TCM Schedule for Wednesday, March 5: Pre-Code Horrors/Star of the Month: Barbara Stanwyck
Mr. Hays is breathing into a paper bag as TCM unleashes Pre-Code mania in midweek, including via some early movies featuring Star of the Month Barbara Stanwyck. 
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
1:15 AM The Outriders (1950)
Rebel soldiers try to hijack a Union gold shipment.
Dir: Roy Rowland Cast: Joel McCrea, Arlene Dahl, Barry Sullivan
Runtime: 93 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
3:00 AM Westward the Women (1951)
A frontiersman leads a wagon train full of mail-order brides.
Dir: William A. Wellman Cast: Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson
Runtime: 118 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
5:00 AM A Shot in the Dark (1941)
A reporter and a police detective sort through the clues in a night-club owner's murder.
Dir: William McGann Cast: William Lundigan, Nan Wynn, Ricardo Cortez
Runtime: 57 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
TCM Daytime: Pre-Code Horrors
6:00 AM Kongo (1932)
A crippled madman seeks revenge on the daughter of the man who betrayed him.
Dir: William Cowen Cast: Walter Huston, Lupe Velez, Conrad Nagel
Runtime: 86 mins Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
7:45 AM Freaks (1932)
A lady trapeze artist violates the code of the side show when she plots to murder her husband.
Dir: Tod Browning Cast: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova
Runtime: 90 mins Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
9:00 AM Doctor X (1932)
A reporter investigates a series of cannibalistic murders at a medical college.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy
Runtime: 76 mins Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
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10:30 AM Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
A disfigured sculptor turns murder victims into wax statues.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell
Runtime: 78 mins Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
12:00 PM White Zombie (1932)
A zombie master menaces newlyweds on a Haitian plantation.
Dir: Victor Halperin Cast: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn
Runtime: 73 mins Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
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1:15 PM Thirteen Women (1932)
A mysterious Eurasian tries to murder the 12 boarding school roommates who treated her like an outsider.
Dir: George Archainbaud Cast: Irene Dunne, Ricardo Cortez, Jill Esmond
Runtime: 74 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
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2:30 PM Svengali (1931)
A hypnotist falls in love with a girl using his powers to turn her into a great singer.
Dir: Archie Mayo Cast: John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Crisp
Runtime: 76 mins Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction Rating: TV-G CC: Y
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4:00 PM Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
True story of the mad monk who plotted to rule Russia.
Dir: Richard Boleslavsky Cast: John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore
Runtime: 133 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
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6:15 PM Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of a scientist who unleashes the beast within.
Dir: Rouben Mamoulian Cast: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart
Runtime: 96 mins Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
TCM Prime Time: Star of the Month: Barbara Stanwyck
8:00 PM Baby Face (1933)
Lily Powers's dreary life in Pennsylvania takes a sudden turn when her father is killed in an accident. Unmoved by her father's death, Lily, along with friend Chico, jumps on a freight train and seduces a worker to avoid being arrested. Now in New York City, Lily uses her beauty and sexual prowess to seduce a string of successful men as she works her way to the top.
Dir: Alfred E. Green Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook
Runtime: 76 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
9:30 PM Ladies of Leisure (1930)
A wealthy artist faces family pressure when he falls for a model with a past.
Dir: Frank Capra Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ralph Graves, Lowell Sherman
Runtime: 99 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: N
11:15 PM The Miracle Woman (1931)
A phony faith healer fights the temptation to go straight when she falls for a blind man.
Dir: Frank Capra Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, David Manners, Sam Hardy
Runtime: 90 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
1:00 AM Forbidden (1932)
A librarian takes a cruise and falls for an unobtainable man, a district attorney married to an invalid.
Dir: Frank Capra Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, Ralph Bellamy
Runtime: 85 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: N
2:45 AM Night Nurse (1931)
A nurse discovers that the children she's caring for are murder targets.
Dir: William A. Wellman Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell
Runtime: 72 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: Y
4:00 AM The Purchase Price (1932)
A night-club singer on the lam becomes a farmer's mail-order bride.
Dir: William A. Wellman Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Lyle Talbot
Runtime: 68 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y
5:15 AM So Big (1932)
A farmer's widow takes on the land and her late husband's tempestuous son.
Dir: William A. Wellman Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Dickie Moore, Bette Davis
Runtime: 81 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: Y