This week starts with a day of contradictions. We start the day with nuns in a convent in the Himalayas in Black Narcissus (1947) and end the day on the battlefields of WWII. The morning and afternoon programming treat us to a number of classic musicals. At 10:30 am, Debbie Reynolds is The Singing Nun (1966), followed by Dick Powell as The Singing Marine (1937) at 12:15 pm. The cinematic classic, which was lately been shown on the big screen for its 60th anniversary and is currently on London’s West End stage, Singin’ in the Rain (1952) will be on at 2:15 pm. Judy Garland blesses the afternoon with those wonderful pipes of hers in I Could Go On Singing (1963) at 4:00 pm.
Primetime viewing tonight is devoted to “Christmas in Uniform,” a series of films set on the battlefields of the two World Wars:
8:00 pm Destination Tokyo (1943) directed by Delmer Daves and starring Cary Grant, John Garfield, and Alan Hale. An American submarine is sent into Tokyo Bay to spy on the Japanese before a strategic bombing of Tokyo.
10:30 pm Battleground (1949) directed by William A. Wellman and starring Van Johnson. A band of American soldiers struggle to survive the European winter during the infamous Battle of the Bulge during WWII.
12:45 am The Fighting 69th (1940) directed by William Keighley and starring James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, George Brent, and Alan Hale. A regiment of scrappy, cocksure young men must fight to prove themselves in the trenches of WWI.
2:30 am Never So Few (1959) directed by John Sturges and starring Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Paul Henreid, and Charles Bronson. American operatives are sent to Burma during WWII to train the natives to fight the Japanese, but things get personal when Chinese rebels attack the Americans.
4:45 am Salute to the Marines (1943) stars Wallace Beery, Fay Bainter, and Reginald Owen. A retired marine accidentally finds himself caught up in the midst of the American campaign in the Philippines during WWII.
For a full schedule of TCM‘s line-up for tomorrow, be sure to check out their website. I can also recommend investing in a subscription to their “Now Playing” guide. In it you get all the showtimes, plus articles about the special features. But my favorite part is the crossword puzzle at the back! I look forward to hearing what you watched and what you loved today on TCM!
The Cinematic Katzenjammer 