TCM Schedule Sat. 2/22/25: The Maltese Falcon, Some Like It Hot, Stagecoach, Sergeant York, The Best Years Of Our Lives

Last edited Thu Feb 20, 2025, 05:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Feb. 22 At a Glance

31 DAYS OF OSCAR - DAY 21
- COMEDY
Some Like It Hot (1959)
My Favorite Year (1982)
Ninotchka (1939)
Hollywood Revue of 1929, The (1929)
Saturday, February 22
- TCM DAYTIME
31 DAYS OF OSCAR - DAY 22
- BEST PICTURE
Tale of Two Cities, A (1935) (7:45 am ET)
Naughty Marietta (1935)
Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
Ivanhoe (1952)
Stagecoach (1939)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
- TCM PRIMETIME
31 DAYS OF OSCAR - DAY 22
- SOLDIERS
Sergeant York (1941)
Officer and a Gentleman, An (1982)
Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946)
Story of G.I. Joe, The (1945)
Battleground (1949)

Full Day's Schedule

11:30 PM Some Like It Hot (1959)









Some Like It Hot is a 1959 American crime comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, with George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee and Nehemiah Persoff in supporting roles. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on a screenplay by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan from the 1935 French film Fanfare of Love. The film is about two musicians (Curtis and Lemmon) during the Prohibition era who disguise themselves as women to escape Chicago mobsters they witnessed commit murder.

Some Like It Hot opened to critical and commercial success and is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. The film received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, winning for Best Costume Design. In 1989, the Library of Congress selected it as one of the first 25 films for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The Production Code had been gradually weakening in its scope since the early 1950s, owing to greater social tolerance for taboo topics in film, but it was enforced until the mid-1960s. The overwhelming success of Some Like It Hot is considered one of the reasons behind the retirement of the code.

Dir: Billy Wilder Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
Runtime: 120 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR -- Jack Lemmon {"Jerry/Daphne"}
ART DIRECTION (Black-and-White) -- Art Direction: Ted Haworth; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle
CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Charles Lang, Jr.
*WINNER* COSTUME DESIGN (Black-and-White) -- Orry-Kelly
DIRECTING -- Billy Wilder
WRITING (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) -- Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond



Trivia: Years after the film's release, a movie reviewer asked Tony Curtis why his "Josephine" was so much more feminine than Jack Lemmon's "Daphne." Curtis explained he was so scared to be playing a woman (or a man pretending to be one) that his tightly wound body language could be read as demure and shy, traditionally feminine traits, whereas Lemmon, who was completely unbothered, and "ran out of his dressing room screaming like the Queen of the May," kept much more of his masculine body language.

1:45 AM My Favorite Year (1982)







A flamboyant star throws a TV comedy show into chaos.
Dir: Richard Benjamin Cast: Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-baker, Jessica Harper
Runtime: 92 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- Peter O'Toole {"Alan Swann"}

Trivia: According to Cameron Mitchell, his Boss character was based on Jimmy Hoffa, while the character of Herb was modeled after Neil Simon.


3:30 AM Ninotchka (1939)







A coldhearted Soviet agent is warmed up by a trip to Paris and a night of love.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch Cast: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTRESS -- Greta Garbo {"Lena Yakushova (Ninotchka)"}
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
WRITING (Original Story) -- Melchior Lengyel
WRITING (Screenplay) -- Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Walter Reisch

Trivia: Bela Lugosi received fourth billing even though he appears only near the end of the movie and only in one scene with Greta Garbo.

5:30 AM The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)





The Hollywood Revue of 1929, or simply The Hollywood Revue, is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest sound films. Produced by Harry Rapf and Irving Thalberg and directed by Charles Reisner, it features nearly all of MGM's stars in a two-hour revue that includes three segments in Technicolor. The masters of ceremonies are Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny

Oscar nominations:
OUTSTANDING PICTURE -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
[NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. There were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners (*) were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930. Though not official nominations, the additional names in each category, according to in-house records, were under consideration by the various boards of judges.]

Trivia: In the "Singin' in the Rain" finale, Buster Keaton is shown carrying a small package in his left hand. This visual gag is a reference to Uneeda Biscuits, then a popular product made by Nabisco. The Uneeda Biscuit trademark showed a small boy wearing a yellow rain slicker and hat (similar to the outfits that the cast is wearing in this number) and walking home in the rain with a package of Uneeda Biscuits under his arm.

Dir: Charles Reisner Cast: Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, John Gilbert
Runtime: 116 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: N

7:45 AM A Tale of Two Cities (1935)





A British lawyer sacrifices himself to save another man from the guillotine.
Dir: Jack Conway Cast: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allen, Edna May Oliver
Runtime: 120 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
FILM EDITING -- Conrad A. Nervig
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Trivia: Actor Ronald Colman agreed to play the role of Sydney Carton with the sole condition that he not also be required to play the role of Charles Darnay, as was usually expected in adaptations of the Dickens novel. The plot of 'A Tale of Two Cities' turns on the physical resemblance between the two characters. Colman had long wanted to play Sydney Carton, and was even willing to shave off his beloved mustache to play the part.

10:00 AM Naughty Marietta (1935)









A French princess in Colonial America gets involved with an Indian scout.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Frank Morgan
Runtime: 80 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
*WINNER* SOUND RECORDING -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department, Douglas Shearer, Sound Director

Trivia: Jeanette MacDonald very much wanted Allan Jones to star in this film as her leading man. He was unable to work on the film due to his role in The Marx Brothers's A Night at the Opera (1935). This scheduling conflict set the stage for Nelson Eddy to act alongside MacDonald, in what would become the first of eight films featuring the two stars.

12:00 PM The Maltese Falcon (1941)









The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut. Based on the 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, it is a remake of the 1931 film of the same name.

Starring Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade, Mary Astor as his femme fatale client, and Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet as villains, the film follows a life-and-death quest for a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette in San Francisco.

The film premiered in New York City on October 3, 1941, and was an immediate success, eventually becoming one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 1989.

Dir: John Huston Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George
Runtime: 100 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Sydney Greenstreet {"Kaspar Gutman"}
OUTSTANDING MOTION PICTURE -- Warner Bros.
WRITING (Screenplay) -- John Huston

Trivia: Eight Maltese Falcons were used for the movie - two lead and six plaster ones. The lead falcons weighed about 50 pounds each, and Lee Patrick accidentally dropped one on Humphrey Bogart's foot during shooting. It is on display in the movie museum at Warner Bros. studios, and its tail feathers are visibly dented from when it was dropped. Three of the falcon statuettes made for the production still exist and are conservatively valued at over $1 million each.

2:00 PM Ivanhoe (1952)







King Richard the Lion Hearted is being held for ransom by the King of Austria, and his evil brother, John, conspires to take the throne. But while Robin of Locksley fights as Robin Hood, another man, Ivanhoe, risks everything for his king - and for the honor of Rebecca, the woman he loves.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine
Runtime: 106 mins Genre: Epic Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
CINEMATOGRAPHY (Color) -- F. A. Young
MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) -- Miklos Rozsa
BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Pandro S. Berman, Producer

Trivia: At the beginning, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe is looking for King Richard I by singing until he finds the King. This is historically accurate, with the exception that the singer was a minstrel called Blondel. When Leopold of Austria captured King Richard I, Blondel went around to all of the castles singing King Richard's favorite song. (One story had it that King Richard actually co-wrote the song.) When he heard King Richard join in the chorus, he went home and told the Normans where King Richard was.


4:00 PM Stagecoach (1939)







Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne. The screenplay by Dudley Nichols is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. The film follows an eclectic group of travellers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.

The film has long been recognized as an important work that transcends the Western genre. In 1995, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.[3] Still, Stagecoach has not avoided controversy. Like most Westerns of the era, its depiction of Native Americans as simplistic savages has been criticized.[4]

Stagecoach was the first of many Westerns that Ford shot in Monument Valley, on the Arizona–Utah border in the American Southwest. Some scenes blended shots of Monument Valley with those filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California, RKO Encino Ranch, and elsewhere, and as a result geographic incongruities appear.

Dir: John Ford Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine
Runtime: 96 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
*WINNER* ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Thomas Mitchell {"Dr. Josiah Boone"}
ART DIRECTION -- Alexander Toluboff
CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Bert Glennon
DIRECTING -- John Ford
FILM EDITING -- Otho Lovering, Dorothy Spencer
*WINNER* MUSIC (Scoring) -- Richard Hageman, Frank Harling, John Leipold, Leo Shuken
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- Walter Wanger (production company)

Trivia: Yakima Canutt explained how the stunt was accomplished where, as an Apache warrior attacking the stagecoach, he is "shot", falls off his horse, and then gets dragged underneath the stagecoach: "You have to run the horses fast, so they'll run straight. If they run slow, they move around a lot. When you turn loose to go under the coach, you've got to bring your arms over your chest and stomach. You've got to hold your elbows close to your body, or that front axle will knock them off." After the stunt was completed, Canutt ran to director John Ford to make sure they got the stunt on film. Ford replied that even if they hadn't, "I'll never shoot that again."


5:45 PM Chariots of Fire (1981)







In the class-obsessed and religiously divided United Kingdom of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold ...
Dir: Hugh Hudson Cast: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell
Runtime: 121 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Ian Holm {"Sam Mussabini"}
*WINNER* COSTUME DESIGN -- Milena Canonero
DIRECTING -- Hugh Hudson
FILM EDITING -- Terry Rawlings
*WINNER* MUSIC (Original Score) -- Vangelis
*WINNER* BEST PICTURE -- David Puttnam, Producer
*WINNER* WRITING (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) -- Colin Welland









Trivia: When Colin Welland completed his first draft, the only title he could come up with was "Runners". Then, one Sunday evening he turned on BBC's religious music series Songs of Praise (1961), featuring the hymn "Jerusalem," with lyrics from a poem by William Blake. The chorus included the words "Bring me my chariot of fire". The writer leaped to his feet and shouted to his wife, "I've got it, Pat! 'Chariots of Fire'!" (The "Jerusalem" hymn is featured at the beginning and end of the movie.)

8:00 PM Sergeant York (1941)










Sergeant York is a 1941 American biographical film about the life of Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War I. Directed by Howard Hawks and starring Gary Cooper in the title role, the film was a critical and commercial success, and became the highest-grossing film of 1941. In 2008, Sergeant York was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The film was based on York's diary, as edited by Tom Skeyhill, and adapted by Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston, Howard E. Koch, and Sam Cowan (uncredited). York refused, several times, to authorize a film version of his life story, but finally yielded to persistent efforts to finance the creation of an interdenominational Bible school. The story that York insisted on Cooper for the title role comes from a telegram that producer Jesse L. Lasky wrote to Cooper pleading with him to accept the part, to which he signed York's name.

Cooper went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, while the film also won Best Film Editing and was nominated in nine other categories, including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Walter Brennan), and Supporting Actress (Margaret Wycherly). The American Film Institute ranked the film 57th in its 100 most inspirational American movies list; it also rated Alvin York 35th in its list of the top 50 heroes in American cinema.

Dir: Howard Hawks Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie
Runtime: 134 mins Genre: War Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
*WINNER* ACTOR -- Gary Cooper {"Alvin C. York"}
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Walter Brennan {"Pastor Posier Pile"}
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Margaret Wycherly {"Mother York"}
ART DIRECTION (Black-and-White) -- Art Direction: John Hughes; Interior Decoration: Fred MacLean
CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Sol Polito
DIRECTING -- Howard Hawks
*WINNER* FILM EDITING -- William Holmes
MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic Picture) -- Max Steiner
OUTSTANDING MOTION PICTURE -- Warner Bros.
SOUND RECORDING -- Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department, Nathan Levinson, Sound Director
WRITING (Original Screenplay) -- Abem Finkel, Harry Chandlee, Howard Koch, John Huston



Trivia: Alvin C. York himself was on the set for a few days during filming. When one of the crew members tactlessly asked him how many "Jerries" he had killed, York started sobbing so vehemently he threw up. The crew member was nearly fired, but the next day, York demanded that he keep his job.

10:30 PM An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)





A young man must complete his work at a Navy Officer Candidate School to become an aviator, with the help of a tough Gunnery Sergeant and his new girlfriend.
Dir: Taylor Hackford Cast: Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith
Runtime: 124 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-MA CC:

Oscar nominations:
*WINNER* ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Louis Gossett, Jr. {"Sgt. Emil Foley"}
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE -- Debra Winger {"Paula Pokrifki"}
FILM EDITING -- Peter Zinner
MUSIC (Original Score) -- Jack Nitzsche
*WINNER* MUSIC (Original Song) -- "Up Where We Belong," Music by Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie; Lyric by Will Jennings
WRITING (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) -- Douglas Day Stewart



Trivia: Director Taylor Hackford purposely kept Louis Gossett Jr. living in separate quarters from the rest of the cast to further his character's intimidating presence as a drill instructor.

12:45 AM The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)







The Best Years of Our Lives (also known as Glory for Me and Home Again) is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Harold Russell. The film is about three United States servicemen re-adjusting to societal changes and civilian life after coming home from World War II. The three men come from different services with different ranks that do not correspond with their civilian social class backgrounds. It is one of the earliest films to address issues encountered by returning veterans in the post World War II era.

The film was a critical and commercial success. It won 7 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (William Wyler), Best Actor (Fredric March), Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Best Film Editing (Daniel Mandell), Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert E. Sherwood), and Best Original Score (Hugo Friedhofer).

In addition, Russell was also awarded an honorary Academy Award, the only time in history that two such awards were given for a single performance.

It was the highest-grossing film in both the United States and United Kingdom since the release of Gone with the Wind, and is the sixth most-attended film of all time in the United Kingdom, with over 20 million tickets sold.

In 1989, The Best Years of Our Lives was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Dir: William Wyler Cast: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews
Runtime: 172 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
*WINNER* ACTOR -- Fredric March {"Al Stephenson"}
*WINNER* ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Harold Russell {"Homer Parrish"}
*WINNER* DIRECTING -- William Wyler
*WINNER* FILM EDITING -- Daniel Mandell
*WINNER* MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) -- Hugo Friedhofer
*WINNER* BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Samuel Goldwyn Productions
SOUND RECORDING -- Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon Sawyer, Sound Director
*WINNER* WRITING (Screenplay) -- Robert E. Sherwood
*WINNER* SPECIAL AWARD
To Harold Russell for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in The Best Years of Our Lives.

Trivia: For his performance as Homer Parrish, Harold Russell became the only actor to win two Academy Awards for the same role. The Academy Board of Governors thought he was a long shot to win, so they gave him an honorary award "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance." Later in the ceremony, he won for Best Supporting Actor.


3:45 AM The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)







The Story of G.I. Joe, also credited in prints as Ernie Pyle's Story of G.I. Joe, is a 1945 American war film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Mitchum's only career Oscar nomination.

The story is a tribute to the American infantryman (G.I. Joe) during World War II, told through the eyes of Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle, with dialogue and narration lifted from Pyle's columns. The film concentrates on one company (C Company, 18th Infantry) that Pyle accompanies into combat in Tunisia and Italy.

In 2009, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.

Dir: William A. Wellman Cast: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele
Runtime: 109 mins Genre: War Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Robert Mitchum {"Lieutenant Walker"}
MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) -- Louis Applebaum, Ann Ronell
MUSIC (Song) -- "Linda," Music and Lyrics by Ann Ronell
WRITING (Screenplay) -- Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore, Philip Stevenson

Trivia: The extras in the film were real American GIs, in the process of being transferred from the war in Europe to the Pacific. Many of them were killed in the fighting on Okinawa--the same battle in which Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gunner--never having seen the movie in which they appeared.

5:45 AM Battleground (1949)







Battleground is a 1949 American war film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalbán, George Murphy, and James Whitmore. It follows a fictional company of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division as they fight in the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, in World War II. The screenplay was written by Robert Pirosh, based on his own experiences during the battle.

The film portrays American soldiers as vulnerable and human. While they remain steadfast and courageous, each soldier has at least one moment in the film when he seriously considers running away, schemes to get sent back from the front line, slacks off, or complains about the situation he is in. One writer – disregarding Warner's successful Fighter Squadron of 1948 – describes Battleground as the first significant American film about World War II to be made and released after the end of the war.[3]

Battleground premiered in Washington, D.C. on November 9, 1949, and was distributed in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. A widespread critical and commercial success, the film won Best Story and Screenplay (Pirosh) and Best Cinematography – Black-and-White (Paul C. Vogel) at the 22nd Academy Awards, out of six total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Wellman. James Whitmore, for his second-ever film role, was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe Award for his performance.

The film was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2001 list AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills.[4]

Dir: William Wellman Cast: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban
Runtime: 118 mins Genre: War Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- James Whitmore {"Kinnie"}
*WINNER* CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Paul C. Vogel
DIRECTING -- William A. Wellman
FILM EDITING -- John Dunning
BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
*WINNER* WRITING (Story and Screenplay) -- Robert Pirosh


Trivia: James Arness (Garby) served in World War II and is the most decorated of the actors in the film. He received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze campaign stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge for his service.