Happy November, everyone! As always, there are plenty of wonderful movies to look forward to on TCM, but it’s going to be a little bit of a quiet month. But considering that the past few months on TCM have been extremely busy between Summer Under the Stars, the Story of Film series, and all the classic horror movies for Halloween, I know I need a lull in the action so I can have time to catch up on some of the things I’ve recorded.
The Story of Film series isn’t quite over yet, it will finish up this month. But instead of it being on Monday and Tuesday nights, it will only be on Monday nights this month.
The Story of Film series is heading into the modern era and that may be of less interest to some of you, but fear not! There are still some gems from the earlier days of film to look forward to. On November 17 and 24, TCM will be showing Lost and Found: American Treasures from the New Zealand Film Archive during Silent Sunday Nights. The movies featured on these nights are films that were thought to be lost until they were found in a film archive in New Zealand a few years ago. Some of the films that will be featured include 1927′s Upstream, directed by John Ford, and 1924′s The White Shadow, which is the earliest existing film to credit Alfred Hitchcock (he was its assistant director, writer, art director, and editor.)
November’s Friday Night Spotlight is going to be very fun with a showcase of classic screwball comedies. Plus we get Burt Lancaster as Star of the Month; his work will be featured every Wednesday night.
Now, let’s get to the rest of the schedule…
November 1: A couple of pre-codes to start the month, The Beast of the City at 10:00 AM and The Wet Parade at 11:30 AM. Then it’s the first night of this month’s Friday Night Spotlight on screwball comedies with It Happened One Night at 8:00 PM, His Girl Friday at 10:00 PM, Libeled Lady at 11:45 PM, Nothing Sacred at 1:30 AM, The Mad Miss Manton at 3:00 AM, and The Bride Came C.O.D. at 4:30 AM.
November 3: In prime time, we get two different takes on the same story. At 8:00 PM is Miss Sadie Thompson with Rita Hayworth as Sadie and it’s followed by Rain, starring Joan Crawford, at 10:00 PM.
November 4: The Story of Film continues with My Brilliant Career at 8:00 PM, Picnic at Hanging Rock at 10:15 PM, Alice in the Cities at 12:15 AM, The Story of Film, Chapter 10: 1969-1979 at 2:15 AM, Xala at 3:30 AM, And The Battle of Chile: Part 1 at 5:45 AM.
November 5: The Story of Film ends with The Battle of Chile: Part 2 at 7:30 AM. Then it’s on to a celebration of Vivien Leigh’s 100th birthday with Waterloo Bridge at 9:30 AM, Ship of Fools at 11:30 AM, Anna Karenina at 2:00 PM, Fire Over England at 4:00 PM, That Hamilton Woman at 5:45 PM, A Streetcar Named Desire at 8:00 PM, Gone With the Wind at 10:15 PM, Storm in a Teacup at 2:15 AM, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone at 4:00 PM, and Dark Journey at 5:45 AM.
November 6: One more from Vivien Leigh to start the day, Caesar and Cleopatra at 7:15 AM. Then it’s happy birthday to Joel McCrea! Bird of Paradise at 9:30 AM, The Most Dangerous Game at 11:15 AM, Primrose Path at 12:30 PM, The More the Merrier at 2:15 PM. And then it’s Burt Lancaster’s first night as Star of the Month with The Killers at 8:00 PM, Come Back Little Sheba at 10:00 PM, From Here to Eternity at 11:45 PM, The Swimmer at 2:00 AM, and The Gypsy Moths at 4:00 AM.
November 8: Some good things on during the day, like The Front Page at 8:30 AM, The Match King at 8:15 AM, and Executive Suite at 2:15 PM. Then it’s another night of screwball comedies with The Awful Truth at 8:00 PM, My Favorite Wife at 9:45 PM, Love Crazy at 11:30 PM, Mr. and Mrs. Smith at 1:15 AM, Too Many Husbands at 3:00 AM, and Vivacious Lady at 4:30 AM.
November 9: Dick Powell is the man of the night with Gold Diggers of 1933 at 8:00 PM, The Reformer and the Redhead at 10:00 PM, and Cornered at 12:00 AM. Then it’s on to TCM Underground with Disco Godfather at 2:00 AM. See, this is why I love TCM. Where else can you see a Dick Powell triple feature followed by Disco Godfather?
November 11: The Story of Film returns with Jaws at 8:00 PM, Zanjeer at 10:15 PM, Enter the Dragon at 12:45 AM, The Story of Film, Chapter 11: The 1970s and Onwards at 2:30 AM, and The Message at 3:45 AM.
November 12: The Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg is November’s Guest Programmer. His selections are The Party at 8:00 PM, Dr. Strangelove at 9:45 PM, Brief Encounter at 11:30 PM, and Modern Romance at 1:15 AM.
November 13: Lots of good stuff on today! Love Affair at 6:30 AM, Woman of the Year at 8:00 AM, Notorious at 10:00 AM, Now Voyager at 12:00 PM, Gigi at 2:00 PM. Burt Lancaster returns tonight with Gunfight at the O.K. Corral at 8:00 PM, Sweet Smell of Success at 10:15 PM, Elmer Gantry at 12:00 AM, Seven Days in May at 2:30 AM, and His Majesty O’Keefe at 4:45 AM.
November 14: It’s time for this month’s installment of Robert Osborne’s picks with My Name is Julia Ross at 8:00 PM, Ziegfeld Follies at 9:15 PM, The Lady From Shanghai at 11:15 PM, The Tall Target at 1:00 AM, and Dames at 2:30 AM.
November 15: During the day, there’s Ladies They Talk About at 7:30 AM, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers at 8:45 AM, Dead Reckoning at 10:45 AM. The screwball comedies return in prime time with Theodora Goes Wild at 8:00 PM, Twentieth Century at 9:45 PM, Easy Living at 11:30 PM, It’s a Wonderful World at 1:15 AM, and Merrily We Live at 2:45 AM.
November 17: The Big Heat at 10:15 AM; East Side, West Side at 12:00 PM; To Be or Not to Be at 2:00 PM; The Goodbye Girl at 6:00 PM; Johnny Eager at 8:00 PM; and Johnny Apollo at 10:00 PM. Not to be missed at 12:00 AM is Lost and Found: American Treasures from the New Zealand Film Archive Part 1.
November 18: Another day with lots of great stuff! Show People at 6:00 AM, Baby Face at 7:30 AM, Possessed (1931) at 9:00 AM, The Bride Wore Red at 10:30 AM, What Price Hollywood? at 12:30 PM, and I’ll Cry Tomorrow at 3:45 PM. In prime time, it’s back to the Story of Film with Gregory’s Girl at 8:00 PM, The Elephant Man at 10:00 PM, Yeelen at 12:15 AM, The Story of Film, Chapter 12: The 1980s at 2:15 AM, and Repentance at 3:30 AM.
November 19: All of tonight’s movies tie in to the memorabilia included in the big TCM/Bonham’s auction of film memorabilia with The Maltese Falcon at 8:00 PM, Mildred Pierce at 10:00 PM, Soylent Green at 12:00 AM, and The Fountainhead at 2:00 AM.
November 20: Burt Lancaster returns with Mister 880 at 8:00 PM, Judgment at Nuremberg at 9:45 PM, Birdman of Alcatraz at 1:00 AM, and The Train at 3:45 AM.
November 21: To commemorate the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, TCM is showing six documentaries about Kennedy and his time in office. Primary at 8:00 PM, Adventures on the New Frontier at 9:15 PM, Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment at 10:30 PM, Faces of November at 11:45 PM, Four Days in November at 12:00 AM, and PT109 at 2:15 AM.
November 22: It’s time for another night of screwball comedies with My Man Godfrey at 8:00 PM, Bringing Up Baby at 10:00 PM, Ball of Fire at 12:00 AM, and You Can’t Take it With You at 2:00 AM.
November 23: Tonight’s prime time movies are directorial debuts with Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless at 8:00 PM, Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express at 10:00 PM, and Scorsese’s Who’s That Knocking At My Door at 12:00 AM.
November 24: At midnight is part two of Lost and Found: American Treasures from the New Zealand Film Archive.
November 25: The Story of Film series comes to an end with Days of Being Wild at 8:00 PM, Where Is My Friend’s House? at 10:00 PM, Beau Travail at 12:00 AM, The Story of Film, Chapter 13: 1990-1998 at 2:00 AM, and Funny Games at 3:15 AM.
November 26: A new episode of TCM A Night at the Movies series premieres at 8:00 PM with an episode about Cops and Robbers and it kicks off a 24-hour marathon of great crime movies. There’s Bullitt at 9:00 PM, an encore of A Night at the Movies at 11:00 PM, The Naked City at 12:00 AM, White Heat at 2:00 AM, The Taking of the Pelham One Two Three at 4:00 AM, The Thomas Crown Affair at 5:45 AM.
November 27: The crime films continue with Rififi at 7:30 AM, The Asphalt Jungle at 9:30 AM, Side Street at 11:30 AM, Stakeout on Dope Street at 1:00 PM, Gun Crazy at 2:45 PM, Bonnie and Clyde at 4:15 PM, and The Anderson Tapes at 6:15 PM. Then Burt Lancaster gets one more night in the spotlight with Field of Dreams at 8:00 PM, The Leopard at 10:00 PM, The Professionals at 1:15 AM, The Crimson Pirate at 3:30 AM, and Brute Force at 5:30 AM.
November 29: One last night of screwball comedies with The Lady Eve at 8:00 PM, Christmas in July at 9:45 PM, The Palm Beach Story at 11:00 PM, Four’s a Crowd at 12:45 AM, and Topper at 2:30 AM.
November 30: November draws to a close with a night of Vera Miles movies with The Searchers at 8:00 PM, The Wrong Man at 10:15 PM, and Autumn Leaves at 12:15 AM.
