July 2013 TCM Preview – A Look Inside My Now Playing Guide

July on Turner Classic Movies features Austrian-born Paul Henreid, best remembered as Victor Laszlo in Casablanca (1942), as Star of the Month. Casablanca is just one of 27 different films featuring Henreid which TCM will play over five Tuesday evenings in July.

Other July highlights on TCM include a Friday Night Spotlight featuring 21 different movies from Francois Truffaut. David Edelstein of New York Magazine will host this weekly tribute to the acclaimed French New Wave filmmaker. Monday nights bring the much anticipated "Carson on TCM" series of classic film related interviews conducted by Johnny Carson throughout his 30 years as host of The Tonight Show. And the evening of July 24 is given over to celebrate Mel Brooks, the winner of this year’s AFI Life Achievement Award.

As long as you turn on TCM throughout the month you won’t miss any of those heavily promoted features. Let’s turn to my Now Playing guide though and see what extra little gems we can find tucked throughout TCM’s July schedule.

The Disclaimer

These picks are based upon Turner Classic Movies' US schedule (most also air in Canada). Any times mentioned are all EST because that's what TCM uses inside my Now Playing Guide and that's what I use when I set the clocks here on Long Island. The days are TCM's own slightly screwy time periods, typically beginning at 6 am and working through to the following morning at the same time.

TCM in July, Quickie Edition

Most Exciting Day: John Gilbert day on July 10. Nine films including five talkies to celebrate Gilbert’s July 10 date of birth.

Top Pick: I’m pretty high on The Woman in White (1948) right now, but in case you just caught it as part of Eleanor Parker month in June (it airs again July 25) I’ll point to several other titles that I'm excited to see return to the schedule: The Ghost Ship (1943) on July 6, Trade Winds (1938) on July 10, No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) on July 13, Fear (1946) on July 29 and The Merry Wives of Reno (1934) on July 31.

Most Wanted: Nancy Carroll in Child of Manhattan (1933), July 18.

Most Exciting Day is self-explanatory. If you want me to recommend a sick day from work, it'll be that day! Top Pick being those I have seen and would push you down on my couch and force you to watch if you even hint that you haven't seen it! Most Wanted being those I have to the best of my knowledge never seen but will be sure to check out this month.

TCM in July, Full Version

July 1 is Canada Day and TCM celebrates with lots of Mounties and lumberjacks. River’s End (1930) starring Charles Bickford and Evalyn Knapp has been on my want list for awhile. It airs at 7:15 am and is followed by a 1924 silent short starring Baby Peggy, Peg O’ the Mounted, at 8:30 that morning. Do check out Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables (1934) soon after, at 9 am.

Tuesday, July 2 features a marathon of movies that cinematographer Jack Cardiff worked on and finishes up with the 2010 documentary, Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, at 6:30 pm.

Mostly more modern classics airing throughout the day on Wednesday, July 3, highlighted by a pair from Sam Pekinpah, Ride the High Country (1962) at 10:15 am and Major Dundee (1965) at 1:30 pm.

Thursday, July 4 features TCM’s annual 24 hours of Independence Day themed programming. It opens with Revolutionary Cary Grant in The Howards of Virginia (1940) at 6:15 am and includes standards such as 1776 (1972, 1:30 am) and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, 5:30 pm). Do try to check out Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! (1935) at 10:45 that evening, as it’s an interesting warm-up for several future Hardy family cast members and includes strong work from Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore as well.

I’ve wanted to see Sh! The Octopus (1937) for awhile now, even if I haven’t thought it was worth actually spending money to see. Maybe when I finally get to watch it, Friday, July 5 at 6:15 am on TCM, I’ll change my mind an open my very tight wallet. Stand by for Action (1942) is an interesting one featuring Charles Laughton and Robert Taylor, though I remember it getting a bit odd when a large collection of babies wind up on board their battleship! It airs at 12:30 that afternoon if you want to check it out.

The Falcon and Lassie are still hanging around on Saturday mornings as of July 6. Earlier that morning there’s an interesting and important outing for one of my faves, Richard Dix, in The Ghost Ship (1943) at 6 am. According to Dan Van Neste, author of The Whistler: Stepping Into the Shadows, Dix’s effective outing as a villain in this film led to Harry Cohn casting him in The Whistler series.

Most of Sunday, July 7 is spent in the ‘50s, though they do follow 8 pm feature The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) with 1936’s The Devil Doll --always fun to see a creepy Lionel Barrymore in drag. The Sunday Silent features Douglas Fairbanks in one of his most famous swashbuckling roles, The Thief of Bagdad (1924), at midnight.

Monday, July 8 is a beach movie day. It concludes with Bikini Beach (1964) and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), an unannounced mini-tribute to the recently deceased Annette Funicello.

It’s not his birthday, but TCM features 8 movies starring Glenn Ford throughout the day on Tuesday, July 9. Set the alarm for highlights Gilda (1946) at 6 am and The Big Heat (1953) at 9:15 that morning.

It is a birthday celebration for John Gilbert (1897-1936) on Wednesday, July 10 with 9 movies airing throughout the day in a schedule split between silent films and early talkies. I am disappointed that the fantastic Gentleman’s Fate (1931) is not amongst that group of talkies, but excited that Gilbert’s final film, The Captain Hates the Sea (1934), is included. It caps the celebration at 6:30 pm. It should be a great day for Eve Golden, whose recently published Gilbert biography should garner additional interest in response to nearly 12 hours of Gilbert programming on TCM. I’m looking forward to picking up my own copy sometime soon.

Once the Gilbert marathon concludes Robert Osborne’s picks take over the evening. Robert brings back Tay Garnett’s exciting Trade Winds (1938) featuring Fredric March and Joan Bennett at 9:30 pm. This was probably my favorite new find back when TCM played an entire evening of Bennett movies a couple of years ago.

Thursday, July 11 features a 8 movie Tab Hunter (born 1931) birthday marathon. A 5-film tribute to the late Ray Harryhausen plays that evening with an all-time personal favorite, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956), buried deep in the evening at 2 am.

Movies featuring Joanne Dru play all day, Friday, July 12, beginning at 6 am with a powerhouse quartet of Red River (1948), All the King’s Men (1949), and a popular pair from John Ford, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Wagon Master (1950).

Before The Falcon’s Alibi or TCM’s final Lassie offering, The Painted Hills (1951), play on Saturday, July 13, comes the violent British film noir No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) starring an often frightening Jack La Rue with Linden Travers. I included this title amongst my Favorite Discoveries for 2012 over at Rupert Pupkin Speaks.

Silent Sunday gives an opportunity to see Max Linder at midnight in Seven Years Bad Luck (1921). Linder is mostly remembered for his influence on the legendary silent clowns who followed him, so it will be nice to actually see him in action in a well-regarded title. Seven Years Bad Luck is followed by Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (1925) at 1:15 am on a night where all films feature “seven” in the title.

Don’t miss a pretty nasty Robert Taylor in The Last Hunt (1956) at 11 am on Monday, July 15. It’s one of six films directed by Richard Brooks that airs that day.

The uneven career of Lewis Milestone is celebrated on Tuesday, July 16, with a marathon of seven films that he directed. The selections are all over the place with pre-Code steamer Rain (1932) starting the day at 6 am, followed by the bizarre Jolson musical, Hallelujah, I’m a Bum (1933) at 7:45 am. The romantic comedy Lucky Partners (1940, 9:15 am) starring Ronald Colman and Ginger Rogers is one of my favorites on the schedule, right there with war classic A Walk in the Sun (1945, 1 pm), but others may be partial to later Milestone entries Pork Chop Hill (1959, 3 pm) or Mutiny on the Bounty (1962, 4:45 pm). Somehow All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) is not among the selections.

Wednesday, July 17 begins with Mervyn LeRoy newspaper drama Unholy Partners (1941) at 6 am. Edward G. Robinson and Edward Arnold star.

More Robinson on Thursday, July 18 in the hilarious mobster comedy Larceny, Inc. (1942). Ann Harding and William Powell co-star in Double Harness (1933) at 6 am, but the highlight of the day is the rarely shown Nancy Carroll vehicle, Child of Manhattan (1933) at 12:15 that afternoon. Child of Manhattan is based on a play by Preston Sturges, who then takes over the remaining daylight hours with some of the more famous films he directed: Christmas in July (1940), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) and Harold Lloyd in The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947). The theme actually continues at 8 pm with the first choice from guest programmer Frank Rich, The Palm Beach Story (1942), at 8 pm.

Baseball movies all day Friday, July 19. The day opens with a trio starring Joe E. Brown, Fireman, Save My Child (1932), Elmer the Great (1933) and Alibi Ike (1935), that last one quite a bit of fun despite achieving slight notoriety as the unlikely film debut for Olivia De Havilland. The DVR choice for the day is baseball murder mystery Death on the Diamond (1934) starring Robert Young and Madge Evans. Others airing that day include the usual round-up of biopics: The Babe Ruth Story (1948, 11 am), The Jackie Robinson Story (1950, 2:30 pm) and Ronald Reagan as Grover Cleveland Alexander in The Winning Team (1952, 6 pm), which is probably the best baseball movie of these baseball movies. Rounding out the day are the comedies It Happens Every Spring (1949, 1 pm) and Angels in the Outfield (1951, 4 pm).

While The Falcon returns once more on Saturday, July 20, Lassie has moved on to be replaced by The Mummy (1959). With August soon interrupting the Saturday morning series schedule, I cannot yet tell if this is the beginning of a general Mummy theme or a more desirable run of Hammer horror. It could go either way based on the title showing the following Saturday, so we can’t be certain until TCM posts its September schedule. (Looks like the answer is neither--Nick Carter does continue as of September 7, but the Mummy disappears to be replaced by Flipper).

A key title missing from Friday’s baseball marathon actually airs on Sunday morning, July 21 at 8 am: Jimmy Stewart in The Stratton Story (1949). This one, along with The Winning Team, makes my own Top 3 list of baseball movies. They both jockey interchangeably behind all-time champ The Pride of the Yankees (1942), which now becomes noticeably absent from TCM’s July schedule!

Monday, July 22 starts off with a pair directed by Busby Berkeley, Hollywood Hotel (1937, 6 am) and Garden of the Moon (1938, 8 am), and keeps the bands and bandleaders coming all day long. Between 9:45 and 10:45 am comes an intriguing hour of shorts including performances by bands led by Artie Shaw, Ozzie Nelson, and Roger Wolfe Kahn. The rest of the day includes movies featuring Kay Kyser, Cab Calloway and Glenn Miller, among others. After that evening’s installment of Johnny Carson interviews TCM sticks to the musicals with five starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

June meets July when the current Star of the Month, Paul Henreid, is paired in back to back films with June’s Star of the Month, Eleanor Parker, in Of Human Bondage (1946) and Between Two Worlds (1944) beginning at 8 pm, Tuesday, July 23.

Strong double feature from director John Frankenheimer during the afternoon of July 24, with The Manchurian Candidate (1962) at 1:30 pm followed by Seven Days in May (1964) at 3:45.

Twins, mostly evil, are the focus on Thursday, July 25. Highlights include Laurel and Hardy in Our Relations (1936, 8 am) and Garbo’s final film, Two-Faced Woman (1941, 9:30 am). For horror fans there is Karloff in The Black Room (1935) at 6:30 am and George Zucco with Mary Carlisle and Dwight Frye in the super low budgeted Dead Men Walk (1943) at 11:15 am. Our previous Star of the Month, Eleanor Parker, is back in what was my own favorite discovery during June’s tribute, The Woman in White (1948) at 2:30 pm. Later that evening Bonita Granville causes trouble in the original adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s These Three (1936, 12:15 am) starring Merle Oberon, Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea.

Friday, July 26 begins with four from director Sidney Lanfield, including Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth teamed in You’ll Never Get Rich (1941, 6 am), followed by three from Joseph L. Mankiewicz finishing with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier in No Way Out (1950) at 6 pm.

Saturday, July 27 sees Walter Pidgeon steps into the morning private eye slot as Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939) at 10:45 am. That’s followed by Hammer’s The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964) at 12 noon.

‘50s family fare most of the day Sunday, July 28, with the Sunday Silent Phantom (1922) coming courtesy of F.W. Murnau and offering an opportunity to see popular Hungarian actress Lya De Putti on screen.

An interesting mix of movies throughout the day Monday, July 29, a day that actually wraps up with a double-feature of lesser seen Warren William titles! Warren is misused and barely on camera in the 1937 Madame X remake starring Gladys George, but I think you’ll find 1946 Monogram thriller Fear (1946) an interesting poverty row take on Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Other items of interest that Monday include Kings Row (1942, 3:15 pm), which deserves to be remembered for more than Ronald Reagan’s legs, and my beloved Hardy family in Judge Hardy and Son (1939, 8 am). Also on the schedule that day is Edward G. Robinson starring in the fine biopic Dr. Erlich’s Magic Bullet (1940) at 1:30 pm.

No discernible theme for Tuesday, July 30, but highlights include Fritz Lang’s Rancho Notorious (1952) at 8:30 am; the blazing color of London Films' classic The Thief of Bagdad (1940) at 10 am; and Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956) later that afternoon, at 5:45 pm.

A Reno theme finishes the month which besides being highlighted by The Women (1939) at 11:15 am also dusts off former Saturday morning friend Ann Sothern for Maisie Goes to Reno (1944) at 3 pm; gives another opportunity to see Richard Dix bring the town its reputation in Reno (1940) at 7:15 am; and opens at 6 am with a wild Warner’s pre-Code gem, The Merry Wives of Reno (1934) starring several favorites: Guy Kibbee, Glenda Farrell, Margaret Lindsay, Hugh Herbert, Frank McHugh, Ruth Donnelly, etc. The evening features five from director Douglas Sirk opening with 1954’s Magnificent Obsession.

August sees the return of my favorite of TCM’s annual traditions, Summer Under the Stars. Last year this was the busiest month on the blog, and while 2013 doesn’t include as many of my own favorites as 2012 had, I can still promise you plenty of posts to help give a little extra flavor to some of TCM’s daily picks.

More on Summer Under the Stars as we get closer to August.

I expect Kristina will soon have her July Guide to Classics on TV up at the Speakeasy soon -- look for the link at the top of her page as it will guide you to several additional TCM in July previews. For an in depth look at the coming "Carson on TCM" feature see Will McKinley's Cinematically Insane.