The Turner Classic Movies channel is beginning the month of May 2021 by showing movies that received Oscar nominations/wins. TCM has an interesting theme on May 5 which answers the question: how would you go about getting rid of a body? This is followed by several movies that take place in the court – I suppose trying to find out who got rid of the body that was “gotten rid of” by the culprit…
TCM will be showing several film noir movies on May 19 — which ought to be fun for a lot of us. And, as I mentioned, there will be court-themed movies as well. The court-themed movies will be aired on a few days of the month. I love it when the channel has theme days that are based on different types of mysteries.
The last three days of May the Turner Classic Movies channel will be airing Memorial Day-themed movies. I had no idea there were so many!
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TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES CHANNEL MYSTERY MOVIES – May 2021
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Saturday – May 1, 2021
12:30 AM
Vertigo (1958)
A detective falls for the mysterious woman he’s been hired to tail.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Actors: James Stewart, Kim Novak, & Barbara Bel Geddes.
128 mins
5:15 AM
Wait Until Dark (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who’ve invaded her home.
Dir: Terence Young. Actors: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, & Richard Crenna.
108 mins
1:00 PM
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
A crazed, aging star torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
Dir: Robert Aldrich. Actors: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, & Victor Buono.
134 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 2, 2021
4:30 AM
Z (1969)
A political assassination uncovers a hotbed of corruption.
Dir: Constantin Costa-Gavras. Actors: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, Jean-Louis Trintignant.
127 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – May 3, 2021
8:00 PM
Private Screenings: Robert Osborne (2014)
TCM host Robert Osborne sits down with Alec Baldwin to discuss Osborne’s life and career.
74 mins
*****This is not a mystery movie, however, for those of you who miss Robert Osborne, here’s an interview with him that actually is about Robert.*****
9:30 PM
Crossfire (1947)
A crusading district attorney investigates the murder of a Jewish man.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk. Actors: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, & Robert Ryan.
86 mins
11:15 PM
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
A bogus preacher marries an outlaw’s widow in search of the man’s hidden loot.
Dir: Charles Laughton. Actors: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, & Lillian Gish.
93 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – May 4, 2021
3:00 AM
The 39 Steps (1935)
A man falsely suspected of killing a spy races across Scotland handcuffed to the beautiful blonde who turned him in.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Actors: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, & Godfrey Tearle.
87 mins
4:45 AM
Strangers on a Train (1951)
A man’s joking suggestion that he and a chance acquaintance trade murders turns deadly.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Actors: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, & Ruth Roman.
101 mins
6:30 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. Actors: Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, & Dame May Whitty.
116 mins
8:45 AM
A Kiss before Dying (1956)
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
Dir: Gerd Oswald. Actors: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, & Joanne Woodward.
95 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – May 5, 2021
6:00 AM
Macabre (1958)
A doctor’s daughter is kidnapped and buried alive, and he is given just five hours to find and rescue her.
Dir: William Castle. Actors: William Prince, Jim Backus, & Christine White.
71 mins
10:00 AM
A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
A gangster finds the straight life ain’t so simple.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon. Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, & Allen Jenkins.
85 mins
11:45 AM
The Stranger (1946)
A small-town schoolteacher suspects her new husband may be an escaped Nazi war criminal.
Dir: Orson Welles. Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Orson Welles, & Loretta Young.
95 mins
1:30 PM
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
A young man about to be married discovers the two aunts who raised him have been poisoning lonely old men.
Dir: Frank Capra. Actors: Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, & Peter Lorre.
118 mins
3:45 PM
The Gazebo (1960)
A suburban couple tries to cope with a murder victim whose body refuses to stay put.
Dir: George Marshall. Actors: Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, & Carl Reiner.
102 mins
5:45 PM
Diabolique (1955)
A cruel man’s wife and lover plot to kill him.
Dir: Henri-Georges Clouzot. Actors: Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot, & Paul Meurisse.
117 mins
8:00 PM
12 Angry Men (1957)
A jury holdout tries to convince his colleagues to vote not guilty.
Dir: Sidney Lumet. Actors: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, & E.G. Marshall.
96 mins
10:00 PM
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
A small-town lawyer gets the case of a lifetime when a military man avenges an attack on his wife.
Dir: Otto Preminger. Actors: James Stewart, Ben Gazzara, & Lee Remick.
161 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – May 6, 2021
1:00 AM
Criminal Court (1946)
A lawyer defends the woman on trial for a murder he committed.
Dir: Robert Wise. Actors: Tom Conway, Martha O’Driscoll, & Robert Armstrong.
63 mins
2:15 AM
Madeleine (1950)
A beautiful young woman stands trial for poisoning her lover.
Dir: David Lean. Actors: Ann Todd, Norman Wooland, & Leslie Banks.
115 mins
4:30 AM
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
A novelist frames himself for murder to prove the fallibility of circumstantial evidence.
Dir: Fritz Lang. Actors: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, & Sidney Blackmer.
80 mins
6:00 AM
Midnight Mary (1933)
An abused orphan sinks into a life of crime.
Dir: William A. Wellman. Actors: Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, & Franchot Tone.
74 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – May 12, 2021
2:30 PM
Keeper of the Flame (1943)
A reporter digs into the secret life of a recently deceased political hero.
Dir: George Cukor. Actors: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, & Margaret Wycherly.
101 mins
8:00 PM
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Husband-and-wife lawyers argue opposite sides in a sensational women’s rights case.
Dir: George Cukor. Actors: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, & Judy Holliday.
101 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – May 13, 2021
12:00 AM
Ladies of the Jury (1932)
A jury hold-out tries to prove the defendant’s innocence.
Dir: Lowell Sherman. Actors: Edna May Oliver, Ken Murray, & Roscoe Ates.
63 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – May 14, 2021
3:45 AM
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Illicit lovers plot to kill the woman’s older husband.
Dir: Tay Garnett. Actors: Lana Turner, John Garfield, & Cecil Kellaway.
113 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – May 15, 2021
10:09 AM
The Falcon Takes Over (1942)
A society sleuth and a lady reporter try to track down a murderous thug’s lost girlfriend.
Dir: Irving Reis. Actors: George Sanders, Lynn Bari, & Ward Bond.
63 mins
5:45 PM
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
A Korean War hero doesn’t realize he’s been programmed to kill by the enemy.
Dir: John Frankenheimer. Actors: Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, & Angela Lansbury.
127 mins
8:00 PM
The Big Heat (1953)
A police detective whose wife was killed by the mob teams with a scarred gangster’s moll to bring down a powerful gangster.
Dir: Fritz Lang. Actors: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, & Lee Marvin.
90 mins
9:45 PM
Gilda (1946)
A gambler discovers an old flame in South America, but she’s married to his new boss.
Dir: Charles Vidor. Actors: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, & George Macready.
110 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 16, 2021
12:00 AM
Touch of Evil (1958)
A narcotics agent risks his wife’s life to investigate a crooked cop.
Dir: Orson Welles. Actors: Orson Welles, Charlton Heston, & Janet Leigh.
111 mins
7:45 AM
I Want to Live! (1958)
True story of the small-time lady crook who fought to escape the gas chamber.
Dir: Robert Wise. Actors: Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, & Theodore Bikel.
121 mins
10:00 AM
Touch of Evil (1958)
A narcotics agent risks his wife’s life to investigate a crooked cop.
Dir: Orson Welles. Actors: Orson Welles, Charlton Heston, & Janet Leigh.
111 mins
6:00 PM
Mildred Pierce (1945)
A woman turns herself into a business tycoon to win her selfish daughter a place in society.
Dir: Michael Curtiz. Actors: Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, & Jack Carson.
111 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – May 17, 2021
8:00 PM
Bullitt (1968)
When mobsters kill the witness he was assigned to protect, a dedicated policeman investigates the case on his own.
Dir: Peter Yates. Actors: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, & Jacqueline Bisset.
114 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – May 18, 2021
9:45 PM
The Honeymoon Killers (1969)
A lonely nurse and her gigolo lover murder a string of widows.
Dir: Leonard Kastle. Actors: Shirley Stoler, Tony Lo Bianco, & Barbara Cason.
108 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – May 19, 2021
8:15 AM
Hell Drivers (1957)
A trucker tangles with a corrupt boss and his thugs.
Dir: Cy Endfield. Actors: Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, & Peggy Cummins.
103 mins
10:15 AM
Jeopardy (1953)
A woman desperately seeks help to prevent her trapped husband from drowning.
Dir: John Sturges. Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, & Ralph Meeker.
69 mins
11:45 AM
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
A dangerous madman kidnaps two businessmen on a hunting trip.
Dir: Ida Lupino. Actors: Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, & William Talman.
71 mins
1:15 PM
Tomorrow Is another Day (1951)
A man who spent his formative years in prison for murder is released and struggles to adjust to the outside world.
Dir: Felix E. Feist. Actors: Ruth Roman, Steve Cochran, & Lurene Tuttle.
91 mins
3:00 PM
Detour (1945)
A hitchhiker takes on a dead man’s identity only to face blackmail by an unscrupulous woman.
Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer. Actors: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, & Claudia Drake.
69 mins
4:15 PM
Gun Crazy (1950)
Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis. Actors: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, & Morris Carnovsky.
87 mins
6:00 PM
They Live by Night (1948)
After an unjust prison sentence, a young innocent gets mixed-up with hardened criminals and a violent escape.
Dir: Nicholas Ray. Actors: Farley Granger, Cathy O’Donnell, & Howard da Silva.
95 mins
8:00 PM
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
An aging American judge presides over the trial of Nazi war criminals.
Dir: Stanley Kramer. Actors: Spencer Tracy, Marlene Dietrich, & Maximilian Schell.
179 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – May 20, 2021
5:15 AM
I Accuse! (1958)
True story of writer Emile Zola’s defense of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer framed by anti-Semites.
Dir: Jose Ferrer. Actors: Jose Ferrer, Emlyn Williams, & Viveca Lindfors.
99 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – May 21, 2021
2:00 AM
Born to Kill (1947)
A murderer marries a young innocent then goes after her more experienced sister.
Dir: Robert Wise. Actors: Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, & Walter Slezak.
92 mins
10:08 AM
The Falcon’s Brother (1942)
A gentlemanly detective calls on his brother to help him stop the Nazis from assassinating a key diplomat.
Dir: Stanley Logan. Actors: George Sanders, Tom Conway, & Jane Randolph.
63 mins
*****The interesting thing (to me!) about this movie’s title is that Tom Conway took over the Falcon movies after his brother (George Sanders) stopped making them.
12:00 PM
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Actors: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, & George Sanders.
121 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 23 2021
12:00 AM
The Brothers Rico (1957)
A reformed mob accountant tries to get to his gangster brother before the criminals can.
Dir: Phil Karlson. Actors: Richard Conte, Dianne Foster, & Kathryn Grant.
92 mins
10:00 AM
The Brothers Rico (1957)
A reformed mob accountant tries to get to his gangster brother before the criminals can.
Dir: Phil Karlson. Actors: Richard Conte, Dianne Foster, & Kathryn Grant.
92 mins
11:00 PM
The Kiss before the Mirror (1933)
An attorney defending a friend whose wife cheated on him suspects his own wife of adultery.
Dir: James Whale. Actors: Nancy Carroll, Frank Morgan, & Paul Lukas.
68 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – May 25, 2021
4:15 AM
In Cold Blood (1967)
Two vagrants try to outrun the police after committing a savage crime in this real-life shocker.
Dir: Richard Brooks. Actors: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, & John Forsythe.
135 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – May 26, 2021
8:00 PM
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
A young girl grows up fast when her lawyer father defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Dir: Robert Mulligan. Actors: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, & Philip Alford.
129 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – May 27, 2021
1:00 AM
…And Justice for All (1979)
A crusading attorney is assigned to defend a judge accused of rape.
Dir: Norman Jewison. Actors: Al Pacino, Jack Warden, & John Forsythe.
119 mins
4:30 AM
The People Against O’Hara (1951)
A defense attorney jeopardizes his career to save his client.
Dir: John Sturges. Actors: Spencer Tracy, Diana Lynn, & Pat O’Brien.
102 mins
10:00 PM
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
A young man about to be married discovers the two aunts who raised him have been poisoning lonely old men.
Dir: Frank Capra. Actors: Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, & Peter Lorre.
118 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – May 28, 2021
12:15 AM
The Stranger (1946)
A small-town schoolteacher suspects her new husband may be an escaped Nazi war criminal.
Dir: Orson Welles. Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Orson Welles, & Loretta Young.
95 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 30, 2021
12:00 AM
Act of Violence (1949)
An embittered veteran tracks down a POW camp informer.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann. Actors: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, & Janet Leigh.
82 mins
8:45 AM
The Clay Pigeon (1949)
A man awakens from a coma to discover he’s accused of treason.
Dir: Richard Fleischer. Actors: Bill Williams, Barbara Hale, & Richard Quine.
63 mins
10:00 AM
Act of Violence (1949)
An embittered veteran tracks down a POW camp informer.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann. Actors: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, & Janet Leigh.
82 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in May, 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 April 2021 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for April 2021 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.
