Break out the shoulder pads, eyebrow pencils, and Pepsi because Joan Crawford is the Star of the Month! A marathon of Joan Crawford movies will start every Thursday night at 8:00 PM and each week will focus on a different era of Joan’s career.
This month’s installment of Friday Night Spotlight will feature Science in the Movies and is going to be hosted by Dr. Sean Michael Carroll, PhD, a senior research associate at the California Institute of Technology’s Physics department.
Other noteworthy things happening in January include Judge Judy as Guest Programmer, a celebration of past and present recipients of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and 24 hours of movies by Columbia Pictures to commemorate the studio’s 90th anniversary. Now, let’s take a more detailed look at the line-up…
January 1: TCM starts 2014 off with It Should Happen to You at 6:30 AM, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at 8:00 AM, Notorious at 10:00 AM, Splendor in the Grass at 11:45 AM, The Thomas Crown Affair at 2:00 PM, Magnificent Obsession at 4:00 PM, and The Thrill of it All at 6:00 PM.
January 2: Tonight is Joan Crawford’s first night as Star of the Month. TCM is starting out with some of her early films like The Unknown at 8:00 PM, Our Dancing Daughters at 9:00 PM, Our Modern Maidens at 10:30 PM, Our Blushing Brides at 12:00 AM, Lady of the Night at 1:45 AM, The Boob at 3:00 AM, Spring Fever at 4:15 AM, and Across to Singapore at 5:45 AM.
January 3: Joan Crawford continues throughout the day with West Point at 7:15 AM, The Hollywood Revue of 1929 at 9:00 AM, Untamed at 11:00 AM, Montana Moon at 12:30 PM, Paid at 2:00 PM, Dance Fools Dance at 3:30 PM, Laughing Sinners at 5:00 PM, and Possessed (1931) at 6:15 PM. After that, it’s on to Friday Night Spotlight with Madame Curie at 8:00 PM, A Beautiful Mind at 10:15 PM, For All Mankind at 12:45 AM, Countdown at 2:15 AM, and Marooned at 4:15 AM.
January 5: It’s a Betty Grable double feature of How to Marry a Millionaire at 8:00 PM and Moon Over Miami at 10:00 PM, followed by some Fatty Arbuckle shorts at 12:00 AM.
January 6: Robert Osborne truly is the man of the night tonight! Not only do we get a night of movies personally selected by him, there is also the premiere of the special Private Screenings interview where Robert is interviewed by Alec Baldwin. The Private Screenings interview starts things off at 8:00 PM and is followed by The Third Man at 9:30 PM, Libeled Lady at 1:00 AM, Love Letters at 3:00 AM, and The Band Wagon at 5:00 AM.
January 7: TCM celebrates the 90th anniversary of Columbia Pictures with Lady for a Day at 7:00 AM, It Happened One Night at 8:45 AM, The Whole Town’s Talking at 10:30 AM, His Girl Friday at 12:15 PM, Cover Girl at 2:00 PM, Gilda at 4:00 PM, From Here to Eternity at 6:00 PM, On the Waterfront at 8:00 PM, The Way We Were at 10:00 PM, Gandhi at 12:15 AM, and Remains of the Day at 3:45 AM.
January 8: Happy birthday to Elvis! Today there’s Stay Away, Joe at 6:00 AM; Live a Little, Love a Little at 7:45 AM; Double Trouble at 9:15 AM; Spinout at 11:00 AM; Tickle Me at 12:45 PM; Girl Happy at 2:30 PM; Kissin’ Cousins at 4:15 PM; and It Happened at the World’s Fair at 6:00 PM.
January 9: Joan Crawford is back and this time, we’re getting a look at her era as an established star in the 1930s. Grand Hotel at 8:00 PM, Rain at 10:00 PM, Dancing Lady at 11:45 PM, Forsaking All Others at 1:30 AM, This Modern Age at 3:00 AM, and Today We Live at 4:30 AM.
January 10: 1930s Joan Crawford continues with Chained at 6:30 AM, Sadie McKee at 8:00 AM, I Live My Life at 9:45 AM, No More Ladies at 11:30 AM, The Gorgeous Hussy at 1:00 PM, Love on the Run at 3:00 PM, The Bride Wore Red at 4:30 PM, and The Last of Mrs. Cheyney at 6:15 PM. Then it’s back to Friday Night Spotlight with The Bride of Frankenstein at 8:00 PM, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) at 9:30 PM, The Thing From Another World at 11:30 PM, Forbidden Planet at 1:15 AM, and Solaris at 3:00 AM.
January 11: Tonight is a Frank Capra triple feature — It Happened One Night at 8:00 PM, Arsenic and Old Lace at 10:00 PM, and Lady for a Day at 12:15 AM.
January 12: Lots of great stuff on today! Silk Stockings 6:00 AM, Carousel at 8:00 AM, Victor/Victoria at 12:00 PM, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty at 6:00 PM, Gaslight at 10:00 PM, more Fatty Arbuckle shorts at 12:00 AM, and Cleo from 5 to 7 at 2:00 AM.
January 13: Happy birthday to Kay Francis! Street of Women at 6:00 AM, Another Dawn at 7:15 AM, Stolen Holiday at 8:30 AM, Secrets of an Actress at 10:00 AM, Women are Like That at 11:15 AM, Women in the Wind at 12:45 PM, It’s a Date at 2:00 PM, Play Girl at 3:45 PM, Allotment Wives at 5:15 PM, and Divorce at 6:45 PM. Tonight is the first of two nights TCM will be honoring past recipients of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award as well as Rita Moreno, this year’s recipient. Tonight we have Eddie Cantor in Strike Me Pink at 8:00 PM, Frank Sinatra in Guys and Dolls at 10:00 PM, Ralph Bellamy in Sunrise at Campobello at 12:45 AM, Ricardo Montalban in Battleground at 3:15 AM, and Karl Malden in Baby Doll at 5:30 AM.
January 14: Night two of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award with James Garner in The Children’s Hour at 8:00 PM, Ernest Borgnine in Bad Day at Black Rock at 10:00 PM, and Rita Moreno in Marlowe at 11:30 PM, Carnal Knowledge at 1:30 AM, and Cry of Battle at 3:30 AM.
January 15: Happy birthday to Margaret O’Brien! Little Women at 6:15 AM, her Private Screenings interview at 8:30 AM, Glory at 10:15 AM, Bad Bascomb at 12:00 PM, Music for Millions at 2:00 PM, The Canterville Ghost at 4:00 PM, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes at 6:00 PM.
January 16: It’s time for more Joan Crawford with some of her later movies from her time at MGM including The Women at 8:00 PM, When Ladies Meet at 10:30 PM, A Woman’s Face at 12:30 AM, They All Kissed the Bride at 2:30 AM, and Mannequin at 4:15 AM.
January 17: Joan Crawford continues with The Shining Hour at 6:00 AM, The Ice Follies of 1939 at 7:30 AM, Strange Cargo at 9:15 AM, Susan and God at 9:15 AM, Reunion in France at 1:30 PM, Above Suspicion at 3:30 PM, and Hollywood Canteen at 5:15 PM. Friday Night Spotlight is back with The Spirit of St. Louis at 8:00 PM, Gallant Journey at 10:30 PM, Silkwood at 12:00 AM, The Beginning or the End at 2:15 AM, and These Are the Damned at 4:15 AM.
January 18: This is a really interesting night. First there’s a few from Tallulah Bankhead — Lifeboat at 8:00 PM, Tarnished Lady at 10:00 PM, and Die! Die! My Darling at 11:30 PM. And if you want a completely bizarre double feature, there’s Skidoo at 2:00 AM and The Big Cube at 3:45 AM.
January 21: January’s Guest Programmer is Judge Judy, who has selected The Goodbye Girl at 8:00 PM, Elmer Gantry at 10:00 PM, and The Good Earth at 12:30 AM. Another thing worth staying up late for (or setting the DVR for) is Luise Rainer’s interview at the TCM Film Festival at 3:00 AM.
January 23: It’s another night of Joan Crawford, this time featuring movies from her time at Warner Brothers with Mildred Pierce at 8:00 PM, Humoresque at 10:00 PM, Flamingo Road at 12:15 AM, The Damned Don’t Cry at 2:00 AM, Possessed (1947) at 3:45 AM, and It’s a Great Feeling at 5:45 AM.
January 24: More Joan Crawford with Harriet Craig at 7:15 AM, Goodbye My Fancy at 9:00 AM, This Woman is Dangerous at 11:00 AM, Torch Song at 12:45 PM, Queen Bee at 2:30 PM, Autumn Leaves at 4:15 PM, and The Story of Esther Costello at 6:15 PM. Then it’s on to Friday Night Spotlight with Edison, The Man at 8:00 PM, The Magic Box at 10:00 PM, It Happens Every Spring at 12:00 AM, The Man in the White Suit at 1:45 AM, and Bye Bye Birdie at 3:15 AM.
January 25: A Couple of Loy/Powell movies on during the day — The Thin Man Goes Home at 6:30 AM and Double Wedding at 8:30 AM.
January 28: Happy birthday to the one and only Ernst Lubitsch! The Loves of Pharaoh at 6:45 AM, The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg at 8:30 AM, The Merry Widow at 10:30 AM, Ninotchka at 12:15 AM, The Shop Around the Corner at 2:15 PM, That Uncertain Feeling at 4:00 PM, and To Be or Not to Be at 5:30 PM.
January 29: Tonight TCM celebrates the winners of the 2013 Academy Governors Award — Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate at 8:00 PM and The Harvey Girls at 10:15 PM, Steve Martin in Pennies from Heaven at 12:15 AM and Father of the Bride at 2:15 AM, and Piero Tosi with I Compagni at 4:15 AM and Le Notti Bianche at 6:30 AM.
January 30: Joan Crawford’s turn as Star of the Month comes to an end with some of her later films. The Best of Everything at 8:00 PM, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? at 10:15 PM, Della at 12:45 AM, Strait-Jacket at 2:00 AM, Trog at 3:45 AM, The Karate Killers at 5:30 AM.
January 31: Joan Crawford runs into today with The Caretakers at 7:15 AM and Berserk! at 9:15 AM. And the final installment of January’s Friday Night Spotlight includes First Men in the Moon at 8:00 PM, The Time Machine at 10:00 PM, The Story of Louis Pasteur at 12:00 AM, Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet at 1:45 AM, and Charly at 3:35 AM.