Monthly Film Recommendations: June 2011

Stacia's list at She Blogged By Night reminded me that I need to do my movie recommendations for June!

All times are CST; all films are on Turner Classic Movies:

• The Half-Naked Truth (W 6/1 6:00 a.m.) mildly amusing pre-code film starring Lee Tracy, Lupe Velez and Eugene Pallette.  Tracy is a promoter who tries to get bellydancer Velez on Broadway.
• Night Train to Munich (W 6/1 8:45 p.m.)
• Scarlet Street (Sa 6/4 8:00 a.m.) bad girl Joan Bennett lures meek Edward G. Robinson (definitely playing against type); directed by Fritz Lang
• Dodsworth (Sa 6/4 7:00 p.m.) automobile company president Walter Huston's marriage is tested when he decides to retire--wife Ruth Chatterton isn't ready to give up her youth; very well done
• Witness to Murder (Su 6/5 7:30 a.m.)
• Arsenic and Old Lace (Su 6/5 12:45 p.m.) Cary Grant has to deal with homicidal maiden aunts and a brother who believes he's Teddy Roosevelt in this Frank Capra comedy
• The Adventures of Robin Hood (Su 6/5 7:00 p.m.)
• All Quiet on the Western Front (M 6/6 3:45 a.m.) devastating portrayal of the horrors of World War I; I won't be re-watching it, but if you haven't seen it, you probably should
• My Favorite Wife (M 6/6 6:00 a.m.)
• His Girl Friday (M 6/6 7:30 a.m.) Cary Grant, Rosiland Russell, rapid-fire banter; highly-rated comedy, not my particular favorite, but it is amusing
• North by Northwest (M 6/6 4:30 p.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
• Bells are Ringing (Tu 6/7 7:30 a.m.) film version of the Broadway hit starring Judy Holliday and Dean Martin; great fun
• Ocean's Eleven (Tu 6/7 12:15 p.m.) the Rat Pack movie--dated, misogynist, stylish and fun all at the same time
• San Antonio (W 6/8 8:00 a.m.) another entertaining Errol Flynn western, just don't expect too much and you'll be pleasantly surprised
• Safe in Hell (Th 6/9 7:30 a.m.) Dorothy Mackaill is a New Orleans prostitute who believes she's killed a man, so she flees to Tortuga to avoid extradition and ends up in a seedy hotel with a bunch of criminals; great example of pre-code cinema
• The Taming of the Shrew (Su 6/12 9:00 a.m.) Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Shakespeare; this one holds a special place in my heart--I was Kate in a school production
• A Tale of Two Cities (M 6/13 9:00 a.m.) Ronald Colman is wonderful as Sydney Carton; bring a hankie
• Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (M 6/13 12:30 p.m.)
• The Woman in Green (M 6/13 1:45 p.m.)
• Terror by Night (M 6/13 3:00 p.m.) 
• Dressed to Kill (M 6/13 4:15 p.m.) four of Basil Rathbone's outings as Sherlock Holmes, great for lazy weekends spent drinking cups of tea, eating cake and lying about in a dressing gown wile smoking a pipe--at our house, Paul does the pipe smoking and I do the tea drinking

• David Copperfield (M 6/13 7:00 p.m.) excellent, albeit abridged, adaptation of Dickens novel; fabulous cast includes Lionel Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, Roland Young, W.C. Fields; Edna Mae Oliver steals the show as Aunty Betsey; a must-see
• The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (W 6/15 1:15 p.m.) cute romantic comedy with Myrna Loy, Cary Grant, Shirley Temple and Rudy Vallee
• Kind Hearts and Coronets (W 6/15 5:00 p.m.)
• A Face in the Crowd (W 6/15 11:15 p.m.) You MUST see this film.  It is one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen. Andy Griffith plays against type to perfection and Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau are magnificent; Elia Kazan was a genius.
• A Touch of Evil (Th 6/16 1:30 a.m.) Director's cut of Orson Welles's noir masterpiece
• Bringing Up Baby (Sa 6/18 7:00 p.m.)
• Twentieth Century (Sa 6/18 9:00 p.m.) producer John Barrymore spends a train trip trying to convince actress Carole Lombard to return to the stage
• Nothing Sacred (Sa 6/18 11:00 p.m.) reporter Fredric March makes "dying" Carole Lombard famous
• Theodora Goes Wild (Su 6/19 2:15 a.m.) Irene Dunne plays a small-town spinster who, unbeknownst to friends and family, is the author of a very popular torrid romance; Melvyn Douglas co-stars
• The Awful Truth (Su 6/19 4:00 a.m.) Cary Grant and Irene Dunne divorce but can't stay away from each other
• Life with Father (Su 6/19 4:45 p.m.) One of the most enjoyable films ever made; William Powell and Irene Dunne raise a family in turn-of-the-century New York; get the family together, pop some popcorn and be prepared to thoroughly enjoy this movie
• Stagecoach (Su 6/19 7:00 p.m.) One of the greatest westerns ever made; John Ford and John Wayne at their best
• The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (M 6/20 3:00 p.m.)
• Grand Hotel (M 6/20 9:15 p.m.)
• The Las Vegas Story (Tu 6/21 6:45 a.m.) 
• His Kind of Woman (Tu 6/21 11:15 a.m.)
• Ball of Fire (W 6/22 11:15 a.m.) a houseful of professors take in nightclub singer Barbara Stanwyck
• The Major and the Minor (W 6/22 1:15 p.m.) Hijinks ensue when Ginger Rogers disguises herself as a pre-adolescent to buy a junior fare train ticket
• It Happened One Night (F 6/24 7:00 a.m.) One of my favorite films--sparks fly when reporter Clark Gable meets runaway heiress Claudette Colbert
• Singin' in the Rain (Su 6/26 7:00 p.m.)  Does it need an introduction?  It's one of the best movie musicals ever made.
• Dial M for Murder (M 6/27 11:00 p.m.) Hitchcock. Grace Kelly. Classic.
• Strangers on a Train (T 6/28 3:00 a.m.) Super-creepy Robert Walker traps Farley Granger in a murder plot.  Not to be missed.
• The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tu 6/28 1:00 p.m.) Fairly faithful adaptation of novel; Lana Turner smolders
• I Know Where I'm Going (W 6/29 7:00 p.m.)
• Brigadoon (W 6/29 9:00 p.m.) Yeah, it's pretty dumb, but I love it.  "Scotland" is so darn cute.

P.S. If you'd like to be prepared for the next George Sanders film fest, here's a few I'll be recording that I haven't seen yet:

• Five Golden Hours (M 6/6 11:15 p.m.)
• Lloyd's of London (M 6/13 9:15 p.m.)
• Moonfleet (Th 6/23 3:30 a.m.)