2023! Wow! It’s just too difficult to believe!
I know that a lot of us started our Cozy Mystery-reading “careers” with Nancy Drew. So I want to be sure you all know about the four movies the Turner Classic Movies channel will be airing on January 6. All four of the Nancy Drew movies that feature Bonita Granville as Nancy are on the channel’s menu. I don’t know how many times I have seen them, but let’s just say, I’ll be watching them again! I think this Nancy is the closest rendition of what the sleuth was meant to be…
Friday the 13th may be bad luck for suspects! Both Philo Vance and Torch Blane solve several mysteries on January the 13th.
***** ***** ***** *****
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES CHANNEL MYSTERY MOVIES – January 2023
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – January 1, 2023
1:45 AM 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. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson
97 mins
3:30 AM 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
5:15 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
11:45 AM 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
Runtime: 88 mins
*****This isn’t a mystery, however, I think it’s a really good movie.*****
3:30 PM 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
Runtime: 136 mins
6:00 PM In the Heat of the Night (1967)
A black detective teams up with a racist white sheriff to solve a murder in a small town in the South. Over time, they begin to find respect for one another.
Dir: Norman Jewison. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
Runtime: 109 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – January 3, 2023
8:00 AM Payment Deferred (1932)
A milquetoast kills for money and finds it a hard habit to break.
Dir: Lothar Mendes. Cast: Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Sullivan, Dorothy Peterson
Runtime: 75 mins
6:00 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
Runtime: 105 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – January 4, 2023
6:15 AM Cat People (1942)
A newlywed fears that an ancient curse will turn her into a bloodthirsty beast.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur. Cast: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph
Runtime: 71 mins
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
Runtime: 70 mins
8:00 PM 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
Runtime: 114 mins
10:15 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
Runtime: 100 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – January 5, 2023
2:00 AM The Big Steal (1949)
A man is on the trail of a thief who stole a $300,000 Army payroll, but there is someone else after him – a woman.
Dir: Don Siegel. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix
Runtime: 71 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – January 6, 2023
1:30 AM Crossfire (1947)
A crusading district attorney investigates the murder of a Jewish man.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk. Cast: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan
Runtime: 85 mins
3:15 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. Cast: Jose Ferrer, Anton Walbrook, Viveca Lindfors
Runtime: 99 mins
8:00 PM Nancy Drew: Detective (1938)
A teen-aged sleuth investigates a wealthy woman’s disappearance.
Dir: William Clemens. Cast: Bonita Granville, John Litel, James Stephenson
Runtime: 60 mins
9:15 PM Nancy Drew… Reporter (1939)
A teen-aged sleuth sets out to prove a young girl innocent of murder charges.
Dir: William Clemens. Cast: Bonita Granville, John Litel, Frank Thomas Jr.
Runtime: 68 mins
10:30 PM Nancy Drew… Trouble Shooter (1939)
A teen-aged sleuth tries to clear one of her father’s friends of a murder charge.
Dir: William Clemens. Cast: Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel
Runtime: 68 mins
11:45 PM Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)
A teen-aged sleuth helps two old ladies deal with the “haunting” of their mansion.
Dir: William Clemens. Cast: Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel
Runtime: 60 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – January 7, 2023
1:00 AM Before Dawn (1933)
Detectives compete to solve the murders at a mysterious mansion.
Dir: Irving Pichel. Cast: Stuart Erwin, Dorothy Wilson, Warner Oland
Runtime: 60 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. Cast: George Sanders, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph
Runtime: 63 mins
*****George Sanders and Tom Conway really were brothers!*****
6:30 PM Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero’s family.
Dir: John Sturges. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
Runtime: 81 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – January 11, 2023
3:45 PM On Dangerous Ground (1952)
A New York detective falls for the blind sister of a rural killer sought by a victim’s father.
Dir: Nicholas Ray. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond
Runtime: 82 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – January 13, 2023
6:00 AM The Bishop Murder Case (1930)
Quick-witted private investigator Philo Vance is in search of a cryptic killer. The body of Joseph Cochrane Robin is discovered pierced by an arrow with a note that contains a snippet of the nursery rhyme “Who Killed Cock Robin”, which is curiously signed the Bishop.
Dir: David Burton. Cast: Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams, Roland Young
Runtime: 88 mins
7:45 AM 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
Runtime: 70 mins
9:15 AM The Roadhouse Murder (1932)
Reporter has bright idea of claiming to be a murderer and writing his own expose.
Dir: J. Walter Ruben. Cast: Dorothy Jordan, Eric Linden, Rosco Ates
Runtime: 73 mins
10:45 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
Runtime: 73 mins
12:15 PM The Dragon Murder Case (1934)
Society sleuth Philo Vance looks into a murder near a mysterious “dragon pool.”
Dir: H. Bruce Humberstone. Cast: Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot
Runtime: 68 mins
1:30 PM The Casino Murder Case (1935)
Society sleuth Philo Vance takes on a series of murders at an aging dowager’s mansion.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin. Cast: Paul Lukas, Alison Skipworth, Donald Cook
Runtime: 83 mins
3:00 PM 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
Runtime: 62 mins
4:15 PM Grand Central Murder (1942)
A detective investigates an actress’s murder in a train car.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon. Cast: Van Heflin, Patricia Dane, Cecilia Parker
Runtime: 72 mins
5:45 PM The Alphabet Murders (1965)
Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates a series of murders committed in alphabetical order.
Dir: Frank Tashlin. Cast: Tony Randall, Anita Ekberg, Robert Morley
Runtime: 90 mins
8:00 PM 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
Runtime: 59 mins
9:15 PM Fly Away Baby (1937)
Reporter Torchy Blane takes to the skies to track down a band of killers.
Dir: Frank McDonald. Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Gordon Oliver
Runtime: 60 mins
10:30 PM Torchy Blane, the Adventurous Blonde (1937)
Reporter Torchy Blane walks out on her own wedding to solve the case of a murdered actor.
Dir: Frank McDonald. Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Anne Nagel
Runtime: 61 mins
11:45 PM Blondes at Work (1938)
Even a jail term for contempt can’t keep reporter Torchy Blane from investigating the case of a murdered department store owner.
Dir: Frank McDonald. Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
Runtime: 60 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – January 14, 2023
1:00 AM Torchy Blane in Panama (1938)
An ambitious newspaper woman traces bank robbers to an ocean liner.
Dir: William Clemens. Cast: Lola Lane, Paul Kelly, Tom Kennedy
Runtime: 58 mins
10:08 AM The Falcon Strikes Back (1943)
A society sleuth is framed for murder by criminals running a war-bond racket.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk. Cast: Tom Conway, Harriet Hilliard, Jane Randolph
Runtime: 66 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – January 16, 2023
10:00 PM In the Heat of the Night (1967)
A black detective teams up with a racist white sheriff to solve a murder in a small town in the South. Over time, they begin to find respect for one another.
Dir: Norman Jewison. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
Runtime: 109 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – January 20, 2023
2:15 PM Purple Noon (1961)
A young American man is hired by the father a rich young man who is in Europe. Not all goes as planned…
Dir: René Clément. Alain Delon, Marie Laforêt, Maurice Ronet, Erno Crisa, Frank Latimore
Runtime: 118 mins
*****In French*****
8:00 PM 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
Runtime: 102 mins
10:00 PM Wanted! Jane Turner (1936)
A postal detective tracks the gang that robbed a mail truck and killed the driver.
Dir: Edward Killy. Cast: Lee Tracy, Gloria Stuart, Judith Blake
Runtime: 66 mins
11:15 PM 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
Runtime: 64 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – January 21, 2023
12:30 AM Deadline at Dawn (1946)
An aspiring actress risks her life to clear a sailor charged with murder.
Dir: Harold Clurman. Cast: Susan Hayward, Paul Lukas, Bill Williams
Runtime: 83 mins
8:28 AM Trouble in Sundown (1939)
A man’s friend searches for the real crooks when he’s accused of robbery and murder.
Dir: David Howard. Cast: George O’Brien, Rosalind Keith, Ray Whitley
Runtime: 60 mins
10:09 AM The Falcon in Danger (1943)
A society sleuth tracks a lost plane carrying $100,000.
Dir: William Clemens. Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Elaine Shepard
Runtime: 73 mins
11:30 AM Alibi Racket (1935)
A police interrogation cracks the false alibi of a criminal.
Dir: George B. Seitz. Cast: Eddie Dunn, Inez Palange, Clarence Wilson
Runtime: 18 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – January 22, 2023
12:00 AM The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
An artist meets and marries a woman on a fishing trip in Scotland.
Dir: Peter Godfrey.Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith
Runtime: 99 mins
4:00 AM Mr. Ricco (1975)
A defense lawyer faces down racist killers to prove his black client innocent.
Dir: Paul Bogart. Cast: Dean Martin, Eugene Roche, Cindy Williams
Runtime: 98 mins
10:00 AM The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
An artist meets and marries a woman on a fishing trip in Scotland.
Dir: Peter Godfrey.Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith
Runtime: 99 mins
8:00 PM 12 Angry Men (1957)
A jury holdout tries to convince his colleagues to vote not guilty.
Dir: Sidney Lumet. Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley
Runtime: 95 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – January 24, 2023
9:15 AM The Red House (1947)
An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandoned farmhouse, located deep in the woods.
Dir: Delmer Daves. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson
Runtime: 100 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – January 25, 2023
7:45 AM Illegal (1932)
A bitter divorcee opens an illegal gambling club to support her daughters.
Dir: William Mcgann. Cast: Isobel Elsom, Ivor Barnard, D. E. Clarke-smith
Runtime: 72 mins
10:15 AM Night Spot (1938)
An undercover cop tries to catch a gang of jewel thieves at a high-society nightclub.
Dir: Christy Cabanne. Cast: Harry Parke, Allan Lane, Gordon Jones
Runtime: 60 mins
2:30 PM Stage Struck (1948)
The murder of nightclub hostess leads an investigator to seedy nightspots.
Dir: William Nigh. Cast: Kane Richmond, Audrey Long, Conrad Nagel
Runtime: 71 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – January 27, 2023
6:00 AM The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934)
The retired British captain forms a gang to rescue his wife and thwart his nemesis.
Dir: Walter Summers. Cast: Joyce Kennedy, Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd
Runtime: 73 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – January 28, 2023
12:15 AM Twenty Plus Two (1961)
When a Hollywood secretary is found murdered, a detective is hired to investigate the murder.
Dir: Joseph M. Newman. Cast: David Janssen, Jeanne Crain, Dina Merrill
Runtime: 102 mins
4:00 AM Performance (1970)
A wounded mobster holes up in a reclusive rock star’s decaying mansion.
Dir: Donald Cammell. Cast: James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg
Runtime: 106 mins
10:08 AM The Falcon and the Co-eds (1944)
A society sleuth investigates murder at a girls’ school.
Dir: William Clemens. Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Rita Corday
Runtime: 68 mins
2:30 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
Runtime: 95 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – January 29, 2023
12:00 AM Highway 301 (1950)
A brutal bank robber fights internal divisions within his gang.
Dir: Andrew Stone. Cast: Steve Cochran, Virginia Grey, Gaby Andre
Runtime: 83 mins
4:00 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
Runtime: 111 mins
10:00 AM Highway 301 (1950)
A brutal bank robber fights internal divisions within his gang.
Dir: Andrew Stone. Cast: Steve Cochran, Virginia Grey, Gaby Andre
Runtime: 83 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – January 30, 2023
6:00 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
Runtime: 100 mins
10:30 PM Z (1969)
A political assassination uncovers a hotbed of corruption.
Dir: Costa-Gavras. Cast: Yves Montand, Jean-louis Trintignant, Jacques Perrin
Runtime: 125 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – January 31, 2023
6:15 PM Angel Face (1953)
A beautiful woman uses a man…
Dir: Otto Preminger. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Mona Freeman
Runtime: 91 mins
8:00 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
Runtime: 90 mins
*****In French*****
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – February 1, 2023
5:00 AM A Night at the Movies: Cops & Robbers and Crime Writers (2013)
Writers of crime fiction and nonfiction discuss influential movies about police officers and the criminal element.
Dir: Laurent Bouzereau. Cast: James Ellroy, Philip Kerr, Michael Connelly
Runtime: 57 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 2022 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for December 2022 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.
