Let me start by telling you that I am a fan of Ann Sothern. I have always enjoyed her sort of tell-it-like-it-is movie persona. With that said, perhaps it’s why I have watched her Maisie mystery movies several times. I enjoy her light delivery – and even though Maisie is sometimes sort of underhanded, I still enjoy her character. Anyway, the Turner Classic Movies channel will be showing several Maisie mystery movies on Monday, February 20.
Also, I want to tell you about another sequence of movies TCM will be showing, even though the old Dr. Kildare movies are not mysteries. Some of you may be fans of the old Dr. Kildare movies and a whole bunch of them will be airing on the Turner Classic Movies channel on Wednesday, February 1. (Since they aren’t mysteries, I’m not listing them.)
***** ***** ***** *****
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES CHANNEL MYSTERY MOVIES – February 2023
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – February 2, 2023
8:00 PM The Ring (1952)
A young man becomes a boxer in order to achieve fame and acceptance.
Dir: Kurt Neumann. Cast: Gerald Mohr, Rita Moreno, Lalo Rios
79 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – February 4, 2023
10:08 AM The Falcon Out West (1944)
A society sleuth turns cowboy to investigate a Texas murder.
Dir: William Clemens. Cast: Tom Conway, Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale
64 mins
2:15 PM Inherit the Wind (1960)
True story of a Tennessee schoolteacher who went on trial in 1925 for teaching Darwin’s theories.
Dir: Stanley Kramer. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly
127 mins
*****I don’t think this qualifies as a mytery, however it is a trial-type movie.*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – February 5, 2023
12:00 AM Hangover Square (1945)
A composer who can’t control his creative temperament turns to murder.
Dir: John Brahm. Cast: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders
77 mins
10:00 AM Hangover Square (1945)
A composer who can’t control his creative temperament turns to murder.
Dir: John Brahm. Cast: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders
77 mins
9:30 PM The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
A dangerous madman kidnaps two businessmen on a hunting trip.
Dir: Ida Lupino. Cast: Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman
71 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – February 6, 2023
5:15 AM A Criminal Is Born (1938)
This short film tells the story of how a young man starts a crime spree which leads to murder.
Dir: Leslie Fenton. Cast: Dave Durand, Norman Phillips Jr., Dorothy Vaughan
20 mins
2:00 PM Gambling Lady (1934)
Two gamblers fall in love but one is already married to a possible murderer.
Dir: Archie Mayo. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Pat O’Brien
66 mins
3:15 PM Espionage Agent (1939)
American spies try to steal Nazi secrets from a moving train.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon. Cast: Joel McCrea, Brenda Marshall, Jeffrey Lynn
83 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – February 7, 2023
2:00 AM What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
A crazed, aging star torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
Dir: Robert Aldrich. Cast: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono
132 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – February 9, 2023
11:30 AM Conflict (1945)
A man murders his wife so he can be free to marry her sister.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet
86 mins
3:15 PM The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck and Alexis Smith star in this thriller of an artist who can only find inspiration in murder and of the two women who inspire him, the two women he loves – The Two Mrs. Carrolls.
Dir: Peter Godfrey. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith
99 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – February 10, 2023
6:45 AM Escape in the Desert (1945)
In this remake of The Petrified Forest, Nazi spies infiltrate a hotel in the American Southwest.
Dir: Edward A. Blatt. Cast: Jean Sullivan, Philip Dorn, Irene Manning
79 mins
10:30 AM Make Your Own Bed (1944)
Detectives masquerade as a butler and maid to get the goods on a crook.
Dir: Peter Godfrey. Cast: Jack Carson, Jane Wyman, Irene Manning
82 mins
8:00 PM Dick Tracy (1945)
A city is gripped with fear as a mad slasher known only as “Splitface” terrorizes its inhabitants and leaves a trail of murders. But Dick Tracy senses a common link and unravels a sinister web of extortion and revenge.
Dir: William Berke. Cast: Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Mike Mazurki
61 mins
9:15 PM Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946)
A police detective uses his girlfriend to track down a homicidal maniac.
Dir: Gordon M. Douglas. Cast: Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Lyle Latell
62 mins
11:00 PM Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)
Dick Tracy tracks down a bank robber using nerve gas.
Dir: John Rawlins. Cast: Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, Anne Gwynne
65 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – February 11, 2023
10:08 AM The Falcon in Mexico (1944)
A society sleuth travels South of the border to investigate an art dealer’s murder.
Dir: William Berke. Cast: Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha Vicars
70 mins
3:15 PM 12 Angry Men (1957)
A jury holdout tries to convince his colleagues to vote not guilty.
Dir: Sidney Lumet. Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley
95 mins
8:00 PM A Soldier’s Story (1984)
A black army attorney is sent to an all-black army camp during World War II to investigate the murder of a sergeant and sees first hand the racial strife between the black soldiers and the white officers who run the boot camp.
Dir: Norman Jewison. Cast: Howard E Rollins, Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington
101 mins
10:00 PM Sergeant Rutledge (1960)
A 19th-century lawyer tries to clear a black man of rape and murder charges.
Dir: John Ford. Cast: Jeffrey Hunter, Constance Towers, Billie Burke
111 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – February 12, 2023
8:00 AM Our Mother’s House (1967)
Afraid of being separated, a family of children keep their mother’s death a secret.
Dir: Jack Clayton. Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Brooks, Pamela Franklin
105 mins
1:30 PM The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
A frustrated wife seduces a drifter into murdering her husband.
Dir: Tay Garnett. Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway
111 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – February 15, 2023
4:45 AM After Office Hours (1935)
A society newspaperwoman tries to prove to her editor that she can crack a murder case.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Constance Bennett, Clark Gable, Stuart Erwin
75 mins
6:00 AM Give Till It Hurts (1937)
This focuses on charity fraud.
Dir: Felix E. Feist. Cast: Norman Willis, Max Wagner, Evelyn Kurt
20 mins
6:00 AM My Grandfather’s Clock (1934)
A murder has been committed, and two detectives are on the case.
Dir: Felix E. Feist. Cast: Mischa Auer, Otto Hoffman, Sarah Edwards
16 mins
10:30 AM The Threat (1949)
An escaped con kidnaps the people he thinks put him behind bars.
Dir: Felix Feist. Cast: Michael O’Shea, Virginia Grey, Charles McGraw
66 mins
11:45 AM The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)
A woman in the process of divorce shoots her husband and gets her police lieutenant boyfriend to help hide the body.
Dir: Felix E. Feist. Cast: Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt, John Dall
81 mins
1:15 PM This Woman Is Dangerous (1952)
A female gangster learns she is losing her vision.
Dir: Felix Feist. Cast: Joan Crawford, Dennis Morgan, David Brian
97 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – February 17, 2023
3:45 AM Marlowe (1969)
Detective Philip Marlowe probes the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles in search of a woman’s missing sister.
Dir: Paul Bogart. Cast: James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O’Connor
95 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – February 18, 2023
6:00 AM Libel (1959)
A former POW is accused of being an impostor.
Dir: Anthony Asquith. Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Massie
100 mins
10:09 AM The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)
A society sleuth tours the movie capital, where he uncovers an actor’s murder.
Dir: Gordon Douglas. Cast: Tom Conway, Barbara Hale, Veda Ann Borg
67 mins
8:00 PM In the Heat of the Night (1967)
A black detective teams up with a racist white sheriff to solve a murder in a small town in the South. Over time, they begin to find respect for one another.
Dir: Norman Jewison. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
109 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – February 19, 2023
12:00 AM Lightning Strikes Twice (1951)
An actress champions the cause of a man whom she believes has been falsely accused of murdering his wife.
Dir: King Vidor. Cast: Ruth Roman, Richard Todd, Mercedes McCambridge
91 mins
2:00 AM Deathtrap (1982)
Sidney Bruhl is a formerly successful writer of Broadway thrillers who is trying to recover from the failure of his latest play. When Sidney returns to his wife Myra, a rich woman with a heart problem who is prone to hysterics, he tells her of his jealousy and humiliation upon the receipt of the first play of a former student.
Dir: Sidney Lumet. Cast: Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon
115 mins
10:00 AM Lightning Strikes Twice (1951)
An actress champions the cause of a man whom she believes has been falsely accused of murdering his wife.
Dir: King Vidor. Cast: Ruth Roman, Richard Todd, Mercedes McCambridge
91 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – February 20, 2023
6:30 AM Maisie (1939)
A Brooklyn showgirl tries to clear a ranch foreman of murder charges.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Robert Young, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey
74 mins
7:45 AM Congo Maisie (1940)
Brooklyn showgirl Maisie gets stranded in the African jungle with a romantic doctor.
Dir: Henry C. Potter. Cast: Ann Sothern, John Carroll, Rita Johnson
70 mins
9:00 AM Gold Rush Maisie (1940)
A Brooklyn showgirl helps a poor family strike it rich.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Ann Sothern, Lee Bowman, Slim Summerville
82 mins
10:30 AM Maisie Was a Lady (1941)
A Brooklyn showgirl signs on as a maid for a family of wealthy eccentrics.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Ann Sothern, Lew Ayres, Maureen O’Sullivan
79 mins
12:00 PM Ringside Maisie (1941)
A Brooklyn showgirl sets pulses racing at a boxers’ training camp.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Ann Sothern, George Murphy, Robert Sterling
96 mins
1:45 PM Maisie Gets Her Man (1942)
A Brooklyn showgirl launches a stage act with a hick comic.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth. Cast: Ann Sothern, Red Skelton, Leo Gorcey
85 mins
3:15 PM Swing Shift Maisie (1943)
A brassy showgirl signs on to help the war effort as a factory worker.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod .Cast: Ann Sothern, James Craig, Jean Rogers
87 mins
4:45 PM Maisie Goes to Reno (1944)
On a trip to Reno, a Brooklyn showgirl tries to stop a soldier and his wife from divorcing.
Dir: Harry Beaumont. Cast: Ann Sothern, John Hodiak, Tom Drake
90 mins
6:30 PM Up Goes Maisie (1946)
A showgirl working for an inventor battles crooks out to steal his ideas.
Dir: Harry Beaumont. Cast: Ann Sothern, George Murphy, Hillary Brooke
89 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – February 21, 2023
11:30 AM Once a Thief (1965)
A young ex-con trying to go straight gets caught up in another criminal scheme.
Dir: Ralph Nelson. Cast: Alain Delon, Van Heflin, Jack Palance
107 mins
5:45 PM Purple Noon (1961)
Tom Ripley is an angelic-looking young American whose talents for everything but holding down a job are impressive. When he is recruited by a concerned father to travel first class (all expenses paid) to Paris to bring back an errant son, he accepts.
Dir: René Clément. Cast: Alain Delon, Marie Laforêt, Maurice Ronet, Erno Crisa
118 mins
*****In French*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – February 22, 2023
4:30 AM The Automat (2021)
A documentary focusing on the popular 20th century vending machine that offered freshly cooked meals.
Dir: Lisa Hurwitz. Cast: Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Colin Powell, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Howard Schultz
79 mins
*****Although I have never eaten or been to an automat, I have seen many of them in the old black and white movies I enjoy watching. This documentary is terrific.*****
11:15 PM Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
On one of the hottest days of August 1972, three amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a Brooklyn bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
Dir: Sidney Lumet. Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Carol Kane
130 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – February 24, 2023
6:45 PM Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone (1950)
A lawyer and a widow encounter murder on a train ride.
Dir: Norman Taurog. Cast: Marjorie Main, James Whitmore, Ann Dvorak
69 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – February 25, 2023
10:08 AM The Falcon in San Francisco (1945)
A society sleuth enlists a little girl’s help in nabbing a mob of silk smugglers.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis. Cast: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Edward S. Brophy
66 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – February 26, 2023
12:00 AM Hunt the Man Down (1950)
A lawyer uncovers the secrets behind a decade-old murder case.
Dir: George Archainbaud. Cast: Gig Young, Lynne Roberts, Mary Anderson
68 mins
10:00 AM Hunt the Man Down (1950)
A lawyer uncovers the secrets behind a decade-old murder case.
Dir: George Archainbaud. Cast: Gig Young, Lynne Roberts, Mary Anderson
68 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – March 1, 2023
1:45 AM The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
A daffy socialite gets her friends mixed up in a murder investigation.
Dir: Leigh Jason. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Sam Levene
65 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed TV specials coming up in February, be sure to leave a comment below!
In case you’re interested in seeing the rest of this month’s television mystery movies, here’s the January 2023 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for January 2023 on Turner Classic Movies channel
And here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:
Cozy Mystery List TV and Movie Section – all you have to do is click on the link to go to that page on my site.
Here it is, 2023 and a new winter is upon us! I’m guessing that most of us have had our fill of holiday movies, and are ready to get back to the Cozy Mystery movies that the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel airs for our entertainment.