TCM in May: WWII Homefront Films

This month Turner Classic Movies has a very special Thursday evening TCM Spotlight series, WWII in the Movies: The Homefront.

The series coincides with 2019 being the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II in Europe, not to mention the 75th anniversary of D-Day which falls in early June. (TCM will extend the WWII theme next month with a series of war films.) Introductions for this series were filmed at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

The '40s is my favorite movie decade, and a couple of films shown this month rank among my all-time most-loved movies. I love the opportunity TCM is providing this month to become completely immersed in the "homefront" theme.

Below is a look at the complete schedule. Click any hyperlinked title for my review.

On Thursday, May 2nd, the sub-theme is "Keep the Home Fires Burning." On the schedule that evening:

SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (1944)
MRS. MINIVER (1942)
HAPPY LAND (1943)
THE HUMAN COMEDY (1943)
THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER (1944)

SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, MRS. MINIVER, and THE HUMAN COMEDY are all top-drawer classics which I highly recommend.

HAPPY LAND is a film I've been wanting to see, starring Don Ameche and Frances Dee, while Irene Dunne stars in THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER.

The theme on May 9th is "Comedy and Romance":

THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943)
THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK (1944)
THE CLOCK (1945)
MIRACLE IN THE RAIN (1956)
THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU (1944)
JANIE (1944)

THE MORE THE MERRIER, starring Joel McCrea and Jean Arthur, is one of my all-time favorite films, and I was delighted by THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK when I saw it at the TCM Classic Film Festival last year.

THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU, starring Dennis Morgan and Eleanor Parker, is a charming romance with a surprisingly deep theme regarding dealing with "difficult" family members. All in all it's a wonderful evening.

On May 16th the evening focuses on "The War Effort."

HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN (1944)
TENDER COMRADE (1943)
MILLIONS LIKE US (1943)
AIR RAID WARDENS (1943)
THE WAR AGAINST MRS. HADLEY (1942)
THE GENTLE SEX (1943)
RATIONING (1943)
Short: MAIN STREET TODAY (1944)

I was excited to see the British film MILLIONS LIKE US show up on TCM; it stars Patricia Roc and even has Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne providing comic relief as Charters and Caldicott, the cricket-mad characters first seen in Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES (1938).

Fay Bainter stars in the thought-provoking THE WAR AGAINST MRS. HADLEY, playing a society matron who would prefer to go on with her life as though the war doesn't exist.

"Under Attack" is the theme on May 23rd:

HOPE AND GLORY (1987)
THE END OF THE AFFAIR (1955)
JOURNEY FOR MARGARET (1943)
TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT (1945)
THE LION HAS WINGS (1939)
Shorts: FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE! (1942) and MAIN STREET ON THE MARCH (1941)

These films focus on the wartime experience in England. JOURNEY FOR MARGARET, about a traumatized orphan of the London Blitz, is excellent, with Margaret O'Brien, Robert Young, and Laraine Day.

Another Blitz film, TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT, I rank among my all-time favorite movies; Rita Hayworth stars.

The series concludes on May 30th with "Coming Home":

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO (1944)
TILL THE END OF TIME (1946)
PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945)
THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE (1945)

Five more great movies that night, topped by William Wyler's all-time classic THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES.

I believe every film and short shown in this series will be worth watching and commend TCM for putting together such interesting programming. I highly recommend viewing this series.

For more information on TCM in May, please visit TCM in May: Highlights, Quick Preview of TCM in May, and the complete TCM schedule.