TCM in May: Highlights

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

Gregory Peck is the May Star of the Month. Approximately 20 Peck films will be shown spread across Friday evenings this month.

The May Noir Alley films will be DRUNKEN ANGEL (1948) on May 2nd and 3rd, THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946) on the 9th and 10th, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951) May 16th-17th, and HOUSE OF NUMBERS (1957) on the 30th and 31st.

I love the May Special Theme, focusing on Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu every Tuesday evening. Several Ozu films will have their TCM premieres, including the new TCM documenary THE OZU DIARIES (2025), plus WHAT DID THE LADY FORGET? (1937), BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE TODA FAMILY (1941), THE FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE (1952), which is seen in this photo, and more.

Details on the entire Ozu series may be found in this TCM press release, and I encourage those interested to print out the Ozu schedule included in the release, as this is a very special series. (Seen here, Setsuko Hara in LATE SPRING.)

THE OZU DIARIES will also be shown at this month's TCM Classic Film Festival, and I hope to see it there.

The TCM Spotlight will be focused on biographies of Hollywood filmmakers on Wednesday, with films including MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES (1957), TOO MUCH, TOON SOON (1958), and GABLE AND LOMBARD (1976).

As usual, there is also special May programming for Mother's Day (May 10th) and Memorial Day Weekend (May 22nd-25th).

Below are just a few of this month's highlights. Please click on any hyperlinked title for my extended review.

...A six-film daytime birthday tribute to Glenn Ford on May 1st is followed by the first evening of Gregory Peck films, including Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND (1945), costarring Ingrid Bergman.

...Amy Irving and Peter Riegert star in the romance CROSSING DELANCEY (1988) on Saturday evening, May 2nd.

...The 70th anniversary of John Ford's THE SEARCHERS (1956) will be marked by TCM on Sunday evening, May 3rd.

...A day of 1950s sci-fi on May 4th includes one of my very favorites of that genre, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953). My favorite scene has Lee Van Cleef (seen here) as an army sharpshooter trying to take out the beast, who's atop a flaming roller coaster!

...The May 6th schedule features tap dancing, including Eleanor Powell in BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936 (1935) and BORN TO DANCE (1936).

...An interesting series on May 7th, continuing on May 14th, is "games people play," with movies featuring various types of games.  The lineup on May 7th includes one of Audie Murphy's very best films, NO NAME ON THE BULLET (1959), in which he plays chess with Charles Drake.

...The second evening of Gregory Peck films, on May 9th, includes William Wyler's excellent THE BIG COUNTRY (1958). I must confess, however, that I find Charlton's Heston's anti-hero character more interesting than Peck's hero!

...There's a terrific lineup for Mother's Day on May 10th, including (of course!) MILDRED PIERCE (1945). I especially recommend I REMEMBER MAMA (1948), which I revisited last year for the first time in many years; I came away thoroughly impressed with it.

...A day of films from director Edward Dmytryk on May 11th includes a "B" movie I enjoyed, SEVEN MILES FROM ALCATRAZ (1942), starring James Craig and Bonita Granville.

...I've seen every one of the nine film noir and crime titles TCM is airing during the day on May 12th; it's a great day to stay home and watch movies, one after the other! That evening, the Yasujiro Ozu films include the title that might be my favorite of many great Ozu movies, EARLY SUMMER (1951), starring the great Setsuko Hara.

...May 14th features crime films, including the entertaining WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956), with Dana Andrews heading an all-star cast.

...10 pre-Code melodramas will be shown on May 15th. I've seen most of them, and it's another great day of viewing, including the film which is perhaps my very favorite pre-Code, MIDNIGHT MARY (1933). MIDNIGHT MARY stars Loretta Young, Franchot Tone, and Ricardo Cortez.

...Rodgers and Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC (1958) is a perfect Sunday afternoon musical, showing on May 17th. I find it's a much better film than is generally recognized.

...The May 18th theme is "sisters," with a terrific lineup including TWO GIRLS AND A SAILOR (1944), LITTLE WOMEN (1933), MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), and THE MAKIOKA SISTERS (1983).

...1950s musicals are the daytime lineup on May 19th, including enjoyable films such as THE BELLE OF NEW YORK (1952), DUCHESS OF IDAHO (1950), and STRICTLY DISHONORABLE (1951). A Mario Lanza film I recently enjoyed, FOR THE FIRST TIME (1959), is also part of the lineup, and I'm intrigued by a film I've never before seen, BRING YOUR SMILE ALONG (1955), starring Frankie Laine, Keefe Brasselle, and Constance Towers.

...There's a great lineup of movies directed by Nicholas Ray on May 20th, including ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1952), starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino.

...The "Counting Up" theme on May 21st begins with ONE MILLION B.C. (1940). Every film has a number in the title, including one of my very favorite films, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954).

...On Friday evening, May 22nd, the Memorial Day weekend war film marathon begins by overlapping with an evening of Gregory Peck Star of the Month movies, with a lineup that includes MACARTHUR (1977) and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961).

...The films on May 23rd include the very good THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (1944), starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson. It's of note that Tracy and Johnson had also combined for the previous war film A GUY NAMED JOE (1943), which made Johnson a star. I saw A GUY NAMED JOE last year at the TCM Classic Film Festival and enjoyed my revisit.

...The war films on May 24th include PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945), an excellent film starring John Garfield and Eleanor Parker.

...Memorial Day, on May 25th, will include a showing of one of the very greatest war films, William Wellman's BATTLEGROUND (1949) -- which coincidentally also stars Van Johnson.

...The Ozu films on May 26th include the first of his films I ever saw, EQUINOX FLOWER (1958). Clearly I liked it very much, as it started me down the path of viewing many more Ozu movies in the years since.

...I really enjoy THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (1937), a very entertaining romance starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and William Powell. It airs on May 28th.

For more on TCM in May, please visit my Quick Preview of TCM in May along with TCM's online schedule.

Tweet