Carter Stevens' Guide to TCM This Week (March 6-12)

The 31 days of Oscar is over but not so you would notice...


March 6

6:00am Rhapsody In Blue (1945)
Fictionalized biography of George Gershwin and his fight to bring serious music to Broadway.
Cast: Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith, Charles Coburn Dir: Irving Rapper BW-141 mins, TV-PG

Horrible movie. Nothing to do with real life, but the music, the music!!!!

8:30am Ladykillers, The (1955)
An eccentric bandit gang moves into a little old lady's boardinghouse to plot a major heist.
Cast: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers Dir: Alexander Mackendrick BW-91 mins, TV-G

One of the great English Comedies. Remade as a horrible movie with Tom Hanks in buck teeth. See the original skip the remake (a good rule anyway)

5:30pm On the Beach(1959)
After a nuclear war, U.S. sailors stationed in Australia deal with the end of civilization.
Cast: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins Dir: Stanley Kramer BW-134 mins, TV-PG

One of the first and one of the best post Nuclear Apocalypse films. And Fred Astaire proves he can act with out dancing shoes on.

10:15pm Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
True story of boxer Rocky Graziano's rise from juvenile delinquent to world champ.
Cast: Joseph Buloff, Sal Mineo, Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart Dir: Robert Wise BW-114 mins, TV-PG

Paul Newman in one of his very best roles and they don't even list him. WTF is with that?


March 7

4:15am Killers, The (1946)
An insurance investigator uncovers a string of crimes when he tries to find a murdered boxer's beneficiary.
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker Dir: Robert Siodmak BW-102 mins, TV-14

Based on a Hemingway story that one of these days I'm going to have to read. Don't wait watch this terrific movie now.

8:00pm Oscar, The (1966)
An unscrupulous actor fights his way to the top, destroying everyone in his path.
Cast: Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, Milton Berle, Eleanor Parker Dir: Russell Rouse C-119 mins, TV-PG

What can I say, I've got the Hots for Elke Sommer.


March 8

9:45pm Jazz Singer, The (1927)
A cantor's son breaks with family tradition to go into show business.
Cast: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland, Eugenie Besserer Dir: Alan Crosland BW-89 mins, TV-G

11:30pm I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
A World War I veteran faces inhuman conditions when he's sentenced to hard labor.
Cast: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Noel Francis Dir: Mervyn Le Roy BW-93 mins, TV-PG

Two in a row. The one that changed movies forever followed by the one that changed the penal system forever.


March 9

5:00am Casablanca (1942)
An American saloon owner in North Africa is drawn into World War II when his lost love turns up.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains Dir: Michael Curtiz BW-103 mins, TV-PG

You've seen it 30 times, come on admit it you want to see it again.

10:30pm Throne of Blood (1957)
Spurred by his wife and a witch's prediction, a samurai murders his lord to steal the throne.
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki Dir: Akira Kurosawa BW-110 mins, TV-14

Kurosawa does Shakespeare proud.


March 10

Fred Astaire night...7 movies in a row...Sorry not my cup of tea. I'm a Gene Kelly guy. But if you dig Astaire this is your night. Enjoy.


March 11

2:00am Road to Singapore (1940)
A runaway tycoon and his sailor buddy try to con their way through the South Seas.
Cast: Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Bob Hope, Charles Coburn Dir: Victor Schertzinger BW-85 mins, TV-G

Hit the road with Hope and Crosby. It's a fun trip.


March 12

4:15pm Walk, Don't Run (1966)
Set during the Tokyo Olympics, one of three unlikely housemates plays matchmaker with the other two.
Cast: Cary Grant, Samantha Eggar, Jim Hutton, John Standing Dir: Charles Walters C-114 mins, TV-G

Cary Grant's last gasp. But I would still take him over Jim Hutton if I was gay.

12:30am Them! (1954)
Federal agents fight to destroy a colony of mutated giant ants.
Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness Dir: Gordon Douglas BW-93 mins, TV-PG

Still the best atomic mutation monsters film ever made. I saw it in the theater when it first came out And when that little girl screams, “THEM” I still almost wet my pants.