There’s no doubt that it’s the Halloween month! The Turner Classic Movies channel is pulling out all of the old Halloween-type movies: monsters galore! Also, I thought perhaps William Shakespeare was born in October… TCM is devoting a day to Shakespearean movies. I am limiting this list to just the mystery movies I found on TCM’s roster.
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – October 2
11:15 AM
EVER IN MY HEART (1933)
During World War I, a woman suspects her husband of being a German spy.
Dir: Archie Mayo Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Otto Kruger, Ralph Bellamy.
BW- 68 mins, CC
8:30 PM
UNION DEPOT (1932)
An out-of-luck con artist discovers a suitcase full of money at a train station.
Dir: Alfred E. Green Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee.
BW- 67 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – October 4
3:00 AM
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (1977)
A small Texas town is terrorized by a hooded serial killer.
Dir: Charles B Pierce Cast: Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells.
C- 90 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – October 5
7:30 AM
BULLETS FOR O’HARA (1941)
A gangster’s wife helps the FBI nail her husband.
Dir: William K. Howard Cast: Joan Perry, Roger Pryor, Anthony Quinn.
BW- 50 mins, CC
11:00 AM
THE PINK PANTHER (1964)
In the first Inspector Clouseau film, the bumbling French police detective tries to stop a notorious jewel thief from nabbing a princess’ diamond.
Dir: Blake Edwards Cast: David Niven, Peter Sellers, Capucine.
C- 115 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
1:15 PM
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 Cast: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim.
BW- 87 mins, CC
3:00 PM
M (1951)
When the police hunt for a child killer cramps their style, the criminal underworld tries to track him down.
Dir: Joseph Losey Cast: David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Luther Adler.
BW- 88 mins
11:15 PM
TRAPPED (1949)
Dir: Richard Fleischer Cast: Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, John Hoyt.
BW- 80 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – October 6
9:00 AM
TRAPPED (1949)
Dir: Richard Fleischer Cast: Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, John Hoyt.
BW- 80 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – October 7
10:30 PM
THE VALIANT (1929)
A man turns himself in for a murder.
Dir: William K. Howard Cast: Paul Muni, John Mack Brown, Edith Yorke.
BW- 61 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – October 8
1:30 AM
HI, NELLIE! (1934)
A crusading newspaper editor keeps digging into corruption, even when he’s forced to write advice to the lovelorn.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy Cast: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Ned Sparks.
BW- 75 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – October 9
2:15 AM
THE MIGHTY QUINN (1989)
A Caribbean police officer must decide if a childhood friend is a crook or an innocent victim.
Dir: Carl Schenkel Cast: Denzel Washington, Robert Townsend, Mimi Rogers.
C- 99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
6:15 AM
HOME IN OKLAHOMA (1946)
A small-town editor and a big-city reporter investigate a wealthy rancher’s mysterious death.
Dir: William Witney Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, George “Gabby” Hayes.
BW- 72 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – October 11
1:15 PM
A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
An ambitious young man wins an heiress’ heart but has to cope with his former girlfriend’s pregnancy.
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters.
BW- 122 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – October 12
11:00 AM
A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964)
Inspector Clouseau tries to clear a beautiful woman accused of shooting her husband.
Dir: Blake Edwards Cast: Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer, George Sanders.
C- 102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
5:00 PM
THE FIRST DEADLY SIN (1980)
A police detective nearing retirement tries to catch a serial killer.
Dir: Brian G. Hutton Cast: Frank Sinatra, Faye Dunaway, James Whitmore.
C- 112 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – October 13
7:00 PM
LAURA (1944)
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he’s investigating.
Dir: Otto Preminger Cast: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb.
BW- 88 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – October 14
11:15 AM
YELLOW DUST (1936)
After he’s accused of a series of stagecoach robberies, an innocent man has to find the real crooks.
Dir: Wallace Fox Cast: Richard Dix, Leila Hyams, Moroni Olson.
BW- 69 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – October 15
7:00 AM
EVELYN PRENTICE (1934)
A criminal lawyer’s wife faces blackmail when she has an affair.
Dir: William K. Howard Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Una Merkel.
BW- 79 mins, CC
12:30 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.
BW- 97 mins, CC
*****The Thin Man movies are based on Dashiell Hammett’s mystery novels.*****
2:30 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.
BW- 100 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – October 16
1:45 PM
STAR WITNESS (1931)
An old man who witnessed a crime is threatened by gangsters.
Dir: William A. Wellman Cast: Walter Huston, Frances Starr, Grant Mitchell.
BW- 68 mins, CC
7:00 PM
DETOUR (1945)
A hitchhiker takes on a dead man’s identity only to face blackmail by an unscrupulous woman.
Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake.
BW- 68 mins, CC
10:00 PM
THE BIG STEAL (1949)
Seduction and murder follow the theft of an Army payroll.
Dir: Don Siegel Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix.
BW- 71 mins, CC
11:30 PM
KID GLOVE KILLER (1942)
A police scientist investigates the mayor’s murder.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann Cast: Van Heflin, Marsha Hunt, Lee Bowman.
BW- 74 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – October 17
1:00 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.
BW- 72 mins, CC
6:00 AM
STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (1940)
A newspaperman serves as key witness in a circumstantial murder case.
Dir: Boris Ingster Cast: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet.
BW- 64 mins, CC
7:15 AM
ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (1950)
A police officer tries to find half a million dollars stolen by gangsters.
Dir: Richard Fleischer Cast: Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, William Talman.
BW- 68 mins, CC
7:00 PM
THE UNINVITED (1944)
A brother and sister buy a house with a ghostly secret.
Dir: Lewis Allen Cast: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp.
BW- 99 mins, CC
9:00 PM
THE HAUNTING (1963)
A team of psychic investigators moves into a haunted house that destroys all who live there.
Dir: Robert Wise Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson.
BW- 112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – October 19
11:00 AM
THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER (1975)
Dir: Blake Edwards Cast: Peter Sellers, Christopher Plummer, Catherine Schell.
BW- 116 mins, CC
9:00 PM
THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942)
A hired killer dodges police while tracking down the enemy agents who tried to frame him.
Dir: Frank Tuttle Cast: Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar.
BW- 81 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – October 20
1:00 AM
GAMBIT (1967)
A man dreams of the perfect robbery but can’t seem to pull it off.
Dir: Ronald Neame Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Herbert Lom.
C- 108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
9:00 AM
THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942)
A hired killer dodges police while tracking down the enemy agents who tried to frame him.
Dir: Frank Tuttle Cast: Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar.
BW- 81 mins
2:45 PM
THE NANNY (1965)
A disturbed young man tries to prove his nanny is out to kill him.
Dir: Seth Holt Cast: Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett.
BW- 93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – October 21
1:15 PM
A STOLEN LIFE (1946)
A twin takes her deceased sister’s place as wife of the man they both love.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt Cast: Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark.
BW- 107 mins, CC
3:15 PM
THE STRANGER (1946)
A small-town schoolteacher suspects her new husband may be an escaped Nazi war criminal.
Dir: Orson Welles Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles.
BW- 95 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – October 24
1:00 AM
FAST COMPANY (1938)
Married book-dealers Joel and Gerda Sloane try to clear a friend in the murder of a rival book-seller.
Dir: Edward Buzzell Cast: Melvyn Douglas, Florence Rice, Claire Dodd.
BW- 75 mins, CC
2:15 AM
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.
BW- 74 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – October 25
9:00 AM
MOUNTAIN JUSTICE (1937)
A young lawyer defends a hillbilly girl who killed her father in self defense.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Josephine Hutchinson, George Brent, Guy Kibbee.
BW- 83 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – October 26
11:00 AM
THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN (1976)
After driving his boss to insanity, Inspector Clouseau has to stop him from destroying the world.
Dir: Blake Edwards Cast: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Colin Blakely.
C- 103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
1:00 PM
GASLIGHT (1944)
A newlywed fears she’s going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion.
Dir: George Cukor Cast: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten.
BW- 114 mins, CC
3:00 PM
THE WOMAN IN WHITE (1948)
Classic mystery about the adventures of a young tutor sent to a ghostly country estate.
Dir: Peter Godfrey Cast: Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet.
BW- 109 mins, CC
*****Based on Wilkie Collins’s novel.*****
5:00 PM
THE HAUNTING (1963)
A team of psychic investigators moves into a haunted house that destroys all who live there.
Dir: Robert Wise Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson.
BW- 112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – October 27
7:00 AM
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945)
A man remains young and handsome while his portrait shows the ravages of age and sin.
Dir: Albert Lewin Cast: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed.
BW- 110 mins, CC
*****Based on Oscar Wilde’s novel.*****
9:00 AM
FORCE OF EVIL (1948)
A crooked lawyer tries to protect his numbers running brother from a ruthless crime boss.
Dir: Abraham Polonsky Cast: John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, Marie Windsor.
BW- 79 mins, CC
12:30 PM
A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956)
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
Dir: Gerd Oswald Cast: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith.
C- 95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
2:30 PM
CAPE FEAR (1962)
An ex-convict plots to destroy the district attorney who sent him to prison.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen.
BW- 106 mins, CC
4:30 PM
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.
BW- 134 mins, CC
9:00 PM
NIAGARA (1953)
Honeymooners get mixed up with an obsessive husband and his cheating wife.
Dir: Henry Hathaway Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters.
C- 89 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – October 29
5:00 AM
DOUBLE DEAL (1950)
An oil engineer comes into a fortune when his boss is murdered.
Dir: Abby Berlin Cast: Marie Windsor, Richard Denning, Taylor Holmes.
BW- 65 mins, CC
6:15 AM
NOCTURNE (1946)
A police detective refuses to believe a composer’s death was suicide.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin Cast: George Raft, Lynn Bari, Virginia Huston.
BW- 87 mins, CC
9:30 AM
CRY WOLF (1947)
A woman uncovers deadly secrets when she visits her late husband’s family.
Dir: Peter Godfrey Cast: Errol Flynn, Barbara Stanwyck, Geraldine Brooks.
BW- 84 mins, CC,
11:00 AM
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.
BW- 92 mins, CC
5:00 PM
DEAD RINGER (1964)
A woman murders her rich twin and tries to take her place.
Dir: Paul Henreid Cast: Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Peter Lawford.
BW- 116 mins, CC
*****Not to be confused with Bette Davis in the above “A Stolen Life” with Glenn Ford.*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – October 30
5:00 AM
SMART BLONDE (1936)
An ambitious reporter forces her policeman boyfriend to let her help with a murder case.
Dir: Frank McDonald Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Winifred Shaw.
BW- 59 mins, CC
6:15 AM
NANCY DREW…DETECTIVE (1938)
A teen-aged sleuth investigates a wealthy woman’s disappearance.
Dir: William Clemens Cast: Bonita Granville, John Litel, James Stephenson.
BW- 66 mins, CC
7:30 AM
THE SAINT IN NEW YORK (1938)
The Saint goes undercover to get the goods on New York’s mob kingpins.
Dir: Ben Holmes Cast: Louis Hayward, Kay Sutton, Sig Rumann. BW- 72 mins, CC
*****Based on Leslie Charteris’s The Saint Mystery Series.*****
8:45 AM
THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER (1932)
A feisty school teacher sets out to solve a murder in an aquarium.
Dir: George Archainbaud Cast: Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Robert Armstrong.
BW- 65 mins, CC
*****Based on Stuart Palmer’s Hildegarde Withers Mystery Series.*****
10:00 AM
MURDER ON A HONEYMOON (1935)
A schoolteacher jumps into detective mode when a fellow airplane passenger gets sick and dies.
Dir: Lloyd Corrigan Cast: Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Lola Lane.
BW- 74 mins, CC
11:15 AM
THE KENNEL MURDER CASE (1933)
Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a murder tied to a Long Island dog show.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette.
BW- 73 mins, CC
*****Based on S.S. Van Dine’s Philo Vance Mystery Series.*****
3:00 PM
THE GAY FALCON (1942)
A society sleuth tries to break up an insurance scam.
Dir: Irving Reis Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Allen Jenkins.
BW- 67 mins, CC
4:15 PM
THE WOMAN IN GREEN (1945)
Sherlock Holmes investigates a series of seemingly unrelated murders.
Dir: Roy William Neill Cast: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Hillary Brooke.
BW- 67 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – October 31
8:45 AM
THE BAT (1959)
A female mystery novelist turns detective to unmask a demented killer.
Dir: Crane Wilbur Cast: Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon.
BW- 80 mins, CC
11:30 PM
PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961)
A young man investigates his sister’s death in a mysterious castle.
Dir: Roger Corman Cast: Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele.
C- 80 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in October, 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 September 2019 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for September 2019 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.
(All of the movie descriptions were taken off their respective websites.)
This month as part of my series talking about 