Friday, Nov. 29 - Spirits of the Dead, The Octopus: Episode 1 & a Robert Benchley Short!

Spirits of the Dead (1968) "Histoires extraordinaires" (original title)

Three directors each adapt a Poe short story to the screen: "Toby Dammit" features a disheveled drugged and drunk English movie star who nods acceptance in the Italian press and his producers fawn over him. "Metzengerstein" features a Mediveal countess who has a love-hate relationship with a black stallion - who, it turns out is really her dead lover. "William Wilson" tells the story of a sadistic Austrian student with an exact double whom he later kills.

La piovra (1984) TV Mini-Series

Corrado Cattani is a police inspector whose life is devoted to fighting the Italian mafia (known here as "La Piovra" or "The Octopus"). Even as his family and life are being destroyed by ruthless criminals, the intrepid comissar keeps fighting.

La piovra: Season 1, Episode 1 Episode #1.1 (11 Mar. 1984)

Police commissioner lives a family nightmare: he is too straight to accept the one-time infidelity of his wife, thirteen years ago, may be because he is unsure of the paternity of the twelve-year-old daughter he loves. Police commissioner finds diversion in a new job recently opened in a small Sicilian village, when local commissioner is found dead in his car, shot by the Mafia.

How to Sleep (1935)

Robert Benchley's humorous look at the problems people have trying to sleep.

Thursday, Nov. 28 - The Looking Glass War

The Looking Glass War (1969)

At the height of the Cold War, British Intellegence discovers evidence that suggests Soviet missiles are being positioned close to the German border. With no active agents available to investigate, Fred Leiser must be called back to the colors and sent East. Once behind the Iron Curtain, Leiser meets a sympathetic German girl who tries to help him to evade the East German secret police and to complete his assignment.

Wednesday, Nov. 27 - The Saint in London

The Saint in London (1939)

The Saint, newly back in London, is tipped by a friend in the Secret Service to a mystery involving one Bruno Lang, seemingly a Society card-sharp, but really involved in a plot to print and pass a million pounds worth of foreign currency. Also involved are various sinister characters; innocent victim Count Duni; the Saint's attractive admirer Penny Parker; and his old nemesis Inspector Teal.

Tuesday, Nov. 26 - Blackpool: Episode 3

Blackpool: Season 1, Episode 3 Episode #1.3 (25 Nov. 2004)

The forensic evidence indicates that Mike Hooley was killed with a blow to the head but also places him in Ripley Holden's flats before he was moved to the arcade. DI Carlisle tells him that he knows they had an argument in the club but Holden blows him off. He also has other problems on his mind, specifically that he owes 80 grand to the Inland Revenue and has no choice but to mortgage the arcade to raise the funds. Natalie and Carlisle continue their affair but he still hasn't told her he's a copper. Shyanne visits Steve who tells her that he was terrified of her father when they were at school together. They spend the day in bed but after he says goodbye to her at a bus stop, he is badly beaten. Shyanne is convinced it's her father's doing. Danny gets nabbed by the police selling drugs but eventually has another story to tell them.

Monday, Nov. 25 - Minder: A Tethered Goat

Minder: Season 1, Episode 4 A Tethered Goat (19 Nov. 1979)

Terry starts work as the bodyguard for Bassam Sayin, a Lebanese businessman and diplomat, but the two men do not get on, and, when the safe house in which they are staying is raided by gunmen, Terry's view that Bassam is not as respectable as he claims is increased.

Sunday, Nov. 24 - The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall (1956)

Down-on-his-luck ex-sportswriter Eddie Willis is hired by shady fight promoter Nick Benko to promote his latest find, an unknown but easily exploitable phenom from Argentina.

Saturday, Nov. 23 - The Sex Thief

The Sex Thief (1974)

An inspector and an insurance investigator both have a major stake in revealing the identity of an audacious jewel thief.

Thursday, Nov. 21 - Room at the Top

Room at the Top (1959)

An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman.

Wednesday, Nov. 20 - Classe Tous Risques

Classe Tous Risques (1960)

Abel Davis is a criminal, hunted in Italy. The police are closing in, so he and his pal Raymond arrange to flee back to France with Abel's wife, Thérèse, and their two young sons. Abel and Raymond commit a brazen robbery to get funds, killing two men; in the escape, more die. Abel arrives in Nice with the boys, calls his pals in Paris, and gets the brush-off. Reluctantly, they send a stranger, Eric Stark, to bring Abel to Paris, but he's getting the message he's on his own. Honor, friendship, and debt now count for little.

Tuesday, Nov. 19 - Foyle's War: Plan of Attack & Cosh Boy

Foyle's War: Season 6, Episode 1 Plan of Attack (13 Jul. 2008)

April 1944. DS Milner’s investigation of a transportation fraud sets in motion a series of events that brings Foyle back to the force. As Hastings hosts an ecumenical conference on the morality of continued Allied bombing, Foyle probes the suspicious death of a young cartographer from the Air Ministry office.

The Slasher (1953) "Cosh Boy" (original title)

Amongst the bomb-sites and dark alleys of postwar London Roy Walsh and his gang of juvenile delinquents waylay and rob old ladies. Without parental control from his war-widowed doting mother, Welsh, already on probation, drifts into more and more devious and serious offences.

Monday, Nov. 18 - Danger Man: The Lonely Chair

Danger Man: Season 1, Episode 8 The Lonely Chair (30 Oct. 1960)

Patrick Laurence, a wealthy, wheelchair-bound man, has access to top-secret documents. Therefore when his daughter goes missing, Drake fears the kidnappers are after more than just money. He meets with Laurence and discovers he is planning to meet the crooks' demands. Drake knows that giving them what they want will be no guarantee of the daughter's safety, and after persuading Laurence to let him help, disguises himself as the wealthy cripple for a visit to the criminal's hideout.

Sunday, Nov. 17 - Angel on My Shoulder

Angel on My Shoulder (1946)

Gangster Eddie Kagel is killed by a trusted lieutenant and finds himself in Harry Redmond Jr's special-effects Hell, where Nick/The Devil sees that he is an-exact double for a judge who Nick doesn't approve of. Eddie is agreeable to having his soul transferred to the judge's body, as it will give him a chance to avenge himself on his killer. But every action taken by Eddie (as the judge) results in good rather than evil and, to Nick's dismay, the reputation and influence of the judge is enhanced, rather than impaired by Eddie. And Eddie also falls in love with the judge's fiancée, Barbara. Even Eddie's planned revenge fails and Nick is forced to concede defeat. He returns to Hell, taking Eddie with him, after Eddie has extracted his promise that Nick will not molest the judge or Barbara in the future.

Saturday, Nov. 16 - Tales of Manhattan

Tales of Manhattan (1942)

An actor, Paul Orman, is accidentally told that his new, custom made tail coat has been cursed and it will bring misfortune to all who wear it. As the 4 succeeding wearers of the coat discover, misfortune can often lead to truth.

Friday, Nov. 15 - Blackpool: Episode 2

Blackpool: Season 1, Episode 2 Episode #1.2 (18 Nov. 2004)

DI Carlisle continues his investigation and learns from the dead man's friends that he had left them after their bout of drinking to find a prostitute. He interviews several of the local working girls and although they deny ever having seen him, the police get an anonymous tip that he was seen heading toward the flats where they work. Carlisle and Ripley's wife Natalie meet for an evening out and she selects an interesting venue, one where her husband isn't likely to set foot. Ripley's son Danny is called in for a police interview about the murder. Daughter Shyanne meanwhile visits her ex-boyfriend and learns that it was her father who scared him off.

Wednesday, Nov. 13 - Sorority Girl

Sorority Girl (1957)

A poor-little-rich-girl feels alienated by her mother and enacts a string of revenges on her fellow pupils at a girls' boarding school. However, she is outcast when one of her stunts nearly drives a girl to suicide.

Tuesday, Nov. 12 - Hard to Handle

Hard to Handle (1933)

Small time con artist Lefty Merrill has co-organized a crooked dance marathon and set-up his girlfriend to win the prize money. When his partner disappears with money before the contest is over, he's forced to come up with a series of cons to help pay it back.

Monday, Nov. 11 - Blackpool: Episode 1

Blackpool (2004– ) TV Series

Soon after local entrepreneur Ripley Holden (Morrissey) opens his arcade in his beloved home town of Blackpool, a murder investigation makes tears at the fabric of his personal and professional lives.

Blackpool: Season 1, Episode 1 Episode #1.1 (11 Nov. 2004)

It's a big day for Ripley Holden as he opens his new amusement center in Blackpool. Holden is a drinker and a philanderer who sold his other businesses to open on the promenade. He has grand plans as well, hoping to eventually open a full-fledged hotel-casino. On re-opening the next day, he finds a body lying on the floor in the middle of the place. The dead man also happens to be someone Holden had an altercation with in a club the night before; he denies to the police however that he knew or had even seen the man. DI Peter Carlisle is assigned to the case and Holden's attempts at bullying him - including a complaint to Holden's pal the DCI - have little impact. The autopsy reveals that the man had been dead for some hours and his body moved to the arcade after his death but Carlisle insists that the just opened arcade remain closed.

Sunday, Nov. 10 - The Woman in Question & Spy in Black

Five Angles on Murder (1950) "The Woman in Question" (original title)

When a fortune teller named Astra (Jean Kent) is found murdered, the police investigate and hear several versions of the kind of woman she was.

The Spy in Black (1939) "Spy in Black" (original title)

When a German U-Boat captain is sent on a spying mission to the North of Scotland during World War One, he finds more than he bargained for in his contact, the local schoolmistress.

Saturday, Nov. 9 - The Squeeze & Blind Trust

The Squeeze (1977)

A gang kidnaps a women and her daughter to extort money from her rich husband. He and her down on his luck ex-husband who's an ex cop, decide to try to deal with the kidnappers themselves.

Pouvoir intime (1986)

A government ministry's fast-rising head of security asks a shadowy fixer, Meursault, to steal a bag from an armored truck. Meursault goes to Théo, a former night club owner, in prison for two years on false charges, who's being released in exchange for information about Montreal's underworld. Théo agrees to steal the bag for money and safe passage to the US for himself and his son Robin. Théo brings in two helpers, Gilder, ex-con and set designer, and Roxanne, Gilder's friend, a tough-minded petty thief. Their elaborate plan blows up when a guard, Marcel, takes his responsibilities too seriously.

Friday, Nov. 8 - The Face Behind the Mask

The Face Behind the Mask (1941)

A disfigured watchmaker with a grudge against society embarks on a life of crime.

Thursday, Nov. 7 - The Saint Strikes Back

The Saint Strikes Back (1939)

A disgraced policeman's daughter in San Francisco is busy acquiring a name for herself as a crime boss in her own right. But when Simon Templar helps her get away after a shooting in a night-club and subsequently chooses to bring down his old acquaintance Inspector Fernack from New York, the question as to who is on which side of the law becomes increasingly confused -- especially when the vital evidence, in the shape of eighty thousand stolen dollars, spends most of the film in the Saint's pocket!

Wednesday, Nov. 6 - Dressed to Kill

Dressed to Kill (1941)

Detective Michael Shayne and his girlfriend Joanne are on their way to be married when a scream from a nearby hotel room draws his attention to a pair of theatrical murders.

Tuesday, Oct. 5 - The 27th Day

The 27th Day (1957)

Five individuals from five nations, including the "Superpowers," USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien spacecraft. An alien gives each a container holding capsules. No power on earth can open a given container except a mental command from the person to whom it is given. Each person has been provided with the power of life and death. Any of these individuals has the capability to instantaneously launch the capsules to whatever coordinates he/she chooses, and each capsule will then eradicate all human life within a 3,000-mile radius of its designated location.

Monday, Nov. 4 - Smashing the Rackets

Smashing the Rackets (1938)

Jim 'Socker' Conway, former boxer and FBI hero, is maneuvered for political reasons into a do-nothing job in the district attorney's office. Meanwhile, he meets wild debutante Letty Lane, girlfriend of mob mouthpiece Steve Lawrence; and Letty's much nicer sister Susan. Now the slot machine gang brutally beats Jim's friends Franz and Otto. And Jim finds a way to use his nominal position to go into the racket- busting business. But his success puts Letty in deadly peril.

Sunday, Nov. 3 - Walk a Crooked Mile

Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)

A security leak is found at a Southern California atomic plant. The authorities stand in fear that the information leaked would go to a hostile nation. To investigate the case more efficiently, Dan O'Hara, an FBI agent, and Philip Grayson, a Scotland Yard sleuth, join forces.

Sunday, Nov. 3 - A.K.A Doc Pomus

A.K.A. Doc Pomus (2012)

Doc Pomus was the most unlikely of rock & roll icons. Paralyzed with polio as a child, Brooklyn-born Jerome Felder reinvented himself first as a blues singer, renaming himself Doc Pomus, then as a songwriter, creating some of the greatest hits of the early rock and roll era: "Save the Last Dance for Me," "This Magic Moment," "A Teenager in Love," "Viva Las Vegas," and a thousand others.

Saturday, Nov. 2 - Zen: Cabal

Zen (2011) TV Mini-Series

Detective Aurelio Zen brings justice to modern-day Italy.

Zen: Season 1, Episode 2 Cabal (24 Jul. 2011)

Playboy Umberto Ruspanti falls from a bridge, an apparent suicide but minister Colonna asks Zen to investigate and he finds the dead man's flat was ransacked. His last diary entry read AOC and his nervous lawyer tells Zen he was trying to make much-needed cash from a valuable and illegal sale. Later Zen is approached by the fugitive Massimo, fleeing the powerful and illicit right wing group the Cabal, whom,he claims, killed Umberto. At the funeral Zen meets glamorous call girl Arianna who tells him that Ruspanti had been involved in criminal activities and he was to get himself off the hook by betraying the Cabal. His information was in a safe deposit box, which she helps Zen procure. But then they are threatened by a gunman wanting the box.

Friday, Nov. 1 - The State Within: Episode 1

The State Within (2006)

Ambassador to Washington is the pinnacle of success in the Foreign Office and the position is offered to only the brightest and the best. But Ambassador Mark Brydon finds his skills tested to the limits when, following a major diplomatic incident, he is thrust into a web of tangled relationships and conflicting interests. In a world of high stakes, where manipulation of information means ultimate power, the question is: who can he trust?

The State Within: Season 1, Episode 1 Episode #1.1 (2 Nov. 2006)

After British terrorists blow up an American passenger airliner, ambassador Mark Brydon must do his best to repair relations between the US and UK.

Thursday, Oct. 31 - House of Horrors

House of Horrors (1946)

Marcel De Lange is a struggling sculptor whose work and sanity are derided by the New York art critics. After waspishly officious critic F. Holmes Harmon ruins a sale for De Lange by dismissing his expressionistic cubist work as "tripe" and later gloating about it in his column, the distraught artist goes to the river to drown himself. There he discovers the half-drowned body of the notorious serial killer, the Creeper, and takes him back to his studio to recover. Feeling empowered by the friendship of the acromegalic sociopath, De Lange tasks him with murdering the critics who have pilloried him in print. When successful commercial artist Steve Morrow is wrongly suspected of the crimes, his art critic girlfriend Joan Medford decides to follow her instinct about a mysterious bust De Lange has suspiciously covered in his studio, and she decides to snoop around.