I should preface this with: all of these movies are on the Turner Classic Movie channel. I get their television movie guide (thanks to AndieP telling us about it) and go through it each month so that I can catch the movies I think my husband and I will like. The movies I’m going to list are all mysteries, except for one that I have seen (twice) which I will probably watch again!
I haven’t seen all of the movies I’m going to tell you about, so I can’t vouch for all of them. They look like they might be right up our mystery-loving alleys! Also, I believe I am giving you all of the times in Central zone, but you should probably check.
Hurry quick! I’m sorry I didn’t write this entry a little earlier, and know I’m not giving you much time, but tonight Sleuth will be on.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
SLEUTH (1972) 7:00 PM (Central)
A mystery novelist plots revenge on his wife’s lover.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Cast: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Alex Cawthorne.
C-138 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday, April 13, 2013
THE CASE OF THE STUTTERING BISHOP (1937) 9:45 AM (Central)
Perry Mason tries to find out if a long-lost heiress is the real thing.
Dir: William Clemens Cast: Donald Woods, Ann Dvorak, Anne Nagel.
BW-71 mins, TV-G
MURDER AT THE GALLOP (1963) 11:00 AM (Central)
Elderly sleuth Miss Marple suspects foul play when an old friend is supposedly scared to death by a cat. (***As an aside, this is not the Miss Marple you are expecting. Very campy!***)
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Robert Morley, Flora Robson.
BW-81 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
UNFAITHFULLY YOURS (1948) 9:15 PM (Central)
Set to music, a symphony conductor envisions multiple possible scenarios for dealing with his wife’s infidelity.
Dir: Preston Sturges Cast: Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee.
BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC,
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday, April 14, 2013
THE LADY VANISHES (1938) 7:00 AM (Central)
A young woman on vacation triggers an international incident when she tries to track an elderly friend who has disappeared. (***Small world! Joshua just commented on this movie.***)
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas.
BW-96 mins, TV-G, CC
DODSWORTH (1936) 9:15 PM (Central)
A husband whose wife left him looks for new love in Europe. (***This is a non-mystery movie, based on the book by Sinclair Lewis. I love this film!***)
Dir: William Wyler Cast: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas.
BW-101 mins, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
REBECCA (1940) 10:45 PM (Central)
A young bride is terrorized by the memories of her husband’s glamorous first wife.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders.
BW-130 mins, TV-PG, CC,
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday, April 18, 2013
MURDER AT THE GALLOP (1963) 5:30 PM (Central)
Elderly sleuth Miss Marple suspects foul play when an old friend is supposedly scared to death by a cat. (***If you missed it on Saturday, 15.***)
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Robert Morley, Flora Robson.
BW-81 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday, April 20, 2013
MURDER MOST FOUL (1964) 11:00 AM (Central)
Elderly sleuth Miss Marple joins a small-town theatre to investigate a murder. (***Again, this is a Miss Marple that is like no other. Very campy!***)
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Ron Moody, Charles Tingwell.
BW-91 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday, April 25, 2013
MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD (1934) 7:45 AM (Central)
A schoolteacher matches wits with a police detective when they both try to solve a pretty music teacher’s murder. (***Edna May Oliver is delightful as Hildegarde Withers, Stuart Palmer‘s sleuth.***)
Dir: George Archainbaud Cast: James Gleason, Edna May Oliver, Bruce Cabot.
BW-72 mins, TV-G
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday, April 27, 2013
A DATE WITH THE FALCON (1941) 9:45 AM (Central)
The gentleman detective postpones his wedding to find a cache of stolen diamonds.
Dir: Irving Reis Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, James Gleason.
BW-63 mins, TV-G
MURDER AHOY (1964) 11:00 AM (Central)
Elderly sleuth Miss Marple takes to the seas to investigate murder on a naval training ship. (***This rounds up the three Miss Marple movies starring Margaret Rutherford.***)
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Lionel Jeffries, Charles Tingwell.
BW-93 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
If you know of any other mystery movies that are going to be airing this month, feel free to post a comment.
(All of the above descriptions were copied from the TCM site. I hope they don’t change their line-up!)
Laura says
Excellent! Thanks for the reminder. We have seen the first two Miss Marples and, while not great, they are fun in their own 60’s kind of way. We’re looking forward to “The Lady Vanishes”.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Laura, I agree about these Miss Marples not being great, but, they sure are campy. And the music is so absolutely 1960s!
Lynn T. says
It was mentioned in a previous blog that Stuart Palmer’s Murder on the Blackboard would be on the Turner Classic Movie Network in April. It caught my interest as I haven’t read any of his books or seen any of the movies made from his books. I recently learned he was born in a small town near where I grew up.
I made a note to myself to look for the movie in April and here it is. It wasn’t listed yet on our Direct TV schedule. So thanks.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lynn T, every once in a while I check to see if Stuart Palmer’s Hildegarde Withers’ books have been converted to Kindle format. (I do the same with the Miss Seeton mysteries.) I enjoy the books, but my copies have tiny font, which I no longer want to struggle with.
Joshua says
Danna,
Thanks for this list! I wasn’t at all familiar with MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD or Stuart Palmer’s books, and have just been looking into them. I have to check this film (and the books) out!
And wanted to reply to your earlier post about Joan Hickson as Marple. I have been watching them and she is tremendous – as you said, probably the most Marple of all the Marples. Though Geraldine McEwan’s portrayal I love dearly too (too bad some of the scripts were terrible). And on this topic, I have to say I tried watching one of the Rutherford Marple films and couldn’t sit through it. Maybe I should try again? ….. Maybe…….
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Joshua, it took me a while to warm up to Margaret Rutherford. I definitely would not recommend watching these movies back to back. A little goes a long way.
It’s interesting that Joan Hickson is actually in one of the movies. She plays the cook in one of them, but for some reason, I can’t remember which movie. (Might be Murder at the Gallop.)
(I love Geraldine McEwan in anything!)
Jackie C says
Great recap – and reminder! MANY thanks!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
You’re welcome, Jackie C!
LadyD says
Thank you. I have actually seen all these (including Dodsworth) many times, except for the Perry Mason. I will probably watch most of them again this month.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
LadyD, I haven’t seen the Perry Mason movie, either. (Or Sleuth.)
Julia says
I love ‘The Lady Vanishes’ – it was the first Hitchcock movie I ever saw (well, actually I saw ‘The Birds’ when I was 7, but that was only because I begged my mom to let me stay up to watch the late movie with ‘the big kids.’ All I remember of it are a few scenes…and that I got to stay up until 2 am). ‘The Lady Vanishes’ made a Hitchcock fan of me and led to many happy hours watching his other films.
Wish I could include watching ‘Rebecca’ among the happy hours, but while it is a wonderfully made film and an excellent novel, Laurence Olivier’s dislike of Joan Fontaine is just too palpable for me to buy his character’s love for hers.
I’ll have to check out the Miss Marple movies. While Joan Hickson is my favorite Miss Marple, the bits and pieces I’ve seen of the Margaret Rutherford versions tells me the movies are enjoyable…as long as you view them for their own sake and not as representations of Dame Agatha’s mysteries.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julia, isn’t it funny how we can remember things like the case of you watching The Birds?
(I knew Laurence Olivier didn’t like Merle Oberon, but I didn’t know he didn’t like Joan Fontaine.)
"Auntie" says
Thank you.
Oh I love those Margaret Rutherford ‘Miss Marple’ films!!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Auntie, Rutherford sure played Miss Marple with great abandon!
Annette says
the Hildegarde Withers movies are awesome!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Annette, I didn’t share the Hildegarde Withers movies with my husband when I watched them, so I now find myself looking for them so he can see them. Edna May Oliver is terrific as Hildegarde.
Sheila says
Danna.
Thanks for the schedule. I will have to check the CT listing for these movies and set my DVR.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sheila, I’m glad you’re going to check your Connecticut listings. (I have a difficult time remembering to always convert the time zones to our central.
Angie says
I love Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple!!! Wish there were more of them available. I think it’s really interesting to see what life was like in England back then.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Angie, Rutherford certainly grew on me. The entire movies feel like they are going for a campy 1960s feel to them; the music and the introduction “graphics” really set the mood!
AndieP says
Also on Saturday evening, April 13 is “Unfaithfully Yours” which, while not a classic mystery, does have some comedic suspense and I enjoy it ever time I watch, even though I have seen it many times.
Also on Saturday morning the 27th 10:45 eastern, 7:45 pacific is “A Date With the Falcon” – George Sanders at his most urbane and British – with Wendie Barrie and the comic talents of James Gleason… This was after Sanders starred in the “Saint” films as Simon Templar.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, AndieP. I just added both of these movies to the list I had already posted, and hope that people who have already looked at the list get a chance to find out about these two movies.
I really enjoy having the guide every month, and appreciate you telling us about it.
Patti S. says
I am so looking forward to the Hildegarde Withers movie. I just love them. Too bad they are not on video. I nev tire of watching them. They have a good line up of movies.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Patti S, I’m looking forward to watching it with my husband. I think he’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Ann Philipp says
Danna, I’ve recently been watching the old Perry Mason’s that TCM has been running on Saturday mornings. And I was so surprised by the difference compared to the ’60’s TV version!
I watched one where Perry sat in his closed office doing a crossword puzzle while he had a waiting room full of clients just sitting around. And I thought – Raymond Burr would never have done that!
And they have the Paul Drake character being kinda ditsy.
But even though I’m a bit distracted by their interpretation of the characters, the plot lines have been pretty good.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ann, I will have to be more careful reading through my monthly TCM guides. I didn’t know they were running old Perry Mason movies every Saturday morning. I haven’t read any of the Erle Stanley Gardner mystery books, and I wonder which of these Perry/Drake versions is more accurate.
Ann Philipp says
I’ve seen them maybe for the last month. And yes, I was thinking the same thing about the books.
Donna says
I’ve seen most of these films but will watch most of them again, being a huge fan of classic film. Thanks for posting, I hope you make this a regular feature of the site. 🙂
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Donna, sounds like a plan. Now I wish I had brought my Turner Classic Movies guide with me.