TCM in July: Highlights

Happy Summer!

It's time for a look at the July schedule for Turner Classic Movies!

Glenn Ford is the July Star of the Month. Over three dozen Ford films will be shown spread across Monday evenings this month. I'll have more on the Ford lineup in a separate post in the very near future. (Update: Please visit TCM Star of the Month: Glenn Ford.)

There are two very interesting series in July. Tuesday evenings will feature the sci-fi series Out of this World, will every Friday there will be a day-long tribute to 1939: Hollywood's Golden Year. I will have a separate post on the "1939" series towards the end of the week. (Update: Please visit TCM in July: 1939: Hollywood's Golden Year.)

July's Noir Alley titles are THE TATTOOED STRANGER (1950) on July 6th and 7th, THE PEOPLE AGAINST O'HARA (1951) on July 13th-14th, WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956) on the 20th and 21st, and THIEVES' HIGHWAY (1949) on July 27th and 28th.

Below are a few additional highlights coming this month to TCM. Click any hyperlinked title to read the related review.

...Leslie Caron will celebrate her 88th birthday on July 1st. TCM honors the occasion with an eight-film lineup which includes a telling of the Cinderella tale, THE GLASS SLIPPER (1955). Bonus link: Check out my photo gallery of scans from GLASS SLIPPER stills in my collection.

...A day of Lucille Ball films on July 2nd includes the interesting "B" picture BEAUTY FOR THE ASKING (1939). Patrick Knowles and Donald Woods costar, with an excellent performance by Frieda Inescort. Yesterday was the anniversary of Inescort's birthday; she was born in Edinburgh on June 29, 1901.

...The wonderful Anne Jeffreys, who passed on in September 2017, stars as Tess Trueheart in DICK TRACY (1945) and DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL (1946) on July 3rd. Morgan Conway stars as Dick Tracy.

...Independence Day viewing gets underway with a series of John Ford/John Wayne films, including SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949). That's followed by some films set during the Revolutionary War and then musicals including YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) and THE MUSIC MAN (1962).

...BOMBARDIER (1943), showing on July 6th, is uneven, but it has a wonderful cast of favorites in Randolph Scott, Pat O'Brien, Anne Shirley, Robert Ryan, and in his first appearance as Chito Rafferty, Richard Martin. The Chito character would later make the transition from WWII to being the sidekick in the wonderful RKO Tim Holt Westerns.

...July 7th has a diverse lineup including musicals, comedies, and crime films. My pick for the day is Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934). Pure movie joy.

...A Greer Garson-Walter Pidgeon double bill on July 9th features MRS. MINIVER (1942) and MRS. PARKINGTON (1944). I've yet to catch up with the well-regarded latter film, but I've seen MRS. MINIVER multiple times and love it every time.

...It's "beach" films day on July 10th, including Frankie and Annette in BEACH PARTY (1963). Robert Cumming, Dorothy Malone, and Jody McCrea costar.

...Barbara Stanwyck stars in the pre-Code classic BABY FACE (1933) on July 13th, with a supporting cast including George Brent, Donald Cook, and John Wayne.

...On July 13th the Saturday morning "B" Western is DYNAMITE PASS (1950), starring Tim Holt, Richard Martin, and Lynne Roberts. Click the title link for pictures of the movie's Lone Pine locations!

...It's a newer film than I typically prefer to see airing on Turner Classic Movies, but I do have a great fondness for BABY BOOM (1987), which has a classic film sensibility. When I revisited it a couple summers ago I described how many things seen in the film have changed in 30 years; it was fascinating from that cultural perspective. Diane Keaton and Sam Shepard star on July 14th.

...A day of gangster films on July 15th includes Charles Butterworth in the amusing BABY FACE HARRINGTON (1935), directed by Raoul Walsh. The great supporting cast includes Una Merkel, Donald Meek, Nat Pendleton, and Eugene Pallette, to name a few.

...Among several interesting Maureen O'Hara titles on July 16th is THE FALLEN SPARROW (1943). I was fortunate to see this film at the Noir City Film Festival a few years ago, with costar Patricia Morison present. The film also has a nice role for another favorite actress, Martha O'Driscoll. John Garfield stars.

...For sheer entertainment value you can't beat FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933), with James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, and Busby Berkeley's stunning "By a Waterfall." I can never see this one too many times. It's showing on July 17th.

...There's a great Audrey Hepburn double bill on July 18th, consisting of SABRINA (1954) and LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957). I saw these films paired together a decade ago at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Leo S. Bing Theater. Having grown up attending films at that theater, I was sad that last week the theater showed its final film; the theater's very last film was coincidentally one I watched last week, Ozu's AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON (1962). The theater will be demolished as part of a renovation of LACMA. Sad.

...Tom Keene and Betty Furness star in the Western CROSS FIRE (1933) on Saturday morning, July 20th. I described it in my review as "quirky and entertaining."

...OUR VINES HAVE TENDER GRAPES (1945) is classic mid-'40s MGM Americana which should be better known. The peerless cast includes Edward G. Robinson, Agnes Moorehead, Margaret O'Brien, Jackie "Butch" Jenkins, James Craig, Dorothy Morris, Frances Gifford, Louis Jean Heydt and more great character faces. Roy Rowland directed from a script by Dalton Trumbo. It's on July 21st.

...One of the best films airing during this month's "Out of This World" series will be shown July 22nd: THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951), starring Kenneth Tobey and Margaret Sheridan, directed by an uncredited Howard Hawks. Fun like this is why movies exist!

...My February column for Classic Movie Hub, "Unexpected Western Leads," included Stewart Granger in GUN GLORY (1957). This favorite little Western, costarring Rhonda Fleming and Chill Wills, airs on July 23rd.

...One of my favorite films airing on July 24th is PRINCESS O'ROURKE (1943), which anticipated the "incognito princess" theme of ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) by a decade. Olivia de Havilland plays the title role, supported by Robert Cummings, Jane Wyman, Jack Carson, and Charles Coburn.

...The regular team of Kay Francis and George Brent star in the enjoyable melodrama LIVING ON VELVET (1935), costarring Warren William. It will be shown July 25th.

...You can't ever go wrong watching a George O'Brien Western. He's charming in LAWLESS VALLEY (1938), airing on Saturday morning, July 27th. Kay Sutton is the leading lady.

...July 29th features several films costarring the great team of William Powell and Myrna Loy, including one of my all-time favorite comedies, LIBELED LADY (1936). Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow costar.

...I adore STAR WARS (1977), which has been an important movie in my life for a variety of reasons, but I confess I'm perplexed that TCM is showing it on back-to-back evenings, July 30th, as part of the "Out of This World" series, and again on the 31st; I suspect it's part of the licensing deal they made to show it. That's just a little too much like other channels with small libraries on constant repeat, not to mention its relatively recent vintage.

...A day of films about doctors and nurses serving in World War II includes the excellent, underrated HOMECOMING (1948) starring Clark Gable, Lana Turner, and Anne Baxter. It's on July 31st.

For more on TCM in July 2019, please check out Quick Preview of TCM in July, TCM Star of the Month: Glenn Ford, TCM in July: 1939: Hollywood's Golden Year, and the TCM schedule.

Enjoy the summer!