Mickey Rooney TCM Star of the Month December 2010

I last wrote about Mickey Rooney in detail back in September when the living legend celebrated his 90th birthday. TCM celebrated the milestone with a day of Rooney movies, but the month of December offers an even greater celebration for fans of Rooney with a total of 70 films spread over five 24 hour marathons beginning at 6 a.m. each Thursday throughout the month!

You get young Mickey Rooney all December 2nd. In fact the first time I saw this schedule the Rooney connection didn’t even click in my head, originally I just thought it was a day of random pre-codes! Mick’s part isn’t very big in most of the day time offerings, though as the years and his career progress toward the evening he becomes more integral to each of the films. Be sure to catch The Devil is a Sissy at 2 am (or, okay, record it), a bizarre fun little flick I’ve talked about in brief before featuring Rooney on the rise with Jackie Cooper just a tad past his prime and starring Freddie Bartholomew while at his peak.

The centerpiece of the December schedule comes mid-month when all 16 of the films featuring Rooney as Andy Hardy air in what appears to be reverse order on December 16-17. Other highlights include Mickey Rooney musicals on December 9, most featuring Judy Garland as well, and a trio of films starring Spencer Tracy late in the night of December 23. While the later Rooney pictures on the 30th don’t do too much for me, there are more than enough gems sprinkled throughout the month to make me very happy.

Films I’ll be looking forward to viewing for the first time include Ah, Wilderness! on the 2nd and The Human Comedy on the 23rd. Favorites I’ll be sure to catch again are topped by Little Lord Fauntleroy, which a poorly timed cable malfunction ruined for me last time around, as well as the young Huck Finn and Tom Edison biopics.

Following is the complete schedule of 70 Mickey Rooney films airing throughout December on Turner Classic Movies:

Thursday, December 2

6:00 am The Beast of the City (1932) starring Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford
7:30 am Broadway to Hollywood (1933) starring Frank Morgan, Alice Brady, Jackie Cooper
9:00 am The Chief (1933) starring Ed Wynn, Dorothy Mackaill, Chic sale
10:15 am The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Loretta Young, Fifi D’Orsay
11:45 am Blind Date (1934) starring Ann Sothern, Neil Hamilton, Paul Kelly
1:00 pm Death on the Diamond (1934) starring Robert Young, Madge Evans, Mickey Rooney
2:15 pm Hide-Out (1934) starring Robert Montgomery, Maureen O’Sullivan, Mickey Rooney
3:45 pm Manhattan Melodrama (1934) starring Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy
5:30 pm Upperworld (1934) starring Warren William, Mary Astor, Ginger Rogers
6:45 pm Down the Stretch (1936) starring Mickey Rooney, Patricia Ellis, Dennis Moore
8:00 pm A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) starring James Cagney, Dick Powell, Mickey Rooney
10:30 pm Ah, Wilderness (1935) starring Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Mickey Rooney
12:15 am Riffraff (1936) starring Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy, Joseph Calleia
2:00 am The Devil Is A Sissy (1936) starring Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper, Mickey Rooney
4:00 am Live, Love and Learn (1937) starring Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Robert Benchley

Thursday, December 9

6:00 am Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) starring Freddie Bartholomew, C. Aubrey Smith, Mickey Rooney
8:00 am Hold That Kiss (1938) starring Maureen O’Sullivan, Dennis O’Keefe, Mickey Rooney
9:30 am Lord Jeff (1938) starring Freddie Bartholomew, Mickey Rooney, Charles Coburn
11:00 am Love Is a Headache (1938) starring Franchot Tone, Gladys George, Mickey Rooney
12:30 pm A Yank at Eton (1942) starring Mickey Rooney, Freddie Bartholomew, Ian Hunter
2:30 pm Killer McCoy (1947) starring Mickey Rooney, Ann Blyth, Brian Donlevy
4:30 pm The Big Wheel (1949) starring Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Spring Byington
6:30 pm Quicksand (1950) starring Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lorre
8:00 pm Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry (1937) starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Sophie Tucker
9:30 pm Babes in Arms (1939) starring Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger
11:15 pm Strike Up the Band (1940) starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Paul Whiteman
1:30 am Babes on Broadway (1941) starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Virginia Weidler
3:45 am Girl Crazy (1943) starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Guy Kibbee
5:30 am Words and Music (1948) starring Mickey Rooney, Janet Leigh, Tom Drake

Thursday, December 16

6:00 am Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958) starring Mickey Rooney, Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker
7:30 am Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Bonita Granville
9:15 am Andy Hardy’s Blonde Trouble (1944) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Bonita Granville
11:15 am The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Donna Reed
1:00 pm Andy Hardy’s Double Trouble (1942) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Esther Williams
2:45 pm Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Judy Garland
4:30 pm Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Kathryn Grayson
6:15 pm Andy Hardy Meets the Debutante (1940) starring Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Lewis Stone
8:00 pm Judge Hardy and Son (1939) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Fay Holden
9:45 pm Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939) starring Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
11:30 pm The Hardys Ride High (1939) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Cecilia Parker
1:00 am Out West With the Hardys (1938) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Virginia Weidler
2:30 am Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Judy Garland
4:15 am Judge Hardy’s Children (1938) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Ann Rutherford
5:45 am You’re Only Young Once (1938) starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Cecilia Parker
7:15 am A Family Affair (1936) starring Lionel Barrymore, Spring Byington, Mickey Rooney

Thursday, December 23

6:00 am A Slight Case of Larceny (1953) starring Mickey Rooney, Eddie Bracken, Elaine Stewart
7:30 am All Ashore (1953) starring Mickey Rooney, Dick Haymes, Peggy Ryan
9:00 am The Extraordinary Seaman (1969) starring David Niven, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda
10:30 am Sound Off (1952) starring Mickey Rooney, Anne James, Sammy White
12:00 pm Operation Mad Ball (1957) starring Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Mickey Rooney
2:00 pm Young Tom Edison (1940) starring Mickey Rooney, Fay Bainter, Virginia Weidler
3:30 pm National Velvet (1944) starring Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp
6:00 pm The Black Stallion (1979) starring Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr
8:00 pm The Human Comedy (1943) starring Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig
10:15 pm The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939) starring Mickey Rooney, Rex Ingram, William Frawley
12:00 am Boys Town (1938) starring Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Henry Hull
2:00 am Men of Boys Town (1941) starring Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Bobs Watson
4:00 am Captains Courageous (1937) starring Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew, Lionel Barrymore

Thursday, December 30

6:00 am My Outlaw Brother (1951) starring Mickey Rooney, Wanda Hendrix, Robert Stack
7:30 am Drive a Crooked Road (1954) starring Mickey Rooney, Diane Foster, Kevin McCarthy
9:00 am The Last Mile (1959) starring Mickey Rooney, Clifford David, Frank Conroy
10:30 am King of the Roaring 20s: The Story of Arnold Rothstein (1961) starring David Janssen, Dianne Foster, Mickey Rooney
12:30 pm The Secret Invasion (1964) starring Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney
2:30 pm Ambush Bay (1966) starring Hugh O’Brian, Mickey Rooney, James Mitchum
4:30 pm It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) starring Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar
8:00 pm The Strip (1951) starring Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest, William Demarest
9:30 pm Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney
11:00 pm Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal
1:00 am The Comic (1969) starring Dick Van Dyke, Michele Lee, Mickey Rooney
3:00 am Pulp (1972) starring Michael Caine, Mickey Rooney, Lizabeth Scott