TCM Schedule for Tuesday, October 1: TCM Spotlight: Period Films

TCM needs to work on its synopsis writing (no, Henry VIII did not "find evidence" on Anne Boleyn), but it doesn't need to work on its themes, because the station's Spotlight on Period Films is going to make October awesome.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

12:45 AM Murder by Death (1976)
A criminal madman invites the world's greatest detectives for a night of dinner and murder.
Dir: Robert Moore Cast: Peter Falk, Truman Capote, Alec Guinness
Runtime: 95 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-14 CC: Y


2:45 AM Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
An aspiring mystery writer stumbles on to a real murder.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon Cast: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Ralph Bellamy
Runtime: 96 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: Y


4:30 AM Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935)
A mystery writer runs into the real thing when he holes up at a deserted inn.
Dir: William Hamilton, Edward Killy Cast: Gene Raymond, Margaret Callahan, Eric Blore
Runtime: 69 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: Y


6:00 AM Adventures of Don Juan (1948)
The legendary lover saves his queen from treason.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Errol Flynn, Viveca Lindfors, Robert Douglas
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

8:00 AM The Firefly (1937)
A Spanish spy masquerades as a singer to sabotage Napoleon's forces.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Allan Jones, Warren William
Runtime: 138 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

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10:15 AM Conquest (1937)
A Polish countess sacrifices her virtue to Napoleon to save her homeland.
Dir: Clarence Brown Cast: Greta Garbo, Charles Boyer, Reginald Owen
Runtime: 112 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

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12:15 PM Queen Christina (1933)
Greta Garbo stars as the 17th century Swedish queen fiercely devoted to her country who fights at the head of her army like a man but who loves like a woman - Queen Christina. Crowned queen when she was five years old, the beautiful Christina leads a sexually ambiguous life as she fights to defend her Protestant country against the Counterreformation, dressing as a man and vowing to live as a bachelor. Christina has built her country into a formidable military power, defeating the armies of the Vatican and threatening Russia, and she has agreed to wed the King of Spain - not for love, but to guarantee her country's peace and security. But Christina loses her heart to the King's ambassador - and she must choose between her duty to her country and the man she loves.
Dir: Rouben Mamoulian Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith
Runtime: 97 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-G CC: Y

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2:00 PM The Scarlet Empress (1934)
A young innocent masters the decadent ways of Imperial Russia in order to reign as Catherine the Great.
Dir: Josef Von Sternberg Cast: Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Sam Jaffe
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

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3:45 PM Mary of Scotland (1936)
Biography of the flighty Scottish queen who was brought down by love.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge
Runtime: 123 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-G CC: Y



6:00 PM Young Bess (1953)
The future Elizabeth I fights court intrigue in the turbulent years before her ascension to the throne.
Dir: George Sidney Cast: Jean Simmons, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton
Runtime: 112 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-G CC: Y

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8:00 PM The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Elizabeth I's love for the Earl of Essex threatens to destroy her kingdom.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland
Runtime: 106 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-G CC: Y

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10:00 PM Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Henry VIII divorces his wife to marry Anne Boleyn, but soon finds evidence of adultery.
Dir: Charles Jarrott Cast: Richard Burton, Genevieve Bujold, Irene Papas
Runtime: 146 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

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12:45 AM Mrs. Brown (1997)
Queen Victoria risks scandal because of her loyalty to a Scottish groundskeeper who saved her life.
Dir: John Madden Cast: Judi Dench, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly
Runtime: 103 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-MA CC: N



2:45 AM Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
In 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes a royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.
Dir: John Cromwell Cast: Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell
Runtime: 128 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: Y



5:00 AM Marie Antoinette (1938)
The tragic life of Marie Antoinette, who became queen of France in her late teens.
Dir: W.S. Van Dyke, Julien Duvivier Cast: Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, John Barrymore
Runtime: 157 mins Genre: Biography Rating: TV-G CC: Y