What’s on TCM: July 2012

Happy July, everyone!  Hard to believe that it’s already almost time for Summer Under the Stars, but TCM has lots of fun stuff going on in July to keep us busy until then.  Leslie Howard is the Star of the Month and his movies will be on every Tuesday night this month.  Every Monday in July will be dedicated to showing 24 hours of adventure movies.  Spike Lee is this month’s guest programmer and has chosen some excellent movies for the night of July 5th.  There are a lot of good things to mention, so let’s get to it:

July 1:  July gets off to a very musical start with 42nd Street at 6:00 AM, Show Boat (1951) at 7:30 AM, Annie Get Your Gun at 9:30 AM, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at 11:30 AM, Take Me Out to the Ballgame at 1:30 PM, On the Town at 3:15 PM, and The Music Man at 5:15 PM.  Later that night are a few Harold Lloyd shorts, Number Please at 12:00 AM, Never Weaken at 12:30 AM and A Sailor-Made Man at 1:00 AM.  This week’s TCM Import selection is Umberto D at 2:00 AM.

July 2:  Get out your safari hats because it’s the first of TCM’s adventure movie days.  My two top choices for today are Trader Horn at 6:00 AM and Mogambo at 8:00 PM.

July 3:  During the day is TCM’s memorial tribute to the late Ann Rutherford.  The day starts off with Of Human Hearts at 6:00 AM, followed by Love Finds Andy Hardy at 7:45 AM, Four Girls in White at 9:30 AM, Pride and Prejudice at 10:45 AM, Washington Melodrama at 12:45 PM, This Time for Keeps at 2:15 PM, Whistling in Dixie at 3:30 PM, Two O’Clock Courage at 4:45 PM, and The Adventures of Don Juan at 6:00 PM.  Then it’s on to the first night of Leslie Howard movies, starting with the big one, Gone With the Wind at 8:00 PM.  After that comes Stand In at 12:00 AM, The First of the Few at 1:45 AM, The Gentle Sex at 4:00 AM, and The Lamp Still Burns at 5:45 AM.

July 4:  Happy Independence Day!  Of course there will be plenty of patriotic-themed movies on today like The Howards of Virginia at 7:15 AM, The Scarlet Coat at 9:15 AM, The Devil’s Disciple at 11:15 AM, John Paul Jones at 12:45 AM, 1776 at 5:00 PM, Yankee Doodle Dandy at 8:00 PM, and Stars and Stripes Forever at 10:15 PM.

July 5:  Some good ones on during the day: Evelyn Prentice at 7:00 AM, Mildred Pierce at 10:15 AM, Portrait of Jennie at 12:15 PM.  Then it’s on to a night of movies chosen by July’s guest programmer Spike Lee.  Lee has chosen Ace in the Hole at 8:00 PM, The Night of the Hunter at 10:00 PM, On the Waterfront at 11:45 PM, and A Face in the Crowd at 1:45 AM.

July 6:  Happy birthday to Janet Leigh!  her tribute starts out with That Forsyte Woman at 6:30 AM, then Holiday Affair at 8:30 AM, Strictly Dishonorable at 10:15 AM, Two Tickets to Broadway at 12:00 PM, Just This Once at 2:00 PM, The Manchurian Candidate at 3:45 PM, and Bye Bye Birdie at 6:00 PM.

July 7:  It’s a fun afternoon today with The Blob at 1:15 PM, It Came From Beneath the Sea at 2:45 PM, and Dr. Strangelove at 4:15 PM.  Tonight’s Essentials feature is Katharine Hepburn’s Summertime at 8:00 PM.

July 8:  Today looks like a pretty good day all around.  There’s Gilda at 10:00 AM, East of Eden at 12:00 PM, The Thin Man at 2:15 PM, and The Bank Dick at 8:00 PM.  Tonight’s Silent Sunday Night feature is The Racket at 12:30 AM, followed by Jean-Luc Godard’s Band of Outsiders at 2:00 AM.

July 9:  My top choices from today’s line-up of adventure movies are The Adventures of Robin Hood at 8:00 PM and the 1948 version of The Three Musketeers at 10:00 PM.

July 10:  It’s another night of Leslie Howard movies tonight with The Petrified Forrest at 8:00 PM, It’s Love I’m After at 9:30 PM, Of Human Bondage at 11:15 PM, Never the Twain Shall Meet at 12:45 AM, and Five and Ten at 2:15 AM.

July 11:  Where else other than TCM can you see Sullivan’s Travels at 6:00 AM, Going My Way at 7:45 AM, Them! at 10:00 AM, and Sex and the Single Girl at 3:45 PM all in one day?  After that, it’s a night of Robert Redford movies with The Sting at 8:00 PM, The Natural at 10:15 PM, Inside Daisy Clover at 12:45 AM, The Way we Were at 3:00 AM, and War Hunt at 5:15 AM.

July 12:  Here’s another day I really like.  Old Acquaintance at 6:45 AM, Nora Prentiss at 8:45 AM, Harriet Craig at 10:45 AM, and The Damned Don’t Cry at 12:30 PM.  Tonight is the night for Robert Osborne’s picks, starting with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at 8:00 PM, Stormy Weather at 9:45 PM, Oscar Wilde at 11:15 PM, and My Reputation at 1:00 AM.

July 13:  Tonight TCM celebrates the 100th birthday of director Samuel Fuller a little bit early (his birthday is actually on August 12).  I Shot Jesse James at 8:00 PM, Park Row at 9:30 PM, Shock Corridor at 11:00 PM, and The Naked Kiss at 12:45 AM.

July 14:  Fred MacMurray is the man of the night.  You can see him in Alice Adams at 8:00 PM, The Princess Comes Across at 9:45 PM, No Time for Love at 11:15 PM, A Millionaire for Christy at 12:45 AM, Kisses for my President at 2:30 AM, and Too Many Husbands at 4:30 AM.

July 15: If you’ve recently seen Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, you won’t want to miss The Films of Georges Melies at midnight.

July 16:  It’s another day full of adventure movies.  Don’t miss Gunga Din at 4:00 PM and Tarzan, the Ape Man at 10:00 PM.

July 17:  Today starts off with Rudolph Valentino’s iconic film The Sheik at 6:15 AM.  After that is a birthday tribute to director Jack Conway, starting with Our Modern Maidens at 7:45 AM, Untamed at 9:15 AM, They Learned About Women at 10:45 AM, The Easiest Way at 12:30 PM, But the Flesh is Weak at 1:45 PM, The Solitaire Man at 3:15 PM, A Yank at Oxford at 4:30 PM, and Let Freedom Ring at 6:30 PM.  After that is a night of Leslie Howard movies with Romeo and Juliet at 8:00 PM, A Free Soul at 10:15 PM, Smilin’ Through at 12:00 AM, Outward Bound at 1:45 AM, Captured at 3:15 AM, and The Beast With Five Fingers at 4:30 AM.

July 18:  Tonight’s movies are all some of Francis Ford Coppola’s early films.  There’s You’re a Big Boy Now at 8:00 PM, The Rain People at 10:00 PM, Dementia 13 at 12:00 AM, and Finian’s Rainbow at 1:30 AM.  Update: TCM will be remembering Andy Griffith tonight with A Face in the Crowd at 8:00 PM, No Time for Sergeants at 10:15 PM, Hearts of the West at 12:30 AM, and Onionhead at 2:15 AM.

July 19:  Tonight there’s Forbidden Planet at 8:00 PM, Gunga Din at 10:00 PM, The Adventures of Robin Hood at 12:15 AM, Citizen Kane at 2:15 AM, and The Magnificent Ambersons at 4:30 AM.

July 20:  I’m definitely a big fan of this day.  Happy birthday to Natalie Wood!  Her tribute includes The Searchers at 7:45 AM, The Burning Hills at 10:00 AM, A Cry in the Night at 11:45 AM, The Girl He Left Behind at 1:15 PM, Gypsy at 3:15 PM, and Sex and the Single Girl at 6:00 PM.  Then it’s on to a night of Barbara Stanwyck pre-codes!  See her in all her pre-code glory starting with Shopworn at 8:00 PM, then Ten Cents a Dance at 9:15 PM, Illicit at 10:45 PM, and Forbidden at 12:15 AM.

July 21:  Tonight’s movies are movies that two of the stars made before they got married.  There’s To Have and Have Not at 8:00 PM, Too Many Girls at 10:00 PM, Fire Over England at 11:30 PM, Every Girl Should Be Married at 1:15 AM, and Brother Rat at 2:45 AM.

July 22:  Lots of light, fun movies on today; perfect for a Sunday afternoon.  There’s Christmas in July at 10:30 AM, Gidget at 12:00 AM, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at 2:00 PM, and Sunday in New York at 4:00 PM.  After that is a couple from Steve McQueen, with The Great Escape at 8:00 PM and The Blob at 11:00 PM.  Tonight’s Silent Sunday Night selection is The Mating Call at 12:30 AM and the TCM Import is The Leopard at 2:00 AM.

July 24:  It’s time for another night of Leslie Howard movies.  Pygmalion at 8:00 PM, Berkeley Square at 9:45 PM, Devotion at 11:15 PM, and The Animal Kingdom at 12:45 AM.

July 25:  During the day, there’s a good Gary Cooper double feature of Meet John Doe at 8:15 AM and Sergeant York at 10:30 AM.  Tonight is a night full of movies starring Loretta Young.  There’s Born to be Bad at 8:00 PM, Eternally Yours at 9:15 PM, Come to the Stable at 11:00 PM, The Farmer’s Daughter at 12:45 PM, Bedtime Story at 2:30 AM, and Big Business Girl at 4:00 AM.

July 26:  TCM will be remembering the late Ernest Borgnine with an entire day of his movies.  The Catered Affair at 6:00 AM, The Legend of Lylah Clare at 8:00 AM, Pay or Die at 10:30 AM, Torpedo Run at 12:30 PM, Ice Station Zebra at 2:30 PM, The Dirty Dozen at 5:15 PM, his Private Screenings interview at 8:00 PM, Marty at 9:00 PM, From Here to Eternity at 10:15 PM, The Wild Bunch at 1:00 AM, Bad Day at Black Rock at 3:30 AM, and an encore of his Private Screenings interview at 5:00 AM.

July 28:  I am a huge fan of tonight’s line-up!  It’s a night of campy 1960s Joan Crawford movies, starting with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane at 8:00 PM.  After that comes I Saw What You Did! at 10:30 PM, The Caretakers at 12:00 AM, Strait Jacket at 1:45 AM, and the documentary Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star at 3:30 AM.  Of the bunch, the one I am most excited to see here is I Saw What You Did!  That one is rarely shown on TV (although it pops up on the channel THIS occasionally) and the DVD is out of print, so it’s not an easy movie to come by.  It’s a lot of campy fun.

July 29:  There’s a couple great movies from Fred Astaire on tonight, The Band Wagon at 8:00 PM and Daddy Long Legs at 10:00 PM.  Then it’s time for Silent Sunday Nights for Norma Talmadge in Kiki at 12:15 AM.

July 31:  July comes to a close with one more night of Leslie Howard movies.  The Scarlet Pimpernel at 8:00 PM, British Agent at 9:45 PM, and The 49th Parallel at 11:15 PM.