January, 2006 - Robert Montgomery

Sunday, January 1 - Sinbads - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

6:15 AM The Clock (1945) - an above average film about a G.I. (Robert Walker) who's got a two day leave in New York and falls in love with a young woman (Judy Garland). James Gleason plays a milkman who enables their romance by driving them around. Gleason's real wife Lucile plays his wife in the film. Keenan Wynn also appears. Directed by Vincente Minnelli.

8:00 AM Gaslight (1944)

10:00 AM The Goldwyn Follies (1938) - a TCM premiere!

12:00 PM Sunset Blvd. (1950)

2:00 PM To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

4:15 PM The Producers (1968) - see the original! This hilarious Mel Brooks directed comedy earned writer Brooks his only Oscar (for his Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen) and Gene Wilder his only acting nomination (Supporting). Accountant Wilder devises a way for womanizing producer Zero Mostel to make money, by producing a play that flops! But their casting of a flamboyant lead (Dick Shawn) inadvertently makes their attempt, a shockingly bad taste effort titled "Springtime for Hitler", a smash hit. Recently remade into a musical on Broadway AND a new film, this one was added to the National Film Registry in 1996.

6:00 PM Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - this is a sci-fi film which holds up today, who can forget the ending with Kevin McCarthy! Directed by Don Siegel, it was added to the National Film Registry in 1994.

8:00 PM Sinbad The Sailor (1947) - Fun family film with the dashing Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in the title role, telling of his (eighth?) adventure(s) that no one is quite sure are true. A swashbuckling hero, two evil & ruthless villains (Walter Slezak & Anthony Quinn), and a beautiful girl (Maureen O'Hara) ... what more do you need to know;-) Oh yes, riches beyond your wildest imagination, the treasure of Alexander the Great, and a magnificent adventure (voyage) to find (get) it. Career sidekick George Tobias, Jane Greer, Mike Mazurki, Sheldon Leonard, and Alan Napier (Alfred on TV's Batman) also appear in this stunning, Technicolor delight!

2:00 AM The Sundowners (1960)

4:15 AM Immortal Battalion (1944) - aka The Way Ahead (1944), this very good wartime drama was also used as propaganda during World War II; it's story will be familiar to anyone who's seen their share of this genre including Saving Private Ryan (1998). Several ordinary citizens are molded into a battalion of top fighting men by their experiences, and their officers. David Niven, William Hartnell, Stanley Holloway, and more star in this Carol Reed directed film.

Monday, January 2 - Robert Montgomery, TCM’s Star of the Month

6:00 AM Within Our Gates (1920) - Added to the National Film Registry in 1992.

11:30 AM Swing Time (1936)

8:00 PM Night Must Fall (1937)

10:00 PM They Were Expendable (1945) - a terrific film about the surprising successes of the PT boats during World War II, initially thought unworthy of any role in the conflict. Directed by John Ford, and starring Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Ward Bond, Leon Ames, and more; it was nominated for two Oscars, Special Effects & Sound.

12:30 AM Lady In The Lake (1947) - a failed experiment?

3:45 AM Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) - ditto

5:30 AM June Bride (1948)

Tuesday, January 3 - Starring Dorothy Dandridge

12:00 PM Tom, Dick And Harry (1941) - a screwball comedy you can skip; an all new capsule review!

8:00 PM Carmen Jones (1954) - a TCM premiere

Wednesday, January 4 - Spy Stories

Jane Wyman birthday tribute

9:15 AM The Lost Weekend (1945)

2:15 PM Here Comes the Groom (1951) - an all new full review!

4:15 PM Magnificent Obsession (1954) - one of the early Douglas Sirk soapers has Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda (1948), who received her last of four Best Actress Oscar nominations) as a woman whose husband's death (and her subsequent blindness!) was in part caused by a reckless, wealthy playboy played by Rock Hudson. That's the simplest part of this otherwise convoluted (, unbelievable) and almost religious-based story which begins with Hudson's character wanting to make it up to the older, yet attractive widow with whom he falls in love. This remake of the 1935 film by the same name was responsible for launching Hudson's career, as the original had been for Robert Taylor's. Supporting cast members include Barbara Rush, as Wyman's skeptical daughter, Agnes Moorehead as her nurse-friend, and Otto Kruger as the purveyor of Wyman's deceased husband's do unto others, anonymously "religion".

6:15 PM All That Heaven Allows (1955) - only including it here because it was added to the National Film Registry in 1999, for some unknown reason. It's a horribly dated May-December romance (Douglas Sirk soap opera) between a 40 something widow (Jane Wyman) and a 30 year old independent (Rock Hudson). The highlights are the supporting cast which includes Agnes Moorehead, Conrad Nagel, and Virginia Grey. Otherwise, skip it!

8:00 PM The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965) - haven't seen it, but I'll be watching this one!

10:00 PM The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - a TCM premiere!

2:00 AM The 39 Steps (1935)

3:30 AM The Ipcress File (1965) - pretty good spy movie with Michael Caine in a star making role as secret agent Harry Palmer, from the Len Deighton novels. Begins rather slowly, but moves quickly once the bodies start piling up. Also with Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd, and Gordon Jackson.

Thursday, January 5 - Miyazaki

8:30 AM Beyond Tomorrow (1940) - O.K.

11:15 AM Steel Against The Sky (1941) - pretty bad; read my full review!

8:00 PM & 1 AM Spirited Away (2002) - a TCM premiere!

10:15 PM & 3:15 AM Princess Mononoke (1999) - a TCM premiere!

Friday, January 6 - Starring Dan Duryea

Loretta Young birthday salute

8:30 AM The Right Of Way (1931) - not so good, but an all new full review!

4:30 PM Along Came Jones (1945) - perhaps I didn't get the joke. This is supposed to be a comedy Western (a spoof of the genre); it comes off as badly as Howard Hughes’s drama The Outlaw (1943), which is unintentionally funny and, hence, awful. This one isn't funny at all, and instead comes off like a terrible drama. What a waste of Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, and William Demarest! Dan Duryea also appears.

6:00 PM The Bishop's Wife (1947) - another great Samuel Goldwyn produced film with Cary Grant playing an angel who helps a church bishop (David Niven) and his wife, played by Loretta Young. Initially, Grant was signed to play the bishop, Niven the angel. And, Billy Wilder was asked to improve the script. The film and its director, Henry Koster, were Oscar nominated; it won for Sound Recording.

8:00 PM Winchester '73 (1950) - an all new essential capsule review!

Saturday, January 7 - Screwball Comedies

12:00 AM Sahara (1943) - an all new essential capsule review!

6:00 AM The World Of Henry Orient (1964)

8:00 AM Gilda (1946) - Rita Hayworth’s signature (hair flip &) role! She's the wife of a shady casino owner, Ballin Mundson (George Macready), who's reunited with ex-lover Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) when Farrell becomes Mundson’s right hand man. Joseph Calleia & Steven Geray (among others) also appear. Directed by Charles Vidor. Hayworth's "Put the Blame on Mame" is #84 on AFI's 100 Top Movie Songs of All Time.

6:15 PM Paper Moon (1973) - an all new essential capsule review!

8:00 PM The Awful Truth (1937) - an all new essential capsule review & this week's TCM Essential!

10:00 PM His Girl Friday (1940)

11:45 PM My Favorite Wife (1940)

Sunday, January 8 - Directed by Mark Robson

1:30 AM Bringing Up Baby (1938)

3:15 AM Topper (1937)

Elvis Presley birthday salute

8:00 AM Jailhouse Rock (1957) - Added to the National Film Registry in 2004.

1:30 PM The Women (1939)

6:00 PM The Awful Truth (1937) - TCM Essential repeat

8:00 PM The Harder They Fall (1956) - an all new essential capsule review!

Monday, January 9 - Robert Montgomery, TCM’s Star of the Month

6:00 AM Woman Of The Year (1942)

6:00 PM Boys' Night Out (1962) - fun if not great, and an all new full review!

10:00 PM The Big House (1930) - pre-code prison drama with Wallace Beery, Robert Montgomery, & Chester Morris as the cons, Lewis Stone as the warden. Leila Hyams plays Montgomery's sister. Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Beery; it won for Writing & Sound.

11:30 PM The Divorcee (1930)

Tuesday, January 10 - Guest Programmer: Mario Cantone

8:45 AM Sins Of The Children (1930) - catch this gem if you can and/or read my all new full review!

10:15 AM War Nurse (1930) - not great, but not awful either; read my all new full review!

12:00 PM Casablanca (1942)

2:00 PM Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939)

4:00 PM Now, Voyager (1942)

6:00 PM Of Human Bondage (1946) - better than the original? Read my full review!

8:00 PM Sunset Boulevard (1950)

10:00 PM Mr. Skeffington (1944)

Wednesday, January 11 - The Big Pictures

2:30 AM Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)

4:30 AM Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) - though not a good movie, it's fun to try and identify the film noir clips used by director Carl Reiner in this comedy starring Steve Martin and Rachel Ward.

10:00 AM The V.I.P.S (1963) - average

2:00 PM The Catered Affair (1956)

8:00 PM The Big Heat (1953) - Directed by Fritz Lang, with a screenplay by Sidney Boehm (The Atomic City (1952)), this above average crime thriller stars Glenn Ford as a straight-laced cop in a corrupt city he believes is run by a fastidious gangster named Mike Laguna (Alexander Scourby). Almost immediately, Detective Sergeant Dave Bannion (Ford) has a personal reason to bring down Laguna and his right hand thug Vince Stone (Lee Marvin) - they were responsible for killing his wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando); she got blown up in Bannion’s car instead of him. Bannion’s superiors are no help, they've removed him from the police corruption case he was investigating in part because he was harassing Laguna. Sexy Gloria Grahame plays Stone's ex-mistress, whose face was disfigured when the thug threw scalding hot coffee in her face. She becomes Bannion’s unlikely ally as he tries to succeed against all odds.

10:00 PM The Big Sleep (1946)

Thursday, January 12 - Miyazaki

1:30 AM The Big Sky (1952) - full review!

Luise Rainer birthday tribute

6:00 AM The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

12:30 PM The Good Earth (1937)

8:00 PM & 12:15 AM Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (1984) - a TCM premiere!

10:00 PM & 2:15 AM Castle in the Sky (1986) - a TCM premiere!

Friday, January 13 - Prepare to Rock!

Kay Francis birthday tribute

11:30 AM One Way Passage (1932)

8:00 PM Bye Bye Birdie (1963) - a TCM premiere!

10:00 PM Jailhouse Rock (1957) - added to the National Film Registry in 2004.

Saturday, January 14 - Starring Dean Martin

2:00 AM The Blue Angel (1930) - Emil Jannings plays a boring professor who becomes enchanted with a nightclub singer, played by Marlene Dietrich. Directed by Josef von Sternberg, Dietrich sings her trademark song "Falling in Love Again".

4:00 AM Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (2000) - terrific documentary about this great lady

6:00 AM Between Two Worlds (1944) - full review!

8:00 AM Force of Evil (1948) - Screenwriter Abraham Polonsky’s (Body and Soul (1947)) directorial debut features John Garfield as an ambitious lawyer and Thomas Gomez as his older brother in a story about the numbers racket and the mob. Added to the National Film Registry in 1994.

2:00 PM The Four Feathers (1939)

4:15 PM The Quiet Man (1952)

8:00 PM Some Came Running (1958) - this week's TCM Essential and an all new full review!

10:30 PM Ada (1961) - an all new full review!

Sunday, January 15 - Cowgirls

12:30 AM Airport (1970) - fair

8:00 AM A Patch Of Blue (1965) - full review!

12:00 PM The Facts of Life (1960) - O.K., an all new full review!

2:00 PM A Place in the Sun (1951) - an all new essential, capsule review!

4:15 PM All That Heaven Allows (1955) - only including it here because it was added to the National Film Registry in 1999, for some unknown reason. It's a horribly dated May-December romance (Douglas Sirk soap opera) between a 40 something widow (Jane Wyman) and a 30 year old independent (Rock Hudson). The highlights are the supporting cast which includes Agnes Moorehead, Conrad Nagel, and Virginia Grey. Otherwise, skip it!

6:00 PM Some Came Running (1958) - TCM Essential repeat

8:30 PM Cat Ballou (1965) - Lee Marvin won his Best Actor Oscar (on his only nomination!) in this Western comedy, playing two roles; Jane Fonda plays the title role - a school teacher turned outlaw. The film's Writing, Music, and Editing were also nominated.

10:15 PM Annie Oakley (1935) - I requested this one!

Monday, January 16 - Robert Montgomery, TCM’s Star of the Month

12:00 AM Mark of Zorro, The (1920) - famous Douglas Fairbanks silent!

2:00 AM Roman Holiday (1953)

4:00 AM Dodsworth (1936)

8:00 AM Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) - full review!

9:45 AM Cabin In The Sky (1943) - an all new capsule review!

11:30 AM Sounder (1972)

1:30 PM Carmen Jones (1954) - O.K., an all new capsule review!

3:30 PM Imitation Of Life (1934)

5:30 PM Imitation Of Life (1959) - though vastly inferior to the 1934 version with Claudette Colbert & Louise Beavers, this film is still probably worth your time. This one stars Lana Turner and Juanita Moore's Oscar nominated performance. Susan Kohner, who plays Moore's daughter, was also nominated; syrupy Sandra Dee plays Turner's. John Gavin, Robert Alda, and Troy Donahue also appear in this Douglas Sirk directed soap opera.

Tuesday, January 17 - Robert Osborne's Picks

11:30 AM Air Force (1943) - O.K., full review!

1:45 PM Desperate Journey (1942) - fun

3:45 PM Flying Fortress (1942) - average B movie, full review!

8:00 PM A Foreign Affair (1948) - an all new essential, capsule review!

10:00 PM Brief Encounter (1945) - a TCM premiere and an all new essential, capsule review!

11:30 PM Genevieve (1953) - a TCM premiere!

Wednesday, January 18 - Vincent Price

Cary Grant birthday tribute

1:00 AM He Walked By Night (1948) - an all new capsule review!

6:00 AM Sylvia Scarlett (1936) - listed only because it is the first pairing of Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant.

7:45 AM Cary Grant: A Class Apart (2004) - pretty good documentary

11:15 AM In Name Only (1939)

2:30 PM Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) - a terrific comedy with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, poorly remake in the 80's as The Money Pit, about a businessman who dreams about having a house in the country. It includes an unforgettable sequence with Ms. Loy and the local painters. Support provided by Melvyn Douglas. #72 on AFI’s 100 Funniest Movies list.

4:15 PM Arsenic And Old Lace (1944)

6:15 PM Bringing Up Baby (1938)

8:00 PM House Of Usher (1960) - a TCM premiere of this film that was added to the National Film Registry!

9:30 PM The Masque Of The Red Death (1964) - a TCM premiere!

12:45 AM The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) - a TCM premiere!

2:30 AM The Bat (1959) - a TCM premiere!

Thursday, January 19 - Miyazaki

6:00 AM Key Largo (1948)

9:15 AM Blackboard Jungle (1955)

11:00 AM Welcome To Hard Times (1967) - not bad; full review!

12:45 PM Each Dawn I Die (1939) - not great; an all new full review!

2:30 PM Colorado Territory (1949) - O.K.; full review!

4:15 PM Out of the Past (1947)

6:00 PM The Big Sleep (1946)

8:00 PM & 1:15 AM My Neighbor Totoro (1993) - a TCM premiere! My kids loved this one!

9:30 PM & 2:45 AM Porco Rosso (1992) - a TCM premiere!

11:15 PM & 4:30 AM Whisper of the Heart (1995) - a TCM premiere!

Friday, January 20 - Under the Weather

11:00 AM Escape (1940) - worth a look

Patricia Neal birthday

12:45 PM The Fountainhead (1949) - poorly adapted; an all new capsule review!

8:00 PM Lord Jim (1965) - a TCM premiere!

10:45 PM The Hurricane (1937) - one I requested!

Saturday, January 21 - Call in the Cavalry

12:45 AM Key Largo (1948)

2:30 AM The Conformist (1970) - Director Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor (1987)) earned his first Oscar nomination for his screenplay adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s bizarre story about a young Italian man (Jean-Louis Trintignant) with a conflicted sexual history who's about to be married (to Stefania Sandrelli’s character) that's also just joined Mussolini's secret police such that he must now murder his former professor (Enzo Tarascio), who's exiled in Paris because of his differing political views. A blind friend (José Quaglio) of this about-to-become "conformist, fascist", the professor's sexy wife (Dominique Sanda), and a peer of his in the secret police (Gastone Moschin) also figure in the drama. Beautifully photographed by Vittorio Storaro, who has won three Oscars for his cinematography, but a bit too much of an art house flick for most tastes.

6:00 AM Oliver Twist (1948) - An outstanding British adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel by director David Lean, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Alec Guinness stars as Fagin, Robert Newton as Bill Sykes, Kay Walsh as Nancy, and John Howard Davies as the title character. Also, Francis Sullivan plays Mr. Bumble, the tyrannical orphanage employee who terrorizes the young lad; Henry Stephenson the wealthy Mr. Brownlow who rescues him. Anthony Newley plays the Artful Dodger.

8:00 AM The Big Heat (1953) - Directed by Fritz Lang, with a screenplay by Sidney Boehm (The Atomic City (1952)), this above average crime thriller stars Glenn Ford as a straight-laced cop in a corrupt city he believes is run by a fastidious gangster named Mike Laguna (Alexander Scourby). Almost immediately, Detective Sergeant Dave Bannion (Ford) has a personal reason to bring down Laguna and his right hand thug Vince Stone (Lee Marvin) - they were responsible for killing his wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando); she got blown up in Bannion’s car instead of him. Bannion’s superiors are no help, they've removed him from the police corruption case he was investigating in part because he was harassing Laguna. Sexy Gloria Grahame plays Stone's ex-mistress, whose face was disfigured when the thug threw scalding hot coffee in her face. She becomes Bannion’s unlikely ally as he tries to succeed against all odds.

10:00 AM You Only Live Once (1937) - pretty good film by director Fritz Lang (one of his best?) featuring Henry Fonda as a criminal who Sylvia Sidney believes is basically good. Lots of familiar faces in this one including Barton MacLane, William Gargan, Jerome Cowan, and Margaret Hamilton, and Warren Hymer among others. Even more uncredited, like Ward Bond and Al Bridge!

4:00 PM Fail Safe (1964) - one has to wonder if this Sidney Lumet directed film would be better known and revered today if it hadn't followed the widely popular spoof on this same subject, the "accidental" advent of World War III, by Stanley Kubrick, which had been released earlier that same year; the success of War Games (1983) might have given some indication. Henry Fonda, who plays the POTUS, leads a cast which includes Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman, and Dom DeLuise (among others). Walter Bernstein (The Front (1976)) wrote the screenplay which was based on the Eugene Burdick-Harvey Wheeler novel.

8:00 PM Fort Apache (1948) - this week's TCM Essential is another super John Ford/John Wayne western (the first of his trilogy of U.S. Cavalry pictures these two made, along with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) & Rio Grande (1950)). This one also features Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, and Ward Bond among others.

Sunday, January 22 - Writers on Film

6:15 AM Sahara (1943)

8:00 AM Mogambo (1953)

12:00 PM Sailor Beware (1951) - for Martin & Lewis fans; full review!

4:00 PM Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) - this film is really about the Marine Corps and the rigorous training that was done before the Pacific campaign of World War II could become a reality. It stars John Wayne (True Grit (1969)), who received his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of unyielding leadership in the person of Sergeant John M. Stryker, and culminates with the famous flag raising. The film also received 3 other Oscar nominations, including for Best Writing.

6:00 PM Fort Apache (1948) - TCM Essential repeat; see my Saturday comments

8:15 PM Murder by Death (1976) - Directed by Robert Moore, and written by Neil Simon (The Goodbye Girl (1977)), this hilarious comedy mystery spoof boasts an all star cast that includes: Eileen Brennan and Truman Capote; James Coco playing a Hercules Poirot-like detective; Peter Falk playing a Sam Spade (Bogart)-like detective; Alec Guinness playing a blind butler opposite Nancy Walker's deaf & dumb cook; Elsa Lanchester as a Miss Marples-like detective attended by her elderly nurse (Estelle Winwood); David Niven & Maggie Smith as a Nick & Nora Charles (The Thin Man series) duo; Peter Sellers as a Charlie Chan clone with #1 son Richard Narita; and James Cromwell plays another character I can't quite recall. Brennan appears as one of Sam's blondes. Capote's character invites the confident detectives to his home on a stormy night to solve a murder, his own! Each and every character has a motive for the killing, which are revealed in so many amusing ways. Twist upon twist until you get whiplash!

4:00 AM The Harvey Girls (1946) - below average; an all new capsule review!

6:00 AM The Naked Spur (1953)

Monday, January 23

Original schedule preempted in order to salute (the recently departed) Shelley Winters

8:00 AM He Ran All the Way
9:30 AM The Treasure of Pancho Villa

11:30 AM Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) - full review!

1:30 PM The Young Savages

3:30 PM Lolita (1962)

6:15 PM Winchester '73 (1950)

8:00 PM A Patch of Blue (1965) - full review!

10:00 PM A Place in the Sun (1951)

12:15 AM The Night of the Hunter (1955)

2:00 AM Executive Suite (1954)

4:00 AM Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
6:00 AM The Scalphunters

Tuesday, January 24 - Young Film Composers

4:30 PM The Affairs Of Dobie Gillis (1953) - surprisingly, not too bad lightweight comedy; an all new full review!

8:00 PM & 3:30 AM Souls for Sale (1923) - a TCM premiere!

9:45 PM A Woman of Paris (1923) - Though this film doesn't feature the actor Chaplin (though he does appear in a very brief, unrecognizable cameo), it is a pretty good film featuring Edna Purviance as a presumably jilted woman who goes to Paris to sew her oats as Adolphe Menjou’s lover. When her former fiancé Jean (Carl Miller) returns, she learns that there was a misunderstanding regarding their failed elopement and can't decide what to do ... neither can Jean, who's influenced by his mother. Not a comedy!

11:15 PM Greed (1924) - one of the best silent film "epics" ever made; added to the National Film Registry in 1991.

Wednesday, January 25 - Underdogs

6:00 AM The Big House (1930) - pre-code prison drama with Wallace Beery, Robert Montgomery, & Chester Morris as the cons, Lewis Stone as the warden. Leila Hyams plays Montgomery's sister. Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Beery; it won for Writing & Sound.

7:30 AM 20,000 Years In Sing Sing (1932) - an all new capsule review (the remake is being shown at 6 PM ET today)!

10:15 AM I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)

6:00 PM Castle On The Hudson (1940) - pretty good; an all new full review!

8:00 PM The Bad News Bears (1976) - hilarious sports comedy featuring Walter Matthau as a washed up pool cleaner (that drinks!) who gets hired to coach a bunch of misfit Little Leaguers whose parents think playing baseball will teach their kids some of life's lessons. It does, but not in the way in which they'd anticipated it. After assessing his losing team's players, Matthau recruits a whiz kid pitcher (Tatum O’Neal), who just happens to be the daughter of one of his ex-girlfriends, and the tough motorcycle riding hoodlum (Jackie Earle Haley) that haunts the ballfield, upsetting all the adults including Joyce Van Patten and Vic Morrow, who coaches his son on the number one team.

10:00 PM The Karate Kid (1984) - a TCM premiere! Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi earned his only Oscar nomination (Supporting) as the patient, reluctant martial arts teacher of a young teenage boy named Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio, in the title role) who's struggling with his identity, and a bunch of bullies (including Chad McQueen), in this coming of age drama. Elisabeth Shue plays Daniel’s would-be girlfriend; Randee Heller plays his mom.

12:15 AM Rocky (1976)

2:30 AM The Story Of Seabiscuit (1949) - this fictional story about the titled horse was made into a very average family drama starring Shirley Temple in her second to last role along with Barry Fitzgerald as the horse's trainer, and Lon McCallister as its jockey. Rosemary DeCamp and Donald MacBride also appear. Directed by David Butler.

4:15 AM On Dangerous Ground (1951) - Directed and adapted by Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause (1955)), this drama features Ida Lupino as a blind woman who's brother (Sumner Williams) is a murder suspect being hunted by too rough street cop Robert Ryan. Ward Bond, Ed Begley, and Ian Wolfe, among others, also appear.

Thursday, January 26 - Miyazaki

6:00 AM High Sierra (1941)

7:45 AM The Male Animal (1942)

9:30 AM Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

1:30 PM Rhapsody In Blue (1945) - full review!

4:00 PM Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

6:00 PM Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)

8:00 PM & 12:30 AM Only Yesterday (1991) - a TCM premiere!

10:15 PM & 2:45 AM Pom Poko (1994) - a TCM premiere!

Friday, January 27 - Nazi Hunters

Donna Reed birthday

5:00 AM Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To (1991) - great documentary

7:30 AM I Love You Again (1940)

11:30 AM The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

8:00 PM The Stranger (1946)

12:15 AM The Boys From Brazil (1978) - a TCM premiere! Another one of those fascinating concepts (like Brainstorm (1983)) that could have been better executed. Gregory Peck plays Dr. Josef Mengele who, through Steve Guttenberg’s character, is tracked down by Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier, who received his last Best Actor Oscar nomination), who discovers the Doctor's sinister plot to bring back Hitler! The film's Editing and Score were also nominated. James Mason and Denholm Elliot also appear.

2:30 AM The Shop on Main Street (1965) - a TCM premiere!

Saturday, January 28 - Ernst Lubitsch’s Birthday

6:00 AM Tortilla Flat (1942) - Victor Fleming directed this John Steinbeck story about the simple life in a fishing community. Spencer Tracy (gotta love that accent), Hedy Lamarr (beautiful as ever), John Garfield, and Frank Morgan (who was Oscar nominated for his role) star. You'll also see some great character actors like Sheldon Leonard, Henry O'Neill, and Allen Jenkins as Portagee Joe.

10:00 AM I Married A Witch (1942) - O.K., this is not really a great film. But how can you pass up a film starring Fredric March & Veronica Lake (Susan Hayward's in it too, as are Robert Benchley and Cecil Kellaway). And, apparently director Danny DeVito’s planned a remake (co-produced by Tom Cruise), for 2006 or later. Lake plays the titled several hundred years old witch (who doesn't look a day over 32); March is the current descendant of the man who burned her and her father (Kellaway) at the stake. Bent on ruining politician March's pending wedding to Hayward, Lake inadvertently changes his (and her) life forever with a love potion gaffe. Most memorable scene occurs in a burning, downtown hotel. Features an Oscar nominated Score.

2:00 PM Cowboy (1958) - an all new full review!

4:00 PM The African Queen (1951) - an all new essential, capsule review!

6:00 PM Robin and Marian (1976) - a fair to middlin story about an older Robin Hood who returns home to his Maid Marian but must still battle the Sheriff of Nottingham. Only watchable because of its title character leads, Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn's Marian is now a nun who's not too happy with her adventurous former lover's absence; Shaw plays the still evil law man, Richard Harris plays King Richard. Directed by Richard Lester, written by James Goldman (The Lion in Winter (1968)).

8:00 PM The Merry Widow (1934) - this week's TCM Essential

10:00 PM That Uncertain Feeling (1941)

11:30 PM The Shop Around The Corner (1940)

1:15 AM Ninotchka (1939)

3:15 AM To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Sunday, January 29 - Investigative Reporters

10:00 AM On the Town (1949)

12:00 PM Pillow Talk (1959) - features Doris Day's only Oscar nominated performance, and Thelma Ritter's 5^th of 6 unrewarded Supporting Actress nominations. This Oscar winning story introduces the outdated "party line" concept to younger folks and is a very funny comedy with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall. The film's Art Direction-Set Decoration and Score were also nominated.

2:00 PM It Happened One Night (1934)

4:00 PM Roman Holiday (1953)

6:00 PM The Merry Widow (1934) - TCM Essential repeat

12:15 AM Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (1921) - Added to the National Film Registry in 1995.

Monday, January 30 - Robert Montgomery, TCM’s Star of the Month

unannounced Mickey Rooney tribute

6:00 AM A Family Affair (1936) - two of the best Andy Hardy films in a row; full review!

8:45 AM Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) - full review!

12:00 PM Boys' Town (1938)

2:00 PM The Human Comedy (1943) - full review!

4:00 PM National Velvet (1944)

4:00 AM The First Hundred Years (1938) - an all new full review!

Tuesday, January 31 - Talk is Cheap

12:45 PM Guys And Dolls (1955)

3:15 PM Hamlet (1948)

6:00 PM Black Narcissus (1947) - Deborah Kerr plays a nun sent to a remote hilltop in the Himalayas to establish a convent on the site of an "ancient" brothel. She is assisted by a local Prince (Sabu), who craves an education, and a handsome English government official (David Ferrer) while she struggles against the jealousy of a local beauty (Jean Simmons!) and a straying nun (Kathleen Byron). Breathtaking cinematography and color despite the dull, plodding story; won Oscars for its Color Art Direction-Set Decoration and Cinematography. Flora Robson, Jenny Laird, and Judith Furse also appear.

8:00 PM Ball Of Fire (1941) - full review!

10:00 PM Born Yesterday (1950) - an all new essential, capsule review!

12:00 AM My Fair Lady (1964)

3:00 AM Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

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