My goodness, it’s difficult to believe that this TCM listing is for the last month we will be posting “2024” on our correspondence. Good grief, where has this year gone?
As usual, I have listed the mystery and crime movies that the Turner Classic Movies channel will be airing during this month. But, since I just can’t get enough Christmas good-will movies, and think that perhaps you also are interested in them, I have tried to list the Christmas movies the channel will be broadcasting. Some of my very favorites (Christmas in Connecticut, Remember the Night, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Desk Set, well, my list of favorites goes on and on…)
So, there should be plenty of feel-good Christmas movies along with our mystery/crime movies to watch this month.
(Oh, by the way, Turner Classic Movies will be playing The Thin Man movies on Tuesday, December 31. I sort of remember they skipped a year recently.)
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES CHANNEL MYSTERY MOVIES – November 2024
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – December 1, 2024
10:00 AM 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
4:00 PM Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) — Christmas
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor
113 mins
6:00 PM The Bishop’s Wife (1948) — Christmas
An angel helps set an ambitious bishop on the right track.
Dir: Henry Koster Cast: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven
109 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – December 5, 2024
6:00 AM The Beast of the City (1932)
A police captain leads the fight against a vicious gangland chief.
Dir: Charles Brabin. Cast: Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford
87 mins
10:15 AM The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
A boxer facing a murder charge finds refuge in a children’s home.
Dir: Archie Mayo. Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Loretta Young, Aline MacMahon
70 mins
12:00 PM Death on the Diamond (1934)
A rookie pitcher tries to stop someone from killing the St. Louis Cardinals.
Dir: Edward Sedgwick. Cast: Robert Young, Madge Evans, Nat Pendleton
71 mins
1:30 PM Hide-Out (1934)
Farmers take in an injured racketeer and try to reform him.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Maureen O’Sullivan, Edward Arnold
82 mins
3:00 PM Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Boyhood friends grow up on opposite sides of the law.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke. Cast: Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy
93 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – December 6, 2024
9:00 AM My Forbidden Past (1951)
A beauty with a skeleton in her closet seeks revenge on the suitor who jilted her.
Dir: Robert Stevenson. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas
81 mins
Saturday – December 7, 2024
6:15 AM Pete Kelly’s Blues (1955)
The jazz band’s leader gets mixed up with a gangster in ’20s Kansas City.
Dir: Jack Webb. Cast: Jack Webb, Janet Leigh, Edmond O’Brien
95 mins
4:00 PM It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) — Christmas
Two homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth. Cast: Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles
115 mins
6:15 PM Holiday Affair (1949) — Christmas
A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne’er-do-well.
Dir: Don Hartman. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey
87 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – December 8, 2024
12:00 AM Act of Violence (1949)
An embittered veteran tracks down a POW camp informer.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann. Cast: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh
82 mins
10:00 AM Act of Violence (1949)
An embittered veteran tracks down a POW camp informer.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann. Cast: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh
82 mins
11:45 AM A Christmas Carol (1938) — Christmas
In this adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, an elderly miser learns the error of his ways on Christmas Eve.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart
69 mins
8:00 PM Born to Be Bad (1950)
An ambitious girl steals a rich husband but keeps her lover on the side.
Dir: Nicholas Ray. Cast: Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, Zachary Scott
94 mins
Tuesday – December 10, 2024
8:00 PM Nowhere to Go (1958)
A burglar on the run holes up with an innocent English girl.
Dir: Seth Holt. Cast: George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee
87 mins
10:00 PM The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
An age-resisting private girls-school teacher grows eccentric and vicarious through her young students. Set in 1930s Edinburgh.
Dir: Ronald Neame. Cast: Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin
116 mins
*****Not a mystery – but it’s a terrific movie.*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – December 11, 2024
8:00 PM The Fallen Idol (1948)
A neglected child thinks the servant he idolizes has committed murder.
Dir: Carol Reed. Cast: Ralph Richardson, Michele Morgan, Bobby Henrey
95 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – December 12, 2024
2:00 PM Killer McCoy (1947)
A lightweight boxer gets mixed up in murder.
Dir: Roy Rowland. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Brian Donlevy, Ann Blyth
103 mins
Friday – December 13, 2024
7:00 AM Numbered Men (1930)
A convict learns that a fellow prisoner has been messing with his woman.
Dir: Mervyn Leroy. Cast: Conrad Nagel, Bernice Claire, Raymond Hackett
70 mins
8:15 AM Scarlet Pages (1930)
A female attorney makes a startling discovery about the woman she’s defending from murder charges.
Dir: Ray Enright. Cast: Elsie Ferguson, John Halliday, Marion Nixon
66 mins
10:45 AM Night Waitress (1936)
A girl just out of prison gets mixed up in murder at the restaurant where she works.
Dir: Lew Landers. Cast: Margot Grahame, Gordon Jones, Vinton Haworth
59 mins
12:00 PM Paid (1930)
A young innocent plots revenge after being sent to prison unjustly.
Dir: Sam Wood. Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Armstrong, Marie Prevost
80 mins
1:30 PM The Widow From Chicago (1930)
A woman infiltrates a criminal mob to avenge her brother’s death.
Dir: Edward Cline. Cast: Alice White, Neil Hamilton, Edward G. Robinson
64 mins
4:00 PM The Woman Racket (1930)
A policeman must rescue his wife from gangsters.
Dir: Robert Ober. Cast: Tom Moore, Blanche Sweet
70 mins
5:30 PM Framed (1930)
A nightclub hostess seeks revenge against a police inspector, yet falls in love with his son.
Dir: George Archainbaud. Cast: Evelyn Brent, Regis Toomey, Ralf Harolde
62 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – December 14, 2024
12:45 AM Cape Fear (1962)
A released convict decides to menace and wreak havoc on the family of his defense lawyer.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson. Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen
105 mins
4:00 PM The Shop Around the Corner (1940) — Christmas
Feuding co-workers do not realize they are secret romantic pen pals.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch. Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan
97 mins
6:00 PM The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) — Christmas
An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.
Dir: William Keighley. Cast: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley
112 mins
Sunday – December 15, 2024
12:30 AM Black Gravel (1961)
In post-WWII Germany, people struggle with shortages of everything, including housing, water, food, and clothing. A military base being built for several thousand American soldiers provides an economic opportunity that some try to take advantage of. Also known by the German title ‘Schwarzer Kies’.
Dir: Helmut Käutner. Cast: Helmut Wildt, Ingmar Zeisberg, Hans Cossy
113 mins
*****In German*****
6:00 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, but I remember enjoying it a lot. The cast is fantastic.*****
10:00 AM Black Gravel (1961)
In post-WWII Germany, people struggle with shortages of everything, including housing, water, food, and clothing. A military base being built for several thousand American soldiers provides an economic opportunity that some try to take advantage of. Also known by the German title ‘Schwarzer Kies’.
Dir: Helmut Käutner. Cast: Helmut Wildt, Ingmar Zeisberg, Hans Cossy
113 mins
*****In German*****
6:00 PM Christmas in Connecticut (1945) — Christmas
When a magazine writer invites a rescued sailor to spend Christmas with her, he ends up falling in love with her.
Dir: Peter Godfrey. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet
101 mins
*****I love this movie!*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – December 16, 2024
8:00 PM Auntie Mame (1958) — Christmas
An eccentric heiress raises her nephew to be a free spirit.
Dir: Morton Dacosta. Cast: Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne
143 mins
10:30 PM Metropolitan (1990) — Christmas
A group of friends from New York’s haute-bourgeoisie gather together during the holiday season.
Dir: Whit Stillman. Cast: Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Chris Eigeman
98 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – December 17, 2024
12:15 AM Rope (1948)
Two wealthy young men try to commit the perfect crime by murdering a friend.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: James Stewart, Farley Granger, John Dall, Dick Hogan
80 mins
7:15 AM Dinner at Eight (1933)
A high-society dinner party masks a hotbed of scandal and intrigue.
Dir: George Cukor. Cast: Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Billie Burke, Lee Tracy, Lionel Barrymore
113 mins
*****Not a mystery, but very good.*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – December 19, 2024
6:00 AM Quicksand (1950)
Petty theft leads a mechanic into a life of crime.
Dir: Irving Pichel. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Barbara Bates
79 mins
7:30 AM The Strip (1951)
A jazz drummer fights to clear his name when he’s accused of killing a racketeer.
Dir: Leslie Kardos. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest, William Demarest
85 mins
10:30 AM King of the Roaring 20s: The Story of Arnold Rothstein (1961)
A gangster rises to the top of the gambling racket.
Dir: Joseph M. Newman. Cast: David Janssen, Dianne Foster, Mickey Rooney
106 mins
Friday – December 20, 2024
8:00 AM The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
A detective teams with his ex-wife to solve a murder.
Dir: Stephen Roberts. Cast: William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Gleason
80 mins
8:00 PM Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) — Christmas
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor
113 mins
12:00 AM The Shop Around the Corner (1940) — Christmas
Feuding co-workers do not realize they are secret romantic pen pals.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan
97 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – December 21, 2024
7:30 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
10:30 AM A Christmas Carol (1938) — Christmas
In this adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, an elderly miser learns the error of his ways on Christmas Eve.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart
69 mins
2:00 PM Little Women (1949) — Christmas
The four daughters of a New England family fight for happiness during and after the Civil War.
Dir: Mervyn Leroy. Cast: June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O’Brien
121 mins
8:00 PM It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) — Christmas
Two homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth. Cast: Don Defore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles
115 mins
10:15 PM The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) — Christmas
An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.
Dir: William Keighley. Cast: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley
112 mins
2:15 AM Miracle on Main Street (1939) — Christmas
On Christmas Eve, a couple hiding from the police find an abandoned baby and decide to raise the child.
Dir: Steve Sekely. Cast: Margo, Walter Abel, William Collier Sr.
78 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – December 22, 2024
10:00 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
2:00 PM The Holly and the Ivy (1952) — Christmas
A minister’s family torn apart by World War II reunites for the Christmas holidays.
Dir: George More O’Ferrall. Cast: Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, Margaret Leighton
80 mins
8:00 PM Christmas in Connecticut (1945) — Christmas
When a magazine writer invites a rescued sailor to spend Christmas with her, he ends up falling in love with her.
Dir: Peter Godfrey. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet
101 mins
*****I love, love, love this Christmas movie!*****
10:00 PM Remember the Night (1940) — Christmas
An assistant D.A. takes a shoplifter home with him for Christmas.
Dir: Mitchell Leisen Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Beulah Bondi
94 mins
*****This is another Christmas movie I love, love, love to watch!*****
12:00 AM Christmas Past (1925) — Christmas
A compilation of Christmas-themed short, silent films.
Dir: Charles M. Seay, Frank E. Kleinschmidt, J. Searle Dawley. Cast: Barry O’Moore, Julian Reed, Marc McDermott
120 mins
Monday – December 23, 2024
6:15 AM Compliments of the Season (1930) — Christmas
In this film, a criminal attempting to go straight stops a young lady on Christmas eve from committing suicide. Vitaphone Release 1094-1095.
Dir: Arthur Hurley. Cast: Eric Dressler, Lenita Lane, Pat O’Brien
13 mins
8:30 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
2:00 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
4:00 PM Backfire (1950)
A veteran tries to clear an old friend of a murder charge.
Dir: Vincent Sherman. Cast: Gordon MacRae, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien
91 mins
8:00 PM Holiday Affair (1949) — Christmas
A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne’er-do-well.
Dir: Don Hartman. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey
87 mins
9:45 PM Desk Set (1957) — Christmas
An efficiency expert introduces his amazing new machine that can answer anything to a TV researcher and her staff, but it threatens to put them out of work.
Dir: Walter Lang. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Gig Young
103 mins
11:45 PM Meet John Doe (1941) — Christmas
A reporter’s fraudulent story turns a tramp into a national hero and makes him a pawn of big business.
Dir: Frank Capra. Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold
123 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – December 24, 2024
2:00 AM The Thin Man (1934) — Christmas
In New York, a detective, his wife and his dog solve the murder case of an eccentric inventor.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan
91 mins
3:45 AM Cover Up (1949) — Christmas
An insurance investigator smells something wrong when he looks into a small-town suicide.
Dir: Alfred E. Green. Cast: William Bendix, Dennis O’Keefe, Barbara Britton
85 mins
5:15 AM A Carol for Another Christmas (1964) — Christmas
Three ghosts teach an industrialist the importance of international peacekeeping.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Cast: Sterling Hayden, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Gazzara
85 mins
6:45 AM Three Godfathers (1936) — Christmas
Three fugitives risk their lives to bring a newborn baby out of the desert to safety.
Dir: Richard Boleslawski. Cast: Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan
82 mins
8:15 AM Big Business (1929) — Christmas
A quarrel between two Christmas tree salesmen and a potential customer leads to a wave of destruction.
Dir: James W. Horne, Leo McCarey. Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson
19 mins
*****Silent.)
8:45 AM A Carol for Another Christmas (1964) — Christmas
Three ghosts teach an industrialist the importance of international peacekeeping.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Cast: Sterling Hayden, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Gazzara
85 mins
10:15 AM Bundle of Joy (1956) — Christmas (I’m not sure if it’s Christmas or not…)
A recently fired shop girl is mistaken for a single mother when she finds an abandoned baby.
Dir: Norman Taurog. Cast: Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Adolphe Menjou
98 mins
12:00 PM Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) — Christmas
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor
113 mins
2:00 PM It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) — Christmas
Two homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth. Cast: Don Defore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles
115 mins
4:15 PM Christmas in Connecticut (1945) — Christmas
When a magazine writer invites a rescued sailor to spend Christmas with her, he ends up falling in love with her.
Dir: Peter Godfrey. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet
101 mins
6:15 PM The Shop Around the Corner (1940) — Christmas
Feuding co-workers do not realize they are secret romantic pen pals.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch. Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan
97 mins
8:00 PM The Bishop’s Wife (1948) — Christmas
An angel helps set an ambitious bishop on the right track.
Dir: Henry Koster. Cast: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven
109 mins
10:00 PM Room for One More (1952) — Christmas
New Jersey couple Anna and Poppy Rose adopt several kids born into less fortunate circumstances, including a desperately unhappy 13-year-old girl and a physically handicapped boy with a penchant for getting into serious trouble.
Dir: Norman Taurog. Cast: Cary Grant, Betsy Drake, Lurene Tuttle
98 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – December 25, 2024 – Merry Christmas!
12:00 AM A Christmas Carol (1938) — Christmas
In this adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, an elderly miser learns the error of his ways on Christmas Eve.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart
69 mins
1:30 AM Beyond Tomorrow (1940) — Christmas
A ghost tries to smooth the way for two young lovers he knew during his lifetime.
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland. Cast: Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Winninger
84 mins
4:30 AM Kind Lady (1951)
A con artist and his criminal cohorts hold an old lady hostage in her own home.
Dir: John Sturges. Cast: Ethel Barrymore, Maurice Evans, Angela Lansbury
78 mins
6:00 AM Star in the Night (1945) — Christmas
Three cowboys see a bright light in the distance and decide to investigate on Christmas Eve.
Dir: Don Siegel. Cast: J. Carrol Naish, Lynne Baggett, Anthony Caruso
21 mins
6:30 AM Never Say Goodbye (1946) — Christmas
A husband tries to win back his wife before she can divorce him.
Dir: James V. Kern. Cast: Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker, Lucile Watson
97 mins
8:30 AM All Mine to Give (1957) — Christmas
Pioneer children fight to build a new family after their parents die.
Dir: Allen Reisner. Cast: Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell, Rex Thompson
110 mins
12:00 PM Little Women (1933) — Christmas
The four March sisters fight to keep their family together and find love while their father is off fighting the Civil War.
Dir: George Cukor. Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas
115 mins
*****If you’re only going to watch one “Little Women” movie, this is the one I would recommend.
4:15 PM Holiday Affair (1949) — Christmas
A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne’er-do-well.
Dir: Don Hartman Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey
87 mins
6:00 PM The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) — Christmas
An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.
Dir: William Keighley. Cast: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley
112 mins
Friday – December 27, 2024
10:15 AM 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
12:00 PM Background to Danger (1943)
An American gets caught up in wartime action in Turkey.
Dir: Raoul Walsh. Cast: George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet
80 mins
1:30 PM 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
3:00 PM The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
A meek novelist investigates the mysterious death of a notorious scoundrel.
Dir: Jean Negulesco. Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson
95 mins
4:45 PM Three Strangers (1946)
Three people who share a sweepstakes ticket travel a tangled road to collect their winnings.
Dir: Jean Negulesco. Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Peter Lorre
92 mins
6:30 PM The Verdict (1946)
A retired Scotland Yard chief tries to prove his friend is innocent of murder.
Dir: Don Siegel. Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Joan Lorring
86 mins
8:00 PM Le Samourai (1967)
When a professional hitman is seen by witnesses leaving the scene of a killing, his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.
Dir: Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Alain Delon, Francois Perier, Nathalie Delon
105 mins
*****In French*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – December 28, 2024
12:15 AM Blood Simple (1984)
An owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
Dir: Joel Coen. Cast: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya
95 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – December 29, 2024
12:15 AM 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
*****Great Noir Alley movie! Thank you Eddie Muller!****
10:00 AM 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
2:00 PM Charade (1963)
A young woman returns home from vacation to find her elegant apartment stripped and her husband murdered.
Dir: Stanley Donen. Cast: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau
114 mins
8:00 PM Mildred Pierce (1945)
A woman’s ambitions for her daughter drastically impact her life.
Dir: Michael Curtiz. Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott
113 mins
10:30 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
107 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – December 30, 2024
10:00 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
*****I wondered if I was going to like this movie. Once I watched it, I became a fan!*****
2:15 AM Ten Little Indians (1966)
Party guests at a remote mansion have been brought together to pay for past crimes.
Dir: George Pollock. Cast: Hugh O’Brian, Shirley Eaton, Fabian
89 mins
4:00 AM House on Haunted Hill (1958)
The owner of a supposedly haunted mansion offers $10,000 to anyone dumb enough to attempt to spend the night there.
Dir: William Castle. Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long
75 mins
*****I’m not sure if this is just a “horror” movie or if it qualifies as a mystery…*****
Tuesday – December 31, 2024
9:15 AM The Thin Man (1934)
In New York, a detective, his wife and his dog solve the murder case of an eccentric inventor.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan
91 mins
11:00 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
1:00 PM Another Thin Man (1939)
Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey
105 mins
2:45 PM Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
High society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while investigating a race-track murder.
Dir: Major W. S. Van Dyke II. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson
97 mins
4:30 PM The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.
Dir: Richard Thorpe. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson
100 mins
6:15 PM 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
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – January 1, 2025!
12:30 AM Repeat Performance (1947) — New Year’s
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
***** ***** ***** *****
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 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for November 2024 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.