Happy September, everyone! Summer may be winding down, but TCM sure has lots of great programming to look forward to. If you’re a fan of slapstick comedy, you’re going to be in heaven all month long. Similar to the spotlight they did to westerns a couple months ago, TCM will be doing a spotlight on slapstick comedy every Tuesday and Wednesday night this month. And much like they did during last year’s Summer of Darkness film noir festival, TCM has partnered with Ball State University to offer a free course about slapstick comedy.
In addition to all the pie fights and pratfalls, Gene Hackmann is September’s Star of the Month and his work will be highlighted every Friday night. And if you’re one of the millions of people saddened by the recent death of the great Gene Wilder, mark your calendar for TCM’s tribute to him on September 29th.
Now, let’s get on to the schedule.
September 1: What better way to start off a month than with a night of Preston Sturges movies? The Lady Eve at 8:00 PM, Sullivan’s Travels at 9:45 PM, The Palm Beach Story at 11:30 PM, Hail the Conquering Hero at 1:15 AM, The Great McGinty at 3:15 AM, and The Sin of Harold Diddlebock at 4:45 AM.
September 2: Gene Hackman’s first turn as Star of the Month is tonight with Bonnie and Clyde at 8:00 PM, Downhill Racer at 10:00 PM, The Gypsy Moths at 12:00 AM, Lilith at 2:00 AM, and Marooned at 4:00 AM.
September 3: TCM travels to Berlin tonight with Cabaret at 8:00 PM, A Foreign Affair at 10:15 PM, and Escape from East Berlin at 12:15 AM.
September 4: Today’s schedule is truly one of those “Only on TCM” kind of days. Where else could you see Maytime at 6:00 AM, Grey Gardens at 10:30 AM, Dracula at 12:30 PM, The West Point Story at 2:00 PM, Out of the Past at 4:00 PM, Ball of Fire at 6:00 PM, and Show People at 12:00 AM?
September 6: TCM’s spotlight on slapstick comedy kicks off tonight with classic early slapstick comedy. At 8:00 PM, there’s the Golden Age of Comedy, followed by Tillie’s Punctured Romance at 9:30 PM, Mabel’s Willful Way at 11:15 PM, Mickey at 11:30 PM, Seven Years Bad Luck at 1:15 AM, Coney Island at 2:30 AM, Yankee Doodle in Berlin at 3:00 AM, The Champeen at 4:15 AM, and Our Gang at 4:15 AM.
September 7: More slapstick comedy tonight featuring many of the all-time great silent comedians like Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. The Birth of the Tramp at 8:00 PM, A Dog’s Life at 9:15 AM, The Circus at 10:00 PM, One Week at 11:30 PM, Steamboat Bill Jr. at 12:00 AM, Harold Lloyd’s World of Comedy at 1:15 AM, Number Please at 3:00 AM, Speedy at 3:30 AM, and Charley My Boy! at 5:15 AM.
September 9: Gene Hackman is back with The Conversation at 8:00 PM, Scarecrow at 10:00 PM, Young Frankenstein at 12:00 AM, and All Night Long at 2:00 AM.
September 11: Lots of great stuff on tonight! Carefree at 6:30 PM, Casablanca at 8:00 PM, The Dirty Dozen at 10:00 PM, and The Navigator at 12:45 AM.
September 13: It’s hard to go wrong with a day full of Claudette Colbert movies. It’s a Wonderful World at 8:45 AM, The Smiling Lieutenant at 10:15 AM, Imitation of Life at 12:00 PM, It Happened One Night at 2:00 PM, The Secret Heart at 3:45 PM, and Parrish at 5:30 PM. Then it’s time for a night of 1930s slapstick with Dollar Dizzy at 8:00 PM, The Pip from Pittsburg at 8:30 PM, Sons of the Desert at 9:00 PM, The Music Box at 10:15 PM, A Night at the Opera at 11:00 PM, Hips Hips Hooray at 12:45 AM, Elmer the Great at 2:00 AM, Movie Crazy at 2:30 AM, and Sweet Music at 5:15 AM.
September 14: The slapstick tribute continues with 1940s comedies. There’s The Bank Dick at 8:00 PM, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein at 9:30 PM, A Southern Yankee at 11:00 PM, The Inspector General at 12:45 AM, Always Leave Them Laughing at 2:30 AM, and The Palm Beach Story at 4:30 PM.
September 15: Lots of Gary Cooper on during the daytime, including Friendly Persuasion at 10:30 AM, A Farewell to Arms at 1:00 PM, and Sergeant York at 5:30 PM. Then it’s on to a night of movies that involve Frederic March and politics with I Married a Witch at 8:00 PM, Seven Days in May at 9:30 PM, Tomorrow the World at 11:45 PM, Tick…Tick…Tick at 1:15 AM, It’s a Big Country at 3:00 AM, and Mary of Scotland at 4:30 AM.
September 16: Happy birthday to the great Lauren Bacall! To Have and Have Not at 7:45 AM, The Big Sleep at 2:00 PM, Bright Leaf at 4:00 PM, Designing Woman at 6:00 PM. Then it’s back to Gene Hackman with A Covenant With Death at 8:00 PM, The French Connection at 10:00 PM, Night Moves at 12:00 AM, The Split at 2:00 AM.
September 17: Some great movies involving trains are on tonight, including The General at 8:00 PM, Some Like it Hot at 9:30 PM, Twentieth Century at 11:45 PM, and Show Business at 1:30 AM.
September 20: The slapstick tribute makes its way up to the 1950s tonight with Mon Oncle at 8:00 PM, The Long Long Trailer at 10:00 PM, Scared Stiff at 12:00 AM, Have Rocket Will Travel at 1:45 AM, The Good Humor Man at 3:15 AM, and Carry On Teacher at 4:45 AM.
September 21: More slapstick comedy tonight, now from the 1960s. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at 8:00 PM, The Great Race at 11:15 PM, A Shot in the Dark at 2:00 AM, The Party at 4:00 AM, and Le Grand Amour at 5:45 AM.
September 23: Spend the day with Grace Kelly with Mogambo at 6:00 AM, Dial M For Murder at 8:00 PM, Green Fire at 10:00 AM, High Society at 12:00 PM, The Swan at 2:00 PM. Then it’s on to Gene Hackman with Another Woman at 8:00 PM, I Never Sang for My Father at 9:30 PM, Bite the Bullet at 11:15 PM, Zandy’s Bride at 1:45 AM, and Eurekea at 3:30 AM.
September 24: The Postman Always Rings Twice at 8:30 AM, Fail-Safe at 2:00 PM, A Face in the Crowd at 4:00 PM.
September 26: Robert Osborne has selected tonight’s lineup of Torch Song at 8:00 PM, Torch Song Trilogy at 9:45 PM, Tonight and Every Night at 12:00 AM, The Sea Hawk at 1:30 AM, and The Sea Wolf at 4:15 AM.
September 27: The slapstick spotlight enters its home stretch with Bananas at 8:00 PM, Young Frankenstein at 9:30 PM, Foul Play at 11:30 PM, The Three Musketeers at 1:30 AM, The Gumball Rally at 3:30 AM, and The Frisco Kid at 5:30 AM.
September 28: It’s the final night of the slapstick series, ending with a few more modern comedies like The Naked Gun at 8:00 PM, Top Secret! at 9:45 PM, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy at 11:30 PM, Strange Brew at 1:15 AM, and Sidewalk Stories at 3:00 AM.
September 29: Tonight’s schedule will be a tribute to the late, great Gene Wilder. First up is TCM’s 2008 interview with Wilder at 8:00 PM, followed by Young Frankenstein at 9:15 PM, Start the Revolution Without Me at 12:30 AM, The Frisco Kid at 2:15 AM, and Bonnie and Clyde at 4:30 AM.
September 30: Double Harness was by far the hardest movie to get into at this year’s TCMFF, so if you didn’t get to see it then, you can see it at 7:00 AM. Later that night, Gene Hackman has his last turn as star of the month with Reds at 8:00 PM, Under Fire at 11:30 PM, A Bridge too Far at 1:45 AM, Bat 21 at 4:45 AM.