Quick Preview of TCM in September

This week Turner Classic Movies posted its September schedule!

Dorothy Dandridge will be the September Star of the Month. Eight Dandridge films will be shown spread across three Sunday evenings in September.

I'm especially interested in THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS (1951). I have no idea how the movie is, but I've been interested in the team since I bought a book on them at a Scholastic Book Fair as a child, which I reread multiple times; that interest was built on by my grandfather taking me to see the team perform in person.

There are some relatively unusual themes in September, including an "End of Summer Concert Tour" filled with rock music documentaries featured in prime time all of Labor Day Weekend and a marathon of shorts later in the month. Regarding the latter, prime time on September 14th is "Leonard Maltin's Short Film Showcase," and I couldn't be more excited! His book THE GREAT MOVIE SHORTS has been on my shelf for decades.

The TCM Spotlight will focus on "Honoring Our Medical Heroes."

I'm particularly enthused about an evening of "college" films which includes MR. BELVEDERE GOES TO COLLEGE (1949), BLONDIE GOES TO COLLEGE (1942), SHE'S WORKING HER WAY THROUGH COLLEGE (1952), and what I believe may be the TCM premiere of Loretta Young and Van Johnson in MOTHER IS A FRESHMAN (1949).

Please note that the schedule is not yet complete, with blank spots left for a "Special Theme" on Tuesday evenings. I'll update this post with additional information when it's available. (July 9th Update: There will be a Women Make Film series running on TCM from September through December. The schedule is here.)

Along these lines, if the schedule link doesn't work on the first try, that usually means TCM is updating it with new info; keep trying the link periodically, and eventually it will come back up.

Noir Alley is preempted by the concert series the first weekend of the month. The September titles for the final three weekends of the month will be DANGER SIGNAL (1945), GILDA (1946), and THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME (1947), seen here with stars Jane Greer, Robert Young, and Susan Hayward. It's a trio of very entertaining movies.

Filmmakers receiving multifilm tributes in September include Alfred Hitchcock, Bob Fosse, Jack Lemmon, Esther Williams, Robert Wise, Otto Preminger, Noel Coward, Marius Goring, Mickey Rooney, Ursula Andress, Jacques Tourneur, and Greer Garson.

September themes also include Nick Carter Mysteries, heist films, Civil War Westerns, Westerns with female protagonists, teachers, time travel, Damon Runyon stories, and Douglas Sirk films starring Rock Hudson.

For more on TCM in September, please visit the online schedule.

In the meantime, Tony Curtis is the July Star of the Month, with Summer Under the Stars coming in August.

Update: For additional information on TCM in September 2020, please visit TCM in September: Highlights.