March, 2006 - Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald

Wednesday, March 1 - 31 Days of Oscar continues

5:15 AM Princess O'Rourke (1943) - an all new capsule review!

7:00 AM Rhapsody In Blue (1945) - full review!

9:30 AM 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.

1:30 PM Divorce American Style (1967) - a TCM premiere!

3:30 PM Lover Come Back (1961)

8:00 PM The Bridges At Toko-Ri (1954) - an all new full review!

10:00 PM From Here To Eternity (1953)

Thursday, March 2 - 31 Days of Oscar continues

12:00 AM So Proudly We Hail (1943) - full review!

2:15 AM Action In The North Atlantic (1943) - full review!

4:30 AM Of Human Hearts (1938) - an all new full review!

6:15 AM Our Town (1940)

7:45 AM Woman Of The Year (1942)

9:45 AM The Magnificent Yankee (1950) - an all new capsule review!

11:15 AM Blackboard Jungle (1955)

2:45 PM Raintree County (1957) - full review!

6:00 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".

8:00 PM The Lost Weekend (1945)

10:00 PM Love Story (1970) - "love means never having to say you're sorry"; this Academy Award nominated Best Picture's Score won the Oscar. Its director (Arthur Hiller), Writing (Erich Segal), lead actors (Ali McGraw & Ryan O’Neal) and John Marley (Supporting Actor) also received nominations.

Friday, March 3 - 31 Days of Oscar continues

12:00 AM Paper Moon (1973)

2:00 AM The Last Picture Show (1971) - an all new capsule review!

4:15 AM Mighty Joe Young (1949) - earned Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack an Oscar for Best Special Effects; remade in 1998 with Bill Paxton and future Oscar winner Charlize Theron.

6:00 AM Four Daughters (1938)

10:00 AM Cowboy (1958) - full review!

12:00 PM Bell, Book and Candle (1959) - the inspiration for TV's Bewitched series? A publisher, played by James Stewart, is attracted to a witch (Kim Novak), whose brother (Jack Lemmon) and aunt (Elsa Lanchester) can also conjure up spells, as can "rival" a witch (Hermione Gingold). Like Stewart's character, Ernie Kovacs plays a writer who is also a mere mortal but, unlike him, he believes in them (e.g. witches and warlocks).

3:30 PM I Want To Live! (1958)

5:45 PM Bells Are Ringing (1960) - an all new capsule review!

8:00 PM In Harm's Way (1965) - long, average war drama with a familiar plot directed by Otto Preminger with an all-star cast that includes John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Paula Prentiss, Brandon De Wilde, Dana Andrews, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Franchot Tone, Carroll O'Connor, Slim Pickens, George Kennedy, Larry Hagman, and Henry Fonda (among others). Nominated for a B&W Cinematography Academy Award.

11:00 PM The Alamo (1960) - an all new capsule review!

2:30 AM The Big Sky (1952) - full review!

5:00 AM Lust For Life (1956)

31 Days of Oscar "month" ends

Saturday, March 4 - Guest Programmer: Sid Ganis

8:00 AM Out of the Past (1947)

10:00 AM Road to Morocco (1942) - one of the better Bing Crosby-Bob Hope "Road" films, Best Writing Oscar nomination, with Dorothy Lamour & Anthony Quinn. Added to the National Film Registry in 1996.

1:30 PM Airport (1970) - skip it?

6:00 PM Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1963)

8:00 PM Funny Girl (1968) - before Babs became a polarizing political figure to rival Jane Fonda, she made her film debut in this William Wyler directed Musical and shared the Best Actress Oscar that year (with Katharine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter (1968)) for her portrayal of comedienne Fanny Brice in this Oscar nominated Best Picture. The film received six other AA noms including for its titled Original Song, Score, and Supporting Actress Kay Medford. It also stars Omar Sharif, Anne Francis, and Walter Pidgeon as Florenz Ziegfeld.

11:00 PM The Sting (1973)

1:15 AM The Third Man (1949)

3:15 AM I Want To Live! (1958)

Sunday, March 5 - The Truth About Hollywood

8:00 AM Show Boat (1951) - Although "Ol’ Man River" (#24 on AFI’s 100 Top Movie Songs of All Time) is not sung by the great Paul Robeson in this one, the other songs may be done better than in the 1936 version of this famous musical, especially "Make Believe". Starring Howard Keel as Gaylord Ravenal and Kathryn Grayson as Magnolia, the scene at the end (including Ava Gardner) should make you cry. And don't overlook Joe E. Brown and Agnes Moorehead as the parents of Ms. Grayson's character. Directed by George Sidney, this film's Score and Color Cinematography were nominated for Oscars.

10:00 AM High Society (1956)

6:00 PM The Haunting (1963) - This horror classic earned the director (producer) Robert Wise a Golden Globe nomination. It stars Julie Harris, Clair Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn, among others.

8:00 PM The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

10:00 PM A Star Is Born (1937)

12:00 AM Desert Nights (1929) - Sunday Silent Nights return with this John Gilbert feature

1:15 AM Westworld (1973) - popular sci-fi writer Michael Crichton wrote and directed this average sci-fi film about a futuristic theme park populated with robot workers who fulfill its guests’ every fantasy, until something goes wrong. Richard Benjamin and James Brolin play tourists who pay to realize their dream of entering a fictional Western town of the movies; Yul Brynner plays the robot villain whose wires get crossed.

3:00 AM Soylent Green (1973) - though there is no great mystery or intrigue about what the titled substance is made of in this futuristic film focused on the problems of overpopulation, this Charlton Heston film is noteworthy in that it features the great Edward G. Robinson's last performance on film, that of a man who would give his life to see the beauty of our unspoiled country once again (even if it's only a virtual reality).

Monday, March 6 - TCM’s Stars of the Month - Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald

Guy Kibbee’s birthday

9:45 AM I Married A Doctor (1936) - fair B movie and an all new full review!

2:15 PM Henry Goes Arizona (1939) - pretty entertaining B movie with a full review!

8:00 PM Naughty Marietta (1935) - nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, it won for Best Sound, Recording. Added to the National Film Registry in 2003.

10:00 PM Nelson and Jeanette: America's Singing Sweethearts (1993) - to learn more about TCM’s March Stars of the Month

11:00 PM San Francisco (1936)

1:00 AM Rose Marie (1936) - full review!

5:15 AM The Merry Widow (1934)

Tuesday, March 7 - Divorce Remorse

7:00 AM Invisible Stripes (1939)

8:30 AM Escape From Fort Bravo (1953) - average; full review!

12:00 PM Rachel And The Stranger (1948) - full review!

8:00 PM His Girl Friday (1940)

10:00 PM The Philadelphia Story (1940)

12:00 AM Monkey Business (1952) - Howard Hawks directed this comedy starring Cary Grant as a scientist searching for a fountain of youth formula. Unfortunately, the product he doesn't realize he's invented and administered makes him act like a child in lieu of changing his physical appearance etc.. Ginger Rogers plays his wife; Marilyn Monroe his boss's (Charles Coburn) non-typing secretary; Hugh Marlowe a friend of the family. Oh yeah, and there's a chimpanzee too! A little too silly, and too late, to be classified as a screwball comedy. No relation to the 1931 Marx Brothers comedy of the same name.

2:00 AM My Favorite Wife (1940)

4:00 AM Topper Takes a Trip (1938) - not very good; an all new capsule review!

Wednesday, March 8 - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra

6:00 AM Brigadoon (1954) - Directed by Vincente Minnelli and written by Alan Jay Lerner (An American in Paris (1951)), this average Musical features Gene Kelly and Van Johnson as "Americans in Scotland" who discover the titled town amongst the heather & in the mists during their hunting trip. They meet the locals and learn their secret (the town appears only once, for one day only, every 100 years since 1754) after the engaged Kelly falls for a local lass, played by Cyd Charisse, from the town's elder (Barry Jones). But there's more to the secret which, along with a love triangle among some supporting characters (Jimmy Thompson, Elaine Stewart, & Hugh Laing) adds some drama extending this fantasy for more dancing and forgettable Lerner and (Frederick) Loewe songs. The film's Color Art Direction-Set Decoration, Costume Design, and Sound received Oscar nominations.

8:00 AM The Band Wagon (1953)

10:00 AM Silk Stockings (1957)

1:45 PM Two Weeks In Another Town (1962) - average

4:15 PM It's Always Fair Weather (1955) - O.K., an all new full review!

6:00 PM Meet Me In Las Vegas (1956) - so so, an all new full review!

8:00 PM A Song Is Born (1948) - not nearly as good as the original, but entertaining nonetheless; an all new capsule review!

12:00 AM Girl Crazy (1943) - though not one of the best, still pretty entertaining fluff; full review!

Thursday, March 9 - ‘40s Westerns

8:00 PM Western Union (1941) - average

10:00 PM The Spoilers (1942) - entertaining, an all new capsule review!

11:30 PM Dark Command (1940) - O.K., full review!

1:15 AM 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.

Friday, March 10 - Playboys

9:15 AM The Age Of Consent (1932) - not so good B picture, an all new full review!

3:00 PM The Half-Naked Truth (1933) - pretty good B picture, an all new full review!

4:30 PM What Every Woman Knows (1934) - very good, obscure film; an all new full review!

6:15 PM My Man Godfrey (1936)

8:00 PM Come Blow Your Horn (1963) - a TCM premiere!

10:00 PM Pillow Talk (1959) - features Doris Day's only Oscar nominated performance, and Thelma Ritter's 5th 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.

12:00 AM 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".

3:30 AM Duck Soup (1933) - this Marx Brothers classic (the last one with Zeppo), perhaps their best, has Groucho playing Rufus T. Firefly, the new president of Freedonia, so appointed by the richest woman (played by Margaret Dumont, of course) in the small country. He declares war on a large neighboring country, that of Louis Calhern and spy Raquel Torres (looking an awful lot like Dolores del Rio). Many of the gags and/or lines are classics which have survived and become part of our culture. Directed by Leo McCarey, the film was added to the National Film Registry in 1990. Also #5 on AFI's 100 Funniest Movies list.

Saturday, March 11 - Hustlers

10:00 AM Man in the Shadow (1957) - pretty good for a while; full review!

12:00 PM Rio Grande (1950) - better than average Western by director John Ford with John Wayne as a post-Civil War cavalry commander charged with fighting off the Apache Indian attacks. Maureen O'Hara plays his estranged wife; Claude Jarman Jr. his new recruit son. Familiar story-lines. Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Chill Wills and Victor McLaglen are in his unit.

8:00 PM The Hustler (1961) - this week's TCM Essential

10:30 PM The Fortune Cookie (1966) - an all new essential, capsule review!

12:45 AM 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.

4:15 AM Paper Moon (1973)

Sunday, March 12 - Ed Begley Double Feature

8:00 AM Stage Door (1937)

10:00 AM Born To Dance (1936) - average; full review!

12:00 PM Mighty Joe Young (1949) - earned Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack an Oscar for Best Special Effects; remade in 1998 with Bill Paxton and future Oscar winner Charlize Theron.

2:00 PM The Pride Of The Yankees (1942)

4:15 PM Hell is for Heroes (1962) - gritty; full review!

6:00 PM The Hustler (1961) - TCM Essential repeat

8:30 PM Hang 'Em High (1968) - an all new capsule review!

10:30 PM 12 Angry Men (1957)

2:15 AM The Conversation (1974) - Nominated for 3 Oscars, two for Francis Ford Coppola (Best Picture & Screenplay) and one for Sound. Added to the National Film Registry in 1995. Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who thinks he hears something like a murder while he's working for corporate man Martin Stett, played by Harrison Ford. Cindy Williams and Teri Garr also appear in this thriller which is somewhat overrated, in my opinion.

4:15 AM The Front (1976)

Monday, March 13 - Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, TCM’s Stars of the Month

10:00 AM The Search (1948)

12:00 PM Confessions Of A Nazi Spy (1939) - interesting (documentary-like) propaganda film; an all new full review!

4:00 PM Till The End Of Time (1946) - a different kind of "coming home" (from WW II) film; full review!

8:00 PM Maytime (1937) - depends if you like its co-stars; an all new capsule review!

Tuesday, March 14 - Divorce Remorse

6:30 AM 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!

4:00 PM Gambit (1966)

6:00 PM 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.

8:00 PM The Palm Beach Story (1942)

9:30 PM The Women (1939)

2:00 AM That Uncertain Feeling (1941)

Wednesday, March 15 - Choreography by Busby Berkeley

George Brent's birthday

9:00 AM In This Our Life (1942)

11:00 AM You Can't Escape Forever (1942) - decent B picture; full review!

12:30 PM My Reputation (1946) - if you love Barbara Stanwyck, but pretty dated; an all new full review!

8:00 PM Footlight Parade (1933) - outstanding!

11:45 PM 42nd Street (1933)

1:30 AM Gold Diggers Of 1933 (1933)

Thursday, March 16 - Suspended Animation

8:30 AM I Live For Love (1935) - fair B movie fare; an all new full review!

2:45 PM I Married A Doctor (1936) - better than average B movie; full review!

8:00 PM Good Times (1967) - a TCM premiere!

10:00 PM Operation Bikini (1963) - a TCM premiere!

11:30 PM He Laughed Last (1956) - a TCM premiere!

1:15 AM Yours, Mine And Ours (1968) - O.K.

5:00 AM Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall (2005) - a pretty good documentary

Friday, March 17 - Written by Eric Ambler

6:00 AM Light In The Piazza (1962) - average

10:00 AM The Swan (1956) - could have been better; full review!

2:00 PM Madame Bovary (1949)

8:00 PM A Night to Remember (1958) - an all new capsule review!

2:00 AM Germania Anno Zero (1947)

Saturday, March 18 - Starring Maureen O'Hara

9:30 AM The Hurricane (1937) - great special effects, average melodrama; full review!

2:00 PM Winchester '73 (1950)

6:00 PM Flying Tigers (1942) - not great, but watchable; an all new capsule review!

8:00 PM The Quiet Man (1952) - this week's TCM Essential

10:15 PM The Rare Breed (1966) - fairly unexciting (and thankfully, not too long) Western about a British widow, played by Maureen O'Hara, and her daughter, played by Juliet Mills, who bring their Hereford bull to America, claiming it's a superior breed. James Stewart, miscast for his age at the time (nearly 60!), is the cattle puncher who is hired to transport the bull to its breeder, played by an unrecognizable (per a ridiculous red beard) Brian Keith. Of course the trip doesn't go smoothly, the value of the new breed is questioned (is it hardy enough to survive in "our" West?) by "us" ignorant Americans, but all turns out well in the end. Jack Elam, Ben Johnson, and Harry Carey Jr. lend their support.

12:00 AM Rio Grande (1950) - better than average Western by director John Ford with John Wayne as a post-Civil War cavalry commander charged with fighting off the Apache Indian attacks. Maureen O'Hara plays his estranged wife; Claude Jarman Jr. his new recruit son. Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Chill Wills and Victor McLaglen are in his unit.

2:00 AM The Spanish Main (1945) - the Academy Award nominated Color Cinematography, which helped dub Maureen O'Hara (in addition to the earlier, and similar, The Black Swan (1942)) Miss Technicolor, is not the only thing notable about this slightly above average swashbuckler. The fact that it was RKO’s first full Technicolor production is the other. Paul Henreid, Walter Slezak, Binnie Barnes, Barton MacLane, J. M. Kerrigan, and Mike Mazurki all appear in this Frank Borzage directed story that you've seen before with only slight modifications.

4:00 AM Jamaica Inn (1939) - not one of Hitchcock's best; full review!

Sunday, March 19 - Nicol Williamson Double Feature

8:00 AM Treasure Island (1934) - another pairing of Wallace Beery & Jackie Cooper, and perhaps the first sound version of Robert Louis Stevenson's oft-filmed classic tale; it's pretty good, but not great. Directed by Victor Fleming. Other actors which round out the cast include Lionel Barrymore, Otto Kruger, Lewis Stone, and Nigel Bruce. Beery plays Long John Silver, Cooper is Jim Hawkins, and Barrymore is Billy Bones; Charles Sale gives the film's most memorable supporting performance as Ben Gunn.

10:00 AM Bye Bye Birdie (1963) - average musical; full review!

12:00 PM Here Comes the Groom (1951) - fun late Capra film; full review!

2:00 PM The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer (1947) - Sydney Sheldon (TV's I Dream of Jeannie‘s creator) won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar on his only nomination for this love triangle comedy between a high schooler (Shirley Temple), her older sister (a judge played by Myrna Loy), and Cary Grant.

6:00 PM The Quiet Man (1952) - TCM Essential repeat

8:15 PM The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) - some great characterizations, kind of wacky though; full review!

10:15 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)).

Charley Chase silents!

3:00 AM Nashville (1975) - Producer/director Robert Altman earned two Academy Award nominations, Supporting Actor Keith Carradine’s song "I'm Easy" won the Oscar. Ronee Blakley & Lily Tomlin earned their only Academy recognition (to date) with Supporting Actress nominations. This musical drama also stars Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Shelley Duvall, Henry Gibson, and many other recognizable actors in early roles.

Monday, March 20 - Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, TCM's Stars of the Month

6:00 AM The Phantom of the Opera (1925) - this classic silent film with Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin has been remade, retold, and adapted "six ways from Sunday". Don't miss the original! Added to the National Film Registry in 1998.

10:15 AM Miracles For Sale (1939) - somewhat entertaining B picture; an all new full review!

5:00 AM Nelson and Jeanette: America's Singing Sweethearts (1993) - to learn more about the SOTM "couple"

Tuesday, March 21 - Divorce Remorse

4:00 PM San Francisco (1936)

8:00 PM I Love You Again (1940)

3:00 AM Kisses For Breakfast (1941) - pretty bad B movie; full review!

4:30 AM Flight Angels (1940) - pretty awful B picture; full review!

Wednesday, March 22 - Directed by Arthur Hiller

10:15 AM Take The High Ground! (1953) - O.K.; full review!

12:00 PM Baby Doll (1956)

2:00 PM All Fall Down (1962) - so so; full review!

6:00 PM Hot Millions (1968) - best if you really like Ustinov; an all new full review!

8:00 PM The Out-of-Towners (1969) - a TCM premiere!

10:00 PM Plaza Suite (1971) - a TCM premiere!

12:00 AM The Wheeler Dealers (1963) - for James Garner fans; full review!

2:00 AM Love Story (1970) - "love means never having to say you're sorry"; this Academy Award nominated Best Picture's Score won the Oscar. Its director (Arthur Hiller), Writing (Erich Segal), lead actors (Ali McGraw & Ryan O’Neal) and John Marley (Supporting Actor) also received nominations.

4:00 AM Camille (1936)

Thursday, March 23 - You Are Getting Sleepy (Hypnotist Films)

Akira Kurosawa's birthday

6:00 AM Seven Samurai (1954) - this Akira Kurosawa directed classic was used by John Sturges as the basis for The Magnificent Seven (1960) and is a classic in its own right, though fairly long;-)

9:30 AM Throne of Blood (1957) - a four star classic by director Akira Kurosawa; check out the bizarre old woman in the woods. Not for everyone's tastes.

11:30 AM Yojimbo (1961) - director Akira Kurosawa's classic received an Oscar nomination for B&W Costume Design. Starring Toshirô Mifune, the story is about a samurai who wanders into a town where there's a feud going on between two families. He becomes involved in the conflict in much the same way that Clint Eastwood's character does in director Sergio Leone's remake, titled A Fistful of Dollars (1964).

3:15 PM The Hustler (1961) - an all new full review!

8:00 PM The 5,000 Fingers Of Dr. T. (1953) - received an Academy Award nomination for its Score; proves Hayao Miyazaki wasn't the first to author of wildly creative stories (making one wonder if he was taking hallucinogenic drugs), Dr. Seuss was the first! Bizarre, boring too.

10:00 PM Divorce American Style (1967) - watch the first third, then turn it off; an all new capsule review!

1:30 AM Svengali (1931) - only fair; an all new capsule review!

3:00 AM The Set-Up (1949)

Friday, March 24 - Starring Peter Falk

Steve McQueen’s birthday

7:30 AM Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

9:30 AM The Blob (1958) - a cult classic, once labeled the worst movie ever made

2:45 PM Hell is for Heroes (1962) - gritty war drama; full review!

4:30 PM The Cincinnati Kid (1965) - good not great; an all new full review!

6:30 PM Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool (2004) - pretty good documentary

8:00 PM Murder by Death (1976) - especially entertaining for classic film fans; an all new capsule review!

2:00 AM Wings of Desire (1987) - dark (mostly B&W), depressing, foreign film with subtitles (later remade as City of Angels (1998)), overrated

Saturday, March 25 - Directed by David Lean

8:00 AM D.O.A. (1950)

10:00 AM The 39 Steps (1935)

12:00 PM Annie Oakley (1935) - O.K.; an all new full review!

2:00 PM Spirited Away (2002) - when Pixar failed to release an animated feature in 2002, this Hayao Miyazaki film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Not for those lacking a florid imagination.

6:15 PM Benji (1974) - Cute family movie about the titled dog, whose theme song was nominated for an Oscar.

8:00 PM Brief Encounter (1945) - this week's TCM Essential

9:30 PM This Happy Breed (1944) - a TCM premiere!

11:30 PM Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Sunday, March 26 - High Hopes

6:00 AM Dangerous When Wet (1953) - if you like Esther Williams, else pretty average; full review!

10:00 AM One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) - Deanna Durbin fun; an all new full review!

12:00 PM The Mating Game (1959) - kind of fun fluff; an all new full review!

4:00 PM Sabrina (1954)

6:00 PM Brief Encounter (1945) - TCM Essential repeat

8:00 PM Charly (1968) - a TCM premiere and an all new capsule review!

10:00 PM Awakenings (1990) - this powerful, tear-jerking drama based on a true story features Robin Williams as a doctor (Oliver Sacks in real life) that helped several post-encephalitis patients, like one portrayed by Robert De Niro (Best Actor Oscar nomination), "awaken" from their despondency with experimental drug treatment. Director Penny Marshall's film was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy; Steven Zaillian’s screenplay also received a nomination. Julie Kavner as a nurse, Ruth Nelson as De Niro’s mother, John Heard as another doctor, Penelope Ann Miller, Ann Meara, and Max von Sydow (very briefly) are among those who provide valuable support.

12:15 AM Red Lily (1924) - a TCM premiere!

3:00 AM House Of Usher (1960) - added to the National Film Registry, this Roger Corman directed horror film, based on Edgar Allen Poe's story, stars Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey, and Harry Ellerbe. Skip it unless you're a fan of the genre.

4:30 AM The Old Dark House (1932) - worth checking out; an all new capsule review!

Monday, March 27 - Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, TCM's Stars of the Month

12:00 PM Dark Passage (1947) - one of the four great Bogie & Bacall pairings. This film noir has Bogart as a man falsely accused of murdering his wife, he escapes and searches for the real killer with help from Bacall and trouble from Agnes Moorehead.

4:00 PM Possessed (1947) - full review!

8:00 PM Bitter Sweet (1940) - for Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald fans; an all new full review!

Tuesday, March 28 - Divorce Remorse

Freddie Bartholomew's birthday

6:00 AM David Copperfield (1935)

10:00 AM Captains Courageous (1937)

9:30 PM Come Live With Me (1941) - fun, light romantic comedy

11:00 PM Shall We Dance (1937) - another of the wonderful Mark Sandrich directed Fred (Astaire) & Ginger (Rogers) dancing Musicals with George & Ira Gershwin tunes like "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar). Humorous support provided by Edward Everett Horton & Eric Blore, as well as Jerome Cowan and Ketti Gallian.

2:30 AM Julia Misbehaves (1948) - far from perfect, but still entertaining; full review!

Wednesday, March 29 - Robert Osborne's Picks

6:00 AM The Charge Of The Light Brigade (1936) - Directed by Michael Curtiz, this film features a Michael Jacoby (who co-wrote the screenplay) original story that was based on Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem. It stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, David Niven, Patric Knowles, Henry Stephenson, Nigel Bruce, Donald Crisp, C. Henry Gordon (as the leading villain), and Spring Byington in a movie whose plot I don't remember enough to distinguish it from The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), other than its classic titled scene. It won an Oscar for Assistant Director Jack Sullivan and was nominated for its Musical Score and Sound Recording.

8:00 AM Gunga Din (1939)

10:00 AM White Heat (1949)

12:00 PM The Roaring Twenties (1939)

2:00 PM Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)

4:00 PM The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

6:00 PM Double Indemnity (1944)

8:00 PM This Sporting Life (1963) - grim, depressing, British rugby tale that reminds one of Raging Bull (1980), Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), even Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), stylistically if not in content. Leads Richard Harris (looking very much like Marlon Brando did 10 years earlier) & Rachel Roberts earned Academy Award nominations (Harris's first, Robert's only) in this Lindsay Anderson directed drama from David Storey's gritty story & screenplay. Alan Badel, William Hartwell, and Colin Blakely are among those who provide support. Glenda Jackson & Edward Fox appear uncredited in their film debuts.

10:30 PM Whispering Smith (1948) - a TCM premiere!

12:15 AM Raw Deal (1948) - a TCM premiere!

2:00 AM Enchantment (1948) - a TCM premiere!

4:00 AM They Live by Night (1949)

Thursday, March 30 - Scores by Bernard Herrmann

8:00 AM The Four Feathers (1939)

12:30 PM Kim (1950) - slightly better than average adventure

2:30 PM King Solomon's Mines (1950)

12:00 AM The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad (1958) - while it's easy to believe that this film's special effects may have been impressive in their day, it's not unlike the movies which are made today that rely completely on their special effects to entertain. Yes, there is a story, but the acting is laughable and the painstakingly made Ray Harryhausen effects are less credible than those in the much earlier film, The Thief of Bagdad (1940). In fact, the whole experience is rather cheesy and second rate.

1:30 AM Cape Fear (1962) - I haven't seen the updated version of this one yet, but I did really enjoy this version which stars Gregory Peck & Robert Mitchum (though it is hard to watch at times). Also with Polly Bergen, Martin Balsam, even Telly Savalas. #61 on AFI’s 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies list. Mitchum’s Max Cady was voted #28 villain by AFI.

Friday, March 31 - Covering the Bases

9:30 AM 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.

11:30 AM Father Of The Bride (1950)

5:30 PM Oklahoma! (1955)

8:00 PM Fear Strikes Out (1957) - a TCM premiere! A terrific drama starring Anthony Perkins as Major League baseball player Jimmy Piersall, about his mental struggles. Also with Karl Malden.

10:00 PM The Pride Of The Yankees (1942)

12:15 AM 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.

2:00 AM La Terra Trema (1947) - liberal claptrap about Sicilian fishermen who can't get ahead because of "the man" (e.g. the men who own the boats). When one family works together to succeed against the odds, a sudden lack of judgment (& an act of God!) is contrived by its writer/director to reinforce his agenda about the downtrodden poor and their "oppressors".

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