Spring is finally here! It looks like the Turner Classic Movies channel will be celebrating it by showing a bunch of “old futuristic science fiction” type of movies. Anyway, that’s certainly their agenda on Tuesday the seventh… On Thursday the second they will be airing all sorts of “You Can’t… ” movies. Friday the tenth appears to be a sort of tribute to radio shows. On Easter Sunday TCM will be celebrating the day by airing biblical movies as well as “Easter Parade”. Tuesday the fourteenth brings us amnesia galore! And, there will be days dedicated to famous dancers: Monday the thirteenth features Gene Kelly while Wednesday the fifteenth will have Fred Astaire putting on this tap shoes. On Wednesday the twenty-ninth, the circus is coming to TCM.
Here are the Turner Classic Movies channel’s mystery movies that I was able to find which will air during April 2020.
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – April 1, 2020
4:30 PM
HIGH AND LOW (1963)
Kidnappers mistake a chauffeur’s son for the child of a wealthy businessman.
Dir: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyoko Kagawa.
BW- 144 mins, Letterbox Format
10:45 PM
RASHOMON (1950)
In medieval Japan, four people offer conflicting accounts of a rape and murder.
Dir: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Takashi Shimura.
BW- 89 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – April 2, 2020
2:30 AM
THRONE OF BLOOD (1957)
Spurred by his wife and a witch’s prediction, a samurai murders his lord to steal the throne.
Dir: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura.
BW- 110 mins
9:15 AM
YOU CAN’T BUY LUCK (1937)
A racehorse owner tries to buy victory by performing good deeds, but gets mixed up in murder instead.
Dir: Lew Landers Cast: Onslow Stevens, Helen Mack, Vinton Haworth.
BW- 60 mins
10:30 AM
YOU CAN’T ESCAPE FOREVER (1942)
Although she’s been demoted to writing the advice column, a newspaper woman still tries to expose a racketeer.
Dir: Jo Graham Cast: George Brent, Brenda Marshall, Gene Lockhart.
BW- 78 mins, CC
12:00 PM
YOU CAN’T BUY EVERYTHING (1934)
A scorned woman dreams of revenge on the man who betrayed her.
Dir: Charles F. Riesner Cast: May Robson, Jean Parker, Lewis Stone.
BW- 82 mins
1:30 PM
YOU CAN’T GET AWAY WITH MURDER (1939)
A young tough takes the rap for a hardened gangster.
Dir: Lewis Seiler Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gale Page, Billy Halop.
BW- 79 mins, CC
9:00 PM
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974)
Gunmen hold a New York subway train and its passengers for ransom.
Dir: Joseph Sargent Cast: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam.
C- 104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
11:00 PM
KLUTE (1971)
A small-town detective searches for a missing man linked to a high-priced prostitute.
Dir: Alan J. Pakula Cast: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi.
C- 114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – April 3, 2020
1:15 AM
FINGERS (1978)
Dir: James Toback Cast: Zack Norman, Frank Pesce, Harvey Keitel.
BW- 90 mins, CC
3:00 AM
REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER (1975)
Dir: Milton Katselas Cast: Yaphet Kotto, Susan Blakely, Stephen Elliott.
BW- 112 mins, CC
1:15 PM
MAKE YOUR OWN BED (1944)
Detectives masquerade as butler and maid to get the goods on a crook.
Dir: Peter Godfrey Cast: Jack Carson, Jane Wyman, Irene Manning.
BW- 82 mins
5:30 PM
THE MAN WITH A CLOAK (1951)
A mystery man tries to help a young innocent escape a murderous housekeeper.
Dir: Fletcher Markle Cast: Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Louis Calhern.
BW- 81 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – April 4, 2020
11:00 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
11:00 PM
ADDRESS UNKNOWN (1944)
A German-born art dealer finds himself falling for Nazi propaganda.
Dir: William Cameron Menzies Cast: Paul Lukas, Carl Esmond, Peter Van Eyck.
BW- 72 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – April 5, 2020
7:00 AM
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.
BW- 103 mins, CC
9:00 AM
ADDRESS UNKNOWN (1944)
A German-born art dealer finds himself falling for Nazi propaganda.
Dir: William Cameron Menzies Cast: Paul Lukas, Carl Esmond, Peter Van Eyck.
BW- 72 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – April 7, 2020
7:00 PM
CRY OF THE CITY (1948)
Dir: Robert Siodmak Cast: Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark.
BW- 95 mins, CC
9:00 PM
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948)
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
Dir: Orson Welles Cast: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane.
BW- 87 mins, CC
10:45 PM
HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948)
After killing a cop, a burglar fights to evade the police.
Dir: Alfred Werker Cast: Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts.
BW- 79 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – April 8, 2020
12:15 AM
KEY LARGO (1948)
A returning veteran tangles with a ruthless gangster during a hurricane.
Dir: John Huston Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall.
BW- 100 mins, CC
4:00 AM
THE NAKED CITY (1948)
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Dir: Jules Dassin Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart.
BW- 96 mins, CC
9:00 PM
ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (1959)
Desperate losers plan a bank robbery with unexpected results.
Dir: Robert Wise Cast: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters.
BW- 96 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – April 10, 2020
6:30 AM
ARE YOU LISTENING? (1932)
A radio announcer accidentally kills his wife, then leads an on-air hunt for her killer.
Dir: Harry Beaumont Cast: William Haines, Madge Evans, Anita Page.
BW- 73 mins
12:30 PM
ONE FATAL HOUR (1936)
A radio-station manager tries to keep tabloid journalists from reviving a 20-year-old murder case.
BW- 57 mins, CC
3:00 PM
GENIUS AT WORK (1947)
Two radio sleuths tackle a real murder case.
Dir: Leslie Goodwins Cast: Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Anne Jeffreys.
BW- 61 mins
4:15 PM
THE UNSUSPECTED (1947)
The producer of a radio crime series commits the perfect crime, then has to put the case on the air.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Joan Caulfield, Claude Rains, Audrey Totter.
BW- 103 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – April 11, 2020
11:00 PM
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (1956)
A novelist frames himself for murder to prove the fallibility of circumstantial evidence.
Dir: Fritz Lang Cast: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer.
BW- 80 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – April 12, 2020
9:00 AM
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (1956)
A novelist frames himself for murder to prove the fallibility of circumstantial evidence.
Dir: Fritz Lang Cast: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer.
BW- 80 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – April 13, 2020
7:00 PM
HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951)
A deported gangster causes problems for guests at a Mexican resort.
Dir: John Farrow Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price.
BW- 120 mins, CC
9:15 PM
MACAO (1952)
A man on the run in the Far East is mistaken for an undercover cop.
Dir: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix.
BW- 81 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – April 14, 2020
10:15 AM
JOURNAL OF A CRIME (1934)
Before she can confess to shooting her husband’s mistress, a woman succumbs to amnesia.
Dir: William Keighley Cast: Ruth Chatterton, Adolphe Menjou, Claire Dodd.
BW- 65 mins, CC
1:00 PM
CROSSROADS (1942)
A French diplomat who’s recovered from amnesia is blackmailed over crimes he can’t remember.
Dir: Jack Conway Cast: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor.
BW- 83 mins, CC
2:30 PM
TWO IN THE DARK (1936)
A man with amnesia fights to prove himself innocent of murder.
Dir: Ben Stoloff Cast: Walter Abel, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford.
BW- 74 mins, CC
4:00 PM
TWO O’CLOCK COURAGE (1945)
An amnesiac discovers he’s wanted for murder.
Dir: Anthony Mann Cast: Tom Conway, Ann Rutherford, Richard Lane.
BW- 66 mins, CC
5:15 PM
HYSTERIA (1965)
An amnesiac stumbles on to a murder plot.
Dir: Freddie Francis Cast: Robert Webber, Anthony Newlands, Jennifer Jayne.
BW- 85 mins, CC
10:45 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
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – April 16, 2020
7:00 AM
THE NARROW CORNER (1933)
A man on the run for murder tries to escape fate in the Pacific islands.
Dir: Alfred E. Green Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Patricia Ellis, Ralph Bellamy.
BW- 69 mins
7:00 PM
SHAFT (1971)
A slick black detective enlists gangsters and African nationals to fight the mob.
Dir: Gordon Parks Cast: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi.
C- 100 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – April 18, 2020
1:15 PM
MURDER, MY SWEET (1944)
Detective Philip Marlowe’s search for a two-timing woman leads him to blackmail and murder.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley.
BW- 95 mins, CC
3:00 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.
C- 81 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
11:30 PM
WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)
A woman fights to convince the police that she witnessed a murder.
Dir: Roy Rowland Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill.
BW- 82 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – April 19, 2020
9:00 AM
WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)
A woman fights to convince the police that she witnessed a murder.
Dir: Roy Rowland Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill.
BW- 82 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – April 20, 2020
9:30 AM
OUT OF THE PAST (1947)
A private eye becomes the dupe of a homicidal moll.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas.
BW- 97 mins, CC
11:15 AM
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
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – April 21, 2020
5:00 AM
THE VANISHING (1988)
A young man is obsessed with finding the girlfriend who vanished at a
rest stop.
Dir: George Sluizer Cast: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege.
C- 106 mins
7:00 AM
THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
A young woman on vacation triggers an international incident when she tries to track an elderly friend who has disappeared.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas.
BW- 96 mins, CC
8:45 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
10:00 AM
MURDER, SHE SAID (1961)
When nobody will believe she witnessed a murder, elderly sleuth Miss Marple takes a job as a maid to ferret out clues.
Dir: George Pollock Cast: Margaret Rutherford, Arthur Kennedy, Muriel Pavlow.
BW- 86 mins, CC
11:30 AM
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
A man’s joking suggestion that he and a chance acquaintance trade murders turns deadly.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker.
BW- 101 mins, CC
1:15 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.
C- 105 mins, CC
3:15 PM
JULIE (1956)
A stewardess is stalked by her psychotic estranged husband.
Dir: Andrew L. Stone Cast: Doris Day, Louis Jourdan, Barry Sullivan.
BW- 97 mins, CC
5:00 PM
WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who’ve invaded her home.
Dir: Terence Young Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna.
C- 108 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – April 23, 2020
8:00 AM
THE HUMAN FACTOR (1980)
A diplomat is suspected of being a double agent.
Dir: Otto Preminger Cast: Nicol Williamson, Richard Attenborough, Joop Doderer.
BW- 115 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – April 24, 2020
7:00 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.
BW- 108 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – April 25, 2020
2:45 PM
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)
Illicit lovers plot to kill the woman’s older husband.
Dir: Tay Garnett Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway.
BW- 113 mins, CC
11:15 PM
WICKED WOMAN (1954)
A trashy blonde lures a saloon owner away from his wife.
Dir: Russell Rouse Cast: Beverly Michaels, Richard Egan, Percy Helton.
BW- 76 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – April 26, 2020
9:00 AM
WICKED WOMAN (1954)
A trashy blonde lures a saloon owner away from his wife.
Dir: Russell Rouse Cast: Beverly Michaels, Richard Egan, Percy Helton.
BW- 76 mins
9:00 PM
HOUSE OF BAMBOO (1955)
An Army investigator infiltrates a Tokyo crime syndicate to solve a colleague’s murder.
Dir: Samuel Fuller Cast: Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Shirley Yamaguchi.
C- 103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – April 28, 2020
1:30 AM
THE LATE SHOW (1977)
An aging private eye hooks up with a Hollywood eccentric to investigate his partner’s murder.
Dir: Robert Benton Cast: Art Carney, Lily Tomlin, Bill Macy.
C- 93 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – April 30, 2020
9:00 AM
THE UNFAITHFUL (1947)
While her husband is away, a woman gets mixed up in murder.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott.
BW- 109 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – May 1, 2020
3:30 AM
SISTERS (1972)
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Dir: Brian De Palma Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning.
C- 92 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in February, 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 February 2020 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for March 2020 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.
(The above movie descriptions were taken off the TCM website.)
Fran McPoland says
You do a wonderful job of keeping all us crazy mystery readers up-to-date on releases and movies. Were you aware that the Miss Fisher series has just released a full length movie? Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (I think). If people have an Acorn account it is available as of today.
Stay safe & Stay Healthy –
Fran McPoland
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Fran, thanks for letting us know! No, I hadn’t spotted that one yet – I’ll have to watch it!
Vanessa T says
I think I’d add Breathless (1960) on April 20 to the list. It fits more into the crime genre because you do know that the main character committed a crime from the very beginning of the movie, but quite a bit of it is about the investigators and waiting for his girlfriend to find out. I watched it when TCM showed it last month.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Vanessa, thanks for the suggestion! I might have to pick that one up as well.
maryr says
For fans of classic private detective novels — Dashiell Hammet, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald and the movies made from their books, you will truly enjoy the clever plot, witty writing and masterful acting in The Late Show with Lily Tomlin and Art Carney.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Maryr, thanks for the recommendation!