Wednesday, May 30 - George Gently: Gently in the Night

Inspector George Gently (2007)

Gently in the Night
S2, Ep2
May 10, 2009

Audrey Chadwick's corpse is found on a church altar and, whilst she told her parents and landlady she was a nurse, the not so happily married Bacchus recognizes her as a hostess at a Playboy-style drinking club he has used,called Rakes, run by brash American Patrick Donovan. Audrey had had an abortion - news to her volatile boyfriend - and the doctor who performed it tells Gently it was because she had been raped. Margaret Bishop, an anti-abortionist, heads a group picketing to close Rakes but her husband is Donovan's lawyer and very much at odds with Margaret's views. He admits intimacy with Audrey but denies rape, nonetheless making him the prime suspect. After the murderer has been unmasked the club is shut down and Gently, having earlier accused Bacchus of being out of condition for his youth, bizarrely takes him on in a charity boxing match.

Tuesday, May 29 - Prohibition: A Nation of Scofflaws

Prohibition (2011)

A Nation of Scofflaws
S1, Ep2
Oct. 3, 2011

With the passing of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, the federal government now passes legislation to enforce it. Known as the Volstead Act, the legislation forbids not only hard liquor but also beer and light wine which many legislators assumed would be exempted. Penalties as well were far harsher than many had expected. The ban on alcoholic beverages could not be complete as alcohol was required by many industrial processes. There were also exemptions for religious observances and for medicinal purposes. In fact, from the day the ban went into into effect, entrepreneurs found ways, some legal, most not - to get around the law. Some States had no legislation to implement the new amendment to the constitution and for the most part, the Federal government was left on its own to enforce it. Rum running became big business with schooners plying their trade on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the U.S...

Monday, May 28 - Prohibition: A Nation of Drunkards

Prohibition (2011)

A Nation of Drunkards
S1, Ep1
Oct. 2, 2011

The 19th century was a period of growth both for alcoholic beverages and the temperance movement. Washingtonian societies - made up of men who had taken a pledge to forgo all alcoholic beverage - sprang up across the country. Women were often excluded from these groups and so formed their own. The women's crusade of 1873 was essentially a general strike by women who brought business to a halt. Their protest spread to 911 communities in 37 territories. However no laws had been changed and within a few years, saloons were back in business. In 1879, Frances E. Willard ...

Sunday, May 27 - Night Unto Night

Night Unto Night (1949)

Overly melodramatic story starring Ronald Reagan as a scientist with epilepsy who goes to south Florida on doctor's orders and meets a young woman, (Viveca Lindfors) recently widowed, who is haunted by the voice of her dead husband.

Saturday, May 26 - Mystery House

Mystery House (1938)

Banker Hubert Kingery invites fellow officers to his hunting lodge only to announce that one of them has forged critical company documents. Later, he is found shot to death, apparently at his own hand. His daughter, Gwen, is the only one who does not believe it was suicide. She asks help from aunt's nurse, Sarah, who suggests her detective boyfriend, Lance, for the task. When he arrives, he's not sure the death was not a suicide after all. But as he investigates the few available clues, he tries to sort fact from fallacy.

Friday, May 25 - Hu$tle: Picture Perfect

Hustle (2004)

Picture Perfect
S1, Ep3
Mar. 9, 2004

The team focus on the art world and specifically Meredith Gates, an art collector and dealer who is an expert on the works of Mondrian. The plan is to produce a forged Mondrian that would show he experimented with cubism long before Picasso. Having found their forger, they must now provide him with period-specific materials while at the same time setting the trap for Gates. What they do not realize is that they too are being set up and may end up with nothing.

Thursday, May 24 - Three Came to Kill

Three Came to Kill (1960)

Three professional killers break into the house of an airport employee to shoot the plane on which an Asian Prime Minister is due to leave America.

Tuesday, May 22 - Wednesday, May 23 - The Snorkel

The Snorkel (1958)

Paul Decker murders his wife in her Italian villa by drugging her milk and asphyxiating her by gas. He cleverly locks the bedroom from the inside and hides inside a trapdoor in the floor until after the body is discovered by servants. He uses a scuba snorkel connected to tubes on the outside to breathe during the ordeal. Decker's stepdaughter Candy suspects him immediately, especially since no suicide note was found. She also is convinced that he murdered her father years before, but her accusations fall on deaf ears. The ruthless Decker even poisons the family spaniel when the pet takes too great an interest in the mask and realizes he will ultimately have to get rid of Candy too.

Monday, May 21 - She Fell Among Thieves

BBC2 Play of the Week (1977)
TV Series

She Fell Among Thieves
S1, Ep17
Mar. 1, 1978

A villainess concocts a nefarious plot around her stepdaughter and matches wits with an English gentleman adventurer.

Sunday, May 20 - Foyle's War: The Funk Hole

Foyle's War (2002)
TV Series

As World War II rages around the world, a police inspector fights his own war on the home-front in investigating murder, robbery, and espionage on the south coast of England.

The Funk Hole
S2, Ep4
Dec. 7, 2003

Foyle's investigation of the death of a young black marketeer and stolen food is interrupted by his suspension on charges of sedition.

Saturday, May 19 - They Made Me a Fugitive

I Became a Criminal (1947)
They Made Me a Fugitive (original title)

Ex-RAF man Clem Morgan (Trevor Howard) finds civilian life is dull and a struggle for him to ingratiate himself into. Searching for some excitement he is tempted into joining a black market gang fronted by ruthless Narcy (Griffith Jones). But Clem and Narcy don't exactly hit it off and when disaster strikes during a getaway, Clem finds himself set up as a fall-guy. So begins a tale of murder, beatings and revenge.

Friday, May 18 - Saturday, May 19 - House of a Thousand Dolls

House of 1,000 Dolls (1967)
La casa de las mil muñecas

When a vacationing couple in Tangiers run into an old friend there, they discover that he is searching for his missing girlfriend who has been kidnapped by an international gang of white slavers. Nader investigates but before he can come up with anything, his friend is murdered. Meanwhile, nightclub magician Price and his mentalist partner continue their nefarious activities--they hypnotize and kidnap young women for the white slavers, and spirit them to the "House of 1000 Dolls."

Wednesday, May 16 - Thursday, May 17 - All or Nothing at All

All or Nothing at All (1993)

Written by Guy Andrews, co-creator and co-writer of the series Chancer, this mini-series, originally shown in three parts on the UK's ITV network, featured Hugh Laurie as a charming man who has everything - a secure career as a financial market analyst, a wealthy wife, adoring children, a wide circle of friends and two homes. Like so many people in his position, he wants more; but, more rarely, he wants to make everybody happy. He hits on an amazing scheme to do both but ends up gambling everything he has with tragic consequences.

Tuesday, May 15 - The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps (1959)

Richard Hannay witnesses a hit-and-run involving a woman pushing a pram. Looking in the pram he sees a gun instead of a baby. He tracks the woman down and she reveals that she is a secret agent trying to stop foreign spies leaving the country with important military secrets. Later that night she is murdered in Hannay's flat. Hannay takes it on himself to thwart the enemy agents. This involves travelling to Scotland and keeping one step ahead of the police who are looking for him in connection with the murder of the woman.

Monday, May 14 - Texas Carnival

Texas Carnival (1951)

Red and Esther are working at a dunk tank in a cheap carnival when an inebriated Keenan Wynn shows up and through a combination of circumstances Williams and Skelton wind up going to a Texas resort being mistaken for Wynn and his sister Paula Raymond.

Sunday, May 13 (Later that night) - The Hidden Hand

The Hidden Hand (1942)

Milton Parsons plays an escaped maniac from a mental institution, who helps his not-so-sane-either sister kill off the greedy members of their family, who want the "hidden treasure".

Sunday, May 13 - Twilight Zone: What You Need & The Fever

Twilight Zone (1959–1964)

What You Need
S1, Ep12
Dec. 25, 1959

A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny knack of selling people exactly what they will shortly need.

The Fever
S1, Ep17
Jan. 29, 1960

An elderly man catches gambling fever from a slot machine that he believes is calling his name.

Saturday, May 12 - The Deadly Affair

The Deadly Affair (1966)

Special agent Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is stunned to find out a man he interviewed and gave clearance for a high security position has committed suicide. Things at home aren't going so well for Dobbs either with an adulterous wife. Assigned a retired detective (Harry Andrews) to help investigate the suspicious death Dobbs begins to find out some sordid truths close to home.

Friday, May 11 - The Case of the Black Parrot

The Case of the Black Parrot (1941)

Sandy Vantine and her uncle, Paul Vantine, return from Europe with an antique cabinet purchased during their trip. Jim Moore, a reporter who had met Sandy and fallen for her during the voyage, suspects something odd about the cabinet. His suspicions are confirmed when people who have touched the cabinet mysteriously die. Jim and Sandy set out to solve the mystery before anyone else can become a victim.

Thursday, May 10 - The History of Mr. Polly

The History of Mr. Polly (1949)

Alfred Poly is a timid young man who reads and enjoys a life of leisure. His daydreaming losses him job after job and he finds his daydreams all he's left with. After the death of his father he marries a girl because it seems the right thing to do and they plan to open a shop together. 15 years later he is married to an abusive spiteful wife and feeling trapped in his little life. Plans to burn his shop down and kill himself led him to become a hero and decide to strike out to make a new life for himself.

Wednesday, May 9 - Double Feature! Tales of the Unexpected: Mr. Botibol's First Love

Tales of the Unexpected (1979–1988)

Mr. Botibol's First Love
S2, Ep13
May 24, 1980

Mr. Botibol has built a small concert hall in his house where he conducts imaginary recitals to gramophone records. In a music shop he meets Irene, a fellow music lover, and invites her to join in one of his concerts. Unfortunately, she can genuinely play the piano, which sours the mood for Mr. Botibol. Imagination is all to him.

Wednesday, May 9 - Foyle's War: The French Drop

Foyle's War (2002– )

The French Drop
S3, Ep1
Oct. 24, 2004

February 1941: Foyle again pursues a position that would allow him to contribute more to the war effort. But a local murder investigation sidetracks this endeavor as Foyle finds himself caught between rival spy organizations. A mysterious body in an abandoned book shop draws him into an intricate web of SOE espionage and illusion where he must use all his ingenuity to avoid becoming fatally ensnared.

Tuesday, May 8 - Maniac

Maniac (1963)

An American painter has an affair with a bar owner is a French village and agrees to help her murderer husband escape from a prison for the criminally insane.

Monday, May 7 - Kill Me Tomorrow

Kill Me Tomorrow (1957)

Stodgy drama starring Pat O'Brien as a washed-up reporter who turns up at his ex-boss's house to ask for money to fund his son's operation, only to find him dead on the floor. Since O'Brien knows the identity of the culprit, he offers to take the rap in return for the money he needs.

Sunday, May 6 - France's Greatest Detective

TV Reader's Digest:

Family-oriented stories from the pages of "Reader's Digest" were dramatized on film.

France's Greatest Detective
Season 1, Episode 18
(16 May 1955)

The true story of Alphonse Bertillon, a brilliant clerk for the French Police, who revolutionizes criminal investigation by instituting scientific methods to identify criminals. By studying and measuring bone structures and body features, his methods lead to the capture and conviction of over 7,000 criminals. His later attempts to use the ancient scientific method of fingerprinting for criminal investigations for the first time in France, soon proved to be even more effective in solving crimes.

Saturday, May 5 - Last Exit to Brooklyn

Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989)

Set against a violent labor strike, the narrative about life and lowlife in 1950’s Brooklyn winds between union big-shot Harry (Stephen Lang) involved in a clandestine affair with a drag queen (Alexis Arquette), an average working man whose oldest daughter is pregnant, and a local prostitute (Jennifer Jason Leigh) whose livelihood depends on rolling johns with her pimp boyfriend.

Friday, May 4 - Spin a Dark Web

Spin a Dark Web (1956)
Soho Incident (original title)

A Canadian living in London is trying to succeed as a prizefighter, without much luck. He meets the sister of a local mob leader, and she soon draws him into the gang's activities. When he finds himself being drawn into a murder plot, he finally realizes that his lover is only using him, and determines to escape the gang.

Tuesday, May 1 - Thursday, May 3 - The Murder of Mary Phagan

The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988)
TV Mini-Series

From a true story. In Atlanta in 1913, a 13-year-old girl is murdered in the factory where she works. The factory manager, a Jew named Leo Frank, is convicted and sentenced to hang. Georgia Governor John Slaton suspects that Frank may have been railroaded by public desire for revenge and hatred of Frank's religion and northern (US) ties. But as a rising politician, Slaton also knows that to violate such strong public opinion by questioning the judgment would be political suicide.

Monday, April 30 - The Secret of Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray (1970)

Dorian Gray, from the great novel by Oscar Wilde, lives in London during 1960's. He's beautiful, he's charming and he's totally depraved. Just like in the book, but here there is much more of eroticism.