31 Days of Oscar 2021 schedule

Great line-up. Though I'm sad to admit that this will be the first time since Gladiator won Best Picture back in 2001 that I don't voluntarily watch the Oscars (I missed the 2018 ceremony where The Shape of Water won because I was deployed on a submarine).

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because I was deployed on a submarine).

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Now that's a real excuse for missing a show. BTW, Hunt For Red October or Crimson Tide??

I missed Giant (1956), starring Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson. It's an epic movie about their lives together in Texas.

Giant on TCM.

Picks for this week!

Monday, April 12

4:15 pm It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
So many big names!

Spencer Tracy
Milton Berle
Sid Caesar
Buddy Hacke
Mickey Rooney
Ethel Merman
Dick Shawn
Phil Silvers
Terry-Thomas
Jonathan Winters
Edie Adams
Dorothy Provine
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
William Demarest
Jimmy Durante
Peter Falk
Norman Fell
Stan Freberg
Buster Keaton
Don Knotts
Carl Reiner
The Three Stooges
Jack Benny
Jerry Lewis
The film was nominated for Best Cinematography, Color, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Song, and Best Music, Score - Substantially Original. It won the Oscar for Best Effects, Sound Effects.

Tuesday, April 13

3:00 PM Jungle Book (1942) Can't recommend because I haven't seen. DVR'ing it. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography, Color, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color, Best Effects, Special Effects, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

5:00 PM Key Largo (1948)
Great story and cast. Bogart, Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, & Lionel Barrymore in an awesome role. EGR's gangsters, Seminole Indians, and a hurricane! Claire Trevor, who played Robinson's girlfriend in the movie, won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

9:00 PM King Solomon's Mines (1950)
Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr filmed in The Congo, Tanzania, Uganda & Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Lots of real Africans. MS Kerr being told she has on too many clothes, tough guys in every scene, and King Salomon's Mines! It was nominated for Best Picture, and it won Best Cinematography, Color and Best Film Editing.


11:00 AM Kings Row (1942)
Ronald Reagan, Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings in a 1940's coming of age, in a small town tale. Ronnie is a stand up guy in this one. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Sam Wood), and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White.

1:15 AM Kismet (1944)
Marlene Dietrich is something like an Arabian Sultan's daughter. Was nominated for Best Cinematography, Color, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color.

Wednesday, April 14

9:15 AM Knights of the Round Table (1953)
Ava Gardner, Robert Taylor, Mel Ferrer with lots of good sword fights!
The UK's first CinemaScope production, and also its first widescreen feature, according to IMDb. It was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, and Best Sound, Recording.

1:00 PM La Strada (1954) [/b]
Italian film, directed by Federico Fellini. Stars Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart. It was nominated for Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Original. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

7:00 PM The Lady Eve (1941)
Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, Fonda is an uptight, rich guy. Stanwyck is a hustler/card shark/grifter who, along with some of the era's best character actors, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette, William Demarest, are after his money. It was nominated for Best Writing, Original Story.

10:45 PM The Last Picture Show (1971)
Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn. Sam the Lion is a special character. Was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jeff Bridges), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Ellen Burstyn), Best Director (Peter Bogdanovich), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and Best Cinematography. Ben Johnson won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Cloris Leachman won for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Thursday, April 15


11:00 AM The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
Paul Newman, Victoria Principal, Richard Farnsworth in a tall tale from Texas. The song "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" was nominated for Best Music, Original Song.

7:00 PM Lilies of the Field (1963)
Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann. European nuns think handyman, Homer Smith, has been sent by God to build a much-needed church in the desert. Was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lilia Skala), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. Sidney Poitier won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In doing so, he became the first African American to win the Best Actor Oscar

9:00 PM Little Caesar (1930)
Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell. Caesar Enrico 'Rico' Bandello fights his way up the big city crime ladder, one gang at a time. It was nominated for Best Writing, Adaptation.


10:30 PM A Little Romance (1979)
If you saw this movie as a kid, you probably fell in love with 14 year old Diane Lane. Was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and the film won the Oscar for Best Music, Original Score.


12:30 AM Logan's Run (1975)
Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan & Farrah Fawcett-Majors, with Peter Ustinov as the old man. There's no social distancing in the Carousel audience, but some 30 year olds try to put distance between themselves and the Sandmen. The film was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration & Best Cinematography,It was awarded a Special Achievement Award Oscar For visual effects.


2:45 AM Lolita (1962)
James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, Peter Sellers. Hard to believe Shelly Winters wasn't nominated for an Oscar. The screenplay won the Oscar.


Times are Central.

Lots of greatness on that list.

If you could only watch 2, I'd prioritize The Lady Eve and Key Largo above all else.

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12:30 AM Logan's Run (1975)
Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan & Farrah Fawcett-Majors, with Peter Ustinov as the old man. There's no social distancing in the Carousel audience, but some 30 year olds try to put distance between themselves and the Sandmen. The film was nominated for Jenny Agutter's overall babe-ishness and won in a landslide

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Friday, April 16

5:30 AM The Lost Patrol (1934)
John Ford directs Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford in this WWI movie. These soldiers are in the desert instead of front line trenches, but they're stuck in the cover an oasis they found offers, and they're surrounded by snipers. It's one of those, "Who's next" stories.

5:00 PM The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet, all after the same thing. But why? How far will each go to get it?



7:00 PM A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Another lavish period piece? Another "Let's show all of the sexy women Henry VIII wanted to marry" vessel? Not really either. This is about a man not giving in to a king, or religious figures, with agendas. It could have been called, "Do the Right Thing".

9:15 PM The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Has elements of Indiana Jones, Moonstruck and a random Bond movie, and it's directed by Hitchcock. Jimmy Stewart is the man in the title, but Doris Day is just as important a character.

1:30 AM The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
John Frankenheimer directs: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury and Henry Silva in are all players in a communist conspiracy to put their guy in the White House. Was Raymond Shaw the hero everyone thinks he is? Is his old CO, played by Sinatra, loony? Can the man in the above picture be elected POTUS? Would any of the real POTUS' be worse?

3:20 AM McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
What does every mining camp need? Why hookers and blow of course. Warren Beatty plays John McCabe, a outlaw who brings gambling and hookers to this town. Julie Christie knows a good thing when she sees it and comes on board to run it for him. They're stacking money, as the town grows. What could go wrong? Also includes William Devane, Shelley Duvall, and Keith Carradine. Listen hard, because it's directed by Robert Altman, and everyone is talking over each other.

Sunday, April 18

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5:00 AM Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Comedy directed by Frank Capri, staring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft.

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A simple small-town man inherits a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.

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Mr. Deeds (2002) staring Adam Sandler & Winona Ryder was a remake.

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11:30 AM My Favorite Year (1982)
Comedy directed by Richard Benjamin, staring Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper.

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It is 1954, and the larger-than-life, swahbuckling movie star Alan Swann is set to make his first television appearance on the hugely popular show, The Comedy Cavalcade. Given Swann's reputation as a wild, unpredictable alcoholic, the producers give their new writer, young Benjy Stone, the job of babysitting Swann and getting him to the show on time and sober. The experience is far more stressful than Benjy expected, but after some adventures, he and Swann both learn some valuable lessons and develop a friendship.

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3:00 PM The Naked Spur (1953)
Western directed by Anthony Mann, staring Jimmy Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker.

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A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.

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4:45 PM National Velvet (1944)
Horseracing drama directed by Clarence Brown, staring Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Revere

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A jaded former jockey helps a young girl prepare a wild but gifted horse for England's Grand National Sweepstakes.

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Elizabeth Taylor was such a great child actress.

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7:00 PM Nebraska (2013)
Can’t recommend, but I’ve heard good things, and I’m excited to watch all of it. Saw the end on cable.

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After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous old alcoholic thinks he's struck it rich and wrangles his son into taking a road trip across the heartland of America to claim the fortune.

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9:15 PM Network (1976)
One of the all-time great dramas directed by Sidney Lumet, staring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter

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Finch, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty.
A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit.

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1:45 AM The Night of the Iguana (1964)
John Huston directed Tennessee Williams’ drama with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon.

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A defrocked Episcopal clergyman leads a bus-load of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.

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If you haven’t seen this, DVR it and check it out. Great casting for a crazy story. It's a hoot!


31 Days of Oscar-full schedule on TCM

Wednesday, April 21st


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5:00 PM The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Albert Lewin directs and wrote the screen play for this adaptation of the Oscar Wilde book. It stars George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed.

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A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.

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This one is worth the watch for the story, but it's also an interesting look at what kind of movie the Academy was awarding the "Best Cinematography, Black-and-White" Oscar to in 1945.

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1:00 AM Poltergeist (1982) Tobe Hooper directs JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke, Craig T. Nelson in this classic "Horror, Thriller". Steven Spielberg & Michael Grais are credited for the screen play.

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It's still on my list of movies I wouldn't watch after 10:00 PM. The first movie that made me afraid of my TV.

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Friday, April 23


11:15 AM Rashomon (1950) Akira Kurosawa directs Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, and Masayuki Mori. It was awarded an honorary award for "The most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1951".

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The rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.

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It’s been said that this movie put Akira Kurosawa and Japanese film on the world’s radar. The man is great at telling stories, and this is a good one.


3:00 PM Rear Window (1954) Alfred Hitchcock directs James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter and Raymond Burr. Was nominated for “Best Director:”, “Best Writing, Screenplay”, “Best Cinematography, Color”, and Best Sound, Recording.

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A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

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Good story and great cast in this “fun” murder thriller. Nearly the whole movie was shot at the Paramount Studio, even all of those exterior shots of the apartment complex. They have “buildings” they change the facades on from movie to movie.


7:00 PM Red River (1948) Howard Hawks & Arthur Rosson direct John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru and Walter Brennan in this Texas to Missouri cattle drive movie. Was nominated for “Best Writing, Motion Picture Story” and “Best Film Editing”.

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Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.

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John Wayne throwing down the slicked-down longer hair in this one, and it looks great.

Maybe he knew the young girls would be looking at Clift, and thought the hair might keep a few female eyes on him.
Hard to beat the two of them together in this movie.


Here’s the whole day’s schedule with Eastern times.


8:15 AM Rachel, Rachel (1968)
10:00 AM Random Harvest (1942)
12:15 PM Rashomon (1950)
1:45 PM Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
4:00 PM Rear Window (1954)
6:00 PM Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
8:00 PM Red River (1948)
10:30 PM The Red Shoes (1948)
1:00 AM Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
3:30 AM Romance (1930)
5:00 AM Romeo and Juliet (1937)

31 Days of Oscar on TCM