What’s on TCM: November 2010

Site news time!  As you may or may not know, November is NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month.  And because I love a challenge, I’ve decided to take a shot at participating.  That’s right, I’m going to try to update the blog every single day in November!   To make things a little more interesting, I’ve given myself a theme to work with: pre-codes.  30 days, 30 pre-code classics!  Here’s hoping I can pull it off!  Now, onto the TCM schedule…

Wow!  This could quite possibly be one of my favorite months ever on TCM!  Fans of silent films, rejoice!  This month, TCM is starting its documentary series Moguls and Movie Stars.  A new episode premieres every Monday at 8:00 PM and is followed by a night of movies related to that night’s episode.  Every Wednesday night is also devoted to Moguls and Movie Stars with more related movies and an encore of that week’s episode.  This is particularly wonderful news for fans of silents because a few episodes of Moguls and Movie Stars are dedicated to the silent era, so they’ll be airing movies from people like Mary Pickford (who I always thought has been very underrepresented on TCM), Clara Bow, Rudolph Valentino, Georges Melies, and D.W. Griffith.  In addition to that, Ava Gardner is the star of the month!  I dig Ava Gardner, so I’m going to be watching a whole lot of TCM this month.

November 1:  Tonight at 8:00 PM is the first installment of the Moguls and Movie Stars series, called “Peepshow Pioneers” and covers the years 1889-1907.  At 9:00 PM is The Films of Thomas Edison, followed by an encore of Movies and Moguls at 11:00 PM, D.W. Griffith with Biograph at 12:00 AM, The Films of Georges Melies at 2:00 AM, Silent Shakespeare at 4:00 AM, and Ramona at 5:30 AM.

November 2:  Happy birthday, Burt Lancaster!  Some highlights include From Here to Eternity (9:30 AM), Sweet Smell of Success (1:45 PM), Birdman of Alcatraz (3:30 PM).  Prime time is all about baseball with The Winning Team at 8:00 PM, It Happened in Flatbush at 10:00 PM, Eight Men Out at 11:45 PM, Elmer the Great at 2:00 AM, Alibi Ike at 3:15 AM, and The Babe Ruth Story at 4:30 AM.

November 3:  Start the day off with some Betty Hutton!  The Stork Club at 6:30 AM, The Perils of Pauline at 8:15 AM, Red, Hot and Blue at 10:00 AM, and Annie Get Your Gun at 11:30 AM.  Prime time is all about the early days of cinema with The Magic Box at 8:00 PM, an encore of episode one of Moguls and Movie Stars at 10:00 PM, Nickelodeon at 11:15 PM, When Comedy Was King at 1:15 AM, Hearts of the West 2:45 AM, and Show People at 4:30 AM.

November 4:  Tonight is the first night of Ava Gardner movies.  The Killers at 8:00 PM, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman 10:00 PM, Show Boat 12:15 AM, Knights of the Round Table at 2:15 AM.

November 5:  A couple of great Joel McCrea movies in the afternoon, Foreign Correspondent at 3:45 PM and The Palm Beach Story at 6:00 PM.  Starting at 8:00 PM is a couple of David Lean movies, The Bridge on the River Kwai at 8:00 PM, the documentary The Making of The Bridge on the River Kwai at 11:00 PM, and This Happy Breed at 11:30 PM.

November 7:  It’s a Fritz Lang night!  At 8:00 PM is the TCM premiere of the newly restored version of Metropolis, followed by the documentary Metropolis Refound at 11:00 PM.  The Silent Sunday Night feature is Spies at 12:00 AM, then there’s M at 2:00 AM, and The Woman in the Window at 4:00 AM.

November 8:  It’s Moguls and Movie Stars night again!  Episode 2, “The Birth of Hollywood,” premieres at 8:00 PM and covers the years 1907-1920.  Starting at 9:00 PM is Traffic in Souls, The Indian Massacre at 10:30, an encore of Moguls and Movie Stars at 11:00 PM, The Birth of a Nation at 12:00 AM, Within our Gates at 3:15 AM, and The Blot at 4:45 AM.  I personally really did not like The Birth of a Nation, but if you’re very interested in film history, I guess it’s worth seeing once anyway.

November 9:  Happy birthday, Edna May Oliver!  Lots of her short movies on during the day, then at 6:15 PM is Joan Crawford in No More Ladies.  Tonight is guest programmer night, and this month’s guest programmer is Michael J. Fox.  His picks are: Dr. Strangelove at 8:00 PM, Local Hero at 10:00 PM, The Parallax View at 12:00 AM, and Kind Hearts and Coronets at 2:00 AM.

November 10:  Happy birthday, Claude Rains!  Lots of great movies on during the day, such as: They Won’t Forget at 6:00 AM, The Adventures of Robin Hood at 7:45 AM, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at 9:30 AM, Now Voyager at 1:30 PM, Mr. Skeffington at 3:30 PM.  Another night of lots of silents in prime time.  Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant at 8:00 PM, Yankee Doodle in Berlin at 8:45 PM, an encore of Moguls and Movie Stars at 10:00 PM, Mary Pickford in Poor Little Rich Girl at 11:15 PM, The Coward at 12:30 AM, The Squaw Man at 2:00 AM, and The Mark of Zorro at 3:30 AM.

November 11:  Happy birthday, Pat O’Brien!  The Fighting 69th at 6:00 AM, Knute Rockne All American at 7:45 AM, Having Wonderful Crime at 9:30 AM, Crack-Up at 10:45 AM, Fighting Father Dunne at 12:30 PM, A Dangerous Profession at 2:15 PM, and The People Against O’Hara at 3:45 PM.  It’s another Ava Gardner night, and tonight are two of her most famous movies, Mogambo at 8:00 PM and The Barefoot Contessa at 10:00 PM.

November 13:  Prime time is all about Teresa Wright.  At 8:00 PM is The Best Years of Our Lives, followed by Mrs. Miniver at 11:00 PM, The Little Foxes at 1:30 AM, Enchantment at 3:30 AM, and Casanova Brown at 5:15 AM.

November 14:  Lots of great stuff on throughout the day!  First at 10:15 AM is Marlene Dietrich in Morocco, followed by I Confess at 12:00 PM.  Then at 3:45 PM is The Lady Eve.  Tonight’s Silent Sunday Night is Mary Pickford in The Hoodlum.

November 15:  Another day with lots of great stuff!  Summertime is on at 11:00 AM, The Big Heat at 3:45 PM, and The Lady from Shanghai at 5:30 PM.  At 8:00 is another new episode of Moguls and Movie Stars, “The Dream Merchants”, about the years 1920-1928.  Lots of brilliant silents on tonight, Sunrise at 9:00 PM, The Iron Horse at 12:00 PM, Flesh and the Devil at 2:30 AM, and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse at 4:00 AM.  An encore of Moguls and Movie Stars is on at 11:00 PM.

November 16:  Tonight has a fun line-up of Don Knotts movies.  First up at 8:00 PM is The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Apple Dumpling Gang at 10:00 PM, The Incredible Mr. Limpet at 12:00 AM, No Time for Sergeants at 2:00 AM, and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo at 4:15 AM.

November 17:  Loads of silent film comedy classics tonight!  First there’s some Charlie Chaplin at 8:00 PM with The Kid and The Pilgrim at 9:00 PM.  After an encore of this week’s Moguls and Movie Stars at 10:00 PM, it switches over to Buster Keaton with One Week at 11:15 PM and Steamboat Bill, Jr. at 11:45 PM.  Harold Lloyd takes over with Safety Last! at 1:00 AM, then Clara Bow in It at 2:30 AM, and Marion Davies at 4:00 AM with Show People.

November 18:  It’s another Ava Gardner night!  The Naked Maja at 8:00 PM, On the Beach at 10:00 PM, The Angel Wore Red at 12:30 AM, 55 Days at Peking at 2:15 AM, and The Hucksters at 5:00 AM.

November 20:  Spencer Tracy is the man of the night.  San Francisco at 8:00 PM, Up the River at 10:00 PM, Plymouth Adventure at 12:00 AM, The Old Man and the Sea at 2:00 AM, and The Devil at 4 O’Clock at 3:30 AM.

November 22:  It’s Moguls and Movie Stars night again!  This week’s episode, “Brother, Can you Spare a Dream?,” is all about 1929-1941.  All the movies tonight are some of my favorites, Footlight Parade at 9:00 PM, The Public Enemy at 12:00 AM, Little Caesar at 1:30 AM, I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang at 3:00 AM, and Red Dust at 5:00 AM.

November 23:  Happy birthday, Boris Karloff!  A couple of my picks for the day are The Body Snatchers at 1:45 PM and Bedlam at 3:00 PM.

November 24:  Another great night of Moguls and Movie Stars related movies!  It Happened One Night at 8:00 PM, an encore of this week’s episode at 10:00 PM, Duck Soup at 11:15 PM, Top Hat at 12:30 AM, Heidi at 2:15 AM, Little Women at 3:45 AM, and Of Human Bondage at 5:45 Am.

November 25:  Ava Gardner night is upon us once again.  The Night of the Iguana at 8:00 PM, Seven Days in May at 10:00 PM, Mayerling at 12:00 AM, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean at 2:15 AM, and Ride, Vanquero! at 4:30 AM.

November 26:  I can always go for a little Friday afternoon Hitchcock.  Foreign Correspondent at 11:00 AM, Strangers on a Train at 1:00 PM, Dial M for Murder at 2:45 PM, To Catch a Thief at 4:45 PM, and Hitch’s appearance on The Dick Cavett Show at 6:45 PM.

November 27:  Now, this is the definition of “star power”!  At 5:00 PM is The Great Race, followed by Judy Garland in A Star is Born at 8:00 PM, Funny Girl at 11:15 PM, and Gypsy at 2:00 AM.

November 29:  This is my kind of day!  Dames at 6:00 AM, Gold Diggers of 1933 at 11:30 AM and 42nd Street at 1:15 PM.  Tonight is episode five of Moguls and Movie Stars, “Warriors and Peacemakers,” covering 1941-1950 at 8:00 PM.  Tonight is World War II oriented movies, Casablanca at 9:00 PM, The Great Dictator at 12:00 AM, They Were Expendable at 2:15 AM, and Hollywood Canteen at 4:30 AM.

November 30:  Robert Osborne programs the last evening of the month.  His choices include: Good News at 8:00 PM, Samson and Delilah at 10:00 PM, Virginia City at 12:15 AM, and Honky Tonk at 2:30 AM.