Tuesday, Dec. 30 - Are You Listening?

Are You Listening? (1932)

William Haines plays a radio writer married (but separated) to a sullen and greedy woman (Karen Morley) while he romances a co-worker (Madge Evans). Morley will not give up her meal ticket and bleeds Haines of everything he's got. But after he loses his job, Morley goes berserk and is accidentally killed.

In a subplot, Evans' roommate (Anita Page) who works at the radio station, takes in her kid sister (Joan Marsh) who goes wild in the big city and gets involved with older men (Jean Hersholt, Neil Hamilton).

In a neat twist, the radio, which is at first seen as a mindless form of entertainment, spoofed via the hokey shows Haines writes, turns deadly as a ruthless newspaper man (John Miljan) uses the radio to persecute and hunt down Haines after the death of his wife.

Monday, Dec. 29 - Maigret: Maigret on the Defensive

Maigret: Season 2, Episode 3 Maigret on the Defensive (28 Mar. 1993)

Answering a desperate phone call from a young lady in distress, Maigret finds the drunken young woman in a sleazy bar. The detective chivalrously checks her into a respectable hotel and returns home to complete his interrupted night's sleep. When he reports to work, he finds that the young woman has concocted a charge of attempted rape and finds himself the subject of disciplinary action. Maigret suspects his pursuit of a gang of restaurant thieves is the impetus for this accusation and with the help of his loyal staff, he is able to find the ultimate answer in a dentist's chair.

Sunday, Dec. 28 - Marlowe

Marlowe (1969)

A young woman approaches Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. She’s come all the way from Manhattan, Kansas and she only has $50 to spend on a detective. Marlowe picks up a lead and he keeps finding bodies with ice picks in their necks as he searches for the brother. This being a Raymond Chandler story, it gets complicated soon thereafter.

Saturday, Dec. 27 - Man Hunt

Man Hunt (1941)

British hunter Thorndike vacationing in Bavaria has Hitler in his gun sight. He is captured, beaten, left for dead, and escapes back to London where he is hounded by German agents and aided by a young woman.

Friday, Dec. 26 - The Accursed!

The Accursed (1957) "The Traitor" (original title)

1957's "The Traitor" centers on a small band of resistance fighters whose leader was murdered by the Nazis after being betrayed by one of their members. Every year since the war's end, they all gather together in the English country home of Colonel Charles Price (Donald Wolfit), except that this time, the Colonel expects a visit from one Theodore Dehmel (Colin Croft), who will be flying in from Berlin, having discovered the traitor's identity. As had been the case during wartime, Price intends to dispense justice himself without any police involvement, but Dehmer arrives and promptly expires with a knife in his back, uttering the mysterious words, 'There's been a mistake.'

Thursday, Dec. 25 - The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Absent-Minded Coterie

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: Season 2, Episode 5 The Absent-Minded Coterie (26 Feb. 1973)

Amateur detective Eugene Valmont begins by investigating a counterfeiting operation--and ends up uncovering an even more ingenious swindling scheme. But he may have met his match in one particular adversary.

Wednesday, Dec. 24 - Reno

Reno (1939)

In Reno Mrs. Joanne Ryder buys a drink and gambles, asking Tony to call the police. She owes $4400 and has no money. Joanne is taken to owner Bill Shear, who says he knows all about her and her desire for a divorce. Joanne shows police a button that controls the roulette wheel. In the trial Bill defends himself and testifies about Reno's history.

Tuesday, Dec. 23 - The Lady Objects

The Lady Objects (1938)

A former college football hero and his college sweetheart get married. Marital turmoil ensues as her criminal law practice soars while he cannot get his career as an architect off the ground. They separate, and the man begins making extra money by singing in a nightclub. When he is unjustly accused of murder, it is up to his estranged wife to defend him in court.

Monday, Dec. 22 - Four Star Playhouse: Looking Glass House

Four Star Playhouse: Season 4, Episode 8 Looking Glass House (24 Nov. 1955)

A saleswoman goes to the home of her rich fiancé to meet the man's mother. That's when she discovers hes been married before, he still has a room full of her clothing, and that she's a dead ringer for the ex-wife.

Sunday, Dec. 21 - Christmas Eve & Taggart: Hard Man

Christmas Eve (1947)

The greedy nephew of eccentric Matilda Reid seeks to have her judged incompetent so he can administer her wealth; but she will be saved if her three long-lost adopted sons appear for a Christmas Eve reunion. Separate stories reveal Michael as a bankrupt playboy loved by loyal Ann; Mario as a seemingly shady character tangling with a Nazi war criminal in South America; Jonathan as a hard-drinking rodeo rider intent on a flirtatious social worker.

Taggart: Season 19, Episode 1 Hard Man (2 Dec. 2002)

Investigating the discovery of a mangled body at a Clyde shipyard, DCI Burke and the team soon find themselves dealing with a case of murder.

Saturday, Dec. 20 - The Egg and I & Ma and Pa Kettle

The Egg and I (1947)

On their wedding night Bob informs his new bride Betty that he has bought a chicken farm. An abandoned chicken farm, to be exact, which is obvious when the two move in. Betty endures Bob's enthusiasm for the rural life, rustic inconveniences, and battling nature, but her patience is severely tested when glamorous neighbor Harriet Putnam seems to set her sights on Bob.

Ma and Pa Kettle (1949)

The Kettles and their fifteen children are about to be evicted from their rundown rustic home when Pa wins the grand prize by coming up with a new tobacco slogan. Birdie Hicks is jealous of the family's new wealth, which includes a completely automated modern home, and accuses Pa of stealing the slogan. Reporter Kim Parker proves Birdie wrong and marries Tom Kettle.

Friday, Dec. 19 - The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man (1933)

A mysterious man wrapped in bandages comes to the village of Iping to take lodgings at The Lion's Head Inn out of season. After a time, due to his unsociable character and lateness in rent, he's asked to leave, against which he takes violent objection and reveals himself to be invisible. It soon becomes apparent to Dr. Cranley and Dr. Kemp that this is their missing colleague, Dr. Griffin, whose secret experiments in invisibility incorporated a drug he didn't realize would cause homicidal madness. As Dr. Griffin gleefully terrorizes the countryside and forces Dr. Kemp to be his unwilling partner, police seek any means by which to find him and put an end to his murderous rampages.

Thursday, Dec. 18 - Cheers of the Crowd

Cheers of the Crowd (1935)

Theatrical publicity man, Lee Adams, comes up with a scheme to draw attention to a dying Broadway production. He hires an old carnival buddy, John Brady, to pretend to find a bag with $10,000 in it on the street and return it to the local police station. The story makes headlines, and soon the theater is packed with throngs wanting to catch a glimpse of "Honest" John Brady. Unfortunately, "Honest" John is wanted by the police for fraud, leaving Adams vulnerable to an extortion plot, as he desperately tries to shield his old pal from the authorities and prison.

Wednesday, Dec. 17 - Maigret: Maigret and the Hotel Majestic

Maigret: Season 2, Episode 2 Maigret and the Hotel Majestic (21 Mar. 1993)

The beautiful wife of American businessman Oswald Clark is found strangled in a kitchen locker in the posh Majestic Hotel in Paris. Maigret notes that the murdered woman arrived at her fatal meeting armed with a pistol and discovers that not only is Clarke having an affair with his son's governess, but that the son's paternity is in question.

Tuesday, Dec. 16 - Champagne Charlie

Champagne Charlie (1936)

Aboard an ocean liner bound for Paris, beautiful Craig Copper Company heiress Linda Craig (Helen Wood) drinks a toast to the picture of her dead fiance, Charlie Cortland (Paul Cavanagh), better known to his admirers and detractors as "Champagne Charlie." That drink is served to her by the steamer's bartender, Fipps (Herbert Mundin), who was Charlie's valet for 15 years, and who has Charlie's photo on the bar as a memorial to his beloved boss. Linda's newlywed husband, boyhood friend Tod Hollingsworth (Thomas Beck), isn't exactly pleased with the salute, believing Linda still carries a torch for the smooth gambler, while her friend, three times divorced and now married again Lillian Wayne (Minna Gombell), is up for any kind of drinking. Someone else spots Linda and Fipps at the bar; Pedro Gorini (Noel Madison), who was one of gambler Charlie's financial backers. He calls Linda and tells her he wants to speak to her...or else he'll tip the papers to her "past." Fipps, though, beats Linda to Pedro's stateroom, and a fight ensures, with Pedro stabbed to death. With the Captain ready to throw both Linda and Fipps into the brig, she recounts hers and Charlie's story. A year ago in the Monte Carlo casinos, Linda met Charlie, who captivated her with his smooth charm and easy good looks. However, he was hiding a secret: he owed Pedro and Ivan Suchine (Montagu Love) over $200,000 in gambling losses, and they wanted payment. Now. Enter their idea for Charlie to romance Linda and marry her for her $20 million dollar fortune, a plan to which a reluctant Charlie eventually agrees.

Monday, Dec. 15 - The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: Dobie Gillis, Boy Actor

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: Season 1, Episode 9 Dobie Gillis, Boy Actor (1 Dec. 1959)

Dobie and Maynard conspire to get leading man Milton out of the way by opening night so his understudy Dobie can star opposite the lovely Annabelle in the school play, "Magnolias at Manassas: a Drama of the Civil War."

Sunday, Dec. 14 - Jokum Fest 2014

Jokum Fest 2014

Shawn Stecker's documentary of the 12th annual Victory Heights Blues and Jazz festival.

Friday, Dec. 12 - Tales of the Unexpected: Back for Christmas & The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby

Tales of the Unexpected: Season 2, Episode 14 Back for Christmas (31 May 1980)

Orchid-loving doctor Carpenter is married to Hermione but in love with the younger Samantha. He and his wife are due to fly to America, so that when he kills Hermione and cuts her up and buries her in the garden, he believes that her disappearance will be covered. Unfortunately for him, she is able to avenge herself even from the grave.

Tales of the Unexpected: Season 2, Episode 15 The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby (7 Jun. 1980)

Arthur Appleby is something of a Bluebeard. He has killed his previous wives and used the insurance money to open a succession of antique shops, each one in a new town. When he meets Martha he marks her down as his next victim. However, she is not stupid and tells him that if anything untoward happens to her she has left instructions that Appleby is to be dealt with. Unfortunately something is about to happen which, for once, is not his fault.

Thursday, Dec. 11 - Blonde Crazy

Blonde Crazy (1931)

At a midwestern hotel, conniving bellhop Bert Harris has a finger in every pie. He promotes a job for glamorous Ann Roberts, but she does not immediately succumb to his charms. However, Bert soon enlists Ann as partner in his new profession of con man. Most of the victims they fleece are lawbreakers themselves. But Bert is tempted to try actual stealing, and Ann fears it will bring bad luck.

Wednesday, Dec. 10 - Upperworld

Upperworld (1934)

A rich railroad tycoon, bored with his marriage (his wife has no time for him -- she's too busy giving parties and sailing on yachts) starts seeing a showgirl. This are going OK until the girl's manager/boyfriend, seeing his chance to make some big money, decides to blackmail him.

Tuesday, Dec. 9 - The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of Laker, Absconded

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: Season 1, Episode 13 The Case of Laker, Absconded (9 Dec. 1971)

A junior bank clerk elopes with a fortune - but without his fiancee. The police reconstruct the absconder's route, from bank to train station to the Continent. However, Martin Hewitt believes the trail is a little too easy to follow. With the help of the jilted lover, he embarks on a search to discover what really happened to the missing man.

Monday, Dec. 8 - Perry Mason: Case of the Haunted Husband

Perry Mason: Season 1, Episode 19 The Case of the Haunted Husband (25 Jan. 1958)

Della convinces Perry to take a case where a girl in a car accident is framed for stealing the car and killing the driver of a truck. She claims another man was driving the car. Two murders later Perry is still trying to clear her.

Sunday, Dec. 7 - The Assassination Bureau

The Assassination Bureau (1969)

The Assassination Bureau has existed for decades (perhaps centuries) until Diana Rigg begins to investigate it. The high moral standing of the Bureau (only killing those who deserve it) is called into question by her. She puts out a contract for the Bureau to assassinate its leader on the eve of World War I.

Saturday, Dec. 6 - Irene & Beyond Tomorrow

Irene (1940)

Anna Neagle plays Irene O' Dare, a simple Irish girl in New York who picks up odd jobs, who meets the dashingly handsome Don Marshall (Ray Milland). The two instantly hit it off, but Marshall's good friend, Bob Vincent (Alan Marshal) seems to fall under Irene's spell as well. Don keeps insisting he's not interested in Irene romantically, but moments away from her marriage to Bob, Don realizes he loves her.

Beyond Tomorrow (1940)

Melton, Chadwick and O'Brien, rich but lonely heads of an engineering firm, invite three strangers to dinner on Christmas Eve. Only two show up, James and Jean, they fall in love and become friends with their three benefactors...until the latter are killed in a plane crash and come back to their old home as ghosts. In the coming months, true love encounters some rough spots.

Friday, Dec. 5 - Thriller: The Storm

Thriller: Season 2, Episode 18 The Storm (22 Jan. 1962)

Nancy Kelly stars as a young newlywed named Janet who arrives home early and awaits the imminent arrival of her husband Ben (played by David McLean). She is bothered by a strange cab driver (played by James Griffith) but shrugs him off, though that only begins a night of fear when a storm knocks out the power, and when she goes to the basement, finds the body of a young woman in the trunk.

Thursday, Dec. 4 - Maigret: Maigret Sets a Trap

Maigret: Season 1, Episode 6 Maigret Sets a Trap (15 Mar. 1992)

A serial killer is murdering young women in Paris. Maigret sets a trap using a policewoman as a decoy in the murder location. The killer attacks her but when the police come he runs away, leaving a sartorial clue which links to Marcel Moncin, a married mother's boy. Maigret arrests Moncin but whilst he is in custody there is another killing.

Wednesday, Dec. 3 - Fighting Back

Fighting Back (1948)

Nick Sanders is honorably discharged from the army, with a full pardon for his pre-war crimes, and settles into a happy home life with his wife, June, and their son, Jimmy, and the family dog, "Snuffy." The latter likes to steal and hide things. When Nick brushes off his ex-partner in crime, Sam Lang, the smooth crook uses "Snuffy" to rob the Higby home of a valuable diamond. The dog bolts with the loot. The police suspect Nick of the crime.

Tuesday, Dec. 2 - The Indiscreet Mrs. Jarvis

Fireside Theatre: Season 7, Episode 18 The Indiscreet Mrs. Jarvis (4 Jan. 1955) TV Episode

A complex story of a man, Sam Weston (William Lundigan) who has been led to believe that he will receive a significant promotion by his employer, only to be denied due to machinations of his superior's wife, the eponymous Brenda Jarvis (Angela Lansbury), who is convinced that an unsavoury incident from her past will be revealed if Sam and his wife Ellen (Martha Vickers) join the social set of the Jarvises, to be expected following the promotion. Brenda, many years prior to the time of this narrative, had shared lodgings in Chicago with an unwed Ellen. During that period, she had become involved in a sordid affair with a married man. Fear that Ellen will expose her lapse leads her into the realm of paranoia, and she callously taints the mind of her husband Paul (George Brent), resulting in his cancellation of Weston's planned job advancement. Subsequent correspondence and a meeting between Brenda and Ellen furnishes an insightful climax to an ably constructed scenario.

Monday, Dec. 1 - Mannix: Make It Like It Never Happened

Mannix: Season 1, Episode 5 Make It Like It Never Happened (14 Oct. 1967)

A little girl wishes to "rent a detective" to prover that her father, who is on Death Row, is innocent. Mannix takes the case, working on his own time and will have to do without Intertect's help. Mannix romances the mistress of a reclusive rich man at whose estate the murder took place. The detective must cope with a web of deceit to find out what really happened.

Sunday, Nov. 30 - The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden (1949)

When cholera takes the parents of Mary Lennox, she is shipped from India to England to live with her Uncle Craven. Archibald Craven's house is dark and drafty, with over 100 rooms built on the edge of the moors. Mary finds that her Uncle does not wish to see her, which is fine with Mary as she herself is rude and spoiled. While walking the gardens the next day, Mary notices that there is a area in the garden surrounded with a high stone wall and no doorway. Dickon, brother of a housemaid, tells her of the garden behind the wall. By the path, the raven unearths the hidden key so that Mary and Dickon are able to enter the walled garden to find it overgrown and neglected. Inside the house, she finds that Archibald has a son named Colin, who is crippled and as spoiled as she. Together these three work to make the secret garden their own world.

Saturday, Nov. 29 - The Earrings of Madame de...

The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) "Madame de..." (original title)

Madame de . . . (Danielle Darrieux) sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband (Charles Boyer) in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.

Friday, Nov. 28 - Chain of Evidence

Chain of Evidence (1957)

The fourth of five Ben Schwab productions that starred Bill Elliott as a detective lieutenant in the L.A. Sheriff's department has Steve Nordstrom being released from prison after serving a sentence for a dance-hall assault on Carl Fowler for insulting Steve's girlfriend Harriet Owens. Steve is given time off for good behavior and is out on probation thanks to the efforts on his behalf by Lieutenant Andy Doyle. One night, after taking a truck-driving job, Steve is waylaid by the revengeful Fowler and is savagely beaten, causing him to lose his memory. Wandering aimlessly around, he meets genial businessman Morton Ramsey who hires him to work around his house as a handyman. Ramsey's wife Claire is having an affair and is planning to have her husband murdered, and sees an opportunity to frame Steve for the murder. He plan works, and all the evidence is against the memory-clouded Steve when Ramsey is found dead.

Thursday, Nov. 27 - Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village (1944)

In 1922, novice composer Kenneth Harvey arrives in New York from Kansas, hoping to publish his concerto; he meets speakeasy owner Danny O'Mara, who hopes to put on a broadway show. Ken's affairs take a turn for the better when he falls for singer Bonnie Watson. But while he labors on orchestration, O'Mara is surreptitiously adapting his tunes to the Greenwich Village Gaieties.

Wednesday, Nov. 26 - Route 66: I Wouldn't Start from Here

Route 66: Season 4, Episode 8 I Wouldn't Start from Here (15 Nov. 1963)

Tod and Linc, driving through rural Vermont, become lost and have car trouble. They encounter an elderly farmer who helps them. He is widowed with no children and lives with no conveniences such as electricity or telephone. Sadly, his method of making a living and his existence are doomed by the modern world.

Tuesday, Nov. 25 - The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Ripening Rubies

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: Season 1, Episode 12 The Ripening Rubies (2 Dec. 1971)

An ex-con makes a rookie mistake-trying to sell a stolen ruby necklace back to the craftsman who made it. The jeweler, Bernard Sutton, soon discovers that a string of high-society women are losing their expensive adornments. Shunning the heavy-handed approach of the police, he sets his own trap to catch the thief.

Monday, Nov. 24 - Thriller: Rose's Last Summer

Thriller: Season 1, Episode 5 Rose's Last Summer (11 Oct. 1960)

An aging actress is mysteriously found dead in a family's garden, and they may know more about her death than they will admit.

Sunday, Nov. 23 - Circus of Fear

Psycho-Circus (1966) "Circus of Fear" (original title)

A circus becomes the location for stolen loot and murder.

Saturday, Nov. 22 - Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case

Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case (1959) "Maigret et l'affaire Saint-Fiacre" (original title)

Inspector Maigret is traveling to the French countryside to visit his friend, the duchess of Saint-Fiacre. She has received a letter recently stating that she will die soon. A few days later she does so by an heart attack, but Maigret does not believe in this...

Friday, Nov. 21 - Blondie Johnson

Blondie Johnson (1933)

Story of a Depression-downtrodden waif who uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.

Thursday, Nov. 20 - The Hatchet Man

The Hatchet Man (1932)

Wong Low Get (Edward G. Robinson) is the most highly respected hatchet man of his Tong. Having sworn total allegiance, he cannot turn down an order, even one to kill his best friend Sun Yat Ming (J. Carrol Naish). His friend forgives him in advance of his execution, begging only that Wong raise his daughter Toya San (Loretta Young) as his own. Wong does as he has sworn, but as she grows up, he falls in love with her. She marries him out of a sense of obligation, but a handsome younger gangster, Harry En Hai (Leslie Fenton), gets her to leave Wong, disgracing him and leading to a shocking turn of events.

Wednesday, Nov. 19 - Safety Last!

Safety Last! (1923)

Country boy (Lloyd) heads to the big city to seek success. While working as a clerk in a department store, he talks the manager into offering $1000 to anyone who can bring more customers to the store. He then arranges for a friend, a "human fly," (Strother) to climb the face of the store building as a publicity stunt. Unfortunatly the "human fly" is a wanted man, and when "The Law" (Young) shows, our hero must make the climb, himself. At each ledge he encounters new difficulties, climaxing in the famous 'clock scene.'

Tuesday, Nov. 18 - Mr. Lucky: Bugsy

Mr. Lucky: Season 1, Episode 3 Bugsy (7 Nov. 1959)

A man that a Mob Boss is looking for hides out on the Fortuna II. Mr. Lucky and Andamo, initially unaware of this fact, later help the man.

Monday, Nov. 17 - Perry Mason: The Case of the Cautious Coquette

Perry Mason: Season 1, Episode 18 The Case of the Cautious Coquette (18 Jan. 1958)

Perry has to navigate his way through a hornet's nest of murder, hit-and-run, secret marriage, and a missing witness in this episode.

Sunday, Nov. 16 - Playtime

Playtime (1967)

Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner.

Saturday, Nov. 15 - Escape Me Never & An Unsuitable Job For a Woman

Escape Me Never (1947)

It is Venice, 1900, and Fenella is engaged to composer Caryl Dubrok until she hears that an unmarried woman named Gemma and child is staying with a composer named Dubrok. So the engagement is off and so is she for the mountains. There she meets and is intrigued by Sebastian, but she does not know that he is the composer that Gemma is staying with. When she learns about him, Gemma demands that she choose but Fenella cannot so Gemma and Sebastian leave to be married. They go to England to write his Ballet and Caryl and Fenella are re-engaged. But Fenella still loves the fun-loving Sebastian.

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1982)

A rather loose adaptation of the P. D. James novel. Cordelia Gray, the survivor of a partnership in a detective agency, is asked by the assistant of James Calendar to investigate the suicide of his son, Mark. About the same age as Mark, Cordelia is resourceful in her investigation, but smitten with the dead son and becomes obsessed with his memory and his increasingly suspicious death. She interviews his friend, Andrew, and his girlfriend, Isobel. She is also interested in James Calendar's assistant, Elizabeth Leaming, who seems to have a more than natural interest in Mark.

Friday, Nov. 14 - Maigret: Maigret and the Night Club Dancer

Maigret: Season 2, Episode 1 Maigret and the Night Club Dancer (14 Mar. 1993)

Arlette, a beautiful but alcoholic stripper in a sleazy club, comes forward to police to report overhearing a murder plot at the club targeting a countess. Shortly thereafter her testimony becomes inconsistent, and she recants it. Shortly thereafter she is found murdered as well as the countess whose death she predicted. When Maigret investigates (shortly thereafter) her colorful private life he discovers the club owner as well as one of his valued assistants, Inspector Albert LaPointe, among her most ardent admirers.