Saturday, March 02, 2013

TCM in March: Highlights

2013 is rolling on, and it's time to take a look at the March schedule on Turner Classic Movies!

Greer Garson will be the March Star of the Month starting Monday evening, March 4th. I'll be focusing on those titles in a separate post in the near future. (Update: TCM Star of the Month: Greer Garson has now been posted!)

Here are just a few of the interesting movies airing on TCM in March.

...A March 4th birthday tribute to John Garfield includes some lesser-known films with interesting leading ladies: BLACKWELL'S ISLAND (1939) with Rosemary Lane, SATURDAY'S CHILDREN (1940) with Anne Shirley, and BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (1944) with Eleanor Parker.

...A day of films about dogs on March 5th includes Disney's classic OLD YELLER (1958) with Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker.

...March 6th has an evening devoted to Kim Novak, including KIM NOVAK: LIVE FROM THE TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL (2013), recorded at last year's festival.

...The Film Noir Foundation designates March 8th as a "Call in Sick" day, with noir and suspense titles airing from early morning till early evening. The many interesting titles airing that day include TENSION (1949) with Audrey Totter, THE NARROW MARGIN (1952) with Charles McGraw, SPLIT SECOND (1953) directed by Dick Powell, DANGEROUS MISSION (1954) starring Victor Mature, and SUDDENLY (1954), starring Sterling Hayden and Frank Sinatra. And there's even more titles I haven't mentioned! A great movie day for sure.

...KIT CARSON (1940) has been on my "to see" list for a while now. It stars Jon Hall, Dana Andrews, Lynn Bari, and Ward Bond, and the air date is March 9th. It's also newly released on DVD.

...Favorites Stewart Granger and George Sanders star in THE LIGHT TOUCH (1952), about an art thief, on March 11th. I liked Granger and Sanders teamed in THE WHOLE TRUTH (1958), filmed a few years later, and am curious about this earlier film.

...Another relatively obscure film I'd like to check out this month is ATLANTIC ADVENTURE (1935) with Lloyd Nolan and Nancy Carroll, airing on March 12th as part of a day of films directed by Albert S. Rogell.

...TALL IN THE SADDLE (1944) with John Wayne and Ella Raines is a lot of fun, airing late on the 12th. It has some great dialogue.

...The 14th is a day of films with "West" in the title, including a 24-minute Harold Lloyd film, AN EASTERN WESTERNER (1920), THE FALCON OUT WEST (1944) with guest star Barbara Hale, and ESCORT WEST (1958), a Victor Mature Western I really enjoyed, which was produced by John Wayne's Batjac Productions. He's seen at the right with Faith Domergue, Elaine Stewart, and Reba Waters.

...It's George Brent's birthday on March 15th, with eight films on the agenda. I just saw one of those films, DARK VICTORY (1939), for the first time last December and was quite impressed, with both Brent's performance and the film as a whole.

...There's an extensive lineup of Irish-themed films for St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, March 17th, including THE FIGHTING 69TH (1940), THREE CHEERS FOR THE IRISH (1940), FINIAN'S RAINBOW (1968), and THE DAUGHTER OF ROSIE O'GRADY (1950), with the evening devoted to "John Ford's Ireland": THE QUIET MAN (1952) and THE RISING OF THE MOON (1957).

...Very early on the 18th there's TOMORROW THE WORLD (1944), a film about Americans who take in a young German relative indoctrinated by the Nazis. It stars Fredric March, Betty Field, and Joan Carroll, who was so good as Agnes in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944) the same year.

...There are some appealing lesser-known movies on March 18th, including Joan Blondell and Warren William in SMARTY (1934), Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in SUCCESS AT ANY PRICE (1934), and Lucille Ball and Franchot Tone in HER HUSBAND'S AFFAIRS (1937).

...Dennis Morgan stars in a film about an accused murderer who takes the place of a dead Mountie in RIVER'S END (1940) on March 19th.

...A day of jazz-themed movies on March 20th includes Jack Webb in PETE KELLY'S BLUES (1955), costarring Janet Leigh, Edmond O'Brien, and Peggy Lee.

...Last night I had the thrill of seeing GUN CRAZY (1950) on a big screen for the second time. It airs on March 23rd. It's a wild ride of a movie, very recommended. Star Peggy Cummins is seen here on the left.

...NOTORIOUS (1946) is one of my very favorite Hitchcock movies. Highly recommended, starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains. It's on March 24th.

...March 26th celebrates the career of Sterling Hayden with a nine-film lineup. I'm especially curious about two titles I'm not familiar with, THE GOLDEN HAWK (1952) with Rhonda Fleming and FIVE STEPS TO DANGER (1957) with Ruth Roman. Classics such as THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950) and CRIME WAVE (1954) are part of the day as well.

...The theme on March 28th is twins. The eight films include TWICE BLESSED (1945), sort of a precursor to THE PARENT TRAP (1961), starring bubbly Lyn and Lee Wilde. Preston Foster and Gail Patrick star as the girls' estranged parents.

...It's Warner Baxter Day on March 29th. (I love TCM!) I've read some very good things about his film for William Wellman, THE ROBIN HOOD OF EL DORADO (1936). I love 42ND STREET (1933) and PENTHOUSE (1933). Plus there's a bunch of CRIME DOCTOR movies!

...Easter Sunday falls on March 31st, and the lineup will include the evergreen EASTER PARADE (1948), starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland.

Be sure to visit the complete online schedule. For more TCM recommendations, please visit Speakeasy for a big link list of suggestions by several other bloggers. Film noir fans will also want to check out a list of noir titles airing on TCM and Fox which has been posted by the Film Noir Foundation. And here's Ivan at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear. Update: Cliff's March post is now up at Immortal Ephemera!

Classic film fans may also wish to visit Fox Movie Channel in March: Highlights.

Happy viewing!

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is also an Ann Sheridan marathon on March 6!

10:02 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thanks much for adding that info, Ann is great! :) Lots of fun movies that day including TORRID ZONE (1940).

Best wishes,
Laura

10:11 PM  
Blogger Cliff Aliperti said...

I totally missed George Brent on the 15th, called it an early Bette Davis birthday celebration (as they marathon Melvyn Douglas on April 5)--fixed that with a note and a nod over here!

Assuming Ann Sheridan day is a make-up date for her birthday falling during Summer Under the Stars.

Having a hard time figuring out the Charles Bickford/Dana Andrews celebration on March 7--they were both born January 1.

Laura, be sure to check out March 12--Albert S. Rogell day seems to have a very Lew Landers-ish feel about it (and don't forget Warner Baxter's last movie on the 29th, which is an actual Landers!).

Excellent month--so glad to be back to normal!

9:45 AM  
Blogger Vienna said...

I love FIVE STEPS TO DANGER. Hope you see it.

9:52 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

Hi Cliff!

Isn't March a great month? There was so much to choose from that I didn't even mention the great Ann Sheridan Day, which was rectified by Ann's Fan Club above. :)

I've definitely got my eye on that Rogell day, I agree about the Lew Landers-ish feel! Although I haven't watched CRIME DOCTOR yet, I've recorded most of them so I can catch up on that series after the FALCON wraps up -- I'll be sure to catch any I don't have this month!!

Since I love George Brent I tend to notice when I see a bunch of his movies listed in a row, LOL.

Many, many thanks for the kind links in your March TCM post!

Best wishes,
Laura

9:59 AM  

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