Quick Preview of TCM in June

The June schedule for Turner Classic Movies is now available online!

The June Star of the Month is Rock Hudson.

Over 20 Hudson films will be shown on Thursday evenings. Titles will include his films with Doris Day and four collaborations with director Douglas Sirk.

The list of Hudson films also includes his first small role, in FIGHTER SQUADRON (1948), and another early role in Anthony Mann's WINCHESTER '73 (1950). One of my favorite '50s Westerns, Mann's BEND OF THE RIVER (1952), will also be part of June's Hudson retrospective.

The Friday Night Spotlight theme is pirates! There's a terrific assortment of films, with pretty much all the titles one would expect TCM to show in such a series.

They're even showing Universal's AGAINST ALL FLAGS (1952) with Errol Flynn and Maureen O'Hara, which I don't recall turning up on TCM in the past, and a silent version of THE SEA HAWK (1924). That series looks like a great way to kick off the summer.

Another highlight is an entire evening devoted to "Hammer Noir," a group of '50s British-made crime films featuring American stars which I've begun exploring this year.

The Hammer lineup includes Dane Clark in BLACKOUT (1954), Paulette Goddard in THE UNHOLY FOUR (1954), Lizabeth Scott in THE STOLEN FACE (1952), and George Brent in MAN BAIT (1952), which I reviewed in January. I wonder if this evening might be hosted by the Film Noir Foundation's Eddie Muller, who recently signed on with TCM?

June will also feature multi-film tributes to Rosalind Russell, Judy Garland, Ida Lupino, Lawrence Tierney, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, and Susan Hayward. Themes of the month include fathers, musicals, opera, babies, detectives, and the number 13.

Among the obscure treasures I'm looking forward to exploring in June are A CHILD IS BORN (1940) with Geraldine Fitzgerald and Jeffrey Lynn, THE SECOND FACE (1950) with Ella Raines, Bruce Bennett, and Rita Johnson, STEP BY STEP (1946) which reunited DILLINGER (1945) costars Lawrence Tierney and Anne Jeffreys, THE FORTY-NINERS (1949) with Wild Bill Elliott and Virginia Grey, HOTEL BERLIN (1945) with Faye Emerson and Helmut Dantine, and ROSEANNA MCCOY (1949) starring Farley Granger, Joan Evans, and a terrific supporting cast. (Update: ROSEANNA MCCOY didn't make it onto the final schedule. Hopefully it will turn up on TCM in the future!)

I'll have more detailed information to share on the June schedule as June 1st approaches.

The current Star of the Month is Mary Astor. The April Star of the Month will be John Wayne, with June Allyson on the schedule for May.

Update: For more information on TCM in June, please visit TCM in June: Highlights and TCM Star of the Month: Rock Hudson.