I have found these mystery movies from TCM’s Now Playing for November 2013. (TCM stands for the Turner Classic Movie channel.) I have tried to limit the list to the mysteries I could find, but I just couldn’t keep myself from listing some of my favorite old comedies.
I’m listing the movies in Central time zone. If you know of any other mystery movies that are going to be aired on television during November 2013, please post a comment.
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday, November 1, 2013
(***While neither of today’s listed movies are mysteries, they are a lot of fun to watch.)
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) 7:00 PM
A newspaperman tracks a runaway heiress on a madcap cross-country tour.
Dir: Frank Capra Cast: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly.
BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) 9:00 PM
An unscrupulous editor plots to keep his star reporter-and ex-wife-from re-marrying.
Dir: Howard Hawks Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy.
BW-92 mins, TV-G, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday, November 2, 2013
THE MAD MISS MANTON (1938) 2:00 AM
A daffy socialite gets her friends mixed up in a murder investigation.
Dir: Leigh Jason Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Sam Levene.
BW-80 mins, TV-G, CC
TAMING OF THE SHREW, THE (1967) 7:00 AM
A fortune hunter agrees to wed a temperamental woman so his friend can court her sister. (***It is a delight to watch Taylor and Burton in this Shakespearean movie.)
Dir: Franco Zeffirelli Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Cyril Cusack.
C-122 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday, November 4, 2013
OLD ACQUAINTANCE (1943) 7:15 AM
Two writers, friends since childhood, fight over their books and lives. (***Not a mystery, but Davis and Hopkins are great in this.)
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young.
BW-110 mins, TV-PG, CC
THE WOMAN IN WHITE (1948) 11:30 AM
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, TV-G, CC
HUNT THE MAN DOWN (1950) 1:30 PM
Lawyer uncovers secret behind a decade-old murder case.
Dir: George Archainbaud Cast: Gig Young, Lynne Roberts, Mary Anderson.
BW-68 mins, TV-PG
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
THE KILLERS (1946) 7:00 PM
An insurance investigator uncovers a string of crimes when he tries to find a murdered boxer’s beneficiary.
Dir: Robert Siodmak Cast: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien.
BW-102 mins, TV-14, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday, November 11, 2013
CROSSFIRE (1947) 8:00 AM
A crusading district attorney investigates the murder of a Jewish man.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan.
BW-86 mins, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
FAST AND FURIOUS (1939) 4:30 PM
Married book-dealers Joel and Garda Sloane get mixed up with murder during a beauty pageant.
Dir: Busby Berkeley Cast: Franchot Tone, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey.
BW-73 mins, TV-G
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) 7:00 AM
Opposites distract when a sophisticated political columnist falls for a sportswriter. (***Not a mystery but Tracy and Hepburn are quite a duo.)
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Fay Bainter.
BW-114 mins, TV-PG, CC
NOTORIOUS (1946) 9:00 AM
A U.S. agent recruits a German expatriate to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring in Brazil.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains.
BW-101 mins, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday, November 14, 2013
MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945) 7:00 PM
A young girl finds herself entrenched in a murder cover-up when she goes to work for a wealthy widow.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis Cast: Nina Foch, Dame May Whitty, George Macready.
BW-65 mins, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday, November 15, 2013
THE TALL TARGET (1951) 12:00 AM
A detective tries to prevent the assassination of President Lincoln during a train ride.
Dir: Anthony Mann Cast: Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou.
BW-78 mins, TV-G, CC
DEAD RECKONING (1947) 9:45 AM
A tough veteran sets out to solve his war buddy’s murder.
Dir: John Cromwell Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky.
BW-100 mins, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday, November 16, 2013
IT’S A WONDERFUL WORLD (1939) 12:15 AM
A runaway poetess helps a fugitive prove himself innocent of murder charges.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II Cast: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee.
BW-86 mins, TV-G, CC
DECEPTION (1946) 7:15 AM
A woman tries to protect her refugee husband from her rich and powerful ex-lover.
Dir: Irving Rapper Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains.
BW-112 mins, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday, November 17, 2013
THE BIG HEAT (1953) 9:15 AM
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 Cast: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando.
BW-90 mins, TV-14, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday, November 18, 2013
COMET OVER BROADWAY (1938) 1:15 PM
A stage star’s rampant ambition leads to murder.
Dir: Busby Berkeley Cast: Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, John Litel.
BW-70 mins, TV-G, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
MAN IN THE ATTIC (1953) 3:30 PM
A landlady suspects her mysterious new tenant is Jack the Ripper.
Dir: Hugo Fregonese Cast: Jack Palance, Constance Smith, Byron Palmer.
BW-82 mins, TV-PG
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) 7:00 PM
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.
BW-100 mins, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
THE SELLOUT (1951) 10:15 AM
A small-town newspaper editor risks everything to expose a corrupt sheriff.
Dir: Gerald Mayer Cast: Walter Pidgeon, John Hodiak, Audrey Totter.
BW-83 mins, TV-PG, CC
MISTER 880 (1950) 7:00 PM
A beloved old man is secretly Mister 880, an amateurish counterfeiter.
Dir: Edmund Goulding Cast: Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Edmund Gwenn.
BW-90 mins, CC
JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961) 8:45 PM
An aging American judge presides over the trial of Nazi war criminals. (*** This is not a mystery movie. Watch for a young William Shatner before his Star Trek days.)
Dir: Stanley Kramer Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark.
BW-179 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday, November 22, 2013
STAR OF MIDNIGHT (1935) 1:30 PM
A New York lawyer tries to track down a kidnapped actress.
Dir: Stephen Roberts Cast: William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Paul Kelly.
BW-90 mins, TV-PG, CC,
BALL OF FIRE (1942) 11:00 PM
A group of professors takes in a nightclub singer hiding from the law to protect her gangster boyfriend. (*** I should probably warn you all that I am a Barbara Stanwyck fan. Even so, this comedy is really quite good.)
Dir: Howard Hawks Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Homolka.
BW-112 mins, TV-G, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday, November 23, 2013
MURDER, MY SWEET (1944) 5:00 PM
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, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
BULLITT (1968) 8:00 PM
When mobsters kill the witness he was assigned to protect, a dedicated policeman investigates the case on his own.
Dir: Peter Yates Cast: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset.
C-114 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format
NAKED CITY (1948) 11:00 PM
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, TV-14, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
WHITE HEAT (1949) 1:00 AM
A government agent infiltrates a gang run by a mother-fixated psychotic.
Dir: Raoul Walsh Cast: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien.
BW-113 mins, TV-PG, CC
THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968) 4:45 AM
A bored tycoon turns to bank robbery and courts the insurance investigator assigned to bring him in.
Dir: Norman Jewison Cast: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke.
C-102 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday, November 28, 2013
THE YOUNG SAVAGES (1961) 6:15 AM
An assistant DA suspects one of the delinquents he’s prosecuting for murder is his son.
Dir: John Frankenheimer Cast: Burt Lancaster, Dina Merrill, Shelley Winters.
BW-103 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday, November 29, 2013
THE LADY EVE (1941) 7:00 PM
A lady cardsharp tries to con an eccentric scientist only to fall for him. (*** One of the best Barbara Stanwyck comedies.)
Dir: Preston Sturges Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn.
BW-94 mins, TV-PG, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday, November 30, 2013
THE WRONG MAN (1956) 9:15 PM
A musician is mistaken for a vicious thief, with devastating results.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle.
BW-105 mins, TV-PG, 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!)
If you would like to see more Television and Movies ideas, click on this link.
Tessa says
Thank you.
but why do they put good films on…. So early or in the wee hours of the night???? Boooo-hissssss….
Happy Olde Hallows Eve!!!
Tessa~
Danna - cozy mystery list says
You’re welcome, Tessa. I wouldn’t be able to watch any of these movies if I didn’t have my Sage (my DVR type – although it has been discontinued, our’s continues to work – thanks to my husband) to tape all of them for me. If we didn’t have a DVR, I would probably be joining you in your “Boooo-hissssss” about early morning showings!
Patti S. says
Thanks for the list, Danna. I am a Barbara Stanwyck fan also. I saw The Mad Miss Manton a few months ago, and I really liked it. Her early movies are really quite good. I really liked her in Stella Dallas. Double indemnity, I could go on and on. She really was a great actress!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Patti S, Barbara Stanwyck is one of my absolute favorite authors. I even enjoy her really, really early movies, when she was just making a name for herself.