Tuesday, September 29 - Voodoo Man

Voodoo Man (1944)

Nicholas (George Zucco) runs a filling station in the sticks. In reality, he is helping Dr. Richard Marlowe (Bela Lugosi) capture comely young ladies so he can transfer their life essences to his long-dead wife. Also assisting is Toby (John Carradine), who lovingly shepherds the left-over zombie girls and pounds on bongos during voodoo ceremonies. The hero is a Hollywood screenwriter who, at the end of the picture, turns the experience into a script titled "Voodoo Man". When his producer asks who should star in it, the hero suggests ... Bela Lugosi.

Monday, September 28 - Tower of London (1939)

Tower of London (1939)

Ambitious Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Basil Rathbone), brother of King Edward IV (Ian Hunter), maneuvers to get the powerful John Wyatt (John Sutton) to France, then has his brother make him the Lord Protectorate for Edward's sons, the two young princes. Impatient that the ill Edward clings to life, Richard arranges his death, as well as that of his other brother, the Duke of Clarence (Vincent Price). With only the princes remaining, Richard's obsession to rule shows no sign of abating.

Sunday, September 27 - It's a Great Feeling

 

It's a Great Feeling (1949)

Warner Bros. producer Arthur Trent has hired Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson to star in his latest musical picture, with the working title "Mademoiselle Fifi". The problem Trent faces is that no one wants to work with the two hammy actors. To solve part of Trent's problem, he hires Carson to direct the picture. Carson helming the production leads to further problems in trying to find a leading lady, as anyone of respectability knows that Carson will give himself all the screen time. Meanwhile, small town girl Judy Adams has just arrived in Hollywood and is working at the Warner Bros. commissary. She wants to break into pictures and does whatever she can to meet anyone at the studio who can help her. Initially, neither Morgan or Carson give her the time of day, but Morgan convinces Carson that she is the perfect person to star in the movie if only to get the project off the ground. They, however face an uphill battle in convincing Trent. Carson and Morgan try one hair-brained scheme after another to showcase Judy to a frazzled Trent. Ultimately, Morgan and Carson do believe that Judy has star potential and want to help her even if it's not starring in "Mademoiselle Fifi". They have to balance their want to get Judy onto the big screen against her competing priority of marrying Jeffrey Bushdinkle, the supposedly hayseed farmer boy waiting for her at home in Goerkes Corner, Wisconsin.

Saturday, September 26 - One Last Fling

  

One Last Fling (1949)

Olivia Pearce ran her husband Larry's music store in New York while he was off to war. Now he's home and needs someone to head his sales department, but decides to hire his uncle's secretary (I wish these goddam people would pay attention - he served in the military with her, in the South Pacific), Gaye Winston, instead of his wife.

A misunderstanding occurs wherein Olivia believes the job is hers. Larry, painted in a corner, gives it to her. He goes to lunch with Gaye to explain. Olivia, at another table in the restaurant, spots her husband with a woman. She claims not to be jealous, telling her lunch companion Vera that the only woman Larry ever sounded interested in was one he knew a long time ago, a Gaye Winston.

Vic Lardner bursts into the restaurant, accusing Larry of stealing his wife. It turns out Gaye and Vic are married. Olivia, seeing this scene from across the room, packs Larry's bags at home and demands a divorce. When he explains about wanting Gaye to have the job, Olivia is even more offended. Out he goes.

Some time later, Larry and Vic bump into each other in a bar. They settle their differences after Vic says he and Gaye have reconciled. Larry decides to do likewise with Olivia, but months go by as they keep missing each other. It still all turns out happily in the end.

Friday, September 25 - The President's Analyst

The President's Analyst (1967)

In this lively satire, psychiatrist Sidney Schaefer (James Coburn) is recruited by the U.S. government to serve as the president's own top-secret psychoanalyst. On call at all hours and privy to the leader's most private thoughts, Schaefer develops paranoia, which turns out to be warranted, since numerous international agencies are out to get him for his highly classified knowledge. Aided by spy Don Masters (Godfrey Cambridge), Schaefer must survive the many attempts on his life.

Thursday, September 24 - Where There's Life

Where There's Life (1947)

Michael Valentine (Bob Hope) is happily employed as a radio show host in New York City and is set to marry his sweetheart, Hazel (Vera Marshe). But his life is turned upside down when a distant and unknown relative, the king of Barovia, is shot in an assassination attempt. Now Michael must take up the crown, but first he must make it out of Manhattan with lovely General Grimovitch (Signe Hasso), avoiding would-be killers as well as Hazel's tough policeman brother (William Bendix).

Wednesday, September 23 - Gunn

Gunn (1967)

Peter Gunn investigates the murder of Scarlotti, a mobster who once saved the detective's life. The primary suspect appears to be Fusco, who has taken over. In the middle of the case, an unclothed woman calling her self Samantha shows up at Gunn's apartment. The investigation gets grizzlier as it goes on, including the bombing of Mother's, one of Gunn's hangouts. Finally, Fusco gives Gunn a deadline to prove the mobster didn't kill Scarlotti - or else Gunn will be killed.

Tuesday, September 22 - Someone Behind the Door

Someone Behind the Door (1971) Quelqu'un derrière la porte (original title)

A brain doctor (Anthony Perkins) with an unfaithful wife (Jill Ireland) brings home an amnesiac (Charles Bronson) and gets him to commit murder.

Monday, September 21 - The Mummy's Hand

The Mummy's Hand (1940)

A couple of comical, out-of-work archaeologists (Dick Foran and Wallace Ford) in Egypt discover evidence of the burial place of the ancient Egyptian princess Ananka. After receiving funding from an eccentric magician (Cecil Kellaway) and his beautiful daughter (Peggy Moran), they set out into the desert only to be terrorized by a sinister high priest (George Zucco) and the living mummy Kharis (Tom Tyler) who are the guardians of Ananka^Òs tomb.

Sunday, September 20 - A Letter to Three Wives

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

Lora May Hollingsway, who grew up next to the wrong side of the tracks, married her boss who thinks she is just a gold digger. Rita Phipps makes as much money writing radio scripts at night as her school teacher husband does. Deborah Bishop looked great in a Navy uniform in WWII but fears she'll never be dressed just right for the Country Club set. These three wives are boarding a boat filled with children going on a picnic when a messenger on a bicycle hands them a letter addressed to all three from Addie who has just left town with one of their husbands. They won't know which one until that night.

Saturday, September 19 - The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.

Friday, September 18 - My Favorite Blonde

My Favorite Blonde (1942)

Larry Haines is a vaudeville entertainer whose act involves a roller skating penguin. He becomes entangled in a war time plot when British agent Karen Bentley is forced to use him as cover to help her get American bomber (coded flight) plans into the right hands and keep it (it?) safe from the Nazis.

Thursday, September 17 - To Catch a Thief

To Catch a Thief (1955)

When the jewelries of millionaires are stolen on the French Riviera, the former burglar and member of the French resistance John Robie "The Cat" is the prime suspect of the police. John convinces the Lloyds of London insurance agent H.H. Hughson that a copycat is committing the burglaries and he offers to chase the thief to prove his innocence. He befriends the wealthy American widow Jessie Stevens, and her spoiled daughter Frances Stevens but when her jewelries are robbed, John must find the real burglar.

Wednesday, September 16 - The Beast of the City

The Beast of the City (1932)

Police Captain Jim Fitzpatrick (Walter Huston) is a dedicated family man and crime fighter not averse to using violence to fight violence. Although he's been demoted for political reasons, public outcry forces the mayor to take more aggressive action against sleazy gang boss Sam Belmonte (Jean Hersholt), and Fitzpatrick is promoted to police chief. His younger brother, Police Detective Ed Fitzpatrick (Wallace Ford), allows himself to be seduced by a languorously sexy Belmonte gang moll (Jean Harlow) and needs money to continue the relationship. Frustrated when his principled brother will not promote him, he betrays Jim's trust by conspiring with Belmonte's henchmen in a truck hijacking that results in the deaths of a child and another police officer. After a crooked lawyer is able to get those guilty off on all charges, the relentlessly determined Chief turns to vigilantism to rid the city of its "Beasts."

Tuesday, September 15 - A Place of One's Own

A Place of One's Own (1945)

The Smedhursts, newly retired, buy Bellingham House, which has been vacant for over 40 years and is rumoured to be haunted by the previous owner, Elizabeth, who is widely believed to have been murdered by her guardians. Mrs Smedhurst employs a young lady, Annette, as a companion. Annette becomes haunted by Elizabeth, who is waiting for her lover, Dr Marsham. Mr Smedhurst asks the police to find Dr Marsham, and he comes to visit Annette/Elizabeth. The next morning, everyone in the house feels "lighter" and Annette wakes up recovered. A local policeman arrives and announces that Dr Marsham has been found but will not be able to visit as he has died.

Monday, September 14 - Dying Room Only

Dying Room Only (1973)

A married couple are traveling on a deserted desert road at night (it's daytime). They stop at a diner and the husband goes to the men's room. He never returns and the wife begins to suspect serious foul play. (She didn't actually see him go into the men's room, though.)

Sunday, September 13 - Berserk

Berserk (1967)

Monica Rivers is the owner and ringmaster of a traveling circus, and she'll stop at nothing to draw bigger audiences. When a series of mysterious murders begins to occur and some of her performers die gruesomely, her profits soar. She hires high-wire walker Frank Hawkins, impressed by the handsome and muscular young man. They begin an affair which arouses her previous lover Durando's jealousy. When Durando is found dead shortly afterward, the other performers begin to take alarm, as a mysterious killer is obviously loose in their midst. Many suspect Monica herself of the killings, especially Matilda, who has set her sights on Monica's new lover. At this point, Monica's unruly, sixteen-year-old daughter Angela is expelled from school for being incorrigible, and Monica is forced to take her into the circus, allowing her to become the partner of knife-thrower Gustavo. Meanwhile, the dead bodies continue to pile up...

Saturday, September 12 - The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes (1979)

On a train travelling through pre-World War II Germany, American heiress Amanda Metcalfe Madvani von Hoffstetter Kelly (Cybill Shepherd) befriends Miss Froy (Dame Angela Lansbury), an older nanny. But when Miss Froy disappears, everyone Amanda asks denies ever having seen her. Eventually, Amanda persuades American photographer Robert Condon (Elliott Gould) to help her search the train, during which they discover that Miss Froy wasn't quite what she seemed.

Friday, September 11 - Island of Lost Souls

Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Rescued by a passing freighter after his ship sank, Edward Parker is unceremoniously dumped on an island belonging to Dr. Moreau. He's made to feel welcome there though his host tells him not to judge too quickly, or harshly, anything he might see on the island. Moreau has been conducting genetic experiments, turning animals into creatures that are half man and half beast. Parker is repelled by what he's found out but Moreau decides he might be useful in some of his experiments. Meanwhile, Parker's fiancée travels to the island to get him to return. In the end, Dr. Moreau must pay the price for experiments he has conducted.

Thursday, September 10 - Raising the Wind

Roommates (1961) Raising the Wind (original title)

A group of students at an elite music school decide to share a flat in order to cut their living costs and have somewhere to practice together. They get into quite a few scraps and adventures, including impersonating a celebrity quintet. However when Mervyn Hughes accidentally sells a catchy pop tune to an advertising agency he risks losing his scholarship unless he and his friends can raise the money to buy the rights back.

Wednesday, September 9 - The Bat

The Bat (1959)

Mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder has rented a country house called "The Oaks", which not long ago had been the scene of some murders committed by a strange and violent criminal known as "The Bat". Meanwhile, the house's owner, bank president John Fleming, has recently embezzled one million dollars in securities, and has hidden the proceeds in the house, but he is killed before he can retrieve the money. Thus the lonely country house soon becomes the site of many mysterious and dangerous activities.

Tuesday, September 8 - Catacombs

The Woman Who Wouldn't Die (1965) Catacombs (original title)

Astute businesswoman Ellen Garth) holds all the purse strings over her weak-willed husband Raymond, to whom she is completely devoted. Despite a bad hip that requires the use of a cane, Ellen has a very active sexual relationship with her husband, who doesn't mind being dominated since she continuously dotes on him with her money.

Problems arise when Ellen's young niece, Alice Taylor, arrives home from art school in Paris, showing a recently developed, somewhat unorthodox, attraction to her all-too-willing uncle, until after the pair are caught in a tender embrace by her insightful aunt, who threatens to disown her faithless husband if he doesn't abide by her rules.

When Ellen makes plans to spend a week alone in Italy, her unscrupulous attorney, Richard Corbett, who has a prison record and has been caught forging her name on checks, conspires with Raymond to make sure she has an unfortunate 'accident' due to her notoriously poor driving skills. Unfortunately, Raymond cannot resist the opportunity to drown his wife in her bathroom sink, burying the corpse behind their isolated country cottage, left to him in her will provided he spend the rest of his life there.

Corbett carries out his part in the plot by hiring an actress to portray Ellen, seen leaving England by plane, then cold-bloodedly dispatching her on the continent. Raymond gets no time to relax however; he remembers that Ellen believed in life after death (she put herself into trances - I don't remember anything about a 'life after death' belief), and there are signs that she is not content to remain in her grave.

Monday, September 7 - The Alphabet Murders

The Alphabet Murders (1965)

Albert Aachen, a clown with a unique diving act, is found dead, the murder weapon happens to be a poison dart. When a woman named Betty Barnard becomes the next victim, detective Hercule Poirot suspects that Sir Carmichael Clarke could be in grave danger.

As he and Captain Hastings look into the crimes, a beautiful woman with an interesting monogram named Amanda Beatrice Cross becomes the focus of their investigation, at least until she leaps into the Thames.

Sunday, September 6 - Highway Patrol: Human Bomb & Plane Crash

Highway Patrol (1955–1959): Human Bomb (Season 1 | Episode 22)

Disgruntled engineer Jay Detterich rigs his car with stolen explosives hooked to a "dead man's switch" and goes on a suicide mission to destroy the chemical plant that terminated his employment. The plant is in a populous area and the Highway Patrol is instructed to treat the situation as a "Civil Defense Red Alert". Dan Mathews, a motorcycle officer, and a demolitions expert must risk their own lives to prevent massive destruction and loss of life.

Afterward, they enjoy a refreshing smoke.

Highway Patrol (1955–1959): Plane Crash (Season 1 | Episode 23)

Dan Mathews and his officers discover the murder of a forest ranger who reported the possible crash landing of a small plane. They learn that the plane's owner is racketeer Harry Barlow and that he is accompanied by his wife and pilot Steve Wasson. They confront Barlow's group and learn that they are there to pay $100,000 in ransom for the return of the Barlowes' daughter Virginia.

Dan knows that someone in the group is guilty of murder and suspects that the guilty party may be Wasson. His suspicions increase further when the kidnappers turn out to be two of Barlow's employees and Wasson volunteers to be taken as a hostage (in exchange for Virginia). Dan permits the kidnappers and their "hostage" to leave the ransom scene, but the surprised felons soon find themselves in an armed confrontation with Dan and his officers.

Saturday, September 5 - A Kiss in the Dark

A Kiss in the Dark (1949)

David Niven is cast as a concert pianist whose business manager Joseph Buloff handles his many diversified investments which among other things a brownstone apartment building called The Cleopatra Arms. Acting as superintendent of the place and also one of the tenants is Victor Moore. When Moore comes calling one day Niven finds out about his ownership and gets to meet some of the many tenants there including perky model Jane Wyman.

It isn't too long before Niven is involved thoroughly with the lives and fortunes of all the tenants there. Among the others are Wyman's boyfriend Wayne Morris and an irascible Broderick Crawford who has a problem getting to sleep.

Crawford works a graveyard shift job and comes home and wants a little shut eye. The comedy around him centers on his irascibility due to sleep deprivation. All the other tenants want him out and Niven finds a way to oblige (by loudly practicing piano in Jane Wyman's next-door apartment for hours on end).

Friday, September 4 - The Mad Genius

The Mad Genius (1931)

A crippled puppeteer, Ivan Tsarakov (Barrymore), is frustrated that he will never dance ballet. He adopts a protegé, Fedor Ivanoff (Darro as a child, Cook as an adult), whom he makes into the greatest dancer in the world. Fedor falls in love with a dancer, Nana Carlova (Marsh), but Tsarakov fears that she will ruin Fedor as a dancer. He tries to separate them and ultimately fires Nana from the ballet troupe. Fedor runs away with Nana to Paris, but Tsarakov has blacklisted him, and he cannot get ballet jobs and is reduced to working in a cabaret. Nana begs Tsarakov to give Fedor his job back. Tsarakov agrees, if Nana will leave Fedor and marry another man (go away with another man - I don't think marriage was ever mentioned); she agrees. Fedor returns embittered; he sees Nana on opening night and realizes that she still loves him; he refuses to dance. Tsarakov threatens to kill him, but the ballet master, under the influence of drugs that Tsarakov has given him (he has his own supply by now), kills Tsarakov. Fedor is reunited with Nana.

Thursday, September 3 - She-Wolf of London

She-Wolf of London (1946)

In London, a mysterious series of murders is creating fear in the population and confusion in the police department as people speak of a killer werewolf. The news create shock in young Phyllis Allenby (a beautiful young June Lockhart), who believes she is the responsible, as an ancient family legend states that the Allenby clan is cursed with Lycanthropy, the werewolf's curse. She isolates herself and denies watching everyone (she what...?), even breaking her relationship with her boyfriend Barry Lanfield (Don Porter). Her aunt Marta Withrop (Sara Haden) takes advantage of this and tries to force her daughter Carol (Jan Wiley) to marry the wealthy Barry.

Wednesday, September 2 - Baby the Rain Must Fall

Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965)

Georgette Thomas (Lee Remick) and her six-year-old daughter Margaret Rose (Kimberly Block) travel from the East Texas town of Tyler to (unknown to him) meet her husband Henry Thomas (Steve McQueen) in his small coastal prairie southeastern Texas hometown of Columbus, Texas. Henry is a somewhat irresponsible rockabilly singer/guitarist, he has recently been released from prison after serving time for stabbing a man during a drunken brawl, and wasn't thinking of Georgette at all.

Henry tries to make a home for his family (he seemed to be unaware of his daughter), but Kate Dawson (Georgia Simmons), the aging spinster who raised him after his parents died, remains a formidable presence in his life and tries to sabotage his efforts. She threatens repeatedly to have him returned to prison if he fails to acquiesce to her demands to give up singing, go to school, and get a real job. He resists this, and even convinces Georgette he will be a "star" someday, as he continues playing and working a part-time job with the Tillmans. When Kate Dawson finally dies, the evening after the funeral Henry drunkenly destroys her possessions (several shots show the belt she beat him with, untouched, hanging on a door near her bedroom), leaves with the silver willed to Catherine, then wrecks his car on the cemetery gate and desecrates her grave site.

Henry is destined for prison again, and Georgette and Margaret Rose will leave Columbus with Henry's childhood friend, the local sheriff's deputy, Slim (Don Murray). Slim has tried to help straighten Henry out, since before the arrival of Georgette and Margaret Rose to Columbus at the beginning of the movie, and failed. Slim and Georgette have clearly fallen in love, even as Georgette does her best to love and gently comfort her self-tortured and cold husband Henry, unsuccessfully.

In the final scene, after an indeterminate time has passed and they have loaded their vehicle and driven away from the rented house, Georgette sees Henry (as does Slim) in the barred back of a sheriff's vehicle at a road crossing stop and turns Margaret Rose away before she sees him, bound on his way back to "the pen".

As they drive out of town and enter the open highway, Georgette answers Margaret Rose's question of where they're going; that they are driving away, to the warm Rio Grande Valley,[3] to begin a new life together. Georgette tells Margaret Rose that they have traveled a long way, from Lovelady to Tyler, from Tyler to Columbus, and now to the distant Valley (Lovelady is Georgette's hometown, and where she and Henry met and married).

Tuesday, September 1 - Decoy: Queen of Diamonds & My Brother's Killer

Decoy (1957–1958): Queen of Diamonds (Season 1 | Episode 12 - aired 30 December 1957)

Casey goes undercover as a photographer in a night club in a bid to break a man's alibi, and see him brought to justice.

Decoy (1957–1958): My Brother's Killer (Season 1 | Episode 13 - aired 6 January 1958)

When a distressed fiancé looking for her soon-to-be-husband is turned away from a police officer, Casey decides to step in and help her. What starts as a rescue mission, quickly escalates into a hostage situation when Casey and another victim are taken by the killer and more police officers get involved.

Monday, August 31 - Spaceways

Spaceways (1953)

Howard Duff is part of the UK space program, designing rockets that will crack the atmosphere (?!). He is in a terrible marriage and his selfish wife can't stand that he makes so little money as an engineer. He has fallen in love with a beautiful technician but can't act on it. When a rocket goes haywire, he is accused of putting his wife and her lover, a colleague in the program, in the final capsule. There is no way to check for the bodies and Duff is going to be brought up on murder charges by an obsessed spy chaser. So he offers to become the first man in space and bring down the haywire rocket to prove his innocence.