After the mammoth August month of
Summer Under the Stars on The Greatest Cable Channel Known to
Mankind™, you’d be forgiven if you thought TCM would just coast in September on
Tonight
Show Starring Johnny Carson segments and showings of
Casablanca.
O ye of little faith, cartooners—there are
some
big doin’s on tap for the merry
month of September, pointed out on the
tentative schedule by the endlessly resourceful Laura of
Miscellaneous Musings fame: there’s a most deserving Star of the Month, as well as
salutes to the Master of Suspense and the future…and we’re all interested in
the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our
lives.
(And remember my friends…future
events such as these will affect you in the future.)
The E-ticket item on the channel this month is the
champagne-over-the-bow christening of a fifteen-part documentary entitled
The Story of Film: An Odyssey—a
comprehensive study of the medium and art of the motion picture, first
presented on Channel 4 in the UK in 2011.
(As such, the production has received mixed reviews on the always
reliable IMDb.)
Each section of
Story of Film runs an hour, and TCM
will run one segment on Monday nights in September with a repeat on Tuesday
nights…and then supplement the program with examples of the films showcased.
It sounds like a wonderful opportunity to
revisit a lot of films I’ve enjoyed previously as well as view movies that have
eluded me all these years; the fact that the program kicks off on September 2
is an amazing omen in itself because I (ahem) will be celebrating my
half-century natal anniversary on that date.
(Crickets)
Um…yeah. Here’s the
schedule for…The Story of Film:
September 2, Monday
08:00pm An Edison
Album (1893-1912)
09:30pm Lumière's
First Picture Shows (1895-1897)
10:00pm The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The World Discovers A New Art (1895-1918)
11:15pm A Trip to the
Moon (1902)
11:30pm Falling
Leaves (1912)/Canned Harmony
(1912)/A House Divided (1913)
12:30am The Squaw Man
(1914)
02:00am The Birth of
a Nation (1915)
05:15am Orphans of
the Storm (1921)
September 3, Tuesday
08:00pm Intolerance
(1916)
11:30pm Way Down East
(1920)
02:00am Haxan
(1922)
04:00am The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The World Discovers A New Art (1895-1918)
05:15am The Phantom
Carriage (1922)
September 4, Wednesday
07:15am The Wind
(1928)
September 9, Monday
08:00pm One Week
(1920)
08:30pm Three Ages
(1920)
10:00pm The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The Triumph of American Film (1918-1928)
11:15pm The General
(1927)
12:45am The Kid
(1921)
01:45am City Lights
(1931)
03:30am Never Weaken
(1921)
04:15am Safety Last!
(1923)
September 10, Tuesday
08:00pm Nanook of the
North (1922)
09:15pm The Thief of
Bagdad (1924)
12:00am The Passion
of Joan of Arc (1928)
02:00am The Crowd
(1928)
03:45am The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The Triumph of American Film (1918-1928)
05:00am Greed
(1924)
September 11, Wednesday
07:30am Vampyr
(1932)
September 16, Monday
08:00pm Sunrise
(1927)
10:00pm The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The Great Rebel Filmmakers Around the World (1918-1935)
11:15pm Battleship
Potemkin (1925)
12:45am The Goddess
(1934)
02:15am The Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari (1919)
03:30am Metropolis
(1927)
September 17, Tuesday
08:00pm La Roue
(1922)
12:30am Un Chien
Andalou (1929)
01:00am Umarete Wa
Mita Keredo (1932)
03:00am The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The Great Rebel Filmmakers Around the World (1918-1935)
04:15am Osaka Elegy
(1936)
September 23, Monday
08:00pm Love Me
Tonight (1932)
10:00pm The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The Great American Movie Genres… (1930s)
11:15pm The Public
Enemy (1931)
12:45am Frankenstein
(1931)
02:00am Gold Diggers
of 1933 (1933)
03:45am Twentieth
Century (1934)
05:30am The
Adventures of Prince Achmed (1927)
September 24, Tuesday
08:00pm Zero for
Conduct (1933)
09:00pm L’Atalante
(1934)
10:45pm Grand
Illusion (1937)
12:45am Rules of the
Game (1939)
02:45am The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The Great American Movie Genres… (1930s)
04:00am Port of
Shadows (1939)
September 30, Monday
08:00pm Stagecoach
(1939)
10:00pm The Story of
Film: An Odyssey: The Devastation of
War... (1939-1952)
11:15pm Citizen Kane
(1941)
01:30am The Best
Years of Our Lives (1946)
04:30am Rome, Open
City (1946)
Thursday nights in September, Tee Cee Em pays tribute to the
one and only Kim Novak…and you know what that means.
Well, yes—
Vertigo will be in the lineup…but they’ll also endlessly rerun that
Bobby Osbo interview with her from the TCM Classic Film Festival back in
2012.
Seriously—look at the schedule
that follows, and chug a beer every time you see it listed among the sixteen
Novak features showcased in September.
September 5, Thursday
08:00pm Kim Novak:
Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)
09:00pm Vertigo
(1958—also September 15 @ 5:45pm)
11:15pm Kim Novak:
Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)
12:15am The Man with
the Golden Arm (1955)
02:30am Pushover
(1954)
04:15am 5 Against the
House (1955)
September 12, Thursday
08:00pm Picnic
(1956)
10:00pm Pal Joey
(1957)
12:00am The Eddy Duchin Story (1956)
02:15am Jeanne Eagels
(1957)
September 19, Thursday
08:00pm Bell, Book
and Candle (1958)
10:00pm Kim Novak:
Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)
11:00pm Kiss Me,
Stupid (1964)
01:15am The Notorious
Landlady (1962)
03:30am Phffft!
(1954)
September 26, Thursday
08:00pm Middle of the
Night (1959)
10:15pm Of Human
Bondage (1964)
12:00am The Legend of
Lylah Clare (1968)
02:15am The Great
Bank Robbery (1969)
04:00am Kim Novak:
Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)
In the channel’s
Friday Night Spotlight—the future’s
so bright, we’ll have to wear shades.
Yes, movies with a “Future Shock” theme will be featured through
September…however, it does not appear that Robert Osborne will be hosting these
in tandem with Alvin Toffler.
(I make
leetle joke.)
If you ever thought out
loud: “Will there
ever be a day when
I can watch
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
(2001) or
Minority Report (2002) on
TCM…or is that just wishful thinking?”—Friday nights is where you will want to
be.
September 6, Friday
08:00pm Metropolis
(1927)
10:45pm Things to
Come (1936)
12:30am Escape from
New York (1981)
02:15am Brazil
(1985)
September 13, Friday
08:00pm Soylent Green
(1973)
09:45pm Minority
Report (2002)
12:15am Logan’s Run
(1976)
02:30am Mad Max
(1979)
September 20, Friday
08:00pm La Jetee
(1962)
08:45pm Rollerball
(1975)
11:00pm A.I.:
Artificial Intelligence (2001)
01:45am Total Recall
(1990)
September 27, Friday
08:00pm The Time
Machine (1960)
10:00pm World Without
End (1956)
11:30pm The Omega Man
(1971)
01:30am A Boy and His
Dog (1975)
And the last big event of the month?
Hitchcock!
Lots and lots of Hitchcock!
Sundays in September (they’re calling it “Sundays with Hitch”…awwwww…),
the channel will feature films from The Master of Suspense beginning at 10am
and continuing on into the night.
(And
my mother is constantly bitching that there’s never anything to watch on
Sundays…hah!)
Here’s the schedule:
September 1, Sunday
10:00am Murder!
(1930)
12:00pm Rope
(1948)
01:30pm Spellbound
(1945)
03:30pm Marnie
(1964)
05:45pm The Birds
(1963)
08:00pm Shadow of a
Doubt (1943)
10:00pm Psycho
(1960)
12:00am The Lodger
(1926)
02:00am Blackmail
(1929)
03:30am Frenzy
(1972)
September 8, Sunday
10:00am Under
Capricorn (1949)
12:00pm Stage Fright
(1950)
02:00pm I Confess
(1953—also September 11 @ 2:00am)
04:00pm The Wrong Man
(1956)
06:00pm Saboteur
(1942)
08:00pm Foreign
Correspondent (1940)
10:15pm North by
Northwest (1959)
12:45am The Ring
(1927)
September 15, Sunday
10:00am Number
Seventeen (1932)
11:15am The Trouble
with Harry (1955)
01:15pm Family Plot
(1976)
03:30pm The Man Who
Knew Too Much (1956)
05:45pm Vertigo
(1958—also September 5 @ 9:00pm)
08:00pm Rear Window
(1954)
10:00pm To Catch a
Thief (1955)
12:00am The Farmer’s
Wife (1928)
September 22, Sunday
10:00am The Skin Game
(1931)
11:30am Lifeboat (1944—also
September 14 @ 8:00pm)
01:15pm The Lady
Vanishes (1938)
03:15pm Topaz
(1969)
05:45pm Torn Curtain
(1966)
08:00pm The 39 Steps
(1935)
09:30pm Sabotage
(1936)
11:00pm The Dick
Cavett Show: Alfred Hitchcock (1972)
12:15am Champagne
(1928)
September 29, Sunday
10:00am Rich and
Strange (1932)
12:00pm Mr. and Mrs.
Smith (1941)
02:00pm Suspicion
(1941)
04:00pm Strangers on
a Train (1951)
06:00pm Dial M for
Murder (1954)
08:00pm Rebecca
(1940)
10:15pm Notorious
(1946)
Kowabunga, kids!
That’s a lot of classic movie entertainment for your cable dollah! But if you’re one of the first fifty callers
(operators are standing by!) you’ll also enjoy these highlights from the rest
of the month:
September 2, Monday – Sure, we’ll be breaking out the cake and
ice cream for my birthday and for the premiere of
The Story of Film today…but during the daylight and early evening
hours, TCM will also offer up their annual tribute to the Telluride Film
Festival, underway right now from August 29 to September 2.
Here’s what they’ve picked to highlight:
06:00am Hester Street
(1975)
08:00am History
Begins at Night (1937)
09:45am Cinerama
Adventure (2002)
11:30am How the West
Was Won (1962)
02:15pm Happy
Anniversary (1962)
02:30pm Le Havre
(2011)
04:15pm Pitfall
(1948)
05:45pm Burden of
Dreams (1982)
07:30pm Werner Herzog
Eats His Shoe (1980)
September 4, Wednesday – It’s not Brian Keith’s birthday…but
what the hey—TCM rolls out the red carpet for him with a mini-festival of some
of his oeuvre today, beginning with The
Bamboo Prison (1955) at 8:45am.
That’s followed by Storm Center
(1956; 10:15am), Run of the Arrow
(1957; 11:45am), The Deadly Companions
(1961; 1:15pm), The Hallelujah Trail
(1965; 3pm) and Gaily, Gaily (1969;
6pm).
Come nightfall…it’s Robert Osborne’s DVD Playhouse! Yes, Uncle Bobby has rummaged through the
voluminous Turner Classic Movies library and found four “picks” to entertain
the #TCMParty folks on Twitter. It’s
James Cagney in Captains of the Clouds
(1942) at 8pm, then The Black Swan
(1942; 10pm), You’ll Never Get Rich
(1941; 11:30pm) and the evening finishes out with the wonderful (and highly
underrated) Dance, Girl, Dance
(1940) at 1:15am.
September 7, Saturday – The channel wraps up the remaining
movies in the Nick Carter franchise
at 10:45am today (1940’s Phantom Raiders)
and next Saturday at the same time (1940’s Sky
Murder), then finishes out the month on the 21st and 28th (also at 10:45am)
with the two Kitty O’Kelly flicks, Detective
Kitty O’Day (1944) and Adventures of
Kitty O’Day (1944). So…there’s that.
At noon, TCM schedules a salute to aquatic creatures with Flipper (1963) on 9/7, then it’s Flipper’s New Adventure (1964; 9/14), Namu, the Killer Whale (1966; 9/21) and
Ring of Bright Water (1969;
9/28). (One of these things is not like
the other—hint: it’s got “killer” in the title.)
Later on the
Drewsentials
Essentials, the theme is “Back at the Ranch”—which I believe is not kosher
to use unless Gene Autry is mentioned in the same sentence.
(I could be wrong about this.)
Anyway, it’s describing the scheduling of
Giant (1956) at 8pm and
McLintock! (1963) at 11:30.
A double feature of monster makers follows on
TCM
Underground with
The Awful Dr.
Orloff (1962) at 2am and
Bride of
Frankenstein (1935).
Following that
is a 1967 short entitled
Her Name Was
Ellie, His Name Was Lyle—which features this deadpan description: “A relationship
is threatened when a young man discovers he has caught syphilis from his
waitress.”
(Sounds like there was more
than just a monetary tip involved...heyyyy-yooo!!!)
September 9, Monday – Producer Arthur Freed was born on this
date in 1894 (a Charleston, SC native—saaalute!) and every musicals fan worth
their salt knows of his amazing films (or so Pam tells me), many of which will
be showcased today beginning at 6am with Pagan
Love Song (1950). Okay…maybe that’s
not so amazing, but it will be followed by Annie
Get Your Gun (1950; 7:15am), Show
Boat (1951; 9:15am), The Belle of
New York (1952; 11:15am), Singin’ in
the Rain (1952; 12:45pm), The Band
Wagon (1953; 2:45pm) and Invitation
to the Dance (1956; 4:45pm). A
documentary, Musicals Great Musicals:
The Arthur Freed Unit at MGM (1996), closes the day out at 6:30pm.
September 10, Tuesday – It’s a day of heist films—and the
capers commence at 6am with one of my favorites,
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).
Once a Thief (1965) follows
at 8, and then it’s
Rififi (1954;
10am),
I Died a Thousand Times
(1955; 12noon),
The Anderson Tapes
(1971; 2pm),
High Sierra (1941; 4pm)
and
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968;
6pm).
September 11, Wednesday – It’s back to the musicals again…only
they’re tuneful movies with a fantasy bent.
One of our favorites here at TDOY,
Brigadoon (1954), airs at 8:45am and
then it’s Carousel (1956; 10:45am), Finian’s Rainbow (1968; 1pm), Tom Thumb (1958; 3:30pm) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) at
5:30pm.
In primetime, Mr. O welcomes Guest Programmer Madeleine
Stowe—and I gotta tell ya…I need to start boning up on my pop culture knowledge
because I was not aware that Ms. Stowe was still working (she’s a regular on
the popular ABC-TV series Revenge…a series I have not seen); I
know her from films like The Last of the
Mohicans (1992), Unlawful Entry
(1992) and Twelve Monkeys
(1995). (Yes, my clock stopped back in
1995…now get out of my yard!) Maddie (I guess I can call her that) has
chosen as her quartet of films The More
the Merrier (1943; 8pm), Splendor in
the Grass (1961; 10pm), Bicycle
Thieves (1948; 12:15am) and I
Confess (1953; 2am).
September 13, Friday – Hot cookies, Agnes!™
The channel does a stretch in the sneezer
with a day festooned with prison-themed films beginning with
Road Gang (1936) at 6am.
After that, it’s
Numbered Men (1930; 6:30am),
Condemned
Women (1938; 9am),
Hell’s Highway
(1932; 10:30am),
The Big House
(1930; 11:45am),
Each Dawn I Die
(1939; 1:15pm),
Ladies They Talk About
(1933; 3pm),
Brute Force (1947;
4:15pm) and
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain
Gang (1932; 6pm).
September 14, Saturday – Mr. O and Ms. B kick off another
edition of TCM’s Essentials at 8pm with Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944)—ushering in tonight’s
theme, “To the Lifeboats!” (Eyeball
roll.) After that, it’s Abandon Ship! (1957) at 10 and Titanic (1953) following at
midnight. (The Clifton Webb-Barbara
Stanwyck version, that is.)
At 2am on TCM Underground: Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974). Is this a great channel or what?
September 16, Monday – Director-producer Alexander Korda was
born on this date in 1893, and today features a mix of films that he both
directed and produced. At 6am, it’s The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933),
then Fire Over England (1937; 8am), The Divorce of Lady X (1938; 9:45am), Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937;
11:30am), Elephant Boy (1937; 1pm), The Challenge (1938; 2:30pm), Vacation from Marriage (1945; 4pm) and An Ideal Husband (1947; 6pm).
September 17, Tuesday – My BBFF Stacia recently rolled out a
review of
Winter
Meeting (1948) at her home base of
She
Blogged by Night…and the part that made me choke on my sweet roll was when
she referenced that the Bette Davis starrer was turning “into a Joan Crawford
vehicle”…and then explained in the footnote: “Those of you who know how difficult
it was for me to not use the word ‘lesser’ here: Thank you for still being my
friend.”
Well, it made me laugh—and
you’ll be thinking about it, too, as you watch a day of movies featuring La
Joan:
Our Blushing Brides (1930;
6am),
Montana Moon (1930; 7:45am),
This Modern Age (1931; 9:15am),
Today We Live (1933; 10:30am),
Dancing Lady (1933; 12:30pm),
The Gorgeous Hussy (1936; 2:15pm),
Mannequin (1937; 4:15pm) and
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937;
6:15pm).
September 18, Wednesday – Two tributes on tap today; the first
is dedicated to a day of Victor Mature movies, which gets underway at 6am with The Housekeeper’s Daughter (1939), and
is joined by Seven Days’ Leave (1942;
7:30am), Gambling House (1951; 9am),
Million Dollar Mermaid (1952;
10:30am), The Las Vegas Story (1952;
12:30pm), The Robe (1953; 2pm), The Sharkfighters (1956; 4:30pm) and The Long Haul (1957; 6pm).
Mario Lanza takes over the second star spotlight at 8pm with
The Seven Hills of Rome (1957), and
after that it’s For the First Time
(1959; 10pm), The Great Caruso
(1951; 12mid), The Student Prince
(1954; 2am) and Because You’re Mine
(1952; 4am).
September 19, Thursday – I know I’ve never been shy about
promoting Westerns here on the blog…but in the case of the first one scheduled
today at 6am, I’ll make an exception.
Okay, if you feel you must watch
Across
the Wide Missouri (1951), be my guest…but stick around for the ones that
follow:
The Lusty Men (1952; 7:30am),
Ride,
Vaquero! (1953; 9:30am),
The Man
from Laramie (1955; 11am),
Great Day
in the Morning (1956; 12:45pm),
Saddle
the Wind (1958; 2:30pm),
The
Badlanders (1958; 4pm) and
Rio Bravo
(1959; 5:30pm).
September 20, Friday – Just one more reason why TCM is the
best: a birthday tribute to director Norman Z. McLeod, born on this date in
1895. One of his best-remembered films, Topper (1937), kicks off the day’s
festivities at 6:30am and then it’s Merrily
We Live (1938; 8:15am), There Goes
My Heart (1938; 10am), Remember?
(1939; 11:30am), Little Men (1940;
1pm), Lady Be Good (1941; 2:30pm), Swing Shift Maisie (1943; 4:30pm) and Never Wave at a WAC (1952; 6pm).
September 21, Saturday – The wackiness on
TCM Essentials continues
with a scheduling of the 1934 screwball comedy classic
It Happened One Night at 8pm.
After Clark and Claudette, the evening’s tribute to screenwriter Robert
Riskin continues with
The Whole Town’s
Talking (1935) at 10pm and
Mr. Deeds
Goes to Town (1936) putting it to a close at 12 midnight.
September 23, Monday – The channel must be a Gemini, because it
can’t decide if it wants to devote the entire day to Ethel Waters or Jennifer
Jones movies. Ethel gets the nod at 6am,
with Cairo (1942)—followed by Cabin in the Sky (1943; 8am), Pinky (1949; 9:45am), and The Member of the Wedding (1952) at
11:30am. Mrs. David O. Selznick takes
over at 1:15 with Madame Bovary
(1949), then it’s The Man in the Grey
Flannel Suit (1956; 3:15pm) and The
Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957; 6pm).
September 24, Tuesday – I’ve mentioned on the blog here in the
past that TCM rarely gets around to showing one of my favorite Ginger Rogers
films,
Storm Warning (1951)—it’s a
deliriously demented “message” picture with Ging as a model who discovers her
sister’s (Doris Day!) husband (Steve Cochran) is in the KKK!
It’s also a real hoot because Ronald Reagan
plays a crusading liberal district attorney out to bring down the local chapter
(I wonder if Ronnie remembered this when he gave that “states’ rights” speech
in Philadelphia, Mississippi in 1980), and you’ll get an opportunity to see it
at 1:45pm.
Rounding out the rest of the
Rogers flicks are
Twist of Fate
(1954; 6:45am),
Tight Spot (1955;
8:30am),
It Had to Be You (1947;
10:30am),
Perfect Strangers (1950;
12:15pm),
I’ll Be Seeing You (1944;
3:30pm),
Black Widow (1954; 5pm) and
Roxie Hart (1942; 6:45pm).
September 25, Wednesday – TCM’s D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final
today with a day’s worth of films about couples that go Splitsville—The Divorcee (1930) at 6am, followed by
Divorce in the Family (1932;
7:30am), Wednesday’s Child (1934;
9am), Child of Divorce (1947;
10:15am), Payment on Demand (1951;
11:30am), Man on Fire (1957; 1pm), The Palm Beach Story (1942; 2:45pm), Divorce, American Style (1967; 4:15pm)
and One is a Lonely Number (1972;
6:15pm).
Come nightfall, the channel devotes its programming to
director King Vidor…beginning with a movie that will get
a Blu-ray release on October 1,
The Big Parade (1925; 8pm).
After that, four vehicles from Vidor’s sound
oeuvre:
Street Scene (1931;
10:15pm),
Stella Dallas (1937;
11:45pm),
Duel in the Sun (1947; 1:45am) and
Ruby Gentry (1952; 4:15am).
September 26, Thursday – I love a Gershwin tune—how ‘bout
you? Well, learn to love it—it’s a mini-festival of movies larded with
George’s infectious music on the occasion of his birthday (born on this date in
1898): Girl Crazy (1932; 6:30am), Shall We Dance (1937; 8am), A Damsel in Distress (1937; 10am), Girl Crazy (1943; 12noon), Rhapsody in Blue (1945; 1:45pm), Tea for Two (1950; 4:15pm) and An American in Paris (1951; 6pm).
September 27, Friday –
TDOY
actor fave Joel McCrea is feted with a day of his films—two of his best,
Colorado Territory (1949; 6am) and
Stars in My Crown (1950; 7:45am), kick the
festivities off and then it’s
Shoot
First (1953; 9:15am),
Wichita
(1955; 10:45am),
The First Texan
(1956; 12:15pm),
Trooper Hook (1957;
1:45pm),
The Oklahoman (1957;
3:15am),
Gunsight Ridge (1957;
4:45pm) and
Fort Massacre (1958; 6:15pm).
September 28, Saturday – The last edition of TCM
Essentials this month will be a goody because it features one of the
movies’ underrated actresses (she’s still with us, too!) in two classic cult
films: Peggy Cummins is in Gun Crazy
(1950) at 8pm and Curse of the Demon
(1958) at 11:45pm. (The 1958 film Hell Divers is sandwiched in-between at 9:45.) Stick around for TCM Underground,
too—because another cult fave, The
Honeymoon Killers (1970), will unspool at 2am.
September 30, Monday – Closing out the month: things get a
little soapy today with more “mellerdrammers” than you’ve had hot dinners.
Penny
Serenade (1941) gets things started at 6am, followed by
Random Harvest (1942; 8am),
Flamingo Road (1949; 10:15am),
The Rains Came (1939; 12noon),
Susan Slade (1961; 2pm),
Leave Her to Heaven (1945; 4pm) and
Magnificent Obsession (1954; 6pm).
