Quick Preview of TCM in October

The tentative October schedule for Turner Classic Movies was posted online this week. TCM took longer than usual getting this advance schedule up, and it was ultimately posted with a note at the top saying "Congratulations. You have found the super secret schedule..."

The TCM Star of the Month for October is Buster Keaton. An impressive number of Keaton films will be shown on Sunday evenings in October. As regular TCM viewers are aware, TCM features silent movies on Sunday nights, so it was a natural to host Keaton's films on that day of the week.

October also features a weekly series in honor of director Nicholas Ray. As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, August 7th marks the centennial of Ray's birth. If you can't see some of his films on a big screen in Los Angeles this month, there will be plenty of Ray films to enjoy on TCM in October!

Of course, TCM will have plenty of thrillers and chillers to show in October, everything from Hildegarde Withers and Miss Marple mysteries to THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1945) to sci-fi monster films to horror flicks. I'm especially looking forward to Zachary Scott, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre in THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS (1944), showing as part of a tribute to Scott. There's also a new TCM NIGHT AT THE MOVIES special, HORROR.

October will also feature multi-film tributes to Charlton Heston, Carole Lombard, June Allyson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Elvis Presley, Nina Foch, Teresa Wright, and director Roy Del Ruth.

There are also evenings of political films and movies based on the works of Mark Twain, not to mention a triple bill of three different versions of THE THREE MUSKETEERS.

October should be a great month on TCM! I'll be posting more detailed information on the schedule as October nears.

In the meantime, the August Summer Under the Stars Festival is underway, and Kirk Douglas will be the Star of the Month in September.