Quick Preview of TCM in April

The preview of the April schedule for Turner Classic Movies is now available online!

This is a Star of the Month "theme month," with the focus on character actors every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Honorees will include Helen Broderick, seen at the left.

The TCM Spotlight is quite interesting, focusing on postwar melodramas. Titles include LOVE LETTERS (1945), BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945), THE END OF THE AFFAIR (1953), AUTUMN LEAVES (1956), AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957), and an entire evening of Douglas Sirk films.

April Fool's Day features comedies. The day before Easter there's a "bunny" theme, and as always, Easter Sunday features EASTER PARADE (1948) and religious films. Other themes in April include Beach Party movies, "rare animation," and a day of the Torchy Blane series.

Filmmakers receiving multi-film salutes in April are Doris Day, Melvyn Douglas, Walter Huston, Virginia Mayo, Howard Keel, Nunnally Johnson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Ricardo Cortez. And watch for Harold Lloyd in GRANDMA'S BOY (1922) and DR. JACK (1922) on Sunday night, April 23rd!

I found it encouraging that, compared to March, there were far fewer films from the 1960s or later in the 5:00 Pacific/8:00 Eastern prime time slot.

Curiously, the hard copy I printed of the schedule a few days ago featured a seven-film prime time tribute to Frances Dee on April 3rd, including the beautiful FOUR FACES WEST (1948) costarring her husband, Joel McCrea.

However, a couple days later the entire Dee lineup had been replaced by an evening of Faye Dunaway movies, along with the special recorded last year, LIVE FROM THE TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL: FAYE DUNAWAY (2017). That's the week of the TCM Classic Film Festival so it makes sense the Dunaway tribute would air that week. Hopefully the original lineup was a hint that we can expect the Frances Dee tribute to reappear on the schedule in the next few months! (Update: The Dee tribute has been rescheduled for May.)

I'll have much more on the April schedule around the end of March.

In the meantime, Jane Wyman continues as the January Star of the Month, with 31 Days of Oscar in February and Richard Burton the Star of the Month in March.

Update: For more on TCM in April 2017, please visit TCM in April: Highlights.