Monthly Film Recommendations: March 2011

I've had a request to list my favorite classic films, so I've decided to provide a monthly list of my favorites that will be on TCM each month, to keep the list a bit more manageable!  For other movie recommendations, just click on the "movies" label at the bottom of the post or in the sidebar.  There are still a lot of old films I haven't seen, but I'm working on it!

March 2011 on TCM (all times are Central):

• A Bout de souffle (Breathless) (M 3/21/11 3:00 a.m.)- I'm a huge fan of Jean-Luc Godard's style--this film is a great example
• All About Eve (Tu 3/1/11 9:00 p.m. and Th 3/31/11 7:00 p.m.)- an aspiring actress (Anne Baxter) plots to take over Bette Davis's career and boyfriend; George Sanders won an Oscar playing critic Addison de Witt; look for Marilyn Monroe in a small role 
• Around the World in 80 Days (W 3/2/11 9:00 p.m.)- David Niven heads the cast in this fun family film
• Arsenic and Old Lace (W 3/16/11 7:00 a.m.)- Cary Grant has to deal with homicidal maiden aunts and a brother who believes he's Teddy Roosevelt in this Frank Capra comedy
• Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) (M 3/28/11 10:45 p.m.)- one of the best examples of French noir, starring the incomparable Jeanne Moreau, plus amazing Miles Davis music
• Born Yesterday (W 3/16/11 9:00 a.m.)- William Holden is a newspaperman hired to tutor Judy Holliday, who turns out to be not a stupid as everyone thinks! 
• Brief Encounter (F 3/25/11 7:15 a.m.)- unlike anything else by Noel Coward, heartbreakingly beautiful, one of David Lean's best
• Bringing Up Baby (W 3/16/11 5:00 a.m.)- the classic screwball comedy starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and a leopard named Baby; I find this one amusing no matter how many times I see it
• Captain Blood (W 3/2/11 12:30 p.m.)- the first pairing of Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland; swashbuckling at its best
• Follow the Fleet (W 3/16/11 1:00 p.m.)- pleasant Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers film; fabulous choreography as always
• Grand Hotel (Th 3/3/11 7:00 p.m.)- It's the "I want to be alone" movie; Greta Garbo and John Barrymore are top-billed, but Joan Crawford and Lionel Barrymore steal the show
• I'm No Angel (W 3/30/11 10:15 p.m.)- I adore Mae West, who plays a circus performer in this pre-code gem; also stars Cary Grant
• Jezebel (W 3/2/11 8:00 a.m.)- Bette Davis plays an unconventional Southern belle who goes after the affections of Henry Fonda
• The Last of Sheila (Th 3/31/11 9:30 p.m.)- murder mystery with James Coburn and James Mason; bit later than "classic" (1973), but an enjoyable film
• Libeled Lady (Tu 3/15/11 10:15 p.m.)- William Powell/Myrna Loy pairing, Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow co-star; newspapermen try to avoid a libel lawsuit
• Love Me Tonight (Sa 3/12/11 7:00 p.m. and Th 3/31/11 7:30 a.m.)- Maurice Chevalier/Jeannette MacDonald pairing; not their best, but entertaining nevertheless; co-stars include Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith and Charlie Ruggles
• The Love Parade (Th 3/31/11 1:30 a.m.)- one of the best Maurice Chevalier/Jeannette MacDonald/Ernst Lubitsch collaborations; fabulous opening scene, wonderful costumes
• Ninotchka (Th 3/24/11 9:00 p.m.)- Garbo laughs!  This is a comedic gem by Ernst Lubitsch starring Melvyn Douglas and, of course, Greta Garbo.
• North by Northwest (Th 3/3/11 11:30 a.m.)- classic Hitchcock mistaken-identity thriller starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason; famous for train, crop duster and Mount Rushmore sequences; very stylish
• Queen Christina (Su 3/13/11 2:45 a.m.)- last pairing of Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, who play a Swedish queen and a Spanish ambassador who fall in love when they have to share a room at an inn during a snow storm
• Shall We Dance (Th 3/3/11 5:00 p.m.)- the film that got me hooked on classic film and Astaire and Rogers
• A Streetcar Named Desire (Tu 3/22/11 2:45 p.m.)- there are few films more deeply tragic than this one, but it's amazing
• Summertime (W 3/9/11 5:15 p.m.)- Katherine Hepburn falls for Rossano Brazzi (who wouldn't?) while vacationing in Venice
• Sunrise (Th 3/17/11 12:15 a.m.)- a farmer (George O'Brien) gets involved with a vamp who wants him to kill his wife (Janet Gaynor) so they can be together; created to be a modern fable by F.W. Murnau
• To Be or Not to Be (Su 3/13/11 12:00 p.m. and Th 3/31/11 3:30 a.m.)- Jack Benny and Carole Lombard star in this Ernst Lubitsch comedy about Polish actors who get caught up in the resistance movement during the German invasion
• Trouble in Paradise (Th 3/31/11 12:00 a.m.)- description here

Because you need something pretty to look at--

This is a page from the Spring 1929 Sears and Roebuck catalog (via ancestry.com).  My favorites are the "New 2-piece Jacket Ensemble" and the "All Silk Plaid Taffeta and Flat Crepe."  I think the details (pockets, cuffs) are so amazing!  What's your favorite?