TCM in July: Highlights

It's been an unusually busy week so I'm just now catching up with sharing the July highlights on Turner Classic Movies -- but it's a month worth waiting for! Truly, one of the best months on TCM in recent memory, and that's saying something.

Shirley Temple is the Star of the Month on Monday evenings, and I'll be sharing more about those films in the near future. (Update: Please visit TCM Star of the Month: Shirley Temple.)

I'll also have a new post up soon on the second month of the phenomenal Summer of Darkness series, which continues for five Fridays in July. I'm sure I speak for many when I say I wish this series would never end! (Update: Please visit TCM in July: Summer of Darkness.)

Here's a look at just a few of the amazing highlights from this month's TCM schedule. Click any hyperlinked title to read the corresponding film review.

...On Thursday evening, July 2nd, TCM will host its third evening of Treasures From the Disney Vault. The lineup includes JOHNNY TREMAIN (1957), a perfect choice heading into Independence Day weekend. I'm also excited about Fess Parker in THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE (1956) which I've never seen. Titles also include TREASURE OF THE MATECUMBE (1976) and RASCAL (1969). Host Leonard Maltin has published more on the evening's schedule at his website, and readers can click on the top photo to enlarge the schedule for a closer look. Can hardly wait to see what else will be coming to TCM in this series!

...Independence Day includes a number of musicals, including great family entertainment such as ON THE TOWN (1949), THE MUSIC MAN (1962), and my favorite, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954).

...The holiday weekend continues with even more great musicals on Sunday, the 5th: THE BAND WAGON (1953) with Fred Astaire and the multi Oscar-winner WEST SIDE STORY (1961).

...On July 6th TCM usually hosts a birthday tribute for Janet Leigh, and this year is no exception. My favorite of the day is her debut in THE ROMANCE OF ROSY RIDGE (1947), but the whole day is enjoyable entertainment. Other titles include IF WINTER COMES (1947), THE DOCTOR AND THE GIRL (1949), PETE KELLY'S BLUES (1955), and for a touch of Christmas in July, HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949).

...A 48-hour 100th Anniversary of Technicolor celebration will take place on July 7th and 8th. Titles on the 7th include classics such as THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938), THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER (1938), and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), while the movies on the 8th include HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943), SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952), and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949), to name just a few. The prime time films each evening will be introduced by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, whose great work includes THE BLACK STALLION (1979), THE RIGHT STUFF (1983), and THE NATURAL (1984).

...Prime time on July 9th features sci-fi classics including EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956) and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953).

...BEAUTY AND THE BOSS (1932) is a particularly fun pre-Code which finds wealthy Warren William tamed by his efficient secretary (Marian Marsh). It airs July 11th.

...A pair of Harold Lloyd silents are featured on Sunday evening, July 12th, including FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE (1926), in which Harold woos lovely Jobyna Ralston.

...July 13th the theme is "Let's Go to Japan," with an interesting lineup including two Akira Kurosawa films which look intriguing, THE BAD SLEEP WELL (1960) and SCANDAL (1950). Both films star the great Toshiro Mifune.

...A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to see one of my favorite Westerns, WESTWARD THE WOMEN (1951), as part of the William Wellman series which has just concluded at UCLA. In a wonderful bit of timing, TCM is showing the movie on July 14th. A gallery of photos from this marvelous film can be found here.

...Regular readers know that I spend quite a bit of time at UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood, enjoying countless fantastic restored 35mm prints such as the previously mentioned WESTWARD THE WOMEN. UCLA Archive director Jan-Christopher Horak, who I've seen introduce numerous films, will host a TCM tribute to the Archive on July 15th. The titles selected are HER SISTER'S SECRET (1946), a little-known must-see I first saw at the TCM Classic Film Festival and revisited at UCLA earlier this year; TURNABOUT (1940) with Carole Landis; a selection of shorts and newsreels; Robert Mitchum in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955); WANDA (1970); and PITFALL (1948), which I enjoyed at a fantastic evening at the Million Dollar Theatre in Downtown L.A. a few years ago.

...Celebrate Olivia de Havilland's July birthday by watching one of her earliest films, CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935), on July 18th. It was the first of several films she made with Errol Flynn.

...William Powell and Ginger Rogers star in the mystery STAR OF MIDNIGHT (1935) on July 21st. That's immediately followed by BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN (1950), a very good crime drama with Edmond O'Brien, Mark Stevens, and Gale Storm.

...A terrific day-long tribute to Claudette Colbert on July 23rd includes THE SECRET HEART (1946), an enjoyable melodrama with Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson, and Robert Sterling.

...I've been wanting to take another look at Ginger Rogers and Cornel Wilde in IT HAD TO BE YOU (1947) and see if I'll like it better with the passage of several years since my last viewing. It airs on July 25th.

...How's this for a cast? Victor Mature, Lizabeth Scott, Lucille Ball, Lloyd Nolan, Sonny Tufts, Jeff Donnell, Dick Erdman, Paul Stewart, and Jack Paar. They're all in Jacques Tourneur's excellent sports drama EASY LIVING (1949), about a football player on the brink of retirement from the game. It airs July 26th.

...A little over a month ago I reviewed Pat O'Brien, Carole Landis, and George Murphy in the comedic mystery HAVING WONDERFUL CRIME (1945). It airs on July 27th.

...I could watch TCM all day on July 29th: an entire day of William Powell movies followed by the very special Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger film I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING! (1945).

...I love the pre-Code FINISHING SCHOOL (1934), with Frances Dee as a sheltered girl who finds herself "in trouble" thanks to a handsome medical student (Bruce Cabot). Ginger Rogers is the best friend who sets in motion the happy ending. It airs July 30th.

For more on TCM in July, please visit the complete schedule along with TCM's special Summer of Darkness microsite.