#old hollywood horror
It’s almost October (can you believe it?), which means it’s the season for scary movies on TCM. Things start out on Friday, Oct. 1 with a daytime lineup of pre-code horror. We’ll be DVRing director Fritz Lang’s influential German film, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) airing at 10:30 am ET/7:30 am PT, but there’s also a lot of old Hollywood favorites, including The Most Dangerous Game (1932) at 8 am ET/5 am PT and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) at 3:45 pm ET/12:45 pm PT.
Sunday nights in October will also feature horror films. Director Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller The Birds (1963) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT will be part of a night of creature features.
Here’s the best of the rest for the week of Sept. 27, 2021:
1. Citizen Kane (1941) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Monday, Sept. 27: Writer/director/star Orson Welles’ masterpiece about a newspaper mogul is part of a night of programming featuring the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles. There’s something more than a hope that viewers will get a gander at the world’s most famous sled before the evening is over.
2. National Silent Movie Day on Wednesday, Sept. 29: Honestly, you couldn’t go wrong DVRing everything during this daylong celebration of the artistry of silent films (if you’re interested here’s a link to the complete September schedule https://www.tcm.com/schedule-monthly…) but we’ll point you to the sublime tragic beauty of Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927) at 2 pm ET/11 am PT and the sublime comic beauty of Buster Keaton in Sherlock, Jr. (1924) at 1:15 am ET/10:15 pm PT. The documentaries airing include Be Natural (2018) at 9:45 pm ET/6:45 pm PT a tribute to pioneering female filmmaker Alice Guy-Blache.
3. An Affair to Remember (1957) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Thursday, Sept. 30: This all-time great romantic weepie starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr is a great way to wrap up September. An Affair to Remember is part of a daylong lineup celebrating the centenary of Scottish actor Deborah Kerr, who was born Sept. 30, 1921, in Glasgow.
4. Fleischer Animation 100th Anniversary-Part 2 at 10:45 pm ET/7:45 pm PT Saturday, Oct. 2: This compilation of cartoons from the famed Fleischer Studios includes Saturday matinee favorites like Betty Boop and Popeye. Here’s a link with more info: https://www.animationmagazine.net/…/tcm-celebrates…/
Here’s 5 to watch on TCM for the week of Sept. 6, 2021:
1. The Rink (1916) at 9:45 pm ET/6:45 pm PT Thursday, Sept. 9: TCM’s spotlight for September features movies with roller-skating scenes (surprisingly, there are a lot of them). No one loved skates more than comedian Charlie Chaplin, who used them both in this sublime short film and in Modern Times (1936), which is airing at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.
2. The Seventh Victim (1943) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Friday, Sept. 10: Old Hollywood horror doesn’t get much more chilling than this “cult” classic from producer Val Lewton about the disappearance of a woman (Jean Brooks) that may be connected to a group of satanists.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Saturday, Sept. 11: This beloved drama about Civil Rights and the joys and trials of childhood is the pick of retired NYC firefighter Thomas Prin, Jr., who was a first responder on 9/11.
4. Drive a Crooked Road (1954) at 1 am ET/10 pm PT Saturday night/Sunday morning: Mickey Rooney doesn’t usually come to mind when old Hollywood fans think of film noir, but he’s great in this taut little B thriller about a mechanic who is conned (by a dame, of course) into driving the getaway car for a bank heist.
Drive a Crooked Road will have an encore presentation at 10 am ET/7 am PT Sunday.
5. Show Boat (1936) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Sunday, Sept. 12: This version of the oft-filmed Kern-Hammerstein musical has its problematic moments, but it also features star of the month Paul Robeson’s soaring rendition of “Ol’ Man River.” It is not only a marvelous vocal performance by Robeson, but also a cri de couer for the racism experienced by African-Americans.
