Monday, March 30 - Handle with Care

Handle with Care (1958)

Law school professor Roger Bowdin prepares his seniors for their yearly "mock trial," but star student Zachary Davis persists in wanting something more than the usual fake case. He gets the professor to agree to have the aspiring lawyers investigate the town itself, then put it on trial for anything they happen to find.

Good-natured mayor Dick Williston goes along with the project when the professor approaches him about it, happy to cooperate with the class. The overzealous Zach begins to concern girlfriend Mary Judson, his roommate Bill Reeves and others with the way he begins digging up potential controversies and scandals. His father having once been incarcerated for corruption in another town, Zach may have a personal vendetta in trying to implicate others.

On the first day of the trial, with Mary assisting him as prosecuting attorney, Bill as jury foreman and the professor as presiding judge, Zach aggressively goes after the mayor with a number of unsubstantiated charges. When he brings up a potential tax malfeasance involving misappropriated funds, the popular mayor refuses to continue. Zach is promptly shunned in town, fired from his job and asked to leave by his landlady. A farmer, Al Rees, confronts him on the street, implying that Zach doesn't know what he's doing.

The headstrong Zach refuses to relent, even when Mary points out that she wants to keep living in this town after they marry. Returning to the witness stand, the mayor explains how funds were used temporarily to keep farmers and other homeowners from losing their properties, with all funds later being replaced. Zach, ashamed by his aggressive behavior, intends to leave town, but the professor urges Mary to go after Zach and bring him back.

Sunday, March 29 - The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre: Man Detained

The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959–1965): Man Detained (Season 2 | Episode 5 - aired October 1961)

A small-time thief cracks a safe and makes off with £10,000. The police are called but the owner tells them the thief only got £20. The next day the owner is murdered...

Saturday, March 28 - The Suspect

The Suspect (1944)

Philip Marshall (Charles Laughton) is a kind, henpecked accountant who strikes up a friendship with Mary Gray (Ella Raines), a young stenographer who had approached him looking for work. He gradually finds himself falling in love with her, but keeps the relationship platonic.

Marshall's wife Cora (Rosalind Ivan), who has also alienated their son with her shrewish ways, discovers the affair; when Marshall asks her for a divorce, explaining that they would both be happier apart, Cora refuses and instead threatens a scandal. In order to protect Mary's reputation, Marshall breaks off their relationship and cuts all ties with her; despite his best efforts to reconcile with Cora, their marriage does not improve. Cora later dies after a fall down the stairs at home; it is strongly hinted that Marshall murdered her, although the death appears accidental.

Inspector Huxley (Stanley Ridges) of Scotland Yard suspects that Marshall murdered his wife but is unable to prove it or establish a motive. Huxley follows Marshall, learning of Mary Gray, and interviews a number of the people in Marshall's neighborhood. When Huxley seeks to interview Mary directly, he is informed that she and Marshall were married earlier that day, making it impossible for Huxley to compel her to testify against her husband. Meanwhile, Marshall's drunken, wife-beating, spendthrift neighbor Gilbert Simmons (Henry Daniell) is interested to learn of the inspector's suspicions, and he relishes the chance to blackmail Marshall, whose respectability he envies. He threatens to invent a story about an argument between Marshall and his wife on the night of her death, which would substantiate that Marshall had killed his wife.

Marshall poisons his neighbor, using an overdose of anodyne drops from a bottle that Simmons' wife had shared with him. Marshall and Mary plan to move to Canada to follow Marshall's son, who has recently received a position there from his company. When the inspector hears of Simmons' death, he sets a trap in which he pretends to frame Mrs. Simmons for the murder. The success of the trap depends on Marshall's coming forward, rather than letting the innocent woman hang. The inspector believes that, in spite of everything, Marshall has never lost his innate decency. The film ends with Marshall's wife and son sailing to Canada while Marshall disembarks at the last moment, presumably preparing to turn himself in.

Friday, March 27 - Sailor's Luck

Sailor's Luck (1933)

U.S. sailor Jimmy Harrigan, on shore leave in San Pedro, meets and falls for Sally Brent She promises to wait for him when he ships out to San Francisco, but Jimmy becomes jealous and tells her off when he learns Sally has entered a marathon dance contest (Wait a minute! Wait a minute! That bit comes later. It's the landlord's voice over the phone that first sets him off.) sponsored by a lecherous snake named Baron Portola. Along with several of his Navy pals, Jimmy goes to the ballroom the night of the dance marathon, to try to change Sally's mind and win her back.

Thursday, March 26 - The Perfect Specimen

The Perfect Specimen (1937)

Raised in seclusion to be the epitome of mental, physical and moral perfection, Gerald Beresford Wicks is resigned to following his grandmother's wishes until a chance encounter with Mona Carter leads him into the outside world.

Wednesday, March 25 - Alias Nick Beal

Alias Nick Beal (1949)

After straight-arrow district attorney Joseph Foster (Thomas Mitchell) says in frustration that he would sell his soul to bring down a local mob boss, a smooth-talking stranger named Nick Beal (Ray Milland) shows up with enough evidence to seal a conviction. When that success leads Foster to run for governor, Beal's unearthly hold on him turns the previously honest man corrupt, much to the displeasure of his wife (Geraldine Wall) and his steadfast minister (George Macready).

Tuesday, March 24 - The Saxon Charm

The Saxon Charm (1948)

In a hospital (he's not ill; his house is being painted and he can't stand the smell of paint), theatrical producer Matt Saxon is introduced to writer Eric Busch, and ends up offering to produce Eric's new play with financing from millionaire Zack Humber.

Alma Wragge, a singer, is Saxon's girlfriend, but she warns Eric's wife Janet about the producer's notorious "Saxon charm" that coaxes others into doing his bidding, only to end up badly for everyone involved. Sure enough, Saxon's behavior soon ruins Alma's nightclub audition (no, no. She gets the singing job).

It isn't long before Saxon makes a pest of himself, interrupting a beach vacation Eric and Janet take, closing the show (a different show) after a poor review, then persuading Eric to go off by himself to do rewrites. Saxon loses the financial backing of Humber so he works on his ex-wife to put up the money, not knowing she is broke.

Alma gets a chance to be in a Hollywood movie, but Saxon interferes with that as well. Janet, upset by Eric's absences, begins drinking (once she drinks too much, for crissakes!) and threatens to leave him (she does leave, in fact). Eric finally punches Saxon, who is so oblivious to his destructive nature, he even contributes to his ex-wife's suicide (well, if that's true, he's already done it, because he's had no contact with her since he found out she was broke). Eric and Janet get away from him just in time.

Monday, March 23 - Talk About a Stranger

Talk About a Stranger (1952)

The picture tells the story of Bud Fontaine Jr. (Billy Gray), who takes an instant dislike of Matlock, a strange new neighbor in town (Kurt Kasznar).

After his dog turns up dead by poison, Bud blames the stranger and sets off a campaign to smear his name and spread vicious rumors about him.

His parents (George Murphy and Nancy Davis) can't seem to handle the boy. After Bud endangers the crops in the valley by his vandalism of the neighbor's oil tank, and is told the dog was killed by eating poisoned meat meant for coyotes, Bud comes to realize that people are not always what they appear to be.

Sunday, March 22 - It's a Date

It's a Date (1940)

Deanna Durbin plays Pam Drake, an aspiring young actress whose mother is a theater star, Georgia Drake. After the successful run of a play, Georgia and her maid Sara Frankenstein (Cecilia Loftus) head for Hawaii for R&R before she starts her new play. However, the author (Sakall) isn't sure she's right for the role; he thinks Georgia is too old. Ultimately he sees Pam perform and gives her the role.

Not realizing her mother thinks it's hers, she takes a ship to Hawaii so her mother can help her prepare. On the ship, she meets a man (Walter Pidgeon) that she thinks is a stowaway - he's actually John Arlen, a successful businessman. Once in Hawaii, Pam finds out the truth about the role and tries to keep it from her mother; John, meanwhile, has fallen in love with Georgia, but Pam thinks she's in love with him and it's mutual.

(Remade as "Nancy Goes to Rio")

Saturday, March 21 - Ready for Love

Ready for Love (1934)

The film begins with Ida running away from her boarding school for girls to rejoin her mother (played by Marjorie Rambeau), an actress in a New York theatre. But her Ma wants her to be more respectable, so sends her to her live with her own sister (Aunt Ida), a retired actress of modest means, in a small town. Ida loves her little dog, who is taken away from her in the sleeping car on the train by the conductor and put into the baggage car, from which he leaps and is lost. This results in Ida arriving at the town and leaving the train in floods of tears, sobbing 'I miss my Booboo'.

Unknown to her, the same train has brought the coffin of the black sheep of the town's leading family who has just died of drink and who was known for his amours. A newspaper man (played by Richard Arlen) reports a story on the front page of the local paper named The Clarion saying that Ida was the dead man's mistress and her Booboo was the dead man (as he is unaware of the fact that Booboo was really a dog). This leads to a series of dramatic and hysterical events, where the town's most prestigious and domineering rich family commences a campaign of threats and intimidation against the teenaged Ida, saying they will sue her and demanding that she leave town at once.

The newspaper man realizes something is amiss, and begins to fall for Ida, so that a romance blossoms...

Friday, March 20 - Seven Blood-Stained Orchids

Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972) Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso (original title)

A serial killer is on the loose, murdering certain women around the city. While travelling on a train on his honeymoon, Mario (Antonio Sabato) sees his wife brutally attacked aboard the train and after the killer gets away, the police accuse Mario of attacking his newlywed wife. Police decides to hide the fact that Giulia (Uschi Glas), Mario's wife is alive in order to protect her from the killer. Mario sets out to prove his innocence by attempting to solve the "Puzzle of the Silver Half Moons", which leads him to the hotel where he met his wife, a man name Frank Saunders, Christian Church's tour, a group of hippies, and Frank's ex-mistress. The film contains some very violent murders, some shown from the point of view of the knife-wielding, black-gloved killer, as he stabs a woman in her bed, bashes in the head of a prostitute, strangles a female artist with a telephone cord, drowns a mental patient in her bathtub, and even uses a power drill on one unfortunate victim. Mario must catch the real killer in order to prove his own innocence.

Thursday, March 19 - The Planter's Wife

Outpost in Malaya (1952) The Planter's Wife (original title)

The marriage of rubber-plantation owner Jim Frazer and his wife, Liz, which has survived many disasters, including years in a Japanese internment camp, is at a breaking point. Under constant threats of bandit attacks and concerned with the safety of his plantation and the people on it, Jim spares no time for his marriage. Liz is to take their young son, Mike, home to school in England, and, without telling Jim, does not plan to return. A neighboring plantation is attacked and the owner killed just prior to her departure. Liz and Jim get arms and ammunition from a near-by town, and a night of terror follows as the bandits attack.

Wednesday, March 18 - Shadow of a Woman & The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: Live Alone and Like It

Shadow of a Woman (1946)

SHADOW OF A WOMAN is a spiffy little suspense film about a bride who discovers her new husband isn't quite who he's cracked up to be. He's just cracked.

Andrea King plays Brooke Gifford, who tells her story in flashback to a police detective (Paul Harvey). Brooke was swept off her feet at a resort on the California coast by Dr. Eric Ryder (Helmut Dantine). They married, but after just a couple days of bliss, Brooke gradually begins to regret her whirlwind marriage, as Eric reveals himself to be a disturbed individual who has hidden critical information from Brooke, such as the fact he has a child.

When Eric takes Brooke to his gloomy San Francisco mansion, she meets the little boy (Larry Geiger) he'd neglected to tell her about. It's soon clear the boy is seriously malnourished, and there are plenty of other strange goings-on regarding Eric's relatives and his career. Brooke is made of sturdy stuff, however, and she begins to take steps to help those around her escape from her husband's control.

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959–1963): Live Alone and Like It (Season 1 | Episode 28 - aired 19 April 1960)

Dobie and Maynard strike out on their own and rent an apartment.

Tuesday, March 17 - Half Past Midnight

Half Past Midnight (1948)

A man with an affinity for trouble meets a girl in distress in a nightclub. She becomes involved in the murder of a Spanish dancer and both of them become major suspects. The couple, eluding the police up, down and all around in Chinatown, succeed in capturing the dancer's partner, who confesses his guilt.

Monday, March 16 - I've Lived Before

I've Lived Before (1956)

We’re at an air show and everyone is panicked because little Tommy Bolan, a mere twelve years old, jumped into the cockpit of an old plane, took off and is happily flying around the sky. He lands in a field and taxis up to them. How? “I knew how to do it like I’d done it before.” Fast forward to the present day and he’s now Capt. Bolan of Federal Airways, preparing for take off as the pilot of flight 652 to New York. The 28 people on board are relying on him to get them there but, as he begins his approach, he flashes back to Villars in 1918 with a couple of German planes on his tail, riddling him with bullets from their machine guns. The only reason that everyone survives is that Bolan’s co-pilot, Russell Smith, knocks him out and pulls up from his suicide dive just in time to land safely, if bumpily. Bolan wakes up in hospital as Lt. Stevens utterly bewildered that he’s not dead.

He comes to believe that he is the reincarnation of Lt. Peter Stevens, an American fighter pilot who was shot down over France during World War I and killed before Bolan was even born.

Sunday, March 15 - Crazy Mama

Crazy Mama (1975)

In 1958, a Long Beach, California beauty parlor run by Melba Stokes (Leachman), her mother Sheba (Ann Sothern) and daughter Cheryl (Linda Purl), is repossessed. They flee when landlord Mr. Albertson comes to demand the back rent.

On the road, heading back to Arkansas to reclaim the family farm, the Stokes women begin a crime spree. They rob a gas station first, then head for Las Vegas next. In pursuit of pregnant Cheryl is her boyfriend, Shawn, while Melba gets reacquainted with an old lover, Jim Bob. Further battles with the law along the way eventually lead to a shootout in which Jim Bob and others are killed. Melba is left alone, on the lam, but begins life again in a new town with a new look.

Saturday, March 14 - Quiet Please: Murder

Quiet Please: Murder (1942)

Jim Fleg (George Sanders), a ruthless, egotistical criminal, steals a priceless Shakespeare folio from the public library, killing a guard during the crime. With his partner, Myra Blandy (Gail Patrick), Fleg forges and sells copies of the folio to unscrupulous collectors. Hal McByrne (Richard Denning), a tough, unrelenting detective traces several of the forgeries back to Myra. She and Fled plot to eliminate McBryne at the scene of the original crime---the public library. In the meantime, a buyer of one of the forgeries is demanding his money back--or else---and trails Myra and Fleg to the library.

Friday, March 13 - The Raging Tide

The Raging Tide (1951)

A San Francisco hood is rubbed out by rival Bruno Felkin, who himself reports the crime to Homicide Lieut. Kelsey in an alibi scheme which fails. To escape, he stows away on a fishing boat. At sea, skipper Hamil Linder receives Bruno kindly, teaching him fishing; Bruno enlists Hamil's wayward son Carl to tend his slot machines. Then Carl takes an interest in Bruno's girl Connie. Climax in a storm at sea.

Thursday, March 12 - October Moth

October Moth (1960)

In an isolated Yorkshire farm house, a deranged young man (Lee Patterson) imagines a car crash victim (Sheila Raynor) is his long deceased mother. Meanwhile, his sister Molly (Lana Morris), attempts to summon help for the unconscious woman, but against her brother's wishes.

Wednesday, March 11 - The Keyhole

The Keyhole (1933)

Anne Brooks is being blackmailed by her old dancing partner Maurice. They married when she was young but broke up after which he said he was getting a quickie divorce. Anne married the much older millionaire Schuyler Brooks only to have Maurice return to reveal he didn't obtain the divorce after all. Now he wants money to keep quiet. Anne reveals her secret to Schuyler's sister Portia who devises a scheme to trick Maurice into leaving the country by having Anne suddenly travel alone to Cuba. Once out of the country Portia will use her influence to block Maurice's return. However, Anne's request for a vacation by herself in Cuba arouses Schuyler's already simmering jealousy. He hires detective Neil Davis to follow her and prove whether or not she is faithful. Neil is unsuccessful in seducing Anne, then realizes he is falling in love with her.

Tuesday, March 10 - Deported

Deported (1950)

Jeff Chandler plays a small time American gangster by the name of Vittorio Mario Sparducci, or as he was known in the US, Vic Smith. Shipped out of the country and back to his home town in Italy, Smith’s primary goal is to find a way to get his hands on the $100,000 in stolen money he was unable to bring with him (and for which he has spent five years in prison).

To that end he romances the widowed Countess di Lorenzi (Marta Toren), whose primary preoccupation in life is raising money to help feed the people of her small, impoverished post-war town. Under the watchful eye of his parole officer (Claude Dauphin), Smith manages to keep his plans a secret, until…

Monday, March 9 - Decoy: The Savage Payoff

Decoy (1957–1958): The Savage Payoff (Season 1 | Episode 6 - aired 18 November 1957)

Casey is assigned to investigate whether players on a college basketball team are fixing games.

Sunday, March 8 - Riot on Sunset Strip

Riot on Sunset Strip (1967)

Restless kids want to hang out in Hollywood clubs, smoke a little pot and do a little underage drinking. The local businessmen want to crush them, but the LAPD sergeant (Aldo Ray - and I thought he was a captain) in charge wants to help them out, extend the curfew a bit and work with them. The kids break their side of the bargain and have a party at a mansion they have broken into, and a girl (conveniently the chief's estranged daughter) is given acid and taken advantage of by five different guys. When the chief roughs up some of the rapists there is reaction on the street. Despite his earlier reaction, the sergeant goes on the street to make sure that rioting kids are treated with kid gloves. His daughter agrees to reunite with him based on his integrity in handling the riot.

Saturday, March 7 - The Unknown Man

The Unknown Man (1951)

Defense attorney Dwight Bradley Masen (Walter Pidgeon) is successful in seeking the acquittal of a young man, Rudi Walchek (Keefe Brasselle), accused of knifing to death the 19-year-old son of a local locksmith, but when Rudi lets a comment slip after the trial, Masen realizes he has defended a guilty man. Masen discovers that Rudi is also a member of a syndicate extorting money from the scared merchants in the locksmith's neighborhood. After unearthing new evidence, Masen tries to convince the D.A. (Barry Sullivan) to retry the case, but the latter refuses on grounds of double jeopardy.

Masen discovers that the head of the citizens' crime commission is also involved in the syndicate. In a rage Masen kills Layford (Eduard Franz), but the murder is pinned on Rudi. Despite sensing a higher justice at work, Masen feels obliged to defend Rudi once again. This time Rudi is found guilty. Masen confesses to the D.A. that he is the culprit, but the D.A. feels justice has been served and refuses to reopen the case. Masen makes one final visit to Rudi in prison, confesses, gives him the murder weapon and turns his back to Rudi to await his fate.

Friday, March 6 - Jet Storm

Jet Storm (1959) (also known as Jetstream and Killing Urge)

Ernest Tilley (Richard Attenborough), a former scientist who lost his daughter two years earlier in a hit-and-run accident, has tracked down James Brock (George Rose), the man he believes is responsible for the accident and he boards the same airliner on a transatlantic flight, flying from London to New York.

Tilley threatens to blow himself up and everyone on board as an act of vengeance. When Captain Bardow (Stanley Baker) and the passengers realise that he is serious, and they cannot find the bomb (which Tilley had attached to the underside of the airliner's left wing), they begin to panic. Some want to pressure him (torture) into revealing the location of the bomb, while others such as Doctor Bergstein (David Kossoff) try to reason with the now silent Tilley. Mulliner (Patrick Allen), a terrified passenger, attempts to kill Brock to get Tilley to not set off the bomb.

Acting out of fear, Brock is killed when he smashes a window and is sucked out of the airliner. Tilley, coming to his senses when a young boy passenger soothes him, disconnects the remote control for the bomb, then commits suicide by poison. As the airliner approaches New York, the passengers realise that they will survive.

Thursday, March 5 - Hot Summer Night

Hot Summer Night (1957)

Out of work but on his honeymoon, Bill Partain, a newspaper reporter, reads about a bank robbery in Sedalia, Missouri pulled off by notorious criminal Tom Ellis and his gang. Having once interviewed Ellis's girlfriend Ruth Childers for a Kansas City paper, Partain figures an exclusive interview with Ellis could assure him of landing a new job.

Lying to his new wife Irene about where they are going, Bill drives them to a small Ozarks town where he believes Ruth is living. Townspeople are reluctant to help Bill locate her, and deputy Lou Follett warns him that almost everyone in the community is afraid of Ellis.

Bill finally finds Ruth, who remembers him favorably. She manages to arrange his being taken to Ellis by a young man named Kermit who is not in the gang, but sometimes works for him. Ellis grants him an interview, boasting of his crimes, to the consternation of gunman Elly Horn, who suddenly shoots both Ellis and Kermit. He also shoots his own gang member, Oren, by mistake (later, that is - just befor the rescue).

Irene, left behind, is desperate to find her husband, who is now being held by Elly for a ransom of $50,000. She hitches a ride with Claude Akins as he delivers newspapers, discovers Ellis's hideout and notifies the police, who arrive just in time to rescue Bill.

Wednesday, March 4 - The Magic Face

The Magic Face (1951)

Luther Adler essays a dual role, playing both Hitler and a famed theatrical impersonator known as Janus the Great. While performing in Vienna, Janus attracts the attention of Hitler, who makes a play for Janus’ wife Vera. When Janus protests, he is beaten and thrown into prison by the gestapo. Janus escapes, murders him, takes his place and ruins Nazi Germany's war efforts.

Tuesday, March 3 - Killer Shark

Killer Shark (1950)

A college student takes a break and goes out to sea with his father, the captain of a shark-hunting boat. When his inexperience results in an accident in which his father and a crewman are badly injured, he tries to make up for it by rounding up another crew and going back out on the hunt. However, things don't turn out quite the way he planned.

Monday, March 2 - One Step Beyond: The Explorer

One Step Beyond (1959–1961): The Explorer (Season 2 | Episode 26 - aired 15 March 1960)

In Germany in 1911 Felix Borgner is visited by Dr Hansen, one of three explorers who got lost in the desert the previous year and were saved and guided back to safety by Borgner's son Eric. Of course Borgner is not amused as Eric was no longer alive by that time.

Sunday, March 1 - The Accused

The Accused (1949)

When college student Bill (Douglas Dick) grows inappropriately fond of psychology professor Wilma (Loretta Young) and tries to rape her, she fights back. But as she defends herself, she accidentally kills her attacker. Wilma then moves Bill's corpse to a nearby beach and makes his death look like the result of a cliff diving accident. But her guilt over the incident builds, and police Lt. Dorgan (Wendell Corey) begins to suspect that Wilma knows more about the death than she's letting on.

Saturday, Feb. 29 - The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre: Clue of the Silver Key

The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959–1965): Clue of the Silver Key (Season 2 | Episode 3 - aired July 1961)

When a hired server is killed after a party for an artist and his fiancée, and soon after, the girl's hot tempered, disapproving old uncle is murdered too, the police look for a connexion. The clues available include a small, brightly painted key to the old man's safe, and some wigs found in an abandoned apartment near a crime site.

Inspector Meredith and Sergeant Anson of Scotland Yard investigate the murders of a waiter called Tickler and a millionaire named Harvey Lane. But what is the connection between the two men and where is the mysterious Jordan Worth and why is the key painted silver? Meredith and Anson eventually sort out these questions.