FILM NOIR AND NEO-NOIR ON TV
Turner Classic Movie Channel
All times are PST. See TCM.com to confirm dates and times.
Friday, July 2, 11:00 PM
BLUE VELVET (1986): Back when David Lynch was a genius, he created this neo-noir about a small-town boy back from college, Kyle MacLachlan, who gets sucked into the dark world festering in the heart of his home town. Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper play his underworld guides. Laura Dern plays his Beatrice. Dir: David Lynch
Thursday, July 8, 12:15 AM—5:00 PM
Mini-Noir Fest!
Take a personal day and plop down in front of the tube.
12:15
THE THIRD MAN (1949): This fantastic film about a naive American, Joseph Cotten, investigating the death of his friend, Orson Welles, in post-World War II Vienna never loses its impact no matter how many times you watch it. “Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock” Dir: Carol Reed
2:15 AM
SHADOWING THE THIRD MAN(2004): Documentary about the classic Cold War film noir The Third Man (1949). Dir. Frederick Baker
5:00 AM
NORA PRENTIS (1947): In this noir tale, a decorous doctor becomes obsessed with a beautiful nightclub singer, Ann Sheridan. Interestingly, uber straight man Kent Smith, best known as Irina’s husband in Val Lewton’s Cat People (1942) (Dir. Jacques Tourner) gets the chance to play a man who will stop at nothing to possess the object of his desire. Dir. Vincent Sherman
7:00AM
THE LOCKET (1946): A psychiatrist, Brian Aherene, tries to convince a millionaire that his future bride, Laraine Day, is really his mentally unstable ex-wife, Nancy. As he tells his tale to the soon to be groom John, he reveals that he had received a similar visit by an artist, Robert Mitchum, after his marriage to Nancy. Is he telling the truth or is it the paranoid delusion of a mad man? Dir. John Brahm
8:30 AM
THE STRIP (1951): A jazz drummer, Mickey Rooney, fights to clear his name when he's accused of killing a racketeer. Dir. Leslie Kardos
10:00 AM
THE NARROW MARGIN (1952): In this seminal noir, a tough cop, Charles McGraw, meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's moll, Marie Windsor, on a tense train ride. Can he keep her alive long enough for her to testify? Dir: Richard Fleischer
11:15 AM
BORN TO KILL (1947): This utterly bizarre film noir details the torrid affair between a killer, Lawrence Tierney, and a woman, Claire Trevor, who witnessed his crime. He marries her sister and things really heat about between the amoral pair. Dir. Robert Wise
1:00 PM
THE UNSUPECTED (1947): The star and producer of a radio crime series, a rather nasty Claude Rains, commits the perfect crime in order to cover some irregularities concerning his late niece’s estate, only to have his plans thwarted when his niece Constance Bennett is found alive and well. Audrey Totter plays her slutty cousin who stole her fiancé and now has designs on her husband. Dir: Michael Curtiz
3:00 PM
DARK PASSAGE (1947): Adapted from a story by David Goodis, this noir follows convicted wife murderer Vincent Parry’s, Humphrey Bogart, escape from jail and subsequent hunt for the real killer of his wife. Lauren Bacall plays the beautiful heiress who aids him. Dir. Delmer Daves
Monday, July 12, 3:00 PM
THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950): Married jewel thieves, Evelyn Keyes and Charles Korvin, struggle with infidelity, federal agents and the deadly smallpox virus. You know like every other married couple. Dir: Earl McEvoy
Wednesday, July 14, 8:30 AM
THE BLACK BOOK (1949): In this distinctively noirish tale set during the French Revolution, a pair of ex-lovers, Robert Cummings and Arlene Dahl, plot to bring down Robespierre, played brilliantly by the always great Richard Basehart. Charles McGraw plays Robespierre’s menacing henchman. Shot by the master of noir cinematography, John. Alton Dir. Anthony Mann
Wednesday, July 14, 5:00 PM—10:30 PM
TCM Salutes Joseph H. Lewis
5:00 PM
SO DARK THE NIGHT (1946): In this film noir style thriller set in the French countryside, a Parisian detective falls for his inn keepers’ daughter, already promised to a roughhewn farmer. Tragedy follows and the detective finds himself investigating murder. Dir. Joseph H. Lewis
6:15 PM
GUN CRAZY (1949): In this justly famous noir, a gun obsessed reform school graduate, John Dall, meets the girl of his dreams, a circus sharp shooter, Peggy Cummins. They get married in a fever, but she gets fed up living without the finer things of life. The two go on a crime spree, but her blood lust had fatal consequences. Dir. Joseph H. Lewis
7:45 PM
MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945): In this noir based on Anthony Gilbert’s The Woman in Red, a young woman desperate for work, Nina Foch, takes a job in London as a companion to the seemingly respectably Mrs. Hughes, Dame May Whitty. However, she wakes up one morning in Cornwall where everyone insists that she is Marion Hughes, the wife of Mrs. Hughes son. Athur Penn later remade the film as Dead of Winter (1987). Dir. Joseph H. Lewis
Friday, July 16, 5:15 AM—5:00 PM
Happy Birthday, Ruby Stevens!
TCM salutes everyone’s favorite femme fatale, Barbara Stanwyck
5:15 AM
THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS(1946): Years after a murder drove them apart, an heiress, Barbara Stanwyck, tries to win back her lost love, Van Heflin. Her scion husband and four-star sot, Kirk Douglas, objects. Dir: Lewis Milestone
7:15 AM
CRY WOLF (1947): A woman, Barbara Stanwyck, visits her late husband's family to claim her inheritance. Things take a gothic twist, when she discovers agonizing cries coming from a secret laboratory. Dir. Peter Godfrey
8:45 AM
THE TWO MRS. CARROLLS (1947): Humphrey Bogart stars as a sociopathic artist who decides that he would like to murder his wife in order to marry a flirtatious younger woman, Alexis Smith. However, the current Mrs. Carroll is Barbara Stanwyck, so you know this isn’t going to be a pushover. Dir. Peter Godfrey
10:30 AM
B.F.’S DAUGHTER (1948): A leftist economics professor, Van Heflin, struggles with love and marriage to an heiress, Barbara Stanwyck, whose father, Charles Coburn, he’s attacked in print. Can their love survive the class war? Dir. Robert Z. Leonard
12:30 PM
TO PLEASE A LADY(1950): A ruthless race-car driver, Clark Gable, falls for a crusading journalist, Barbara Stanwyck out to clean up the sport. Dir. Clarence Brown
2:15 PM
THE MAN WITH A CLOAK(1951): In this historical noir, a mystery man, Joseph Cotten, tries to help a young innocent, Leslie Caron, escape a murderous housekeeper, Barbara Stanwyck. Based on a story by John Dickson Carr. Dir: Fletcher Markle
3:45 PM
JEOPARDY(1953): A suburban house wife, Barbara Stanwyck, on holiday in rural Mexico with her son and husband, desperately seeks help. Her husband is trapped in pilings on the shore of the ocean and the tide is coming in. She encounters an escaped criminal, Ralph Meeker, and will do anything in exchange for his aid. “How long has it been since you talked to a woman?” Dir. John Sturges
Saturday, July 17, 11:00 AM
THE PHENIX CITY STORY(1955): Based on a true story, two crusading lawyers, a father and son, take on the corrupt machine running a Southern town at great personal cost. Dir: Phil Karlson
Wednesday, July 21, 1:00 AM
THE UNFAITHFUL(1947): Pulp writer David Goodis penned this clever reworking of Somerset Maughn’s The Letter. A married woman, Ann Sheridan, kills a man in self-defense. Her lawyer, Lew Ayres, soon discovers the murdered man was the woman’s lover. The story transcends its noirish trappings, to reveal a fine drama about war time marriage and infidelity. Highly recommended. Dir. Vincent Sherman
Saturday, July 24, 1:30 PM
BERLIN EXPRESS (1948): Allied agents fight an underground Nazi group in post-war Europe. An American agricultural expert, Robert Ryan, finds himself caught up in the middle of the Allied spy hunt. Dir. Jacques Tourneur
Saturday, July 24, 3:15
KEY LARGO(1948): A returning veteran, Humphrey Bogart, tangles with a ruthless gangster, Edward G. Robinson, during a hurricane while falling for his dead war buddy’s widow, Lauren Bacall. Claire Trevor steals the film with, and won an Oscar for, her performance as the gangster’s alcoholic and emotionally abused girlfriend. Dir: John Huston
Monday, July 26, 12:00 PM
CROSSROADS(1942): A recently wed French diplomat, William Powell, is accused of being a master criminal. He is suffering from amnesia and must find out for himself if the accusations are true. Dir. Jack Conway
Friday, July 30, 3:00 AM
DANGER SIGNAL(1945): A man suspected of murder, Zachary Scott, charms a stenographer, Faye Emerson, into helping him. When her little sister, Rosemary DeCamp, inherits $25,000, he shifts his attentions to her. Dir: Robert Florey
Friday, July 30, 10:00 AM
STRANGE BARGIN(1949): After refusing to help his boss in a plot to kill himself and make it look like suicide, a young bookkeeper is framed for his boss's murder. Dir. Will Price
Saturday, July 31, 5:00 PM
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955): A one-armed veteran, Spencer Tracy, uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family. Robert Ryan shines as the bigoted boss of the town. Dir: John Sturges
Fox Movie ChannelTimes are PST. See their website to confirm dates and times. Sunday, July 4, 3:00 AM SLATTERY'S HURRICANE (1949): While trying to atone for his sins by taking on a suicide mission, flying into a hurricane to report its exact location to the Navy, an ex-war hero, Richard Widmark, recalls his recent past. He has pursued his ex-flame, Linda Darnell, despite her marriage to an ex-Navy buddy, John Russell, and his relationship with a vulnerable drug addict, Veronica Lake in an outstanding performance. Based on the novel by Herman Wouk. Dir. Andre Detoth Tuesday, July 6, 11:01 PM; MILLER’S CROSSING (1990): Inspired no doubt by Dashiell Hammett’s The Glass Key, a corrupt political boss, Albert Finney, has a falling out with his right hand man, Gabriel Byrne, when they both fall for the same woman, Marcia Gay Harden, in this Prohibition-era story of warring mobs. John Turturro steals the film as the woman’s no good brother who embroils her lover in his nefarious plot. Dir. Joel Coen Tuesday, July 6 12:00 AM; THE VANISHING(1993): In this American remake of the Belgian neo-noir, a man, Kiefer Sutherland, haunted by the vanishing of his girlfriend still obsessively searches for her years later. The man who knows what happened leads him into a game of cat and mouse. Director: George Sluizer Saturday, July 10, 3:00 AM; PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET(1953): Sam Fuller’s esteemed noir revolves around an amoral sneak thief, Richard Widmark, who steals a girl of ill repute’s purse containing microfilm. He soon finds himself in the crossfire between the Feds and the Commies, but he’s only out for himself. Thelma Ritter steals the show as his friend, a small time grifter trying to make enough dough for her dream funeral. Dir. Sam Fuller Saturday, July 10, 4:30 AM; THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET(1945): In this fact based documentary-style noir Nazi agents in New York City try to steal the atomic bomb formula. The film uses real locales like FBI headquarters and training facilities as well as using actual FBI surveillance footage to add to the story’s verisimilitude. Director: Henry Hathaway Saturday, July 10, 6:00 AM; DANGEROUS CROSSING(1953): Adapted from John Dickson Carr’s radio play "Cabin B-13" for the series Suspense, a bride’s, Jeanne Crain, husband, Carl Bentz, disappears on board a luxury liner in the mid-Atlantic. She desperately searches to find him and to prove his very existence, since his name has vanished off the passenger list. Michael Rennie plays the sympathetic ship’s doctor whom she tries to convince of her sanity. Dir. Joseph M. Newman Saturday, July 10, 7:30 AM; COMPULSION (1959): Gritty courtroom drama based on the true life case of Leopold and Loeb. The pair considered themselves Nietzschean supermen, above both law and morality, and tried to prove it by murdering a fourteen year old boy. They did not get away with their “perfect murder” and retained Clarence Darrow as their counsel. Names were changed in the film to protect the guilty. Bradford Dillman and Dean Stockwell play the killers, Orson Welles plays the lawyer. Dir. Richard Fleischer Saturday, July 10, 11:00 AM; NIAGARA(1953): Despite Joseph MacDonald’s Technicolor cinematography and its spectacular use of Niagara Falls, this film falls firmly into the noir category. A young couple, Jean Peters and Casey Adams, on vacation find themselves embroiled in a murderous plot involving their neighbors at the motor court. The wife, Marilyn Monroe, and her lover, Richard Allen, plot to kill her mentally unstable husband, Joseph Cotton, goes awry. Dir. Henry Hathaway Saturday, July 10, 1:00 PM; NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950): Richard Widmark gives the performance of a lifetime as desperate small time hustler Harry Fabian. Stranded in London, he dreams of the big score that will deliver him out of the bush league. He attempts to break into professional wrestling as a promoter with tragic results. Gene Tierney gives an outstanding performance as his long suffering girlfriend and chronic mark. Dir. Jules Dassin Saturday, July 10, 5:00, 7:00 & 9:00 PM; NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950): Richard Widmark gives the performance of a lifetime as desperate small time hustler Harry Fabian. Stranded in London, he dreams of the big score that will deliver him out of the bush league. He attempts to break into professional wrestling as a promoter with tragic results. Gene Tierney gives an outstanding performance as his long suffering girlfriend and chronic mark. Dir. Jules Dassin Monday, July, 12, 10:30 AM; SHOCk (1946): A psychiatrist, Vincent Price, tries to kill the girl, Anabel Shaw, who witnessed his wife's murder. Lucky for him, she’s was committed to his care when she collapsed into a coma from the shock of witnessing the murder. Director: Alfred Werker Tuesday, July 13, 6:00 AM; SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT (1946): An amnesiac army veteran John Hodiak, returns from WWII trying to discover his lost identity and learns that he may be a murderer. He goes to L.A. with a reconstructed face, a 'Dear John' letter from his ex-wife, and a letter of credit from a friend 'Larry Cravat.' Taylor heads to Los Angeles to track down his friend and his own identity. A singer, Nancy Guild, and a night club owner, Richard Conte, try to help him. Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz Tuesday, July 13, 8:00 AM; VICKI (1953): In this remake of H. Bruce Humberstone’s I Wake Up Screaming (1941), a woman, Jeanne Crain, hunts for the murderer of her sister, Jean Peters. She joins forces with a corrupt cop’s prime suspect, her sister’s publicity man and her secret love, Elliott Reid, to find the real killer. Both films were adapted from the novel by Steve Fisher. Director: Harry Horner Thursday, July 15, 11:00 AM; NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947): Tyrone Power gives the performance of a lifetime in a change-of-pace role as a carnival con man that masters a mind-reading act, after killing the act’s originator and seducing his wife. He then teams up with an unethical psychiatrist to scam wealthy clients, an excellent adaptation of the highly disturbing novel by William Lindsay Gresham. Dir: Edmund Goulding Thursday, July 15, 3:00 PM; THE DETECTIVE (1953): (1968): Based on the Roderick Thorp’s novel, a New York cop, Frank Sinatra, uncovers a world of sex, drugs and corruption as he investigates the murder of the gay man, the son of a politically connected department store magnate. Dir. Gordon Douglas Friday, July 16, 2:00 PM; DON’T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952): In this gritty little noir, the boyfriend, Richard Widmark, of a hotel lounge singer, Anne Bancroft, tries to get back at her for dumping him, by picking up a beautiful hotel guest, Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately for him, she’s not what she seems, and bit by bit he realizes the truth and the danger he’s in. Dir. Roy Baker Saturday, July 31, 3:00 AM PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950): A policeman, Paul Douglas, and a doctor, Richard Widmark, race against time to find two gun-happy hoodlums, Zero Mostel and Jack Palance, who are somewhere in the streets of New Orleans carrying the pneumonic plague. Score by Alfred Newman and cinematography by Joseph MacDonald. Director: Elia Kazan Saturday, July 31, 5:00 AM THE DARK CORNER (1946): A resourceful secretary helps her private eye boss, Mark Stevens, when he’s framed for murder. Can he find the real culprit before the cops find him? Clifton Webb and William Bendix are in on the frame, but how? Dir. Henry Hathaway |
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