s available on DVD anywhere.

2:30 AM Shanks (Castle, 1974) - C-93 mins. - Renowned mime Marcel Marceau in a William Castle thriller. Is there anything else that you really need to know? Okay, well he plays a mute puppeteer who figures out how to use his talents on corpses. It was also Castle’s last film, and the score was nominated for an Oscar. Are you interested yet? It’s with Paramount but no DVD release as of now.