It’s the time of the month again to find out about next month’s upcoming mystery movies that will be on television. As usual, I’m posting the Turner Classic Movies channel mysteries (and some non-mystery movies with my favorite actors and actresses) that I think are definitely worth looking at.
***** ***** ***** *****
September 2017 Turner Classic Movies Channel Mystery Movies (Central time zone):
Saturday – September 2, 2017
9:30 AM
THE PHANTOM THIEF (1946)
A reformed thief tries to stop a murderous blackmailer.
Dir: D. Ross Lederman Cast: Chester Morris, Jeff Donnell, Richard Lane.
BW- 65 mins
12:45 PM
RANCHO NOTORIOUS (1952)
A cowboy infiltrates a bandit hideout in search of his girlfriend’s killer.
Dir: Fritz Lang Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer.
C- 89 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – September 3, 2017
9:00 AM
FRAMED (1947)
A femme fatale lures an unemployed man into helping her with a criminal scheme.
Dir: Richard Wallace Cast: Glenn Ford, Janis Carter, Barry Sullivan.
BW- 82 mins, CC
5:15 PM
ROPE (1948)
Two wealthy young men try to commit the perfect crime by murdering a friend.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Dick Hogan, John Dall, Farley Granger.
C- 81 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – September 4, 2017
10:45 AM
WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942)
Opposites distract when a sophisticated political columnist falls for a sportswriter.
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Fay Bainter.
BW- 114 mins, CC
*** Not a mystery, however it’s really good! ***
Tuesday – September 5, 2017
10:00 PM
LOVE LETTERS (1945)
A soldier falls for the woman who may have killed his best friend.
Dir: William Dieterle Cast: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ann Richards.
BW- 101 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – September 6, 2017
3:45 PM
THE HITCH-HIKER (1953)
A dangerous madman kidnaps two businessmen on a hunting trip.
Dir: Ida Lupino Cast: Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman.
BW- 71 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – September 8, 2017
6:00 AM
CHINA PASSAGE (1937)
Murder and jewel theft plague a China-bound steamer.
Dir: Edward Killy Cast: Constance Worth, Vinton Haworth, Leslie Fenton.
BW- 65 mins, CC
10:00 AM
WE’RE ON THE JURY (1937)
A jury member sets out to prove a murder defendant innocent.
Dir: Ben Holmes Cast: Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Philip Huston.
BW- 70 mins
8:30 PM
THE CATERED AFFAIR (1956)
A working-class mother fights to give her daughter a big wedding whether the girl wants it or not.
Dir: Richard Brooks Cast: Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds.
BW- 94 mins, CC
*** Not a mystery. This is a fantastic movie. ***
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – September 9, 2017
11:00 AM
REAR WINDOW (1954)
A photographer with a broken leg uncovers a murder while spying on the neighbors in a nearby apartment building.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey.
C- 112 mins, CC
7:00 PM
BULLITT (1968)
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, CC
Sunday – September 10, 2017
5:00 AM
VENGEANCE VALLEY (1951)
An honest rancher tries to block his evil brother’s plots while keeping them from their father.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: Burt Lancaster, Robert Walker, Joanne Dru.
C- 83 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – September 13, 2017
9:00 AM
UNDER COVER OF NIGHT (1937)
A police detective and his wife try to solve a string of murders.
Dir: George B. Seitz Cast: Edmund Lowe, Florence Rice, Nat Pendleton.
BW- 71 mins
10:15 AM
FROM HEADQUARTERS (1933)
A police lieutenant uses scientific methods to solve a decadent playboy’s murder.
Dir: William Dieterle Cast: George Brent, Margaret Lindsay, Eugene Pallette.
BW- 63 mins, CC
1:15 PM
BULLETS OR BALLOTS (1936)
A cop goes undercover to crack an influential crime ring.
Dir: William Keighley Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane.
BW- 82 mins, CC
2:45 PM
BORDERLINE (1950)
A policewoman goes undercover to infiltrate a drug smuggling ring.
Dir: William A. Seiter Cast: Fred MacMurray, Claire Trevor, Raymond Burr.
BW- 88 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – September 16, 2017
9:30 AM
TRAPPED BY BOSTON BLACKIE (1948)
When the pearl necklace he’s been hired to guard goes missing, a reformed thief is the prime suspect.
Dir: Seymour Friedman Cast: Chester Morris, June Vincent, Richard Lane.
BW- 67 mins, CC
Sunday – September 17, 2017
9:00 AM
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
An aspiring actress begins to suspect that her temperamental boyfriend is a murderer.
Dir: Nicholas Ray Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy.
BW- 93 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – September 19, 2017
10:00 AM
THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (1941)
Siamese twins, separated in infancy, join forces to avenge their parents’ murder.
Dir: Gregory Ratoff Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Ruth Warrick, Akim Tamiroff.
BW- 111 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – September 20, 2017
5:00 AM
THE AMAZING DR. CLITTERHOUSE (1938)
A doctor plots crimes so he can study criminal psychology.
Dir: Anatole Litvak Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor, Humphrey Bogart.
BW- 87 mins, CC
7:00 PM
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
A black police detective from the North forces a bigoted Southern sheriff to accept his help with a murder investigation.
Dir: Norman Jewison Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates.
C- 110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – September 23, 2017
7:30 AM
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
9:30 AM
BOSTON BLACKIE’S CHINESE VENTURE (1948)
When he’s spotted leaving a laundry whose proprietor has just been murdered, a reformed thief has to find the real killer.
Dir: Seymour Friedman Cast: Chester Morris, Maylia, Richard Lane.
BW- 59 mins
1:00 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
Sunday – September 24, 2017
7:00 PM
CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (1948)
A Chicago reporter re-opens a ten year old murder case.
Dir: Henry Hathaway Cast: James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb.
BW- 111 mins, CC
9:00 PM
BOOMERANG (1947)
A prosecutor fights to prove the defendant in a scandalous murder case is innocent.
Dir: Elia Kazan Cast: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb.
BW- 88 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – September 25, 2017
6:15 AM
MURDER IN THE PRIVATE CAR (1934)
A speeding train becomes the setting for murder.
Dir: Harry Beaumont Cast: Charlie Ruggles, Una Merkel, Mary Carlisle.
BW- 63 mins, CC
7:30 AM
THE TALL TARGET (1951)
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, CC
3:30 PM
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
5:30 PM
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, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – September 26, 2017
12:15 AM
THE LADYKILLERS (1956)
An eccentric bandit gang moves into a little old lady’s boardinghouse to plot a major heist.
Dir: Alexander Mackendrick Cast: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom.
C- 91 mins, CC
3:45 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
Wednesday – September 27, 2017
1:45 PM
STOP, YOU’RE KILLING ME (1952)
The surprise appearance of four corpses interferes with a beer baron’s plans to crash high society.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth Cast: Broderick Crawford, Claire Trevor, Virginia Gibson.
BW- 86 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – September 28, 2017
5:00 AM
LADIES OF THE JURY (1932)
A jury hold-out tries to prove the defendant’s innocence.
Dir: Lowell Sherman Cast: Edna May Oliver, Jill Esmond, Rosco Ates.
BW- 63 mins
9:15 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
3:00 PM
TWILIGHT OF HONOR (1963)
A struggling lawyer takes on a controversial murder case that could make or break him.
Dir: Boris Sagal Cast: Richard Chamberlain, Joey Heatherton, Nick Adams.
BW- 104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
5:00 PM
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957)
A British lawyer gets caught up in a couple’s tangled marital affairs when he defends the husband for murder.
Dir: Billy Wilder Cast: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton.
BW- 116 mins, CC
Friday – September 29, 2017
8:30 AM
THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946)
Years after a murder drove them apart, an heiress tries to win back her lost love.
Dir: Lewis Milestone Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott.
BW- 115 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
If you’re particularly looking forward to these or other mystery-themed TV movies coming up in September, 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 August television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for August 2017
And of course, here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:
Cindy says
This is great! Thank you!! Adding it to my calendar.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Cindy, you’re welcome! I’m always glad when these lists help people find movies they want to see.
Moira says
Thank you so much for putting together this listing! Now that TCM has stopped printing their “Now Playing” magazine, your monthly list of their line-up is more essential than ever!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Moira, you’re very welcome! I’m glad people appreciate this list – it takes significantly longer to do now that the print magazine is no longer available.
Bek says
Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is also running a couple of the Gourmet Mysteries, as well as a couple of Flower Shop (Pot?) Mysteries. They’re light and fluffy, but sometimes we need that, Goodness knows!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Bek, thanks for the Hallmark suggestions.
Lenna Wyatt says
I love mysteries and this is great. Ever since my father gave me a whole set of Nancy Drew books when I was 12, I’ve been hooked. Thank you so much.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lenna, you’re very welcome!
marion says
Your emails brighten my day and the TV listings for the month are great. If you haven’t seen Murder in the Private Car – it is worth taking a look. We’re on the Jury and Ladies of the Jury are different takes of the same idea. If your looking for light mystery comedies to take the stress out of your day give them a try. Again thank you so much for all your work sharing this info with us.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Marion, you’re very welcome, and thanks for the suggestions!