This week:
* Monday—a film adaptation of a Sheridan Le Fanu Gothic novel;
* Tuesday—several enjoyable comedy-mysteries from Hollywood’s Golden Age;
* Wednesday—nine quite serious (as well as relatively rare) crime thrillers;
* Friday—The Thin Man develops a shadow and Dr. Gillespie transforms into a crime fighter;
* Saturday—Dick Tracy dodges death and Lee Marvin is out to dispense it;
* Sunday—a top secret recipe goes missing and Michael Rennie wishes he’d gone on a low-carb diet.
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Monday—September 7th
11:00 AM—Uncle Silas (1947) [a.k.a. The Inheritance]
A young woman’s uncle and governess plot to kill her for her inheritance.
Cast: Derek Bond, Frederick Burtwell, O. B. Clarence.
Dir: Charles Frank. BW-103 mins.
8:00 PM—They Made Me a Fugitive (1947) [a.k.a. I Became a Criminal]
After being framed for a policeman’s murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Cast: Trevor Howard, Sally Gray, Griffith Jones.
Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti. BW-101 mins, TV-PG
———-
Tuesday—September 8th
6:00 AM—Off the Record (1939)
A lady reporter adopts the young delinquent her crime exposes helped send to jail.
Cast: Pat O’Brien, Joan Blondell, Bobby Jordan.
Dir: James Flood. BW-71 mins, TV-G
7:15 AM—Three Girls about Town (1941)
Sisters working at a hotel try to hide a dead body before the next convention arrives.
Cast: Joan Blondell, Robert Benchley, Binnie Barnes.
Dir: Leigh Jason. BW-73 mins, TV-G
8:45 AM—There’s Always a Woman (1938)
While working on a simple case, married private eyes uncover a murder.
Cast: Joan Blondell, Melvyn Douglas, Mary Astor.
Dir: Alexander Hall. BW-81 mins, TV-G
10:15 AM—The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939)
The mayor’s secretary competes with her homicide detective fiancé’s devotion to his job.
Cast: Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, Clarence Kolb.
Dir: Alexander Hall. BW-85 mins, TV-G
1:15 PM—The Clay Pigeon (1949)
A man awakens from a coma to discover he’s accused of treason.
Cast: Bill Williams, Barbara Hale, Richard Quine.
Dir: Richard Fleischer. BW-63 mins, TV-PG
2:30 PM—A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
A gangster finds the straight life ain’t so simple.
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon. BW-85 mins, TV-G, CC
8:00 PM—Five Fingers (1952)
A British valet in Turkey during World War II sells secrets to the Germans.
Cast: James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. BW-108 mins, CC
———-
Wednesday—September 9th
6:00 AM—They Live by Night (1949)
After an unjust prison sentence, a young innocent gets mixed-up with hardened criminals and a violent escape.
Cast: Farley Granger, Cathy O’Donnell, Howard da Silva.
Dir: Nicholas Ray. BW-96 mins, TV-PG, CC
7:45 AM—Mystery Street (1950)
Criminal pathologists try to crack a case with nothing but the victim’s bones to go on.
Cast: Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Elsa Lanchester.
Dir: John Sturges. BW-93 mins, TV-PG, CC
9:30 AM—Tension (1950)
A man who had planned to murder his wife’s lover becomes the prime suspect when somebody beats him to it.
Cast: Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Barry Sullivan.
Dir: John Berry. BW-91 mins, TV-PG, CC
11:15 AM—Dial 1119 (1950)
A killer holds the customers at a bar hostage.
Cast: Marshall Thompson, Virginia Field, Sam Levene.
Dir: Gerald Mayer. BW-75 mins, TV-G
12:45 PM—Cause for Alarm! (1951)
A woman fights to intercept a letter in which her husband tries to prove her guilty of murder.
Cast: Loretta Young, Barry Sullivan, Bruce Cowling.
Dir: Tay Garnett. BW-74 mins, TV-PG, CC
2:00 PM—No Questions Asked (1951)
A young lawyer’s primrose path to success gets him framed for murder.
Cast: Barry Sullivan, George Murphy, Arlene Dahl.
Dir: Harold F. Kress. BW-81 mins, TV-PG
3:30 PM—The Narrow Margin (1952)
A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster’s moll on a tense train ride.
Cast: Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White.
Dir: Richard Fleischer. BW-72 mins, TV-PG, CC
4:45 PM—While the City Sleeps (1956)
Reporters compete to catch a serial killer.
Cast: Dana Andrews, Ida Lupino, Vincent Price.
Dir: Fritz Lang. BW-100 mins, TV-PG, CC
6:30 PM—Nowhere to Go (1958)
A burglar on the run holes up with an innocent English girl.
Cast: George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee.
Dir: Seth Holt. BW-87 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format
———-
Thursday—September 10th
Spend the day with Lassie, Flipper, and Sabu.
———-
Friday—September 11th
6:15 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.
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Donna Reed.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II. BW-97 mins, TV-G, CC
8:00 AM—Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942)
A wheelchair-bound doctor fights off a homicidal maniac.
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Philip Dorn, Donna Reed.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet. BW-84 mins, TV-G
9:30 AM—Dr. Gillespie’s Criminal Case (1943)
A wheelchair-bound doctor tries to prove a convicted killer’s innocence.
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Van Johnson, Donna Reed.
Dir: Willis Goldbeck. BW-89 mins, TV-PG
11:15 AM—Eyes in the Night (1942)
Blind detective Duncan Maclain gets mixed up with enemy agents and murder when he tries to help an old friend with a rebellious stepdaughter.
Cast: Edward Arnold, Donna Reed, Ann Harding.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann. BW-80 mins, TV-G, CC
6:30 PM—Three Hours to Kill (1954)
After escaping a lynch mob, an innocent man returns to find out who framed him for murder.
Cast: Dana Andrews, Donna Reed, Dianne Foster.
Dir: Alfred L. Werker. BW-77 mins, TV-PG, CC
11:15 PM—Man with a Million (1954)
On a bet, a man tries to see how much he can get without breaking a million-pound bank note.
Cast: Gregory Peck, Jane Griffiths, Ronald Squire.
Dir: Ronald Neame. C-89 mins, TV-G
———-
Saturday—September 12th
4:15 AM—Psycho (1960)
A woman on the run gets mixed up with a repressed young man and his violent mother.
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-109 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
7:30 AM—Shield for Murder (1954)
A crooked detective masterminds a robbery, then fights to keep his money.
Cast: Edmond O’Brien, John Agar, Carolyn Jones.
Dir: Edmond O’Brien & Howard Koch. BW-82 mins, TV-PG
9:00 AM—The Fur Pirates (1937)
In the third chapter of Dick Tracy, the famed detective’s plane crashes into a railroad bridge.
Cast: Ralph Byrd, Kay Hughes, Smiley Burnette.
Dir: Alan James, Ray Taylor. BW-20 mins, TV-G
9:30 AM—Death Rides the Sky (1937)
In the fourth chapter of Dick Tracy, the famed detective is caught between two ships about to crash.
Cast: Ralph Byrd, Kay Hughes, Smiley Burnette.
Dir: Alan James, Ray Taylor. BW-20 mins, TV-G
10:00 AM—They Drive by Night (1940)
Truck driving brothers are framed for murder by a lady psycho.
Cast: George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Humphrey Bogart.
Dir: Raoul Walsh. BW-95 mins, TV-PG, CC
6:00 PM—Point Blank (1967)
A gangster plots an elaborate revenge on the wife and partner who did him dirty.
Cast: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn.
Dir: John Boorman. C-92 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format
———-
Sunday—September 13th
9:00 AM—What’s Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
Woody Allen dubbed in comic dialogue for this outrageous spoof of secret-agent thrillers.
Cast: Voices of Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Mickey Rose.
Dir: Woody Allen. C-80 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
10:30 AM—High School Confidential (1958)
A young police officer returns to high school undercover to investigate the drug trade.
Cast: Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, Mamie Van Doren.
Dir: Jack Arnold. BW-85 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
4:00 PM—Foul Play (1978)
An innocent woman stumbles onto a plot to murder an important personage.
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Dudley Moore.
Dir: Colin Higgins. C-116 mins, TV-MA, Letterbox Format
8:00 PM—Les Miserables (1952)
An obsessive policeman relentlessly hunts a man who escaped prison after stealing bread.
Cast: Michael Rennie, Debra Paget, Robert Newton.
Dir: Lewis Milestone. BW-106 mins, TV-PG, CC
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—Mike Gray