My March 2012 TCM Now Playing Guide arrived over the weekend and I’ve already gone through it circling and starring movies of interest.
There will be 25 movies featuring March’s Star of the Month, Karl Malden, who was born 100 years ago this month. Featured on the back cover is April’s Star of the Month, Doris Day.
Neither of these two featured players do anything to fill my need for new titles from the 1930’s, but I won’t complain this time because TCM does give us a healthy dose of 30’s titles all throughout March. This is especially so in the daytime hours including several titles I’ll be catching for the first time in March 2012.
Following is a by no means exhaustive list of some of my favorite blocks of movies airing on TCM throughout March. The list is made up of a combination of titles that I’ve either never seen or that I’ve seen a whole lot and would gladly watch again. Some brief commentary sometimes follows.
To avoid any potential confusion I should also add that this is for the TCM US schedule and that any times I mention are EST.
March 5 sees some heavy hitter titles from the 1930’s kicking off at 6:15 am: Bombshell (1933); China Seas (1935); Mutiny on the Bounty (1935); and Only Angels Have Wings (1939).
March 6 celebrates Guy Kibbee’s birthday from 6 am to 8 pm:
Laughing Sinners (1931); Side Show (1931); Fireman, Save My Child (1932); The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932); Girl Missing (1933); Havana Widows (1933); The Silk Express (1933); Big Hearted Sweetheart (1934); Harold Teen (1934); The Merry Wives of Reno (1934).
I received a Warner Archive copy of The Strange Love of Molly Louvain for Christmas and definitely hang a star by it for my fellow pre-code fans. Otherwise I’ve recorded a couple of these in the past but haven’t yet seen any of the others.
Guy Kibbee was born March 6, 1882
That same evening, March 6, TCM airs 5 featuring Jean Arthur. Beginning right after The Merry Wives of Reno at 8 pm: The Talk of the Town (1942); History is Made at Night (1937); The Public Menace (1935); The More the Merrier (1943); and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936).
PS: History is Made at Night is playing on Hulu right now!
Several big classics among the Jean Arthur titles, but I most look forward to The Public Menace which I’ve never seen. Very few IMDb votes too, so I’m guessing this is a rare one!
Saturday morning, March 10, TCM leaves The Lone Wolf series behind to begin the Boston Blackie series starring Chester Morris. Meet Boston Blackie (1941) airs at 10:45 am on March 10 with Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941) following after a one-week break on March 24 and Alias Boston Blackie (1942) on March 31. The perfect choice of series to follow The Lone Wolf!
March 12 daytime programming (7:30 am to 8 pm) is given over to the films of William Wellman:
Frisco Jenny (1932); The Purchase Price (1932); Central Airport (1933); A Star Is Born (1937); The Ox-Bow Incident (1943); The Story of G.I. Joe (1945); Gallant Journey (1946); Lafayette Escadrille (1958).
What a great start to the day with excellent Ruth Chatterton and Barbara Stanwyck pre-codes. Later we get to the better known pictures but finish kind of soft.
March 15 celebrates George Brent’s birthday with a block of 4 titles in the afternoon. Beginning at 1:45 pm: The Golden Arrow (1936); Racket Busters (1938); Secrets of an Actress (1938); The Great Lie (1941).
Brent was born March 15, 1899.
That same night, March 15, TCM breaks out a block of four titles directed by John Ford. Beginning at 8 pm: Drums Along the Mohawk (1939); The Whole Town’s Talking (1935); Mary of Scotland (1936); Stagecoach (1939); Flesh (1932).
Drums Along the Mohawk is one I only first caught a couple of years ago, but I’ve watched the Revolutionary War based movie featuring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert a few times since then. It grows on me a bit more each time I watch. Looking most forward to Flesh here though, a title I’ve never seen featuring Wallace Beery along with favorites Ricardo Cortez and Karen Morley.
Daytime March 27 is interesting. It begins at 6 am with Beyond the Rocks (1922) and Father Takes a Wife (1941), both featuring Gloria Swanson, who was born on March 27, 1899. Then at 9 am, some unrelated titles: The Right to Romance (1933); His Greatest Gamble (1934); Adventure in Manhattan (1936). Then beginning at 1 pm through 8 pm, a run of 4 titles starring Irene Dunne: Over 21 (1945); Joy of Living (1938); Sweet Adeline (1935); Stingaree (1934).
Early March 28 TCM celebrates the birthday of Immortal Ephemera favorite, Freddie Bartholomew between 6 am and noon with the following: David Copperfield (1935); The Devil Is a Sissy (1936); Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936).
As I’ve already covered the first two, I’m going to try and get an article up about Little Lord Fauntleroy prior to the 28th. These are all wonderful but make sure you record the least well-known of the bunch, The Devil Is a Sissy, because it doesn’t air nearly as much as the two literary classics.
Freddie was born March 28, 1924.
TCM March 2012 Elsewhere:
You can check out highlights of March 2012 on TCM from a different perspective at both Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings and Thrilling Days of Yesteryear.
I’m sure several other classic film sites will take a deeper look at TCM’s March 2012 schedule as well. If you’re one of them, feel free to let us know when your post is up in the comments section down below.
TCM March 2012 Decade Tally
Recently I counted up all of the titles TCM was airing through February and listed the totals by decade. I did it again for March. I left out the first two days of the month because technically they’re still part of TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar promotion and they were already counted in my prior count. The list is limited to movies (no documentaries for example) and if it airs twice it’s counted twice. Here’s the March tally:
98 – 1950’s
94 – 1960’s
81 – 1940’s
74 – 1930’s
14 – 1970’s
8 – 1980’s
6 – 1920’s
1- 1910’s
1 – 1990’s
To date, January 1-March 31, 2012:
297 – 1950’s
283 – 1940’s
246 – 1960’s
181 – 1930’s
63 – 1970’s
35 – 1980’s
19 – 1920’s
4 – 1990’s
3 – 1910’s
The 50’s leapfrogged the 40’s in March with the 60’s gaining as well.
If you’re especially revved up about any titles airing on TCM in March, feel free to tell me about it below–subscribers click HERE and scroll down to comment.
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