Quick Preview of TCM in July

The tentative July schedule has recently been posted at Turner Classic Movies. Thanks so much to Ivan for the tip!

The schedule disappeared as soon as I printed it, so keep checking this page for it to return.

Shirley Temple is the July Star of the Month. 19 Temple films will be shown spread over Monday evenings. This is a particularly nice surprise as so many of Temple's films were for 20th Century-Fox, and those movies are more expensive for TCM to license. That said, many of the titles will focus on her later work for studios like MGM and RKO.

Even better news is that the Friday film noir marathons being featured in June will continue into July as part of what TCM is calling the "Summer of Darkness." The Film Noir Foundation's Eddie Muller will host the Friday Night Spotlight in both June and July! The lineups are absolutely fantastic, and the films Eddie will host in prime time in July include top-drawer favorites such as THE NARROW MARGIN (1952) and CRISS CROSS (1949).

But wait, there's more! July will also feature the third evening in the Treasures From the Disney Vault franchise which began last December and continued last March. The Disney movies scheduled for July 2nd will include JOHNNY TREMAIN (1957), THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE (1956), RASCAL (1969), and the Tru-Life Adventure THE LIVING DESERT (1953). The presence of the fairly rarely seen THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE, in particular, gives me hope that eventually TCM might show other rare Disney films such as THE SWORD AND THE ROSE (1953) or ROB ROY: THE HIGHLAND ROGUE (1953) both starring Richard Todd and Glynis Johns.

The Sunday evening summer franchise Essentials Jr. morphs into "Movie Camp" this summer, with new hosts William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg. I'm quite intrigued by their relatively sophisticated choices, which seem aimed at teenagers more than children; there's an evening of "post-Bond Connery" with THE WIND AND THE LION (1975) -- a great choice -- and THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1979); an entire Sunday evening of shorts including STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN (1967) and STAR IN THE NIGHT (1945); a Fritz Lang double bill of METROPOLIS (1926) and FURY (1936); and a Korda double bill of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940) and THAT HAMILTON WOMAN (1941).

July tributes will include Charles Laughton, Janet Leigh, Joseph Losey, Barbara Stanwyck, John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Spencer Tracy, William Powell, and Claudette Colbert, while July themes will include Japan, witches, classic '50s sci-fi, ghosts, and apes!

There's also a wonderful tribute to the UCLA Archive on July 15th, including HER SISTER'S SECRET (1946), and another tribute to the 100th Anniversary of Technicolor.

Newer movies continue to turn up in the schedule, especially on Saturday nights, where titles such as BLOODY BIRTHDAY (1980) and DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY (1974) are listed. A Tuesday evening of Cajun documentaries by Les Blank had me scratching my head, with titles such as YUM, YUM, YUM! A TASTE OF CAJUN AND CREOLE COOKING (1990) and GARLIC IS AS GOOD AS TEN MOTHERS (1980); I wondered for a second if the Cooking Channel's schedule had crossed with TCM's!

I'll have a more detailed look at the July schedule somewhere around June 30th. In the meantime, Anthony Quinn continues as the April Star of the Month, with Sterling Hayden ahead as Star of the Month for May and a "Pin-Up Girls/Sex Symbols" Star of the Month theme for June.

July 2015 Update: For more on TCM this month, please visit TCM in July: Highlights and TCM in July: Summer of Darkness.