Clear out the DVR, it’s once again time for TCM’s annual 31 Days of Oscar line-up. This year, the theme is the history of the Oscars. As always, every movie shown during these 31 days is either an Oscar winner or nominee. During the day, movies will be grouped together based on genre, but each night in prime time, the movies will reflect a couple of years in film history with at least one Best Picture winner being shown. The evening line-ups will work their way through Oscar history chronologically, from the first years to the most recent. I’m sure this will be a “love it or hate it” theme with many TCM viewers, particularly near the end of the event when modern movies are being shown in prime time. Personally, I don’t mind this since most of the Oscar nominees I haven’t seen are from the more modern era, so this gives me a chance to catch some of those.
Now, let’s get to the schedule.
February 1: Since it’s Day 1 of 31 Days of Oscar, we’re starting with the very early years of Oscar nominees. Tonight’s prime time lineup includes Wings at 10:00 PM, All Quiet on the Western Front at 12:45 AM, Cimarron at 3:00 AM, and The Broadway Melody at 5:15 AM.
February 2: Get out your box of tissues, it’s a day of Oscar-nominated melodramas. There’s Random Harvest at 9:15 AM, Humoresque at 11:30 AM, The Great Lie at 1:45 PM, Magnificent Obsession at 3:45 PM, and Imitation of Life (1959) at 5:45 PM. Then it’s a night of Oscar winners/nominees from 1931-1934, including Little Women at 8:00 PM, 42nd Street at 10:00 PM, The Public Enemy at 11:45 PM, Grand Hotel at 1:30 AM, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at 3:30 AM.
February 4: Spectacular night of movies from 1936-1937, including Swing Time at 8:00 PM, The Awful Truth at 10:00 PM, Grand Illusion at 12:00 AM.
February 5: It’s a gangster theme during the day with Manhattan Melodrama at 6:00 AM, Little Caesar at 9:30 AM, and Bonnie and Clyde at 2:00 PM. For prime time, we have The Adventures of Robin Hood at 8:00 PM, You Can’t Take it With You at 12:00 AM, Four Daughters at 2:15 AM, and Boys Town at 4:00 AM.
February 6: The 400 Blows at 12:00 PM, Splendor in the Grass at 1:45 PM, Rebel Without a Cause at 4:00 PM, Wuthering Heights at 8:00 PM, Gone With the Wind at 10:00 PM.
February 7: Excellent prime time line up tonight! The Philadelphia Story at 8:00 PM, Here Comes Mr. Jordan at 10:00 PM, Citizen Kane at 11:45 PM, Mrs. Miniver at 2:00 AM, and The Great Dictator at 4:15 AM.
February 8: Casablanca at 10:00 PM, Gaslight at 12:00 AM, and Woman of the Year at 2:00 AM.
February 9: The Best Years of Our Lives at 8:00 PM, Laura at 1:00 AM, and Mildred Pierce at 3:00 AM.
February 10: Great schedule of mystery movies on during the day. Julie at 7:00 AM (Never seen that one, but I’m intrigued), Suspicion at 10:30 AM, The Fallen Idol at 2:15 PM, After the Thin Man at 4:00 PM, and Charade at 6:00 PM.
February 12: The Third Man at 9:30 PM, An American in Paris at 11:30 PM, Born Yesterday at 1:30 AM, and Father of the Bride at 3:30 AM.
February 13: During the day, there’s The Bad Seed at 11:00 AM, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane at 1:15 PM, The Birds at 3:45 PM. Then in prime time, we have How to Marry a Millionaire at 8:00 PM, Roman Holiday at 9:45 PM, From Here to Eternity at 12:00 AM, and A Place in the Sun at 2:15 AM.
February 14: Since it is Valentine’s Day, we have a lot of great romantic comedies on today. Vivacious Lady at 6:30 AM, Libeled Lady at 8:15 AM, Holiday at 10:00 AM, Adam’s Rib at 1:30 PM, and The More the Merrier at 3:30 PM.
February 15: If you love film noir, you’ll love today’s line-up of Johnny Eager at 7:00 AM, The Naked City at 10:45 AM, The Asphalt Jungle at 12:30 PM, The Blue Dahlia at 2:30 PM, The Maltese Falcon at 4:15 PM, and Key Largo at 6:00 PM.
February 16: Anatomy of a Murder at 8:00 PM, Pillow Talk at 11:00 PM, Gigi at 1:00 AM, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at 3:00 AM.
February 17: Where else but Turner Classic Movies can you see Ben-Hur (8:00 PM) followed by Psycho (12:00 AM)?
February 18: Tonight is a selection of movies from 1960-1962, including The Apartment at 8:00 PM, To Kill a Mockingbird at 10:15 PM, and The Hustler at 12:30 AM.
February 19: Here’s another “Only on TCM” type of line-up — Dr. Strangelove at 8:00 PM, The Sand Pebbles at 9:45 PM, A Man for All Seasons at 1:15 AM, A Hard Day’s Night at 3:30 AM, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at 5:00 AM.
February 20: I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang at 10:00 AM, White Heat at 11:30 AM, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at 8:00 PM.
February 21: Love today’s daytime schedule! Speedy at 6:15 AM, She Done Him Wrong at 7:45 AM, The Ladykillers at 9:00 AM, A Day at the Races at 10:45 AM, Way Out West at 12:45 PM, Ruggles of Red Gap at 2:00 PM, Auntie Mame at 3:45 PM, and The Producers at 6:15 PM. Later tonight are Klute at 3:45 AM and Cabaret at 5:45 PM.
February 23: Very happy to see Barry Lyndon included in this year’s schedule, even if it is on at 2:30 AM. I’s one of the very few Stanley Kubrick movies I haven’t seen.
February 28: Wait Until Dark at 10:45 AM, Strangers on a Train at 2:00 PM, and Shadow of a Doubt at 3:45 PM.
