Thursday January 1

12:45 PM Theodora Goes Wild (Boleslawski, 1936) - BW-94 mins. - After a little too much imbibing, perhaps the cure might be some screwball comedy. TCM has just the thing to start off the new year. Everything being shown is highly recommended, but only this film can’t be found on DVD in some form. Made for Columbia, the picture stars Irene Dunne as a clandestine novelist of risque stories penned under an alias. Melvyn Douglas threatens to throw things into disarray by revealing her secret to Dunne’s conservative friends and neighbors. Pretty fun, and great if you like Dunne, who’s even better in two movies co-starring Cary Grant that follow - My Favorite Wife at 2:30 PM and the classic The Awful Truth at 4:15 PM.

12:00 AM The Killer That Stalked New York (McEvoy, 1950) - BW-76 mins. - Evelyn Keyes, who passed away earlier this year, stars as a jewel thief unwittingly carrying a deadly disease that threatens to infect all of New York. There are some definite noir elements in here. The public health focus is reminiscent of Elia Kazan’s Panic in the Streets, from the same year, though this isn’t hardly as good. The Killer That Stalked New York hasn’t been officially released on DVD yet, and it was distributed originally by Columbia. TCM follows up the airing with the similarly themed (and not on DVD) The Satan Bug, directed by John Sturges and showing at 1:30 AM.

5:00 AM Show People (Vidor, 1928) - BW-79 mins. - Light Hollywood satire directed by King Vidor and starring Marion Davies and William Haines. She plays a Southern belle who ventures out west to be a star, aided by her eccentric father. It’s a silent and owned by Warner Bros. so no surprise that a DVD is yet to be offered. That studio really should explore those MGM silents that have been promised for years now.

Friday January 2

6:30 AM Within Our Gates (Micheaux, 1920) - BW-78 mins. - Three films in a row directed by pioneering filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. The simple plot involves a black schoolteacher who encounters racism in the North. This is the earliest surviving film directed by an African American. It can be found on the out of print DVD set Origins of Film, but I don’t believe there’s an individual release. Airing next is the KKK drama The Symbol of the Unconquered, and it’s followed by Swing!

10:45 AM Swing High, Swing Low (Leisen, 1937) - BW-83 mins. - A word of warning about the print TCM is likely to use: It’s awful. The channel showed this movie in October during the Carole Lombard tribute (she co-stars with Fred MacMurray) and I couldn’t believe how poor the quality of the print was, as bad as anything I’ve ever seen on TCM. Still, this may be the best we have since there’s no DVD. MacMurray plays a soldier who meets Lombard and eventually becomes a bandleader, but lets the success go to his head. Lombard made her singing debut. Dorothy Lamour co-stars and Anthony Quinn has a small role. Mitchell Leisen directed the picture for Paramount. Universal now has the rights.

1:15 PM It All Came True (Seiler, 1940) - C-97 mins. -A mini Bogart fest of lesser known titles this afternoon. This one actually stars Ann Sheridan, a recommendation in itself, and has Bogie as a gangster in hiding. Sheridan plays a nightclub entertainer sharing a boardinghouse with several other oddballs. Mark Hellinger was a producer and Delmer Daves did some uncredited work on the script. It was made for Warner Bros., but hasn’t arrived on DVD so far. If a Bogart Collection Vol. 3 gets released, this seems like a candidate. Or maybe Gangsters Vol. 5.

2:15 AM Sonny Boy (Carroll, 1990) - C-97 mins. - Good to keep in mind that this is airing in the TCM Underground time slot. I wasn’t very familiar with the title, but found it strange that such a recent film with little recognition would be on the schedule. The director, Robert Martin Carroll, has made only one other movie (Baby Luv, from 2000). The plot of this one sounds uncomfortably dark. A petty gangster and his transvestite “wife” find a young boy, render him mute and raise him as an accomplice. David Carradine plays the transvestite. And it’s supposedly a black comedy. Sounds strange, but also difficult to see since there’s no DVD release (in R1, at least). I couldn’t venture a guess on the film’s rights.

Sunday January 4

6:00 PM To Sir, with Love (Clavell, 1967) - Can you believe this film is out of print on R1 DVD? I really had no idea until noticing the Amazon third party sellers start at roughly $65 for a copy. When it comes to baffling decisions regarding DVD releases Sony is usually in the driver’s seat and this time is no different. If you just want to see the movie, which is pleasant enough and was part of a remarkable year in film for Sidney Poitier, TCM obliges with an evening showing. Surely Sony will realize its mistake and re-issue the film soon. It does at least look easily available in the R2 incarnation.

Monday January 5

8:00 PM The Late George Apley (Mankiewicz, 1947) - BW-96 mins. - Comedy with Ronald Colman in the title role, a man concerned with his family’s social status when his children fall in love with people from outside their circle. It’s an early, lesser known pictured directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and made for Fox. Peggy Cummins, later of Gun Crazy, plays Colman’s daughter. The film hasn’t been released for DVD yet.

1:15 AM A Scandal in Paris (Sirk, 1946) - BW-100 mins. - Douglas Sirk directs this dry comedy starring the forever dry George Sanders as a French confidence man in the late 1700s who manages to elevate himself into the position of Paris chief of police. Carole Landis and Akim Tamiroff head the supporting cast. It’s on DVD in R1 from Kino.

Tuesday January 6

6:00 AM The Crowd (Vidor, 1928) - BW-93 mins. - Often considered King Vidor’s finest film, this silent look at the emptiness and emotional disconnect of city life is still unreleased on DVD. I don’t remember any airings on TCM since November 2007, which I made mention of at the time, and I can only hope this will be the year Warner Bros. puts out some of its silent catalog. Three more Vidor films follow.

8:00 PM Brighton Rock (Boulting, 1947) - BW-92 mins. - Somewhat goofily billed as Young Scarface stateside, this British noir stars Richard Attenborough as a young tough who gets in over his head. I’ve not seen it but glowing reviews have piqued my interest. Graham Greene adapted his book and other films based on Greene’s work also air this evening, including The Fallen Idol at 9:45 PM and The Third Man at 3:45 AM. Though Brighton Rock isn’t on DVD in R1, and I don’t know which company has the rights, it can be found in the UK from Optimum.

Wednesday January 7

11:00 AM Cheyenne (Walsh, 1947) - C(?)-99 mins. - The TCM site lists this as being in color, but IMDb, which is probably correct, has it in black and white. Either way, it’s a Raoul Walsh western starring Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman, and with Arthur Kennedy as a character called The Sundance Kid. Morgan plays a gambler persuaded to search for an outlaw nicknamed “The Poet” (Bruce Bennett). He gets attached to the outlaw’s wife (Wyman) in the process. The movie was made for Warner Bros. It’s not on DVD.

2:30 PM Too Many Husbands (Ruggles, 1940) - BW-81 mins. - Bigamy hopefully made funny. Fred MacMurray is the presumed dead husband of Jean Arthur, who gave up and attached herself to Melvyn Douglas. When MacMurray returns, she decides to keep both men instead of trying to choose. It sounds somewhat similar to My Favorite Wife, from the same year. A Columbia picture, it’s not been released for DVD.

3:45 AM You Can’t Run Away from It (Powell, 1956) - C-95 mins.- A remake of It Happened One Night with June Allyson and a young Jack Lemmon, and directed by Dick Powell. This one’s a musical. Tonight begins Jack Lemmon’s reign as Star of the Month, and it’ll be nice to have several of his early movies made for Columbia, like this, on the schedule since they aren’t otherwise available to watch. My Billy Wilder fanaticism ensures Lemmon the utmost respect and his versatility should be captured quite well over the course of the month.

Thursday January 8

4:00 AM Where’s Poppa? (Reiner, 1970) - C-84 mins. - Part of the “New York vs. L.A.” selections this month, and an odd choice certainly. Carl Reiner directs George Segal as a New York lawyer still living with his mother, played by Ruth Gordon, after assuring his late father he’d watch after the senile woman. I get the impression that it’s an unapologetically offensive comedy, probably why it’s airing at four in the morning. There was a DVD in R1 from MGM, but it seems to be out of print (though still affordable through third party sellers).

Friday January 9

8:00 PM It Happens Every Spring (Bacon, 1949) - BW-87 mins. - Often forgotten baseball comedy with Ray Milland as a professor who devises a baseball that repels wood, thus making it impossible to hit. Despite his age, he starts playing professionally with great success. A very enjoyable, family-friendly picture. Jean Peters co-stars, as does Paul Douglas, who married Jan Sterling the following year. Coincidentally, Milland starred with Sterling in a baseball-themed movie called Rhubarb, about a cat who inherited a ball club. Douglas had a brief cameo in that one. It Happens Every Spring was made by Fox and it’s not on DVD.

Saturday January 10

10:00 AM The Blue Dahlia (Marshall, 1946) - BW-99 mins. - A film noir with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, written by Raymond Chandler who picked up an Oscar nomination for his troubles. It’s also the movie that inspired the postmortem nickname of Elizabeth Short. There’s a DVD from Universal in R2, but this is definitely overdue for release in R1. It may even be one of the bigger omissions given the film’s notoriety on multiple levels.

10:00 PM Bombshell (Fleming, 1933) - BW-96 mins. - Screwy MGM comedy starring Jean Harlow as some version of her screen persona. She’s a movie star pulled in every direction from family and studio obligations, intent on cleaning up her image. Lee Tracy co-stars as her agent. Presumably this will be part of Warner Bros.’ Harlow DVD set whenever that actually happens. Harlow and frequent accomplice Clark Gable star in the drama Hold Your Man at 1:30 AM.

Sunday January 11

8:00 AM The Devil and Miss Jones (Wood, 1941) - BW-92 mins. - Charles Coburn was Oscar-nominated for his performance as a tycoon who, after learning he owns a department store, goes undercover to find out who was behind the workers unionizing. The Coburn character becomes a shoe salesman and ends up making friends with his two main offenders - Jean Arthur and Robert Cummings. An excellent supporting cast includes Edmund Gwenn, Spring Byington, and William Demarest. Despite a Norman Krasna screenplay that was also nominated by the Academy and production design by William Cameron Menzies, the comedy isn’t on DVD. It was originally put out by RKO so Warner Bros. should control the R1 rights.

Monday January 12

7:15 AM Big City (Borzage, 1937) - BW-80 mins. - As pointed out by one of my astute commenters, a pair of Frank Borzage-directed films not on DVD air today. The first is headlined by two consecutive Oscar winners in the midst of their individual glory. Spencer Tracy and Luise Rainer star as a married couple struggling with a taxi strike (he’s a driver) and her pending deportation after she’s accused of bombing a garage. Made for MGM, Warner Bros. should have the rights to the film now.

8:00 PM No Greater Glory (Borzage, 1934) - BW-74 mins. - Gangs and war among youths, starring Frankie Darro. Jo Swerling adapted an autobiographical novel by playwright Ferenc Molnár, who also wrote Liliom, and Borzage produced and directed the picture for Columbia. Expect typical Borzage tenderness. Probably don’t expect a DVD, though, as the movie’s in Sony’s money-grubbing hands.

Tuesday January 13

6:00 AM Maisie (Marin, 1939) - BW-75 mins. - First in the series starring Ann Sothern as Brooklyn showgirl Maisie. In this entry she finds herself in Wyoming, low on funds, and playing a significant part in the lives of a rancher (Robert Young) and an adulteress (Ruth Hussey). Seven films featuring Sothern as the Maisie character immediately follow this airing. They were made for MGM. Warner Bros. now has the rights, but none of the films are on DVD.

3:45 AM Woody Allen: A Life in Film (Schickel, 2002) - C-88 mins. - Fans of Woody, either rabid or moderate, would do well to catch or record this showing of Richard Schickel’s documentary/interview. It features the writer and director talking about his films up to, I believe, Hollywood Ending. Since Allen isn’t big on interviews, absent entirely from his DVDs which also lack supplements, this remains a rare peek inside the neurosis. And it’s not on DVD, with a release seemingly doubtful since it hasn’t happened yet.

Wednesday January 14

12:15 PM Right Cross (Sturges, 1950) - BW-90 mins. - Usually a John Sturges film is worth watching and often it’s quite good. Thus, we have Right Cross, which stars Ricardo Montalban, who also worked with Sturges the same year on the interesting and noirish Mystery Street, as a boxer with a thing for his promoter’s daughter, played by June Allyson. Complicating matters is Dick Powell’s character, who is Montalban’s best friend and who shares affection for Allyson. If that’s not enough, Marilyn Monroe apparently appears very briefly in a nightclub scene. Released by MGM, Warner Bros. should now control the rights but it’s not yet on DVD.

Friday January 16

1:00 PM Wagon Master (Ford, 1950) - BW-86 mins. - Highly regarded John Ford western that I’ve not seen. Second tier perhaps. Notable, though, for featuring members of Ford’s stock company as the leads - Ben Johnson, Ward Bond, and Harry Carey, Jr. - instead of a bigger name. Joanne Dru also appears, as does legendary athlete Jim Thorpe, who’s billed simply as “Navajo” in his final screen appearance. RKO originally distributed the picture so Warner Bros. should have the R1 rights, though it’s unreleased. It is on DVD in R2 from Universal.

3:30 AM The Unholy Three (Conway, 1930) - BW-72 mins. - Maybe check out TCM Underground tonight, first for The Terror of Tiny Town at 2:00 AM, with a cast full of little people, and then this remake of a Tod Browning film from 1925. Both versions star Lon Chaney, though this would be his last role before an untimely death, but the remake has sound. (It was Chaney’s only non-silent film.) TCM’s description describes the plot so succinctly and intriguingly that I’ll just borrow it: “A ventriloquist, a strong man and a midget form a criminal alliance.” Yes, your Friday late night is probably now set. It was made for MGM, indicating Warner Bros. should control, and neither the original nor the remake are on DVD.

Saturday January 17

10:00 PM The Earl of Chicago (Thorpe, 1939) - BW-87 mins. - Gangster comedy/drama starring Robert Montgomery as a former bootlegger newly tabbed as the Earl of Gorley. Edward Arnold is his rival and Edmund Gwenn supports as Munsey, the butler. Karl Freund apparently did some uncredited cinematography work on the film. It’s not on DVD, with the rights held by Warner Bros. via MGM.

Sunday January 18

6:15 PM The Mating Game (Marshall, 1959) - C-97 mins. - Tony Randall plays a tax collector who finds love with the daughter of a farmer who owes back taxes. Debbie Reynolds is the target of affection and Paul Douglas is her father. George Marshall directs. You can figure it’ll be lightweight, but probably enjoyable enough. The film was made for MGM and isn’t on DVD. Warner Bros. should control its rights.

Monday January 19

11:45 AM The Human Comedy (Brown, 1943) - BW-117 mins. - I really don’t like Mickey Rooney, emphasis on really. I recently watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s for review and, regardless of what society may have accepted then, it seems impossible to respect someone who was willing to play that part the way he did. Anyway, happier times for Rooney here and he picked up an Oscar nomination for playing a young man in charge of his family while an older brother goes to war. The picture and director Clarence Brown also received nominations. Co-stars include Donna Reed and an uncredited bit part for Robert Mitchum. Another MGM picture, it’s now with Warner Bros. and not on DVD.

4:00 AM Intruder in the Dust (Brown, 1949) - BW-87 mins. - Based on a William Faulkner novel, the film, also directed by Clarence Brown, concerns a black man (played by Juano Hernandez) charged with murdering a white man in rural Mississippi. A prominent attorney in the town initially refuses to represent the accused, but a young white boy attempts to change his mind. Hernandez, who was Puerto Rican, received a Golden Globe nomination for his work here. MGM and, now, Warner Bros. It’s not on DVD.

Tuesday January 20

6:00 AM It’s a Great Feeling (Butler, 1949) - C-85 mins. - Yes it is!

3:00 PM Psyche 59 (Singer, 1964) - BW-94 mins. - Patricia Neal, fresh off her Oscar win for Hud, and Curt Jurgens star as a married couple in London. She’s blind after falling a few years earlier, an accident she has no memory of happening. Her younger sister, played by Samantha Eggar a year before the release of The Collector, moves in and the Neal character suspects her sister and husband are having an affair. It looks like Columbia released the movie originally, and it’s not on DVD yet.

Wednesday January 21

7:45 AM She Married Her Boss (La Cava, 1935) - BW-85 mins. - A pair of Gregory La Cava comedies from the ’30s air this morning. The first, What Every Woman Knows at 6:00 AM, was based on a J.M. Barrie play and stars Helen Hayes in the movie that apparently caused her to quit film for several years. She Married Her Boss airs next and finds Claudette Colbert as a secretary settling down with boss Melvyn Douglas. The poster is worth a look just to see Colbert in blueface. The former was made for MGM and the latter for Columbia. Neither is on DVD.

Thursday January 22

5:45 AM Good Neighbor Sam (Swift, 1964) - C-130 mins. - A nice run of Jack Lemmon films that began Wednesday night, some not on DVD including this one, ends early Thursday morning with How to Murder Your Wife, which immediately follows. Good Neighbor Sam has nice guy Lemmon agreeing to pose as husband to his wife’s best friend (Romy Schneider). The idea is for it to be a one day ruse, but things get complicated when the friend’s real husband shows up and must pretend to be Lemmon’s wife’s husband. Despite being a little silly and a tad long, this is the kind of suburban movie star comedy Hollywood has been struggling to make for decades now when they once were seemingly old hat. It was done for Columbia. If you enjoyed the Maisie marathon last week, several Ann Sothern films air all afternoon until the evening.

Friday January 23

2:00 PM Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Lang, 1956) - BW-80 mins. - Excellent and tightly plotted Fritz Lang picture starring Dana Andrews as a writer who intentionally frames himself for a murder in the name of research. Andrews is very good in this and the final twist is really inspired. Joan Fontaine co-stars as his fiancee. Released originally by RKO, Warner Bros. would seemingly have the rights in R1. Surprisingly then, no DVD yet. Lang’s American films are woefully underrepresented in R1. NOTE: this airing is now canceled to make room for a Ricardo Montalban tribute; love Montalban, hate that TCM removed a movie it hasn’t shown for well over a year now.

2:00 AM The Swinger (Sidney, 1966) - C-81 mins. - Ann-Margret as you’ve never seen her, i.e. covered in paint and used as a human paintbrush. That’s the appeal of the film, I guess, and TCM schedules it in the weekly Underground slot. Her character writes a steamy novel and then proceeds to live out the events she created. Tony Franciosa is the Hef-like editor of a men’s magazine. This was director George Sidney’s penultimate film. He’d previously worked with Ann-Margret on Bye Bye Birdie and Viva Las Vegas. A somewhat rare Paramount production airing on the channel, and it’s not on DVD.

Saturday January 24

10:15 PM The Man Between (Reed, 1953) - BW-102 mins. - Just a few years after Odd Man Out, James Mason and Carol Reed get together again for another dramatic thriller. Mason plays a man living in East Berlin who tries to help Claire Bloom escape to the other side. The film was shot on location in Berlin. It’s not on DVD in R1 or in the UK, but I did find a German release from Kinowelt. British Lion Films was the production company and United Artists originally released it theatrically here. If the rights have held, MGM would then control in R1.

Sunday January 25

10:00 AM The Whole Town’s Talking (Ford, 1935) - BW-92 mins. - I’d never even heard of this John Ford picture, though it was written by Robert Riskin and Jo Swerling from a W.R. Burnett story. Surprisingly enough, it’s apparently a gangster comedy starring Edward G. Robinson and Jean Arthur. Robinson actually has a dual role, playing a gangster and a mild mannered citizen who looks just like the criminal. You can guess what happens next, but it still sounds quite charming. Being made for Columbia and a script from Riskin, Frank Capra would’ve seemed a natural choice to direct so Ford’s placement seems even stranger. Regardless, it’s not on DVD yet, but did receive a VHS release.

12:00 AM The Garden of Eden (Milestone, 1928) - BW-79 mins. - I haven’t mentioned a Sunday Silent lately, and this will be the last one until March, so here’s a chance to check out a romantic gem from Lewis Milestone two years before All Quiet on the Western Front. Corinne Griffith stars as a singer with a secret benefactor. Louise Dresser and future director Lowell Sherman appear in support. Originally released by United Artists, the film was released on R1 DVD by Flicker Alley back in 2002, but seems to be out of print.

Monday January 26

8:00 PM Private Screenings: Ernest Borgnine (2009) - C-60 mins. - Robert Osborne’s interview sitdowns are almost always entertaining to watch and this marks the debut of the newest in the series. Somewhat unlikely movie star and Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine finally gets the call. Probably connected to his autobiography published last fall. It’ll repeat at 11:00 PM, following a showing of Marty.

12:00 AM The Last Command (Lloyd, 1955) - BW-110 mins. - Borgnine in support gets this film, the last directed by Frank Lloyd, on the schedule. Lloyd was a minor force in the early days of talkies, winning Oscars for The Divine Lady and Cavalcade and also helming Mutiny on the Bounty with Gable and Laughton. Nothing much after the ’30s though. The Last Command has an interesting cast attached to the Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett vs. General Santa Anna story. J. Carrol Naish appears as the latter, while Arthur Hunnicutt is Crockett and Sterling Hayden stars as Bowie. I’d watch Hayden in anything so the film has my interest. It’s not on DVD in R1 and was first put out in theaters by Republic Pictures. Lionsgate has most of that library now.

Tuesday January 27

4:30 PM Shadow on the Wall (Jackson, 1950) - BW-84 mins. - I’m not familiar with it, but it sounds like a film noir for sure. Ann Sothern plays a decidedly non-comedic role. A little girl goes mute from seeing her stepmother murdered. And future First Lady Nancy Davis looks to have a fairly substantial supporting part. Zachary Scott helps fill out the main cast while John McIntire is billed further down. Made for MGM, it’s not on DVD. Warner Bros. most likely has the rights.

12:45 AM The Company She Keeps (Cromwell, 1951) - BW-83 mins. - Lizabeth Scott is a parole officer, Dennis O’Keefe is her boyfriend, and Jane Greer is involved with both, to their detriment. John Cromwell directs all the films in prime time tonight, including this and and the first, Double Harness, which I just watched recently. That particular movie I wasn’t impressed by so hopefully this is a bit better. Both were made for RKO. The Company She Keeps isn’t on DVD and should be with Warner Bros.

Wednesday January 28

7:15 AM Ladies of Leisure (Capra, 1930) - BW-99 mins. - The first of the Barbara Stanwyck-Frank Capra collaborations and a very early starring vehicle for the actress. It was only her fourth film, third credited. I love that she plays a “good girl with a past,” which is really the classic Stanwyck character of the ’30s. Ralph Graves is the male lead, an aspiring artist who hires Stanwyck to model and falls for her to the disapproval of his wealthy family. It was made for Columbia and isn’t on DVD. Sony really should put out a box set of the Stanwyck and Capra films in R1.

12:30 PM That Uncertain Feeling (Lubitsch, 1941) - BW-84 mins. - This Ernst Lubitsch film is on DVD in R1, from Roan, but it seems to be out of print and I’ve actually not seen it. Merle Oberon is married to Melvyn Douglas and begins to have doubts about their marriage after seeing a psychoanalyst. Burgess Meredith and Eve Arden also appear. United Artists is listed as the original distributor, though I believe the film is now in the public domain for reasons unknown to me. A pair of Lubitsch classics follow, including not-on-DVD The Merry Widow at 4:00 PM.

Thursday January 29

8:15 AM Luv (Donner, 1967) - C-96 mins. - I’m excited to see this on the schedule, closing out Jack Lemmon’s Star of the Month celebration. British director Clive Donner doesn’t inspire a lot of recognition in me or positivity for that matter, having directed unclassics like the Get Smart reunion feature The Nude Bomb and Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen. Where Luv interests me particularly is not just Lemmon, but also Peter Falk and a rare turn from Elaine May. If I’m reading the plot right, Lemmon is a suicidal man who meets Falk and agrees to try a romance with Falk’s wife, played by May, so that Falk can spend more time with his girlfriend. Things don’t appear to work out. Harrison Ford has a bit part as a hippie. The film definitely sounds like something I would enjoy more than most. It was made for Columbia, but is unsurprisingly still not on DVD. My antipathy for Sony could hardly run deeper people.

Sunday February 1

12:00 PM It Should Happen to You (Cukor, 1954) - BW-87 mins. - Judy Holliday is a model who gets her name across several New York City billboards, igniting a stir and the curiosity of Peter Lawford. In his film debut, Jack Lemmon plays a documentary filmmaker who falls for Holliday. The Oscar nomination here was limited to black and white costume design, but Garson Kanin’s screenplay did receive some recognition from the Writers Guild. There was a DVD in R1 from Sony, but it was inexplicably taken out of print at some point.

2:00 PM Artists & Models (Walsh, 1937) - BW-97 mins. - I don’t believe this has anything in common with the later Frank Tashlin-directed Martin and Lewis vehicle aside from its title. Raoul Walsh was behind the camera here, directing a musical comedy of all things. Jack Benny stars as an advertising agency boss who combats tough times by getting his fiancee, played by Ida Lupino, to pretend to be a socialite while he throws an attention-getting ball. The film also is notable for being Vincente Minnelli’s first work in Hollywood. He was staging director on the “Public Melody No. 1? number, which features black and white performers dancing together. The original song “Whispers in the Dark” was Oscar-nominated. Though made for Paramount originally, Universal should have the rights to the film. It’s not available on DVD.

4:00 PM Take a Letter, Darling (Leisen, 1942) - BW-93 mins. - Rosalind Russell is an executive who hires Fred MacMurray to be her secretary. (They fall in love.) I’m generally dismissive of Mitchell Leisen as a director outside of his work with Preston Sturges or Billy Wilder/Charles Brackett scripts so I’ll definitely look into this film. Leisen also co-produced and did the costume design. The movie got three Oscar nominations, including nods for cinematography and music scoring. It’s not on DVD, with Universal also likely in control of the Paramount production.

2:30 AM The Last Angry Man (Mann, 1959) - BW-100 mins. - This was Paul Muni’s last film role, playing an aged Brooklyn doctor upset over a television producer’s attempts to exploit his years of devotion. Daniel Mann directed and the great James Wong Howe photographed the movie. Look for Billy Dee Williams in his film debut as a delinquent suffering from seizures. Muni earned one of the picture’s two Academy Award nominations, with art direction getting the other. Made for Columbia, it’s not on DVD.

Monday February 2

6:15 AM B.F.’s Daughter (Leonard, 1948) - BW-108 mins. - “B.F.” is a wealthy industrialist played by Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck is his daughter. She marries college professor Van Heflin instead of the lawyer her father had preferred, but Heflin’s character is unaware of his new wife’s wealth, a quality most would be thankful for but something which he opposes. I read on the TCM site that the title had to be changed in the UK to Polly Fulton because “B.F” is/was a euphemism for “bloody fool.” I can see where that would present some confusion. The Oscar nomination here was for black and white costume design. MGM made the picture, but rights should sit with Warner Bros. now. It’s not on DVD yet.

8:00 PM Brewster’s Millions (Dwan, 1945) - BW-79 mins. - Before Walter Hill and Richard Pryor got their hands on it, George Barr McCutcheon’s novel about a man who unexpectedly finds wealth but must spend a great deal of it in a short amount of time was filmed on several occasions. There was a version all the way back in 1914 and another in 1921 with Fatty Arbuckle. The fifth (out of seven so far) was directed by Allan Dwan and starred Dennis O’Keefe as the title character. Brewster has to go through $1 million in only a couple of months to inherit a full fortune of $8 million. It was the music scoring that earned an Oscar nod, with 21 total nominees in that category in 1945. Distributed originally by United Artists, the film hasn’t made it to DVD in R1 yet I don’t believe. If it’s available in another region I’m not aware either.

Tuesday February 3

8:00 PM The More the Merrier (Stevens, 1943) - BW-104 mins. - This film is on DVD in R1, but the release is a $25 barebones disc from Sony with an ugly cover. It’s notable for a few reasons, one of which being that it was George Stevens’ last film before witnessing war firsthand and returning to make much more sober pictures. It also gave Jean Arthur her only Oscar nomination, one of six the film received including Best Picture and Best Director. Charles Coburn won for his role as the Cupid who sublets a quarter of Arthur’s apartment to Joel McCrea, yielding love during a housing shortage in Washington, D.C. A note of trivia - Budd Boetticher was one of the film’s assistant directors.

Wednesday February 4

6:00 AM Interrupted Melody (Bernhardt, 1955) - C-106 mins. - Eleanor Parker was rewarded by the Academy with a nomination for playing an Australian opera singer who was paralyzed with polio at the height of her career before rehabilitating enough with her doctor husband (Glenn Ford) to wage a comeback. It was apparently Parker’s favorite role. Roger Moore has a prominent part as her brother. The film earned two other nominations, winning in the story and screenplay category. It isn’t on DVD, which is somewhat surprising given that Warner Bros. should have the rights due to MGM having made the picture.

12:00 PM One Night of Love (Schertzinger, 1934) - BW-84 mins. - Opera plays prominently in this film as well, which stars Grace Moore in one of her few movie roles. She plays an aspiring opera star who begins to work closely with a famous maestro (Tullio Carminati). The two fall for each other, but are reluctant to acknowledge their love. If you like to see movies with lots of Oscar attention this might interest you, as Moore, director Victor Schertzinger and the film itself were among the six Academy Award nominations. It’s not on DVD either so this may be the best opportunity to watch it for several months. Sony should have the rights.

Thursday February 5

11:30 AM A Stolen Life (Bernhardt, 1946) - BW-107 mins. - Bette Davis gets to play twins opposite Glenn Ford. Both of the Davis characters are in love with Ford, but only one can be with him. Or so it might seem (evil laugh). Walter Brennan is also in the cast, automatically making one aspect of the film worthwhile. Interestingly, Bette Davis actually served as a producer on A Stolen Life, the only time she did that in her career. Its Oscar nomination was for special effects. The film was done for Warner Bros. and hasn’t been released on DVD yet.

Saturday February 14

8:00 PM Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (King, 1955) - C-102 mins. - Seems like an appropriate title for Valentine’s Day, unless you’d prefer the two preceding films - The Awful Truth and Divorce American Style. Always thinking those programmers at TCM are. William Holden and Jennifer Jones star here as, respectively, a war correspondent and a doctor who’s of Chinese and European descent. Jones (who was born Phylis Isley) ideally shouldn’t be playing a character named Han Suyin, but I think it’s done with some amount of delicacy and she received an Oscar nomination for the performance. The film is set in China and features several Asian actors, as well. It was made for Fox and has been released by that studio in an affordable R1 DVD edition. The Academy smiled eight times, giving the film three statues including one for the title song.

Sunday February 15

8:00 PM No Time for Love (Leisen, 1943) - BW-83 mins. - Another one of Mitchell Leisen’s Paramount films gets a somewhat rare showing on the channel. It makes you wonder why Hold Back the Dawn didn’t also make the schedule. No Time for Love stars Fred MacMurray as a construction worker and Claudette Colbert as the reporter who accidentally got him suspended. She feels so bad that she hires him as her assistant. And sparks, they fly. The art direction-interior decoration was Oscar-nominated, one of eight nominees in that category. The film is not available on DVD and now sits with Universal, which doesn’t seem particularly intent on releasing much of the Paramount catalog.

Tuesday February 17

6:00 AM The Story of Three Loves (Reinhardt, Minnelli, 1953) - C-122 mins. - Three segments, two directed by Gottfried Reinhardt (son of Max Reinhardt) and the other by Vincente Minnelli. The latter’s portion stars Leslie Caron, Ethel Barrymore, Farley Granger and Zsa Zsa Gabor, and is known as “Mademoiselle.” The Reinhardt segments are “The Jealous Lover,” with James Mason, Moira Shearer and Agnes Moorehead, and “Equilibrium,” starring Kirk Douglas and Pier Angeli. The connecting thread is that each story is told as a remembrance by a passenger on the same cruise ship. The art direction-set decoration was honored with an Oscar nomination. MGM released the film originally. It’s not on DVD, and Warner Bros. should have the rights.

Wednesday February 18

6:00 AM Princess O’Rourke (Krasna, 1943) - BW-94 mins. - Written and directed by Norman Krasna, the writer of films like Hands Across the Table, Bachelor Mother and The Devil and Miss Jones, this picture sort of sounds like a precursor to Roman Holiday. It stars Olivia de Havilland as a princess who’s given too many sleeping pills before a flight, leading pilot Robert Cummings to take the still-drowsy passenger to sleep it off in his apartment. She doesn’t let him know of her royal background and they spend a happy day together. This was Krasna’s directorial debut, but he didn’t helm another until 1950’s The Big Hangover, which was also his next to last time behind the camera. His original screenplay for this film won the Oscar. Princess O’Rourke isn’t on DVD yet, and was made for Warner Bros.

7:45 AM The Magnificent Yankee (Sturges, 1950) - BW-89 mins. - Louis Calhern received his only Oscar nomination for John Sturges’ biopic of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Ann Harding plays Mrs. Holmes. Justice Holmes was, of course, one of the truly exceptional thinkers to ever serve on the Supreme Court and his opinions have influenced generations of American common law. His life could hardly be wedged into an hour and a half, but that’s always the story with biographical movies. MGM originally released The Magnificent Yankee and Warner Bros. should be the studio to release it on DVD, though nothing so far.

1:00 PM Madame X (Barrymore, 1929) - BW-95 mins. - Lionel Barrymore directs this early version of the same story that later starred Lana Turner. Ruth Chatterton has the lead role here as a woman who gives up her family and, years later, is defended for murder by her now-grown son, who is unaware that his client is also his mother. Both Chatterton’s performance and Barrymore’s direction were nominated. A year later, Barrymore won for his acting in A Free Soul, making him, I believe, the first person nominated as both actor and director in a career. The 1966 version of Madame X is on DVD from Universal, but this film was made for MGM and hasn’t yet been released to disc.

Thursday February 19

4:00 PM The Corn Is Green (Rapper, 1945) - BW-114 mins. - I thought this was on DVD, but I must’ve been thinking about the later (1979) television version starring Katharine Hepburn. Bette Davis stars again for her Now, Voyager director Irving Rapper in the story of a Welsh teacher who sets up her own school in a mining town. Davis was probably less than thrilled about not only getting snubbed by the Academy when two co-stars (John Dall and Joan Lorring) were recognized, but also seeing Joan Crawford win the award that year for Mildred Pierce. The movie was done for Warner Bros.

Sunday February 22

12:15 PM The Pumpkin Eater (Clayton, 1964) - BW-110 mins. - Directed by Jack Clayton and with a Harold Pinter screenplay, it’s surprising to still not have a film of this pedigree on DVD. It won four BAFTA awards, including one for Anne Bancroft who was also Oscar-nominated. In a nutshell, the film concerns her struggles through relationships, including married life with Peter Finch, and motherhood. James Mason also has a prominent role. Columbia released the picture originally and on VHS so I assume Sony has the home video rights. I’m equally surprised there hasn’t been a UK DVD release (right?). TCM advertises as not showing edited versions of films so I wonder why there’s a discrepancy between the 110 minutes listed by the channel and the 118 minutes listed in other places.

Monday February 23

8:00 PM The Devil and Daniel Webster (Dieterle, 1941) - BW-106 mins. - How convenient for William Dieterle’s brilliant and dark fantasy to show up on TCM the very same day it’s released on DVD in the UK via the Masters of Cinema label. How even more convenient that I reviewed that release at DVD Times. If you’ve not seen the film and have perhaps been reluctant to pay the premium for Criterion’s DVD (also a fine edition) then give it a shot. Walter Huston makes a deliciously charismatic devil. The movie was made for and released by RKO, but Janus Films now owns the rights to it (not Warner Bros.), which explains why Criterion released it in the U.S.

2:15 AM The Southerner (Renoir, 1945) - BW-91 mins. - Preeminent French director Jean Renoir (arguably the country’s greatest filmmaker) received an honorary Oscar in 1975, but he was only officially nominated once in his career. That it was for this film, about a poor sharecropping family with bad luck, instead of Grand Illusion (which was tabbed as a Best Picture nominee) or one of his other classics still seems almost inexplicable. Starring Zachary Scott, Betty Field, Beulah Bondi and J. Carrol Naish, The Southerner can be found on DVD but usually from cheap and unreliable distributors. It must be in the public domain, though it was originally released to theaters by United Artists.

Tuesday February 24

10:00 AM The Four Days of Naples (Loy, 1963) - BW-121 mins. - A little slice of international cinema heaven on TCM today. From Two Women at 6:15 AM all the way up to Kwaidan at 3:00 AM, every movie is in a language other than English. I can hear the grumbles already, though certainly not from my perch. Italy seems to be the starting destination, including this film which isn’t on DVD in R1. The plot is about the people of Naples fighting back against Nazi oppression. It’s one of those rare movies to have been nominated for Academy Awards to two different years. First it was recognized in the Foreign Language Film category and the following year it was again nominated, this time for original story and screenplay. MGM is listed as the U.S. theatrical distributor so Warner Bros. may actually control the rights.

5:45 PM Gervaise (Clément, 1957)- BW-109 mins. - From Italy it’s on to France for a quartet of films, with this being the last. I’ve seen Purple Noon and Forbidden Games from director René Clément, but Gervaise is only available in the U.S. on a VHS from Homevision (Criterion’s former sister label). It’s based on an Émile Zola novel about a young crippled woman (played by Maria Schell) who struggles to open her own laundry. Though the Academy only recognized Gervaise in the Foreign Language category, it won BAFTA’s best film category, beating out several impressive nominees. As I mentioned, the film isn’t on DVD (in R1, at least). I’m not sure what company owns it, but I’d guess Janus would be a good possibility. Stay tuned after Gervaise for a night of Japanese films.

Wednesday February 25

6:00 AM No Sad Songs for Me (Mate, 1950) - BW-88 mins. - Margaret Sullavan stars as a married mother (of Natalie Wood) who is given just ten months to live. She keeps it from her family while worrying that her husband (Wendell Corey) has eyes for another woman. John McIntire plays a doctor. I watched the similarly themed Dark Victory (which airs at 8:00 PM) not long ago and it wasn’t for me. I don’t think this will be either. The scoring of the film was nominated for an Oscar. No DVD, but Sony should have the rights.

2:00 PM Three Comrades (Borzage, 1938) - BW-99 mins. - I’ll take this Margaret Sullavan (Oscar-nominated) performance instead, but, wouldn’t you know it, she’s a goner here too. Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone and Robert Young play three German soldiers who are friends, but who all like the same woman (Sullavan). Of great interest (to me, at least), F. Scott Fitzgerald received credit for writing the screenplay adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, the only screenwriting credit he ever had. Frank Borzage’s film was made for MGM and the rights should sit with Warner Bros. now, though there hasn’t been a DVD released yet.

2:00 AM Gaby-A True Story (Mandoki, 1987) - C-114 mins. - The story of a physically handicapped girl who becomes an artist and activist despite suffering from cerebral palsy. It stars Rachel Chagall (also known as Rachel Levin) as Gaby. Liv Ullmann, Robert Loggia and Norma Aleandro, who was nominated in the Supporting Actress category, headline the picture. It’s not on DVD to my knowledge, but Tristar is listed as original distributor. Would that put Sony as the rights holder? As an aside, Mister Buddwing, which I greatly enjoyed the last time it aired, is scheduled to immediately follow, at 4:00 AM.

Thursday February 26

8:00 PM The African Queen (Huston, 1951) - C-105 mins. - It’s been well over a year since I last highlighted the showing of the film that’s probably the most conspicuously absent from R1 DVD. (I’d put The Magnificent Ambersons and Johnny Guitar on that list also.) I think there were some rights issues that had to get straightened out and then a restoration, but it’s still pretty shocking that Humphrey Bogart’s Oscar-winning film isn’t available here. There are DVD releases in other countries, including an R2 from ITV, but we’re all still waiting on Paramount, presumably, to get things going in R1.

Friday February 27

11:30 AM Viva Villa! (Conway, 1934) - BW-110 mins. - Jack Conway is the credited director but Howard Hawks was also closely involved and in charge for much of the shoot. IMDb even lists William Wellman as another uncredited contributor. Hawks was removed from the picture sometime after Lee Tracy caused a scandal, possibly by urinating on a crowd of Mexicans from a balcony. Tracy was sacked, Hawks went down too. The film, starring Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa and featuring Fay Wray, still managed a Best Picture nomination for MGM. Rights holder Warner Bros. hasn’t released it for DVD.

Saturday February 28

8:00 PM Fat City (Huston, 1972) - C-97 mins. - John Huston’s slow, melancholy, almost meditative look at boxers young (Jeff Bridges) and old (Stacy Keach) is a drama in the best sense of the word. Conrad Hall’s cinematography is typically excellent, bringing to life a smallish California locale that immediately looks familiar even if you’ve never actually been there. Candy Clark and Susan Tyrrell, who was nominated for an Oscar, fill out the main cast. The film was available on R1 DVD from Sony, but went out of print like several other titles from that studio, seemingly for no good reason. It seems like there was a DVD release in Spain, also.

Monday March 2

10:30 AM The Story of G.I. Joe (Wellman, 1945) - BW-108 mins. - Burgess Meredith plays real-life war correspondent Ernie Pyle, who unfortunately died in combat just a couple of months before the film was released. It’s great to see Meredith in a rare leading role. Also interesting, this was the film where Robert Mitchum received his only Academy Award nomination. Incredible, but true. It was released by Image years ago on DVD, but has been out of print for a good bit now. I don’t know if it was a rights issue (probably was) or who currently controls the film. TCM’s website incorrectly lists Leslie Fenton as the director. Another showing is scheduled for March 14th at 2:00 AM.

12:30 PM Five Star Final (LeRoy, 1931) - BW-89 mins. - Tabloid journalism gets the Warner Bros. treatment, with Edward G. Robinson starring as a hard-bitten newspaper editor. Robinson, never recognized by the Academy, later called the film one of his favorites. It earned a single Oscar nomination, but the category was Best Picture. It’s not on DVD, and failed to get a VHS release either, I believe. Warner Bros. has generally treated Robinson well in its DVD releases so this might follow at some point, assuming the best.

8:00 PM It Happened Tomorrow (Clair, 1944) - BW-85 mins. - Lots of journalism-related features today. This one was helmed by Rene Clair, the French director who made Le Million and A Nous la liberte before coming to Hollywood and making, among others, I Married a Witch. The comedy stars Dick Powell and Linda Darnell, who must’ve been on loan from Fox. He’s a newspaper editor who somehow keeps receiving a copy of the next day’s paper, making him seem clairvoyant. IMDb lists United Artists as the theatrical distributor, but that studio apparently didn’t retain the film’s rights because Kino has a DVD out. I’ve noticed that TCM has recently been showing and scheduling several movies released on DVD by Kino.

Tuesday March 3

6:00 AM White Shadows in the South Seas (Van Dyke, 1928) - BW-85 mins. - Here’s a rare and interesting picture airing in the early morning. Robert Flaherty, the filmmaker who did Nanook of the North and Louisiana Story, among other early films, was the original director of this fiction feature about a white, alcoholic doctor marooned on a Pacific island. The doctor (played by Monte Blue) is treated like a god by the natives, but ultimately infects them with his own damaged habits and ideals. W.S. Van Dyke was brought in as the assistant director, but promoted when Flaherty, known already for his arduous shoots, left the production. The film’s cinematography won an Oscar. Made for MGM, this was apparently the first time the studio’s famous lion roared at the start of a picture. It’s not yet on DVD, probably controlled by Warner Bros.

Wednesday March 4

1:30 PM No, My Darling Daughter (Thomas, 1961) - BW-97 mins. - With Michael Redgrave, Michael Craig, Roger Livesey and Juliet Mills. Not much information was readily available in my basic research on this film. The cast sounded good and it’s not available on DVD that I could find. Redgrave plays a British aristocrat who sends his teenage daughter (Mills) to school in Paris where she falls for an American who’s the son of one of Redgrave’s associates. That’s about all I could dig up other than it being a Rank Organisation production. Not sure on rights in R1.

3:15 PM Lock Up Your Daughters! (Coe, 1969)- C-102 mins. - Christopher Plummer plays a character named Lord Foppington in this comedy about rowdy young sailors who threaten the chastity of his daughters. Susannah York, Ian Bannen and Glynis Johns co-star. Its IMDb rating is just 4.0 on 60 votes, but the comments there seem mostly laudatory. Looks like Columbia/Sony controls the film. It’s not on DVD.

Thursday March 5

6:00 AM Juke Girl (Bernhardt, 1942) - BW-90 mins. - A lot of Ronald Reagan’s B-movie crime dramas air Wednesday night, but none really stuck out. This film pairs him with Ann Sheridan. Richard Whorf, future director and star of Blues in the Night, and Reagan are migrant farm workers in Florida. The latter leads the charge for farmers’ rights against big business corruption (!) and falls for top-billed Sheridan in the same year they did Kings Row together. The screenplay to Juke Girl was credited to A.I. Bezzerides, who also wrote On Dangerous Ground and the novel from which Thieves’ Highway was adapted. The film at hand was made for Warner Bros. and hasn’t found its way to DVD thus far.

10:45 AM Night Unto Night (Siegel, 1949) - BW-85 mins. - A decade and a half before directing Reagan in his last film The Killers, Don Siegel made this romantic drama which everyone later seemed to agree wasn’t too great. It was shelved for a couple of years after production ended and mostly encountered disinterest upon release. Viveca Lindfors, a Swedish import later to be Mrs. Don Siegel, plays the female lead. The plot, taken from a Philip Wylie novel, seems to be about a scientist (Reagan) who’s suffering from an odd illness and the widow (Lindfors) he cozies up next to, with Broderick Crawford hanging around as an artist prone to soliloquies. It’s a Warner Bros. picture, not on DVD.

Friday March 6

9:45 PM Submarine Command (Farrow, 1951) - BW-87 mins. - A Paramount picture that starred William Holden and re-teamed him with Nancy Olson a year after Sunset Blvd., though they’re married in this movie. Holden is a Naval commander, William Bendix is his CPO and Don Taylor plays a cocky pilot. It’s set during the Korean War, but Holden’s character had also been a sub commander in WWII. Unless Paramount stops re-releasing its classic library long enough to attend to completely unavailable titles, I wouldn’t expect a DVD release any time soon.

Saturday March 7

6:00 PM Johnny Guitar (Ray, 1954) - C-110 mins. - I’m not sure when TCM last aired this film, which is one of the finest still without a DVD release in R1. I do know it’s been a long time. If you miss it this time, it’s scheduled again for the 31st. I’d advise against missing it though, as it’s such an extraordinary and odd movie that’s as much not a western as it is one. Sterling Hayden is the title character, but it’s Joan Crawford’s show riffing on gender and preconceptions against Mercedes McCambridge. That’s really as succinct as I can get on this one. Just watch it if you haven’t yet. The R1 rights are, I believe, held by Lionsgate as a result of that company’s control of the Republic library. There are multiple R2 editions, from the UK and Germany, but no extras. This is a film that needs a multitude of supplemental features to even begin to do it justice.

9:45 PM Wife, Husband, and Friend (Ratoff, 1939) - BW-75 mins. - Loretta Young stars as an opera singer hopeful who fails to make an impact. Her husband, played by Warner Baxter, then tries the same deal on his own. TCM has an opera theme tonight that’s highlighted by A Night at the Opera. I’m not sure what to think about this one. I do like Young and it also has Cesar Romero in a supporting part. More importantly, it was based on a novel by James M. Cain, the writer responsible for such devious fare as Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice. The capable Nunnally Johnson wrote the screenplay adaptation. It’s also a Fox film, which immediately makes it somewhat of a rarity on the TCM schedule. It’s not on DVD either.

Sunday March 8

2:00 AM Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) - BW-136 mins. - I think I prefer Late Spring of the Ozu films I’ve seen, but Tokyo Story is widely acknowledged as the Japanese master of domestic drama’s best effort. If you’re not familiar with Ozu and thus hesitant to shell out thirty or forty dollars for Criterion’s DVD release, maybe give this airing a try. It’s not the fastest film you’ll see, but it’s very real and quite layered with a deeply humanistic concern for the elderly. I don’t think it’ll leave anyone cold who truly gives the movie a fair chance.

Monday March 9

10:00 PM On Our Merry Way (Fenton, Vidor, 1948) - BW-98 mins. - Not just Leslie Fenton and King Vidor, but we also have uncredited work by John Huston and George Stevens. So why have I never heard of this movie? It even has both Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda in the cast, though Paulette Goddard and Burgess Meredith are the main actors. It’s an anthology film with four stories connected by Meredith as a newspaper man. In addition to the Stewart-Fonda entry, there’s one that has Fred MacMurray and his future Uncle Charley William Demarest. Dorothy Lamour also figures in, while Charles Laughton had his entire part cut out. Weird, right? It’s actually on DVD in R1 already, from Kino. I’m nonetheless intrigued. For some real fun, Harold and Maude immediately follows at 11:45 PM.

Tuesday March 10

8:15 AM Follow Me Quietly (Fleischer, 1949) - BW-59 mins. - At just under an hour, let’s see what Richard Fleischer does with this. I’m literally itching to take a crack at it because I have great affection for Fleischer’s noirs and Anthony Mann did some work on it too, even earning a story credit. It’s a cheaply made diversion starring William Lundigan as a cop hunting a strangle-happy serial killer and also with Dorothy Patrick and Jeff Corey, but my recorder will be anxiously standing by all the same. RKO was the theatrical distributor, meaning Warner Bros. might have R1 rights. A DVD does exist, though it’s in France from the Editions Montparnasse label.

12:15 PM The Mask of Dimitrios (Negulesco, 1944) - BW-96 mins. - TCM doesn’t air this terribly often and it’s not on DVD. Peter Lorre stars as a writer who investigates the death of a criminal played by Zachary Scott. Lorre’s frequent co-star Sydney Greenstreet has top billing. It’s from an Eric Ambler novel. That Lorre-Greenstreet set seems as unlikely and nonetheless necessary as ever. Warner Bros. here.

Wednesday March 11

6:00 AM Conquest (Brown, 1937) - BW-112 mins. - Warner Bros. is still holding out on its remaining Garbo titles, with nothing released since that big set in fall of 2005. This one lets Charles Boyer play Napoleon and Garbo star as a Polish countess who becomes his mistress at the behest of her country’s leaders. Cinematography by Karl Freund, which is a recommendation in itself. Boyer was Oscar-nominated. It was made by MGM and, as mentioned, it’s not on DVD yet.

Thursday March 12

7:00 AM The Squaw Man (DeMille, 1931) - BW-107 mins. - A lot of westerns are airing today, including Randolph Scott and Robert Ryan in Trail Street (12:15 PM) and Robert Taylor, John Hodiak and Arlene Dahl in Ambush (3:15 PM). This DeMille picture sounds a bit more interesting, though, and it stars Warner Baxter and Lupe Velez. She’s an Indian who saves Baxter’s English aristocrat and ultimately has his child. It was made for MGM, likely setting up Warner Bros. with the current rights. It isn’t on DVD.

Friday March 13

9:45 AM Zotz! (Castle, 1962) - BW-86 mins. - “A college professor finds a mystical coin that gives him super powers.” Really? And the professor is played by Tom Poston of Newhart fame! Poor Fred Clark, Cecil Kellaway and Margaret Dumont, probably clinging to this thing for the paycheck. Looks like a Sony property since Columbia distributed the film theatrically. It’s not on DVD.

2:00 AM Shack Out on 101 (Dein, 1955) - BW-80 mins. - Lee Marvin! Back several months ago now, when the Film Society at Lincoln Center was running its tribute to Marvin, I skipped out on seeing this low-budget early effort. It was directed by Edward Dein and written by him and Mildred Dein, probably his wife. Marvin’s character is Slob, but he’s billed down below Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy and Keenan Wynn. The plot involves a diner and nuclear secrets, two things you wouldn’t normally associate with one another. Regardless, this may be my most anticipated film on this month’s schedule. It, of course, isn’t on DVD. It was released originally by Allied Artists and put on VHS by Republic Pictures. I couldn’t say which company currently holds the rights.

Saturday March 14

12:00 AM Mine Own Executioner (Kimmins, 1947) - BW-105 mins. - Noted Penguin, trainer of Rocky and crude old guy Burgess Meredith gets a little five-film festival tonight. The Story of G.I. Joe airs again (at 2:00 AM), as does That Certain Feeling (at 4:00 AM). The one I’m particularly interested in taking a look at is this British suspense thriller written by Nigel Balchin, whose novel was the basis for Powell & Pressburger’s superb The Small Back Room. In Mine Own Executioner, Meredith plays a psychiatrist who struggles to treat a former POW on the brink of violence. Behind the scenes, the bipolar actor apparently had to consult the psychiatrist who was the film’s technical adviser for his own shaky nerves. I see on the IMDb site that Fox originally distributed this movie in the U.S., but I wouldn’t be surprised if the rights have splintered off somewhere else in the meantime.

Sunday March 15

12:00 PM Who Was That Lady? (Sidney, 1960) - BW-114 mins. - From a play written by Norman Krasna and also adapted for the screen by him, this film came right in the prime of Tony Curtis’ movie star days, released a year after Some Like It Hot. He also had Spartacus and The Rat Race in 1960. I think this was the last movie Curtis acted in with Janet Leigh, and the two play a married couple rattled by his fib that he’s an FBI agent. Dean Martin is Curtis’ TV writer friend who helps him concoct the scheme. It was a Columbia picture. You can find it on DVD from Sony in a Dean Martin Double Feature release.

Monday March 16

8:45 AM Too Many Crooks (Zampi, 1958) - BW-85 mins. - Interesting day of comedy on the channel. Terry-Thomas appears in three films and Jerry Lewis is in five, with both funny men sharing Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River at 10:30 AM. Terry-Thomas stars in this British comedy where a bumbling gangster (George Cole) kidnaps the wife (Brenda De Banzie) of a wealthy husband (Terry-Thomas). The husband has no interest in paying the ransom so the wife takes control of the gang. I’m not sure where the rights rest in R1, but there are DVDs of this and other Terry-Thomas movies available in the UK from ITV.

6:00 PM The Big Mouth (Lewis, 1967) - C-107 mins.- Bringing up the rear of the Jerry Lewis movies, which also include Three on a Couch and The Nutty Professor, is another gangster-themed comedy. Lewis stars as both a bank auditor and the small time gangster he impersonates to uncover some stolen treasure. It’s a Columbia/Sony title and not on DVD.

11:15 PM Show Boat (Whale, 1936) - BW-114 mins. - John Landis serves as guest programmer tonight and he picks not only this unavailable classic, but also some prime silent comedy. Keaton’s The Navigator tips off at 8:00 PM and there are three Fatty Arbuckle-Mabel Normand shorts sprinkled throughout the night. This version of Show Boat, directed by James Whale, is the riverboat musical starring Irene Dunne and with Paul Robeson famously belting out “Ol’ Man River.” Though the film’s production put Universal in significant financial distress, I think the rights were purchased by MGM for its 1951 take. The Criterion Collection actually put out a laserdisc release, but there hasn’t been a DVD that I’m aware of yet. Warner Bros. presumably now controls.

Tuesday March 17

12:15 AM Shake Hands with the Devil (Anderson, 1959) - BW-111 mins. - Ah, St. Patrick’s Day and an evening schedule full of Irish-inspired fare. Last year there was a whole day of films in this vein, but we take what we can get. One of Hollywood’s leading Irish-American stars James Cagney has the role of a professor who’s also in the IRA. When the British Black and Tan capture an American student (Don Murray) of Cagney’s, violence becomes the chosen method for the Irish rebels. Also with Michael Redgrave, the film was one of Cagney’s last and I’m keen on watching it, though color photography would’ve been nice. It was released by United Artists in theaters and isn’t on DVD. MGM should have the rights.

4:00 AM Three Cheers for the Irish (Bacon, 1940) - BW-99 mins. - Irish NYC policeman Thomas Mitchell becomes upset when his daughter Priscilla Lane prepares to marry Scot Dennis Morgan. I can’t really imagine this plot being made today for a number for reasons. Anyway, it was done for Warner Bros. There’s no DVD release.

Wednesday March 18

3:00 PM Miss Grant Takes Richmond (Bacon, 1949) - BW-88 mins. - Three Lucille Ball movies this afternoon, starting with Her Husband’s Affairs at 1:30 PM and concluding with The Fuller Brush Girl at 4:30 (which is then followed by The Fuller Brush Man at 6:00 PM). This one has Lucy as secretary to shady real estate man/bookie William Holden. She doesn’t realize his business is a sham. Frank Tashlin did some writing on the screenplay. All three Lucy movies were made for Columbia and haven’t found R1 DVD releases.

4:00 AM One for the Book (Rapper, 1947) - BW-103 mins. - Also known as The Voice of the Turtle, certainly an interesting title, this little romantic comedy stars Eleanor Parker as an actress who ends up sharing her apartment with soldier Ronald Reagan. Eve Arden plays Parker’s friend who originally stood Reagan up. If anyone can get me to watch a Reagan movie, it’s Eleanor Parker. The film is a Warner Bros. property, but is currently unreleased on DVD.

Thursday March 19

2:00 AM Cry, the Beloved Country (Korda, 1951) - BW-108 mins. - The Korda celebration continues with this twice-filmed story about a South African minister who travels into the city of Johannesburg to search for his missing son. The 1995 remake starred James Earl Jones while this earlier version has Canada Lee as the main character. Lee had appeared prominently in Body and Soul and Hitchcock’s Lifeboat. This was his final film before a fatal heart attack the following year. Sidney Poitier also has a significant part, just the second of his career. BAFTA nominated it both as the best British film of its year and the best film from anywhere, though it lost in each category. Korda’s Cry, the Beloved Country is, somewhat surprisingly, not on DVD, at least in R1 or the UK. Janus Films seems to have every other Korda-directed movie in its stable so that may be where the rights sit on this one too.

Monday March 23

6:30 AM Today We Live (Hawks, 1933) - BW-113 mins. - Gary Cooper and Joan Crawford in front of the camera. Howard Hawks and William Faulkner behind it. How could this go wrong? The WWI story, originating with Faulkner but altered to add Crawford’s part, seems to concern romance among the two leads and Robert Young. In real life, it was Franchot Tone catching Crawford’s eye. They were soon married after meeting on this film, where he plays her brother. Hawks made the picture for MGM, and it’s not on DVD. Rights probably now with Warner Bros. TCM is showing Crawford movies all morning and afternoon to honor the anniversary of her birth.

8:00 PM Wild Boys of the Road (Wellman, 1933) - BW-68 mins. - Really excited to see a set of director William Wellman’s films being released by Warner Bros. in its Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 3 collection. This movie and five others will finally hit DVD the day after all of them are shown on the channel. The four-disc set is truly a must-have around these parts.

Tuesday March 24

4:00 PM The Honeymoon Machine (Thorpe 1961) - C-87 mins. - Steve McQueen in a comedy?! This rare play for laughs from McQueen, released the year after his breakout The Magnificent Seven, comes from a Broadway play written by Lorenzo Semple, Jr. McQueen stars as a Navy lieutenant who tries to adapt a missile detection device into the world of roulette. Paula Prentiss and Dean Jagger are among the supporting cast. It was released in theaters by MGM, likely giving Warner Bros. the rights now. Not on DVD yet, though.

8:00 PM Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood (2009) - C-30 mins.- I always really liked Chuck Jones’ cartoons when I was younger. The Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons don’t seem overly repetitive to me as some people like to carp. The animated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is simply brilliant. I’ve moved on a little to some other animation directors, but I’ll still be watching this new short documentary on Jones. TCM will also be airing 11 of his cartoons in a row, then repeating the special and the shorts into the night. The things chosen for broadcast do well to highlight Jones’ versatility. If I had to pick one of the bunch, it would be “Duck Amuck” at 9:30 PM.

11:00 PM The Phantom Tollbooth (Jones, 1970) - C-89 mins. - There’s also Jones’ animated feature, which is somewhat surprisingly not on DVD. It was adapted from a popular children’s book written by Norton Juster. The story deals with a boy named Milo who finds the phantom tollbooth of the title in his room and goes right through in his toy car. What began as live-action (with Butch Patrick playing Milo) becomes an animated world filled with characters and situations that also serve as learning tools. Assuming the rights are still with MGM, which originally struggled to release the movie theatrically, Warner Bros. would control. The film repeats at 3:00 AM.

Wednesday March 25

12:00 PM This Happy Breed (Lean, 1944) - BW-111 mins. - Several British classics on the schedule this afternoon, three of which were directed by David Lean (plus In Which We Serve). This and Madeleine at 4:00 PM aren’t yet on R1 DVD. It seems like ages ago that MGM announced and promptly canceled releases of both films. Criterion, which recently put out a phenomenal transfer on Hobson’s Choice, could be the eventual releasing company. Or not. Either way, the UK has more than acceptable editions of Lean’s films, heavily discounted at Amazon right now. I’ll admit to not yet seeing This Happy Breed, but the film is apparently about a middle class family moving off to the suburbs.

Thursday March 26

12:00 PM Room at the Top (Clayton, 1959) - BW-115 mins. - Right at the cusp of the British New Wave came this film about a young accountant (Laurence Harvey) who aspires to greater things. Oscar people also think of Room at the Top as the movie where Simone Signoret took home the statue for her role as an actress having an affair with Harvey’s character. The film, director Jack Clayton and Harvey were also nominated. My mind at least has been gorging on the British New Wave recently. In the process, I’ve realized that several of the films in that movement aren’t actually on DVD here in Region 1 land. Room at the Top was released years ago by VCI, but has since gone out of print. I’m not sure where the rights would be. There is a recent edition in R2 from Network.

10:00 PM Things to Come (Menzies, 1936) - BW-97 mins. - I guess this is on DVD already, released just last year by Legend Films in R1, but there seems to be a lack of a definitive edition. A Criterion Collection DVD is, I believe, expected at some point to fill that hole. Until then, here’s a nice TCM showing of William Cameron Menzies’ film adapted by H.G. Wells from his own novel about the future and war and space travel and such.

12:00 AM Knight Without Armour (Feyder, 1937) - BW-108 mins. - Finishing up the salute to the Kordas, this sounded sufficiently rare to highlight. It stars Marlene Dietrich as a Russian countess and Robert Donat as a Brit in Russia in the time of the Revolution. Not a lot of help, am I? Though Jacques Feyder directed, Alexander Korda served as producer for his London Films company. I’ve read that Janus Films controls the entirety of that library. If true, the only hope of a DVD in R1 would be Criterion. There’s already a disc in R4 Australia.

Friday March 27

7:30 AM Valentino (Allen, 1951) - BW-104 mins. - I’m not terribly keen on biopics and have little interest in Rudolph Valentino, but the film’s nonetheless here for the watching. I do like Eleanor Parker, who stars as a fictitious combination of Valentino’s leading ladies. The title role of the film was played by newly named Anthony Dexter. Critics were apparently unkind to his performance and his days in Hollywood were limited. Columbia Pictures originally released the film, but it’s not on DVD. Record now or forever hold your peace.

Monday March 30

8:00 AM Lili (Walters, 1953) - C-81 mins. - Leslie Caron and director Charles Walters both received Oscar nominations for their work in this mixture of fantasy, romance and music. Caron stars as the title character, a young orphan who wanders into a carnival and confides to puppets without considering there’s a puppeteer (Mel Ferrer) behind the strings. It was an MGM Technicolor production and current rights holder Warner Bros. hasn’t released the film for DVD yet.

10:00 PM The Fortune (Nichols, 1975) - C-88 mins. - Warren Beatty turns 72 today and TCM is showing 5 of his films this evening. Nice selections one and all. Well, I haven’t seen Mike Nichols’ The Fortune, but it’s interested me for awhile now and I’m grateful to find it on the schedule. The 1920s-set movie was apparently unsuccessful when it opened and there hasn’t been a DVD (in R1 at least). Beatty stars as a married man intent on partaking in his girlfriend’s fortune, but requiring the services of pal Jack Nicholson to slip her across state lines. While both men become interested, the heiress (Stockard Channing) might be getting nudged out of her parents’ money. Beatty made both this film and Shampoo for Columbia, back-to-back, and the latter was the unexpected megahit of the two.

4:30 AM Mickey One (Penn, 1965) - BW-93 mins. - Also for Columbia and likewise not on DVD just yet, this one I have seen. A couple of years before making Bonnie and Clyde together, Warren Beatty and director Arthur Penn teamed up for an odd picture obviously influenced by the French New Wave and with an existential spin. Beatty is a night club comic who owes a large sum of money to the mob which he can’t pay, causing him to flee. The supporting cast includes Hurd Hatfield, an aged Franchot Tone, and Alexandra Stewart, whose voice is etched in the brain of anyone who’s heard the English language narration to Sans soleil, as Mickey’s girlfriend. It’s a weird, highly unorthodox movie for Hollywood, but definitely fascinating in its own way. I’ve read indications that Sony has a DVD planned in the near future, which makes sense given the quality of the print I saw last year.

Thursday April 2

10:00 PM The Man in the Iron Mask (Whale, 1939) - BW-112 mins. - Adaptations of the work of Alexandre Dumas fill up the night’s schedule, including James Whale’s version of how the musketeers rescued the twin brother of King Louis XIV (a dual role for Louis Hayward). Lovely Joan Bennett plays Princess Maria Theresa and Warren William is D’Artagnan. United Artists is down as the original theatrical distributor, but Eagle-Lion handled a re-release so I’m not sure which company now has the rights or if it’s in the public domain. Looks like Video Treasures released a VHS several years ago. A DVD is listed from Firecake Entertainment, but the quality is maligned in customer reviews and Amazon lists a shorter runtime than what TCM advertises.

Sunday April 5

12:00 PM Seven Days to Noon (Boulting, 1950) - BW-97 mins. - On DVD in the UK but not yet available stateside, this British thriller from John and Roy Boulting has the intriguing premise of an atomic scientist so frustrated at his country’s unwillingness to take seriously the dangers of nuclear weapons that he threatens to blow up London unless the UK ceases its atomic research within a week. The film picked up an Oscar win for Best Motion Picture Story. Most of the cast isn’t particularly recognizable to me, but Barry Jones plays the scientist. The R2 Optimum disc was just released last year but appears to be unavailable already on Amazon UK. I can’t tell which company has the rights in R1.

2:00 AM Carnival in Flanders (Feyder, 1935) - BW-107 mins. - Also known by its French title - La Kermesse héroïque - Jacques Feyder’s classic comedy about the Spanish invasion of Flanders is sandwiched between two other Feyder films. The silent Visages d’enfants airs at 12:00 AM and Knight Without Armour (or Armor) comes on again at 4:00 AM. The former is on R1 DVD from Homevision and the latter I mentioned when it aired on March 26. Carnival of Flanders, where the village women must deal with the invading soldiers when their men all flee, is available in R2 from the BFI. (DVD Beaver review) I have the disc in the BFI’s 75th Anniversary set available from Amazon, but haven’t gotten around to watching the film yet. Ouch.

Monday April 6

6:00 AM The Actress (Cukor, 1953) - BW-91 mins. - Ruth Gordon, wife of Garson Kanin, eventual Oscar winner for Rosemary’s Baby, and Maude to Bud Cort’s Harold, adapted her autobiographical play for this screen version. Jean Simmons plays Gordon, who wants to be an actress, and Spencer Tracy stars as her father. Teresa Wright and Anthony Perkins, in his film debut, lend support. This kicks off a daylong celebration for Perkins which also includes Green Mansions at 7:45 AM and Goodbye Again at 11:30 AM. The Actress has just been included in the massive Warner Archive project and can be ordered on DVD-R for twenty bucks from the wbshop.com site.

4:30 AM The Bed Sitting Room (Lester, 1969) - C-91 mins. - Between 1964 and 1969, Richard Lester made A Hard Day’s Night and Help!, The Knack…and How to Get It, How I Won the War, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Petulia and this film. Pretty impressive. He went super-commercial after that, but what a five-year period. The Bed Sitting Room has a wild cast of actors including Rita Tushingham, Ralph Richardson, Dudley Moore, and Peter Cook. It’s a nuclear war comedy that expands beyond those seeming limitations and is definitely worth watching. No DVD in R1, and rights are probably with MGM, but the BFI has DVD and Blu-ray versions scheduled in R2 for May. I should be reviewing the Blu-ray for DVD Times.

Wednesday April 8

5:45 PM Star of Midnight (Roberts, 1935) - BW-90 mins. - This is the last of 7 Ginger Rogers movies, all from the early to mid-30s, airing today. I’ll be looking into most all of them, especially Professional Sweetheart at 3:00 PM, but this picture also stars William Powell and is a murder mystery so it’s top of the heap for today. The Thin Man-esque plot has Powell as a lawyer and Rogers his romantic interest investigating the disappearance of an actress. It was done for RKO and isn’t on DVD in R1. None of these Ginger Rogers movies on the schedule have been released by Warner Bros. yet for DVD. I should also mention that the films of Morris Engel, a truly independent director whose influence spread to the French New Wave, will be airing in prime time tonight. They are also available on DVD from Kino.

Thursday April 9

4:45 AM The Tiger Makes Out (Hiller, 1967) - C-95 mins. - Films featuring Eli Wallach make up the night schedule. They range from the hugely popular The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at 8:00 PM to the still well-known How the West Was Won at 11:00 PM to slightly more obscure Lord Jim at 2:00 AM and finishing up with a genuine rarity here. Wallach and his wife Anne Jackson (married for over 60 years now) star as, respectively, a mailman and the housewife he kidnaps. Set in Greenwich Village, the comedy has Wallach play a bitter, middle-aged man living in a dank basement. He struggles with the ladies so his plan is to grab a beautiful young woman against her will. Things do not exactly work out as planned. It was made for Columbia and unless Sony pulls a Warner Bros. I wouldn’t expect a DVD any time soon.

Saturday April 18

12:00 AM Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (Polonsky, 1969) - C-98 mins. - Strong, somewhat nontraditional western with Robert Blake as the title character, an Indian who kills lover Katharine Ross’ father, and Robert Redford as the lawman forced to find him. Redford and Ross also played Sundance and Etta, respectively, the same year, but they both won BAFTA honors for this film. Director Abraham Polonsky had been blacklisted and not made a film since the powerful noir Force of Evil in 1948. He did some screenwriting in that interim, including Odds Against Tomorrow, and would only direct one other movie - 1971’s Romance of a Horsethief. Universal apparently controls the rights here and I simply can’t figure why it’s not available on DVD. I don’t think there’s a release anywhere anywhere except France and Germany. Is it the infamy of Robert Blake? When TCM showed the film early last year it looked perfect - letterboxed in a pristine Scope print.

Sunday April 19

9:15 AM Bonjour Tristesse (Preminger, 1957) - C-94 mins. - Speaking of color films in CinemaScope, Otto Preminger’s generally well-regarded second teaming with Jean Seberg (a year after Saint Joan) was available on R1 DVD from Sony in a fine enough edition but went out of print a few years ago. Basically the same disc, except PAL and R2, can be had in the UK. I have a huge soft spot for Preminger’s films but am only lukewarm on this. Seberg’s character and her father, played by David Niven, are such annoying snots that I felt like I was actually watching a French film (but with Hollywood’s limitations). Deborah Kerr is grand as always.

1:00 PM Strategic Air Command (Mann, 1955) - C-114 mins. - Now the only Anthony Mann-James Stewart picture not on DVD, Strategic Air Command is the very patriotic story of a baseball player who takes to the skies flying for the military following World War II. Though Stewart’s character name is Dutch Holland and there really was a player by that name in the ’30s, the movie character was based more on Red Sox great (and the best hitter to ever step into the box) Ted Williams. June Allyson was in the familiar role of being Stewart’s wife and given his combat experience during WWII, Stewart himself was probably right at home in the cockpit. Paramount made the picture, in VistaVision no less, but hasn’t made time for it on disc.

Monday April 20

9:15 PM Ruggles of Red Gap (McCarey, 1935) - BW-91 mins. - TCM didn’t do a typical Star of the Month for April and instead is devoting several nights to “Funny Ladies.” I’m not entirely sure that Leo McCarey’s brilliant comedy applies, but just having it on the schedule pleases me to no end. It’s Charles Laughton, playing manservant Ruggles, who really shines in the film. I saw it almost a year and a half ago, writing something afterwards, and it’s still vivid in my mind. Probably my favorite performance from Laughton. Charlie Ruggles too, for that matter. I remember reading that a DVD was released in France last year, but the real surprise came when looking at TCM’s listings and seeing an indication that a DVD was available for purchase from the channel’s partner site Movies Unlimited. Knowing full well Universal has the rights to the film and hasn’t released a DVD yet, I sent off an email to Movies Unlimited. The response was that the film is supposedly in the public domain and the disc for sale is a DVD-R from a small but reliable outfit. Hmm, okay. Rumors have indicated that McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow is set for release by the somewhat larger but more reliable Criterion so maybe Ruggles will get similar treatment.

4:30 AM The Patsy (Vidor, 1928) - BW-77 mins. - One of three comedies director King Vidor made with Hearst mistress Marion Davies. (Two of which, including this one, were silents.) The IMDb score is staggering at 8.6 from 742 votes. From reading about the plot, I’ve gathered that Davies plays a Cinderella-like woman who has a crush on and ultimately tries to land her older sister’s boyfriend. Marie Dressler co-stars as Davies’ mother. The credits reveal a couple of things of note. One, producers are listed as: Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst, and King Vidor. The latter was paid handsomely for his time. Also, the director of photography was John Seitz, who later on worked at Paramount on films by Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. Seitz shot both Double Indemnity and Sunset Blvd. This Vidor picture was put out by MGM. Warner Bros. could release a nice set of Vidor silents if it ever wanted to lose money while making whiners like me very happy. As of this writing, The Patsy is one of the choices available to vote for at the Warner Archive site.

Tuesday April 21

3:30 AM Mr. and Mrs. North (Sinclair, 1941) - BW-67 mins. - Gracie Allen without her husband and comedy partner George Burns in the only film made about a well-known husband and wife detective team not named Nick and Nora Charles. Allen plays Mrs. North and William Post Jr. is Mr. North. There were also stories, radio shows and a television series about the duo. Here they apparently find a murder victim in their closet. Hate when that happens. As with the Thin Man movies, MGM was the releasing studio. Warner Bros. would now control the rights. No DVD.

Thursday April 23

10:00 PM Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed? (Mann, 1963) - C-103 mins. - I was kind of excited about watching this, but even TCM’s own article is rough on the film. Still, I’ll probably give it a chance because Elizabeth Montgomery is the female lead, alongside Dean Martin. He plays an actor who’s confident on screen as a TV doctor, shy off it and she’s his wife-to-be. When Dino gets cold feet, Montgomery goes to friend Carol Burnett for help. The comedy’s cast also includes Martin Balsam, Jill St. John and Richard Conte. What a group of people you’d never imagine made a film together. The director was Daniel Mann, least of the Manns, and Jack Rose had sole writing credit. It was made for Paramount and, not surprisingly, doesn’t have a DVD release.

Friday April 24

8:00 AM High Wall (Bernhardt, 1947) - BW-100 mins. - This is actually still recorded from when I mentioned it last March (’08) so I’ve not seen it yet. Audrey Totter and Robert Taylor star (along with Herbert Marshall and H.B. Warner) in a psychological noir about a flyer who thinks he killed his wife. MGM released it in theaters. Warner Bros. has the film now, but it’s not on DVD.

2:00 PM Two for the Seesaw (Wise, 1962) - BW-119 mins. - I’ve never seen this but am shocked it’s not on DVD in R1. It looks like a release exists in Spain? Robert Mitchum stars as a lawyer pondering divorce who meets dancer Shirley MacLaine. Robert Wise directed and Walter Mirisch produced. This is probably one I’ll be making time for, especially since it’s black and white CinemaScope. Interesting that Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft played the roles on Broadway. Like Mitchum and MacLaine, they aren’t two actors I’d normally think of mingling together. MGM should have the rights in R1.

2:00 AM The Road to Ruin (Shyer, 1934) - BW-64 mins. - I believe TCM aired this a few months ago in this time slot and I caught some of it while sitting in total disbelief. The official description is “innocent girl falls in with a crowd devoted to pot and free love.” This is 1934, remember. I’m glad TCM is showing such a strange movie again, though it was pretty beat-up the last time. It’s apparently available in a “Girls Gone Bad: The Delinquent Dames Collection” that gathers 25 films over 5 discs. Yours for just $20.

Sunday April 26

8:00 PM Broken Lullaby (Lubitsch, 1932) - BW-76 mins. - This was probably Ernst Lubitsch’s most atypical movie - one about a French WWI soldier so consumed with guilt over killing a German counterpart that he visits the man’s family after the war. Lionel Barrymore and Nancy Carroll star, with Phillips Holmes as the guilt-ridden veteran. The British title was more direct - The Man I Killed. Lubitsch’s noted collaborator Samson Raphaelson was one of the writers on the picture, which did not prove to be a commercial success. It was produced for Paramount and Universal should now hold the rights. No DVD has emerged from R1 or the UK but I think there’s something available in Spain and also France.

9:30 PM The Kiss Before the Mirror (Whale, 1933) - BW-68 mins. - Nancy Carroll night continues with this James Whale-directed slice of adulterous murder. Paul Lukas plays a doctor accused of killing his wife (Gloria Stuart) and anxious to have friend Frank Morgan defend him. Lukas maintains his wife had been having an affair, which plants a seed in Morgan’s head about his own wife (Carroll). Super cinematographer Karl Freund did the lights. Universal produced but I don’t think there’s a DVD available anywhere.

12:15 AM The Phantom Carriage (Sjöström, 1920) - BW-107 mins. - Silent Sunday brings us this Swedish classic about a man (played by director Victor Sjöström who’d later star in Bergman’s Wild Strawberries) who dies just before the stroke of midnight ushers in the new year. He’s picked up in the carriage of the title by the ghost of a friend who’d died at the same time the year earlier and Sjöström now fears it’s his turn to be the driver who picks up the souls of the freshly deceased. His dead friend takes him through flashbacks and might-have-beens that underline the man’s mistakes. This titan of silent cinema was released for DVD by Tartan in the UK in two different editions. One has just the film and the other also contains Ingmar Bergman’s tribute documentary The Image Makers. I believe Janus Films is the rights holder in R1, but there hasn’t been a release yet.

Monday April 27

6:00 AM Captain Applejack (Henley, 1931) - BW-63 mins. - Information is scarce on this early gangster drama done for Warner Bros. (when it was still The Vitaphone Corporation). When I hear the word “applejack” I think of Fred Sanford and I gather it’s some kind of cheap but potent alcohol. There’s also apparently a “Captain Applejack” label of the stuff lurking in certain parts of the nation. The TCM listing for the film describes the plot as “[t]he worm turns when gangsters try to uncover buried treasure in a timid man’s home.” Who’s Captain Applejack then? The actor John Halliday plays, according to IMDb, a character named “Ambrose Applejohn” while Mary Brian is “Poppy Faire.” Director Hobart Henley made an interesting night club drama the next year called Night World, with Boris Karloff, Mae Clarke and Lew Ayres, that I caught a few weeks ago. It’s not on DVD and neither is Captain Applejack. Other movies where the title begins with Captain follow throughout the day.

Tuesday April 28

6:00 AM Looking Forward (Brown, 1933) - BW-82 mins. - A great week for Lionel Barrymore fans. In addition to the already mentioned Broken Lullaby, Barrymore stars in nine features showing in the daylight hours today (the anniversary of his birth). Four of those are from the Dr. Gillespie series, starting with Calling Dr. Gillespie (co-starring Donna Reed) at 12:30 PM. The festivities begin with Looking Forward, a drama set during the Depression that centers around English department store owner Lewis Stone and his family. Barrymore plays a fired employee who starts a second career as a baker. Director Clarence Brown is hardly mentioned today but earned a surprising six Oscar nominations in the Best Director category, losing each time. The film was done for MGM and hasn’t seen a DVD release. It’s immediately followed on the schedule by the warm small town drama One Man’s Journey, which is part of the TCM Complete Lost and Found RKO Collection.

Wednesday April 29

6:00 PM Roman Holiday (Wyler, 1953) - BW-118 mins. - Peck and Hepburn are grand, but I’m equally impressed with how William Wyler sets the film’s tempo with the precision of a orchestra conductor. The viewer doesn’t ever feel manipulated, which is the key, and Wyler delivers one of the great fantasy romance films without providing a happy ending. Paramount’s recent two-disc Centennial Collection release is good and recommended. (review at DVD Times)

Thursday April 30

6:15 AM Manpower (Walsh, 1941) - BW-103 mins. - A day’s worth of Eve Arden kicks off with this Raoul Walsh picture starring Edward G. Robinson and George Raft as power company workers. A rivalry develops between the two men over night club singer Marlene Dietrich. The two male leads apparently got into a real fist fight during filming. This was also the set where Bugsy Siegel, a friend of Raft’s, met Virginia Hill, a first encounter later put into Barry Levinson’s film about the mobster. Mark Hellinger was a producer and Ernest Haller was director of photography. The movie has enough curiosity value to warrant a closer look. Made for Warner Bros., it’s unavailable on DVD.

10:45 AM The Doughgirls (Kern, 1944) - BW-101 mins. - A nice cast for this wartime comedy set during Washington’s housing shortage. Anns Sheridan and Dvorak star, with Jack Carson and Jane Wyman as a honeymooning couple. Eve Arden is, per usual, further down the cast list and joined by Charlie Ruggles. The meeting place is a very crowded honeymoon suite. Like Manpower, Hellinger and Haller were part of the behind the scenes team on the production, also for Warner Bros. It isn’t on DVD either.