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Upcoming Mysteries on Turner Classic Movies for December 2023

November 24, 2023

I’m going to be posting a separate blog entry with all of the Christmas movies I could find that will be aired on the Turner Classic Movies channel during December 2023, so I haven’t included them on this list – as I have done in the past. I do want to tell you about something I watch every time they air them on the channel: the old (as in very old!) short travel films by James A. FitzPatrick. They, of course, are all from way before I was born, but I still really enjoy seeing them – even though they are very dated. They show places as they were years and years ago. Here are the four that will be shown during December 2023:

Saturday – December 2, 2023 — 8:18 AM Beautiful Budapest (1938)
This short documentary focuses on the landmarks, people and culture of Budapest.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick, Winton Hoch, Jack Shilkret
8 mins

Saturday – December 9, 2023 — 8:20 AM Glimpses of Ontario (1942)
This explores the history, land and people of the Canadian province, Ontario.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick, Nathaniel Finston, Joseph Nussbaum
8 mins

Saturday – December 16, 2023 — 8:22 AM Rocky Mountain Grandeur (1937)
The magnificent scenery of the Rocky Mountains is the star of this.
Dir: James H Smith. Cast: James A. FitzPatrick, Winton Hoch
8 mins

Saturday – December 30, 2023 — 8:20 AM Switzerland the Beautiful (1934)
This focuses on the land, people and culture of Switzerland.
Dir: Ruth FitzPatrick. Cast: James A. FitzPatrick, Ray Fernstrom
8 mins

Also, there will be quite a few Alfred Hitchcock mystery movies on the Turner Classic Movies channel during December, so make sure to take a look at this list – if you’re interested in his movies.

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE ***** ***** ***** *****

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES CHANNEL MYSTERY MOVIES – December 2023

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – December 1,2023

7:30 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

2:30 PM Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Brewster sisters are spinster pillars of Brooklyn society, except for their secret penchant for poisoning old male callers with their homemade elderberry wine, to end the men’s loneliness!
Dir: Frank Capra. Cast: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey
118 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – December 3,2023

12:00 AM Black Angel (1946)
When Kirk Bennett is convicted of a singer’s murder, his wife tries to prove him innocent…aided by the victim’s ex-husband.
Dir: Roy William Neill. Cast: Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre
83 mins

10:00 AM Black Angel (1946)
When Kirk Bennett is convicted of a singer’s murder, his wife tries to prove him innocent…aided by the victim’s ex-husband.
Dir: Roy William Neill. Cast: Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre
83 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – December 5, 2023

6:00 AM The Blackbird (1926)
A benevolent bishop helps the needy during the day, but runs a crime syndicate at night.
Dir: Tod Browning. Cast: Lon Chaney, Owen Moore, Renée Adorée
86 mins
*****This is a silent film.*****

7:30 AM The Firebird (1934)
A young girl’s secret romance is exposed when her lover is murdered.
Dir: William Dieterle. Cast: Verree Teasdale, Ricardo Cortez, Lionel Atwill
74 mins

9:00 AM A Date with the Falcon (1941)
The gentleman detective postpones his wedding to find a cache of stolen diamonds.
Dir: Irving Reis. Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, James Gleason
63 mins

11:45 AM Flamingo Road (1949)
A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries into small-town society.
Dir: Michael Curtiz. Cast: Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott, Sydney Greenstreet
94 mins

1:30 PM The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
Nazi spies pursue a Spanish Civil War veteran in search of a priceless keepsake.
Dir: Richard Wallace. Cast: John Garfield, Maureen O’Hara, Walter Slezak
94 mins

3:15 PM The House of the Seven Hawks (1959)
A ship’s captain gets mixed up with murder during the hunt for lost Nazi treasure.
Dir: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Robert Taylor, Nicole Maurey, Linda Christian
92 mins

11:30 PM Breathless (1960)
A petty criminal, wanted for the murder of a police officer, returns to Paris where he meets an American girl who hawks newspapers. They become lovers, but eventually the police pressure her into betraying him and revealing his whereabouts.
Dir: Jean-Luc Godard Cast: Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Liliane David
90 mins
*****This movie is in both French and English.*****

Bullitt (Two-Disc Special Edition) ***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – December 6,2023

1:15 AM Bullitt (1968)
A detective is sent by a politician to catch a big-time gangster so he can procure him before a Senate crime committee for selfish gain. When the gangster is killed before this can happen, the detective and the politico clash with each other.
Dir: Peter Yates. Cast: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset
114 mins

7:30 AM Clouds over Europe (1939)
When enemy agents steal plans for an experimental plane, the test pilot fights to clear his name.
Dir: Tim Whelan. Cast: Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Valerie Hobson
78 mins

8:00 PM Marty (1955)
A lonely butcher finds love despite the opposition of his friends and family.
Dir: Delbert Mann Cast: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti
91 mins
*****Not a mystery movie. I have watched this movie several times – and plan to watch it again. It is such a touching film…*****

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – December 7, 2023

4:15 AM The Catered Affair (1956)
A working-class mother fights to give her daughter a big wedding whether the girl wants it or not.
Dir: Richard Brooks. Cast: Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds
93 mins
*****Not a mytery movie. This is another movie that I have watched several times and plan to watch again. It is another very touching film.*****

10:00 PM On Borrowed Time (1939)
An old man and his grandson trap Death in a tree.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Beulah Bondi
99 mins
*****Not a mystery movie – but I remember it as being quitte good. And, what a cast!*****

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – December 9, 2023

2:00 PM The Night of the Hunter (1955)
After hearing an about-to-be-hanged murderer’s story about some hidden money he left in the care of his two young kids, the murderer’s cell-mate is released and embarks on a journey to find the killer’s family.
Dir: Charles Laughton. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
93 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – December 10, 2023

1:00 AM I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes (1948)
A dancer is pinned for murder after his shoe prints are found at the scene of the crime. His wife follows the trail of clues to find the genuine killer.
Dir: William Nigh. Cast: Don Castle, Elyse Knox, Regis Toomey
70 mins

4:30 AM Star of Midnight (1935)
A New York lawyer tries to track down a kidnapped actress.
Dir: Stephen Roberts. Cast: William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Paul Kelly
90 mins

10:00 AM I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes (1948)
A dancer is pinned for murder after his shoe prints are found at the scene of the crime. His wife follows the trail of clues to find the genuine killer.
Dir: William Nigh. Cast: Don Castle, Elyse Knox, Regis Toomey
70 mins

1:45 PM The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
International spies kidnap a doctor’s son when he stumbles on their assassination plot.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie
119 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – December 11, 2023

6:15 PM The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
A possessive son’s efforts to keep his mother from remarrying threaten to destroy his family.
Dir: Orson Welles. Cast: Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter
88 mins
*****Not a mystery, but very good.*****

The Blue Dahlia ***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – December 13, 2023

1:15 AM The Blue Dahlia (1946)
A veteran fights to prove he didn’t kill his cheating wife.
Dir: George Marshall. Cast: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix
98 mins

3:15 AM Gilda (1946)
A gambler discovers an old flame in South America, but she’s married to his new boss.
Dir: Charles Vidor. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready
110 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – December 15, 2023

11:45 AM On Borrowed Time (1939)
An old man and his grandson trap Death in a tree.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Beulah Bondi
99 mins
*****Not a mystery movie – but I remember it as being quitte good. And, what a cast!*****

10:00 PM His Girl Friday (1940)
Walter Burns is a conniving but irresistible newspaper publisher desperate to woo back the paper’s star reporter, who happens to be his estranged wife. She’s tired of the business and is ready to settle down with a new beau. But (as Walter well knows) she has one weakness, she can’t quite resist a juicy scoop.
Dir: Howard Hawks. Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
92 mins
*****Not really a mystery – more a comedy.*****

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – December 16, 2023

2:00 AM Suspicion (1941)
A young woman marries a charming man after a brief romance but then comes to believe that he is only after her money and will do anything to get it.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke
99 mins

4:00 AM North by Northwest (1959)
A suave, successful New York advertising executive finds himself, through a case of mistaken identity, embroiled in a web of intrigue and murder that takes him across the country to prove his innocence to the police.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
136 mins

It's A Wonderful World ***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – December 17, 2023

12:00 AM Beware, My Lovely (1952)
A widow discovers her handyman is an escaped mental patient.
Dir: Harry Horner. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes
77 mins

8:00 AM It’s a Wonderful World (1939)
A runaway poetess helps a fugitive prove himself innocent of murder charges.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II. Cast: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee
86 mins
*****The description sounds like it should be a mystery movie, however, it’s actually a romantic comedy”’*****

10:00 AM Beware, My Lovely (1952)
A widow discovers her handyman is an escaped mental patient.
Dir: Harry Horner. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes
77 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – December 18, 2023

10:15 AM Kind Lady (1935)
A con artist and his criminal colleagues move in on a trusting old lady.
Dir: George B. Seitz. Cast: Aline Macmahon, Basil Rathbone, Mary Carlisle
76 mins

9:30 PM Blast of Silence (1961)
A hit man loses his nerve after allowing himself to feel emotion–and pays the price.
Dir: Allen Baron. Cast: Allen Baron, Molly McCarthy, Larry Tucker
77 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – December 19, 2023

2:00 AM The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
A child explores her late mother’s life and discovers her maternal bloodline is cursed.
Dir: Gunther V. Fritsch. Cast: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph
70 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – December 21, 2023

1:30 AM Lady in the Lake (1947)
Philip Marlowe searches for a missing woman in this mystery shot entirely from the detective’s viewpoint.
Dir: Robert Montgomery. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan
103 mins

3:30 AM Roadblock (1951)
An insurance agent’s greedy wife leads him to a life of crime.
Dir: Harold Daniels. Cast: Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, Lowell Gilmore
73 mins

8:30 AM The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
A child explores her late mother’s life and discovers her maternal bloodline is cursed.
Dir: Gunther V. Fritsch. Cast: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph
70 mins

2:00 PM Backfire (1950)
A veteran tries to clear an old friend of a murder charge.
Dir: Vincent Sherman. Cast: Viveca Lindfors, Dane Clark, Virginia Mayo
91 mins

4:00 PM Larceny, Inc. (1942)
An ex-convict and his gang try to use a luggage store to front a bank robbery, but business keeps getting in the way.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford
95 mins

Vertigo ***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – December 25, 2023

8:00 PM Vertigo (1958)
A detective falls for the mysterious woman he’s been hired to tail.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
128 mins

10:15 PM Rear Window (1954)
A photographer with a broken leg uncovers a murder while spying on the neighbors in a nearby apartment building.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
112 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – December 26, 2023

12:15 AM The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
International spies kidnap a doctor’s son when he stumbles on their assassination plot.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie
119 mins

2:30 AM Rope (1948)
Two wealthy young men try to commit the perfect crime by murdering a friend.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Dick Hogan, John Dall, Farley Granger
80 mins

4:00 AM Strangers on a Train (1951)
A man’s joking suggestion that he and a chance acquaintance trade murders turns deadly.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker
96 mins

10:00 AM The Big Sleep (1946)
Called into a case involving a wealthy family, detective Philip Marlowe discovers blackmail and murder as he falls for the eldest daughter in the family.
Dir: Howard Hawks. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely
114 mins

2:00 PM Adam’s Rib (1949)
A happily-married, middle-aged husband and wife strain their marriage while serving as trial attorneys on opposite sides of the same headline-making attempted murder-marital case. He is the prosecutor, and she is the defender.
Dir: George Cukor. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday
101 mins

4:00 PM After the Thin Man (1936)
Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles try to clear Nora’s cousin of a murder charge.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart
110 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – December 27, 2023

12:15 AM Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
In the early 1930s, a car thief and the daughter of his intended victim team up to become America’s most feared and ruthless bank robbers.
Dir: Arthur Penn. Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard
111 mins

12:00 PM Dial M for Murder (1954)
A straying husband frames his wife for the murder of the man he’d hired to kill her.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings
105 mins

2:00 PM Dead Ringer (1964)
One of a pair of twins, jealous that the other became wealthy and took away her husband, kills her sister and takes over the latter’s identity.
Dir: Paul Henreid. Cast: Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Peter Lawford
115 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – December 28, 2023

6:00 AM Lured (1947)
A woman helps the police catch the serial killer who murdered her best friend.
Dir: Douglas Sirk. Cast: George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn
102 mins

8:00 AM Night Must Fall (1937)
A charming young man worms his way into a wealthy woman’s household, then reveals a deadly secret.
Dir: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Merle Tottenham, Kathleen Harrison, Dame May Whitty
117 mins

10:00 AM Night Watch (1973)
An unhappy housewife who settles her fraying nerves with alcohol while staring out her window. When she witnesses what she thinks is a murder through a neighbor’s window, she calls the police, who find nothing when they investigate. Her neglectful husband is skeptical and unsupportive.
Dir: Brian G. Hutton. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Billie Whitelaw
105 mins

1:30 PM The Last of Sheila (1973)
A game of murder among wealthy vacationers turns into the real thing.
Dir: Herbert Ross. Cast: James Coburn, Raquel Welch, Dyan Cannon
120 mins

3:45 PM Wait Until Dark (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who’ve invaded her home.
Dir: Terence Young. Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna
108 mins

5:45 PM Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
A medium kidnaps a child so she can help the police solve the crime.
Dir: Bryan Forbes. Cast: Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough, Margaret Lacey
116 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – December 29, 2023

4:15 AM Blow-Up (1966)
A photographer discovers a murder in the background of a candid photo.
Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni. Cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, David Hemmings
111 mins

Repeat Performance ***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – December 30, 2023

12:00 PM Repeat Performance (1947)
On New Year’s Eve 1946, Sheila Page kills her husband Barney. She wishes that she could relive 1946 and avoid the mistakes that she made throughout the year. Her wish comes true but cheating fate proves more difficult than she anticipated.
Dir: Alfred Werker. Cast: Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie, Virginia Field
93 mins

4:00 PM The Birds (1963)
An immense flock of birds descends upon a seacoast town, makes it their nesting ground, and begins to attack and kill the townsfolk.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy
120 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – December 31, 2023

1:45 AM The Player (1992)
A frustrated screenwriter menaces a studio executive who eventually kills the writer and gets away with murder.
Dir: Robert Altman. Cast: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward
123 mins

4:00 AM In a Lonely Place (1950)
An aspiring actress begins to suspect that her temperamental boyfriend is a murderer.
Dir: Nicholas Ray. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy
91 mins

10:15 AM After the Thin Man (1936)
Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles try to clear Nora’s cousin of a murder charge.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart
110 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed TV specials coming up in December, 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 November 2023 television mystery movies schedule:

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for November 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.

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Karen Pirie (2022 ITV TV Miniseries)

November 11, 2023

The Distant EchoPlease note: this is a police procedural and is not a cozy mystery series.

Karen Pirie is a 2022 adaptation made by ITV, based off the novels by Val McDermid – specifically, The Distant Echo, the first in her Karen Pirie series.

At the beginning of the series, Karen Pirie (Lauren Lyle) is promoted to Detective Sergeant, and given a new posting at the Historic Cases Unit. The promotion has some clear political motivations – a podcast with a very feminist leaning message has recently highlighted the 25 year old death of a young woman, with the slant that the police might not have pursued every angle because they considered the victim at least partially to blame. Pirie has been promoted because the officers above her believe that the situation will look better, and be less easily criticized regardless of outcome, if a woman is the lead investigator – an angle that Pirie herself is less than pleased to hear about.

The cold case itself regards the death of teenage barmaid Rosie Duff in 1995, who was discovered by three drunken college students who claim that they stumbled across the body on the way home from the pub. Despite suspicion on the part of the police, they were never charged – nor was anyone else. Since then, the case has been largely forgotten – except by those most affected.

Karen Pirie certainly has a lot of things to say about social issues – women’s issues, race issues, sexuality issues, internet privacy issues, among others. Still, almost all of the characters (murderer aside, obviously) are handled with more depth than might be expected for a work with something to say about everything. I was especially a fan of Pirie’s only direct subordinate, Jason Murray (played by Chris Jenks), who when introduced seems like he is going to be a bit of a smarmy jerk, but turns out to be a dedicated cop – if a bit of a doofus.

There are many issues with the case, most of those are the sorts that are at least somewhat understandable given the circumstances – evidence has been misplaced, and there were gaps in the investigation’s methods, but at first most of these seem understandable given the 25 year gap and the death of the initial primary investigator during the course of the original investigation.

The biggest downside to this particular work is the length. The series consists of three episodes, each apparently originally airing in 2 hour blocks and now clocking in at 90 minutes each. All told, that makes this four and a half hours total. The case is admittedly somewhat complicated, but I still feel this is a bit too much time to cover a single piece. Of course, the original novel was almost 500 pages, so this might be more of an issue with the source material than with the adaptation.

That said, if you have the time to spare, (and can parse the sometimes thick-ish Scottish-ness of the cast, or turn on subtitles), I would recommend Karen Pirie to most fans of procedural detective fiction, particularly fans of cold case fictions. The interweaving of the flashbacks to the mid-90s and the modern day investigation help keep the miniseries fresh, though it does occasionally feel like it’s taking a bit too long to get where it is going.

At least as of the time of this writing, Karen Pirie is available on BritBox.

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Upcoming Mysteries on Turner Classic Movies for November 2023

October 26, 2023

I keep thinking we can’t already be this close to end of 2023! It seems like it was this time of year just two months ago, and here we are, already approaching a new year!

On Thursday, November 2, the Turner Classic Movie channel will be showing all three of the 1940s “Whistling” mystery movies. They starred Red Skelton as a bumbling detective with his own radio show. S. Sylvan Simon was the director for each of these movies: Whistling in the Dark – 1941, Whistling in Dixie – 1942, and Whistling in Brooklyn – 1943. Wally Benton (Skelton) somehow manages to sleuth out the murderers in all three of these comedic mystery movies.

***** ***** ***** *****

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES CHANNEL MYSTERY MOVIES – November 2023

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – November 1, 2023

11:15 AM The Public Enemy (1931)
An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Dir: William A. Wellman. Cast: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
74 mins

12:45 PM Love Is a Racket (1932)
A beautiful girl convinces a reporter to cover up her involvement in a murder.
Dir: William A. Wellman. Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Ann Dvorak, Frances Dee
72 mins

6:30 PM Midnight Mary (1933)
An abused orphan sinks into a life of crime.
Dir: William Wellman. Cast: Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, Franchot Tone
71 mins

10:00 PM Intruder in the Dust (1949)
Only a young boy and an old woman stand between an innocent black man and a lynch mob.
Dir: Clarence Brown. Cast: David Brian, Claude Jarman Jr., Juano Hernandez
89 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – November 2, 2023

12:00 AM Super Fly (1972)
Charismatic, big-time Harlem cocaine dealer Youngblood Priest drives expensive cars and plans one last big score to escape his life of violence. When corrupt cops working for the Mob learn of his plan, they try to make Priest a partner rather than arrest him.
Dir: Gordon Parks Jr. Cast: Ron O’Neal, Carl Lee, Julius Harris
96 mins

12:15 PM Whistling in the Dark (1941)
A radio detective is kidnapped and forced to plan the perfect murder.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon. Cast: Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford
77 mins

1:45 PM Whistling in Dixie (1942)
A radio detective’s southern honeymoon is cut short by the discovery of a murder.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon. Cast: Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, George Bancroft
74 mins

3:00 PM Whistling in Brooklyn (1943)
A radio sleuth infiltrates the Brooklyn Dodgers to solve a murder.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon Cast: Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, Jean Rogers
87 mins

4:30 PM Washington Melodrama (1941)
A philanthropic businessman is framed for murder during a lobbying trip to Washington.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon. Cast: Frank Morgan, Ann Rutherford, Kent Taylor
78 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – November 3, 2023

11:30 PM The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
Dir: Orson Welles. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane
86 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – November 4, 2023

2:00 PM I See A Dark Stranger (1946)
An Irish woman who hates the English turns Nazi spy.
Dir: Frank Launder. Cast: Deborah Kerr, Trevor Howard, Raymond Huntley
112 mins

10:00 PM The Big Boss (1971)
A young man sworn to an oath of non-violence works with his cousins in an ice factory where they mysteriously begin to disappear.
Dir: Lo Wei. Cast: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien
100 mins
***** In Cantonese, Mandarin, & Thai*****

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – November 5, 2023

12:00 AM Abandoned (1949)
When a newspaper crime reporter helps a woman try to find her sister’s illegitimate baby, they discover a baby-adoption racket.
Dir: Joe Newman. Cast: Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler
79 mins

10:00 AM Abandoned (1949)
When a newspaper crime reporter helps a woman try to find her sister’s illegitimate baby, they discover a baby-adoption racket.
Dir: Joe Newman. Cast: Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler
79 mins

11:45 AM The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Years after a murder drove them apart, an heiress tries to win back her lost love.
Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott
116 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – November 6, 2023

10:15 PM Wait Until Dark (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who’ve invaded her home.
Dir: Terence Young. Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna
108 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – November 7, 2023

8:00 PM Crossfire (1947)
A crusading district attorney investigates the murder of a Jewish man.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk. Cast: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan
85 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – November 8, 2023

4:00 AM Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles investigate a murder in a jazz club.
Dir: Edward Buzzell. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn
86 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – November 9, 2023

12:45 AM Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
An African-American man is hired to find a woman, and gets mixed up in a murderous political scandal.
Dir: Carl Franklin. Cast: Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals
102 mins

11:30 AM The Garden Murder Case (1936)
Society sleuth Philo Vance suspects dirty doings behind a mysterious series of suicides.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Edmund Lowe, Virginia Bruce, Benita Hume
62 mins

3:45 PM Bewitched (1945)
A girl enlists a psychic to get rid of her murderous alternate personality.
Dir: Arch Oboler. Cast: Edmund Gwenn, Phyllis Thaxter, Harry H. Daniels Jr.
65 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – November 10, 2023

6:15 PM The Split (1968)
A gang of thieves plots to rob the Los Angeles Coliseum box office during a Rams game.
Dir: Gordon Flemyng. Cast: Jim Brown, Diahann Carroll, Ernest Borgnine
90 mins

8:00 PM Rope (1948)
Two wealthy young men try to commit the perfect crime by murdering a friend.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Dick Hogan, John Dall, Farley Granger
80 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – November 12, 2023

12:00 AM Cry Terror! (1958)
A mad bomber holds an innocent family hostage.
Dir: Andrew L. Stone. Cast: James Mason, Rod Steiger, Inger Stevens
96 mins

2:00 AM Cat O’Nine Tails (1971)
A blind man and a reporter investigate a break-in at a center for genetic research.
Dir: Dario Argento. Cast: James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Catherine Spaak
112 mins

4:00 AM Eyes in the Night (1942)
Blind detective Duncan Maclain gets mixed up with enemy agents and murder when he tries to help an old friend with a rebellious stepdaughter.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann. Cast: Edward Arnold, Ann Harding, Donna Reed
80 mins

12:00 PM 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

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – November 14, 2023

8:00 PM In a Lonely Place (1950)
An aspiring actress begins to suspect that her temperamental boyfriend is a murderer.
Dir: Nicholas Ray. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy
91 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – November 15, 2023

1:30 AM Macao (1952)
A man on the run in the Far East is mistaken for an undercover cop.
Dir: Josef Von Sternberg. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix
80 mins

3:00 AM The Todd Killings (1971)
Based on the true story of ’60s thrill-killer Charles Schmid (“The Pied Piper of Tucson”).
Dir: Barry Shear. Cast: Robert F. Lyons, Richard Thomas, Belinda Montgomery
93 mins

6:00 AM Before Dawn (1933)
Detectives compete to solve the murders at a mysterious mansion.
Dir: Irving Pichel. Cast: Stuart Erwin, Dorothy Wilson, Warner Oland
60 mins

7:15 AM The Unholy Night (1929)
A mad strangler haunts the London fog.
Dir: Lionel Barrymore. Cast: Ernest Torrence, Roland Young, Dorothy Sebastian
92 mins

10:30 AM Seven Keys to Baldpate (1929)
A mystery writer runs into the real thing when he holes up at a deserted inn.
Dir: Lew Landers. Cast: Phillip Terry, Jacqueline White, Eduardo Ciannelli
64 mins

12:00 PM The Phantom of Crestwood (1933)
Five men have to prove their innocence when a blackmailer is murdered.
Dir: J. Walter Ruben. Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morley, Anita Louise
76 mins

3:15 PM The Hidden Hand (1942)
The body count rises during the competition for a family inheritance.
Dir: Ben Stoloff. Cast: Craig Stevens, Elisabeth Fraser, Julie Bishop
66 mins

4:30 PM Seven Keys to Baldpate (1947)
A mystery writer runs into the real thing when he holes up at a deserted inn.
Dir: Lew Landers. Cast: Phillip Terry, Jacqueline White, Eduardo Ciannelli
64 mins

5:45 PM Mystery House (1938)
A detective tries to solve a murder in a house full of suspects.
Dir: Noel Smith. Cast: Dick Purcell, Ann Sheridan, Anne Nagel
61 mins

6:45 PM The White Cockatoo (1935)
Crooks and killers try to stop a young woman from proving her claim to an inheritance.
Dir: Alan Crosland. Cast: Jean Muir, Ricardo Cortez, Ruth Donnelly
73 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – November 17, 2023

6:00 AM Decoy (1946)
A woman saves her gangster boyfriend from the gas chamber to get her hands on his hidden money.
Dir: Jack Bernhard. Cast: Jean Gillie, Edward Norris, Herbert Rudley
76 mins

7:30 AM Too Late For Tears (1949)
A married woman’s discovery of stolen money changes her character for the worse.
Dir: Byron Haskin. Cast: Lizabeth Scott, Don Defore, Dan Duryea
99 mins

9:15 AM The Narrow Margin (1952)
A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster’s moll on a tense train ride.
Dir: Richard Fleischer. Cast: Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White
71 mins

10:30 AM Tension (1950)
A man who had planned to murder his wife’s lover becomes the prime suspect when somebody beats him to it.
Dir: John Berry. Cast: Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse
95 mins

12:15 PM Detour (1945)
A hitchhiker takes on a dead man’s identity only to face blackmail by an unscrupulous woman.
Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer. Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake
68 mins

1:30 PM The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade gets caught up in the murderous search for a priceless statue.
Dir: John Huston. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George
100 mins

3:15 PM Born to Kill (1947)
A murderer marries a young innocent then goes after her more experienced sister.
Dir: Robert Wise. Cast: Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak
92 mins

5:00 PM The Set-Up (1949)
An aging boxer defies the gangsters who’ve ordered him to throw his last fight.
Dir: Robert Wise. Cast: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias
72 mins

6:15 PM The Naked City (1948)
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Dir: Jules Dassin. Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart
96 mins

8:00 PM Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)
Police patrolmen are stalked by a vengeful mobster escaped from prison.
Dir: Gordon Douglas. Cast: Mark Stevens, Edmond O’Brien, Gale Storm
89 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – November 18, 2023

2:00 AM The Incident (1967)
Two rowdy teens board a New York City subway and terrorize the passengers.
Dir: Larry Peerce. Cast: Tony Musante, Martin Sheen, Beau Bridges
107 mins

4:00 AM Alphabet City (1984)
A New York City drug dealer decides to get out of the business, but has to flee from mobsters.
Dir: Amos Poe. Cast: Vincent Spano, Kate Vernon, Michael Winslow
85 mins

3:30 PM Macao (1952)
A man on the run in the Far East is mistaken for an undercover cop.
Dir: Josef Von Sternberg. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix
80 mins

5:00 PM D.O.A. (1950)
The victim of a slow-acting poison tracks down his own killer.
Dir: Rudolph Maté. Cast: Edmond O’Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler
83 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – November 19, 2023

12:00 AM Strange Bargain (1949)
A young bookkeeper is framed for his boss’s murder.
Dir: Will Price. Cast: Martha Scott, Jeffrey Lynn, Henry Morgan
68 mins

1:45 AM Dressed To Kill (1980)
After wife and mother Kate Miller discusses her sexual frustrations with her psychiatrist, she goes to meet her husband at a museum. At the museum, she meets a strange man who she follows to a cab and then has sex with him at his apartment. After the affair, Kate is brutally murdered in the elevator by a blonde woman.
Dir: Brian De Palma. Cast: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen
104 mins

4:00 AM Sisters (1972)
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Dir: Brian De Palma. Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning
92 mins

10:00 AM Strange Bargain (1949)
A young bookkeeper is framed for his boss’s murder.
Dir: Will Price. Cast: Martha Scott, Jeffrey Lynn, Henry Morgan
68 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – November 20, 2023

12:15 PM Suspicion (1941)
A young woman marries a charming man after a brief romance but then comes to believe that he is only after her money and will do anything to get it.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke
99 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – November 21, 2023

7:15 AM The Hunted (1948)
A police detective investigating a jewel robbery discovers evidence that points to his girlfriend as the culprit, although she claims she was framed.
Dir: Jack Bernhard. Cast: Preston Foster, Belita, Pierre Watkin
67 mins

8:45 AM Don’t Turn ‘Em Loose (1936)
A ruthless convict threatens to reveal that the head of the parole board is his father.
Dir: Ben Stoloff. Cast: Lewis Stone, James Gleason, Bruce Cabot
68 mins

10:00 AM Convict’s Code (1939)
A man is framed and sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. When he is released on limited parole, he sets out to clear his name and find the real criminals.
Dir: Lambert Hillyer. Cast: Robert Kent, Anne Nagel, Sidney Blackmer
62 mins

11:15 AM They All Come Out (1939)
The getaway driver for a gang of thieves is captured by the police and sent to a prison, where he contemplates a life of reform.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur. Cast: Rita Johnson, Tom Neal, Bernard Nedell
70 mins

3:15 PM Man to Man (1931)
A young man attempts to overcome the memory of his father, who was sent to jail for committing a murder.
Dir: Allan Dwan. Cast: Phillips Holmes, Grant Mitchell, Lucille Powers
68 mins

10:15 PM Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
Desperate losers plan a bank robbery with unexpected results.
Dir: Robert Wise. Cast: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters
95 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – November 22, 2023

4:45 AM Chandler (1971)
A former private eye lands in hot water when he agrees to protect a government witness.
Dir: Paul Magwood. Cast: Warren Oates, Leslie Caron, Alex Dreier
88 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – November 24, 2023

6:00 AM Their Big Moment (1934)
A phony psychic conjures up a real ghost who asks her to solve his murder.
Dir: James Cruze. Cast: Zasu Pitts, Slim Summerville, William Gaxton
68 mins

8:00 PM Wait Until Dark (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who’ve invaded her home.
Dir: Terence Young. Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna
108 mins

10:00 PM Gaslight (1944)
Young Paula Alquist has given up a promising singing career to marry Gregory Anton. Deeply in love, she refuses to believe – then cannot convince anyone else – that her new husband is a thief who murdered her aunt, that everyone in her household is plotting to kill her…and that something evil will happen every time she …
Dir: George Cukor. Cast: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten
114 mins

12:00 AM Midnight Lace (1960)
A young woman can’t get anyone to believe she’s being stalked.
Dir: David Miller. Cast: Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin
108 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – November 25, 2023

4:15 PM High Sierra (1941)
An aging ex-con sets out to pull one more big heist.
Dir: Raoul Walsh. Cast: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis
100 mins

6:00 PM Double Indemnity (1944)
An insurance salesman gets seduced into plotting a client’s death.
Dir: Billy Wilder. Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
106 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – November 26, 2023

12:00 AM Storm Fear (1956)
A wounded bank robber takes over his brother’s home.
Dir: Cornel Wilde. Cast: Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Dan Duryea
88 mins

4:00 AM The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968)
A kidnapped gangster turns his captors into a crack band of crooks.
Dir: Ken Annakin. Cast: Vittorio De Sica, Raquel Welch, Robert Wagner
110 mins

10:00 AM Storm Fear (1956)
A wounded bank robber takes over his brother’s home.
Dir: Cornel Wilde. Cast: Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Dan Duryea
88 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – November 27, 2023

6:30 PM The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935)
Holmes, retired to Sussex, is drawn into a last case when arch enemy Moriarty arranges with an American gang to kill one John Douglas, a country gentleman with a mysterious past.
Dir: Leslie S. Hiscott. Cast: Arthur Wontner, Lyn Harding, Ian Fleming
75 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – November 28, 2023

8:00 PM The Big Heat (1953)
A hard-boiled and uncorruptable cop investigates a string of murders and single-handedly exposes an organized crime cartel.
Dir: Fritz Lang. Cast: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando
90 mins

9:45 PM Human Desire (1954)
An unhappy wife seduces a veteran into helping her get rid of her husband.
Dir: Fritz Lang. Cast: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford
90 mins

11:30 PM Naked Alibi (1954)
A chief of police detectives who is fired for brutality tries to get evidence on a man suspected of killing 3 of his officers.
Dir: Jerry Hopper. Cast: Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, Gene Barry
86 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – November 29, 2023

1:15 AM The Good Die Young (1954)
Four thieves think back on the problems that led them to a daring heist.
Dir: Lewis Gilbert. Cast: Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Richard Basehart
98 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – November 30, 2023

8:00 PM His Girl Friday (1940)
Walter Burns is a conniving but irresistible newspaper publisher desperate to woo back the paper’s star reporter, who happens to be his estranged wife. She’s tired of the business and is ready to settle down with a new beau. But (as Walter well knows) she has one weakness, she can’t quite resist a juicy scoop.
Dir: Howard Hawks. Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
92 mins
*****More a comedy than a mystery, but with Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, and Ralph Bellamy, it’s great fun!*****

11:15 PM The Man Who Lived Twice (1936)
A criminal has plastic surgery done to change his identity but loses his memory during the operation.
Dir: Harry Lachman. Cast: Ralph Bellamy, Marian Marsh, Thurston Hall
73 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed TV specials coming up in November, 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 October 2023 television mystery movies schedule:

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for October 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.

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British Television Mystery Series: Bergerac

October 7, 2023

Move over Tom Barnaby: let’s focus on Jim Bergerac! Not having grown up in (or visited) England, I didn’t know that before John Nettles starred as Tom Barnaby he was another British detective: Jim Bergerac. The TV series Bergerac is set on Jersey, one of the Channel Islands. It is a mixture of French and English cultures and is known as a vacation destination for people who want to enjoy its beautiful beaches. The scenery of this 1980s television series is beautiful… absolutely beautiful.

Jim Bergerac (John Nettles) is a detective who works in an office that does not investigate any of the island’s inhabitants – only visitors. The fictitious police department is called the “Foreigner’s Office”. As such, the viewer sees the ferry, boat docks, and airport in many of the shows. There is also a focus on the trails of the island that overlook the channel – providing beautiful views.

Jim Bergerac is a recovering alcoholic, who still has a lot of contact with his very rich ex-wife. I’m especially glad about that because his ex-wife’s father is my favorite character in the show. Bergerac’s ex-father in law is played by Terence Alexander. His remarkably good portrayal of a man who would do almost anything for money was such that you probably wouldn’t see fault in him bending the rules. He seemed to do everything with great panache.

Bergerac is not only a great detective, but he’s also a ladies’ man. And, when he doesn’t have a new girlfriend, he’s hanging out with his ex-wife. I don’t think there has been one episode where he hasn’t had a woman in his life!

I should warn you: don’t expect the Cozy, quaint village feel of Midsomer Murder. Also, I have been watching the Bergerac series on BritBox and (unfortunately) season four is not included. So I missed the “Foreigner’s Office” move to a new building, Jim’s office secretary transferring to some unknown place, or Jim moving on to a new woman in his life. Speaking of which, Annette Badland played the secretary from 1981 to 1984 in Bergerac, and in 2018 she started appearing in Midsomer Murders as the forensic pathologist.

My husband and I enjoy several shows that we have on our nightly TV rotation, and this is one of them. We’re both enjoying Bergerac, and you may too!

Bergerac is available on Britbox through Amazon Prime Video.

Also, if you’re interested in taking a look at some other good mystery shows, make sure to go to my Cozy Mystery TV and Movies page.

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