Happy April, everyone! Looking at this month’s TCM lineup, I can honestly say there isn’t much here I don’t like. Instead of having just one star of the month, this month, the spotlight goes to character actors. Every Tuesday and Thursday night, the prime-time lineup will be dedicated to highlighting some of film’s most memorable character actors. Since I’m a sucker for a good melodrama, I’m really looking forward to the spotlight on post-war melodramas every Friday. Plus there are lots of great birthday tributes throughout the month and the recently-launched Noir Alley feature on Sunday mornings to look forward to.
Now, onto my highlights for the month!
April 1: Where else but Turner Classic Movies can you spend an afternoon watching The Wolf Man at 12:00 PM, Vertigo at 1:45 PM, Children of the Damned at 4:15 PM, and Young Frankenstein at 6:00 PM? Since it’s April Fool’s Day, we have a night of great comedies tonight with Sleeper at 8:00 PM, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World at 9:45 PM, and To Be or Not to Be at 12:45 AM.
April 2: All sorts of great things on today! The Blue Gardenia at 10:00 AM, Call Northside 777 at 12:00 PM, The Innocents at 2:15 PM, Shadow of the Doubt at 6:00 PM, The Manchurian Candidate at 8:00 PM, The Circle at 12:30 AM, The 400 Blows at 2:00 AM, and Day for Night at 4:00 AM.
April 3: It’s the birthday of both Marlon Brando and Doris Day, so it’s a dual birthday tribute today. For Brando, there’s The Teahouse of the August Moon at 6:00 AM, Reflections in a Golden Eye at 8:15 AM, A Streetcar Named Desire at 10:15 AM. Then it’s Doris’s turn with It’s a Great Feeling at 12:30 PM, Tea for Two at 2:15 PM, Calamity Jane at 4:00 PM, and The Tunnel of Love at 6:00 PM. In prime time, it’s a night of Faye Dunaway with the premiere of her interview from last year’s TCM Classic Film Festival (which was fantastic) at 8:00 PM, followed by Bonnie and Clyde at 9:15 PM, Network at 12:30 AM, The Arrangement at 2:45 AM, and The Champ at 5:00 AM.
April 4: Tonight we have the first night of character actors with Gold Diggers of 1933 at 8:00 PM, Holiday at 10:00 PM, Fifth Avenue Girl at 12:00 AM, Turnabout at 1:45 AM.
April 6: Happy birthday to Walter Huston! See him in Gabriel Over the White House at 7:45 AM, Kongo at 9:30 AM, Night Court at 11:15 AM, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre at 5:45 PM. Then it’s time for more character actors with One Man’s Journey at 8:00 PM, Sing and Like It at 9:45 PM, David Copperfield at 11:15 PM, and The Bride Walks Out at 1:45 AM.
April 7: Up for a day of melodrama? You’ve got a whole day of it with King’s Row at 9:00 AM, East Side West Side at 11:15 AM, Some Came Running at 1:15 PM, The Bad and the Beautiful at 3:45 PM, The Goddess at 6:00 PM, Love Letters at 8:00 PM, The Best Years of Our Lives at 10:15 PM, The End of the Affair at 1:30 AM, and From Here to Eternity at 3:45 AM.
April 10: Robert Osborne chose tonight’s lineup before he passed away. Tonight, there’s Tales of Manhattan at 8:00 PM, O. Henry’s Full House at 10:15 PM, The Seventh Veil at 12:30 AM, The Story of Three Loves at 2:15 AM, and Dead of Night at 4:30 AM.
April 11: Ready for more character actors? Tonight we have The Lady Eve, The Bride Came C.O.D. at 10:00 PM, George Washington Slept Here at 12:00 AM, Woman of the Year at 1:45 AM.
April 12: Head to the beach tonight with Frankie Avalon with Beach Party at 10:00 PM and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine at 2:00 AM.
April 13: Character actors return with Babes in Arms at 8:00 PM, Topper Takes a Trip at 10:00 PM, Journey for Margaret at 11:45 PM, Sister Kenny at 1:30 AM.
April 14: I’m a big fan of today’s schedule! Old Acquaintance at 6:00 AM, Pillow to Post at 8:15 AM, Harriet Craig at 12:00 PM, Mildred Pierce at 1:45 PM, Picnic at 5:45 PM, Imitation of Life (1959) at 8:00 PM, Magnificent Obsession at 10:30 PM, All That Heaven Allows at 12:45 AM, The Tarnished Angels at 2:30 AM, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at 4:15 PM.
April 15: It’s almost Easter, so why not have a few bunnies? Harvey at 8:00 PM, The Rabbit Trap at 10:00 PM, and Night of the Lepus at 11:30 PM.
April 16: Happy Easter, everyone! Enjoy a day of Biblical films like Barabbas at 11:30 AM, Ben-Hur (1959) at 2:00 PM, The Robe at 8:00 PM, King of Kings at 10:30 PM, and Ben-Hur (1925) at 1:30 AM. There’s also Easter Parade at 6:00 PM, but that’s not exactly biblical.
April 18: There’s a pretty stellar lineup of horror movies on TCM today with M at 6:00 AM, The Night of the Hunter at 8:00 AM, Gaslight at 1:30 PM, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane at 3:30 PM, and Shock Corridor at 6:00 PM. Then it’s back to character actors with Gentleman Jim at 8:00 PM, The Human Comedy at 10:00 PM, The Song of Bernadette at 12:15 AM, and Janie at 3:15 AM.
April 19: Spent an evening with Claude Rains. See him in The Invisible Man at 8:00 PM, Stolen Holiday at 9:30 PM, Juarez at 11:15 PM, They Won’t Forget at 1:30 AM, They Made Me at Criminal at 3:30 AM, and Hearts Divided at 5:15 PM.
April 20: It’s a day full of movies written by the great Frances Marion with Blondie of the Follies at 6:45 AM, Knight Without Armour at 10:00 AM, Anna Christie at 12:00 PM, Camille at 1:45 PM, The Big House at 4:00 PM, and Dinner at Eight at 5:45 PM. Then it’s back to character actors with On the Town at 8:00 PM, By the Light of the Silvery Moon at 10:00 PM, The Long Long Trailer at 12:00 AM, and Rear Window at 4:15 AM.
April 21: Get your tissues ready for more melodramas today with Possessed (1947) at 3:45 PM, Dear Heart at 5:45 PM, An Affair to Remember at 8:00 PM, Brief Encounter at 10:15 PM, Humoresque at 12:00 AM, Autumn Leaves at 2:15 AM, and Queen Bee at 4:30 AM.
April 24: Today, TCM plays tribute to two living legends: Shirley Maclaine and Barbra Streisand. Shirley get the day with The Trouble With Harry at 9:00 AM, Around the World in 80 Days at 11:00 AM, The Sheepman at 2:15 PM, Two Loves at 4:00 PM, and The Yellow Rolls-Royce at 5:45 PM. Then it’s Streisand’s turn with Funny Girl at 8:00 PM, The Way We Were at 11:00 PM, Yentl at 1:15 AM, and A Star is Born at 3:45 AM.
April 25: Ready for more character actors? Today we get The Fighting Sullivans at 8:00 PM, A Kiss in the Dark at 10:15 PM, The Green Promise at 12:00 AM, and Tea for Two at 1:45 AM.
April 26: Now this is a fantastic lineup! Speedy at 6:00 AM, The Clock at 7:45 AM, 42nd Street at 9:30 AM, The Naked City at 11:15 AM, King Kong at 1:15 PM, All About Eve at 3:15 PM, Breakfast at Tiffany’s at 5:45 PM, In the Heat of the Night at 1:45 AM, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at 3:45 AM.
April 27: Good news, pre-code fans! It’s Ricardo Cortez day and that means lots of pre-codes. Torrent at 6:15 AM, The Younger Generation at 8:00 AM, The Maltese Falcon at 9:30 AM, Transgression at 11:00 AM, Flesh at 12:15 PM, The House on 56th Street at 2:00 PM, Midnight Mary at 3:15 PM, Phantom of Crestwood at 4:45 PM. Then it’s back to character actors with The Opposite Sex at 8:00 PM, Our Miss Brooks at 10:15 PM, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies at 12:00 AM, and Bells are Ringing at 2:15 AM.
April 28: Don’t put the tissues away just yet, there’s still one more day of melodramas. Johnny Belinda at 7:15 AM, Never Fear at 9:15 AM, A Summer Place at 10:45 AM, Splendor in the Grass at 1:15 PM, A Place in the Sun at 3:30 PM, East of Eden at 5:45 PM, Bigger Than Life at 8:00 PM, Come Back Little Sheba at 10:00 PM, About Mrs. Leslie at 12:00 AM, The Sandpiper at 2:00 AM, and Now Voyager at 4:15 AM.
April 30: April comes to an end with The Razor’s Edge at 12:00 PM, I Married a Witch at 2:45 PM, The Palm Beach Story at 6:15 PM, and Sparrows at 12:00 AM.
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