Wednesday, Jan. 30 - The Key

The Key (1934)

Captain Bill Tennant (William Powell) is a British officer stationed in Dublin in 1920. Tennant has a history with Norah, the wife of his friend, British intelligence officer Captain Andrew Kerr.

Tennant's first assignment is to capture a notorious Sinn Féin member, Peadar Conlan. His first attempt is a failure, and Kerr is ordered to relieve Tennant overnight. Norah is frightened by his assignment and begs him not to go. After Kerr leaves, we see a flashback to when Tennant and Norah were involved, several years before.

Kerr leads the search for Conlan. He finds and captures him. When he arrives home very late, Norah is still up, and still dressed. Tennant is also there and insists they must tell Kerr. Tennant leaves and Norah tries to explain that there was always someone else between them, and that someone was Tennant. Kerr rushes out, despite her pleadings that he'll be killed. Tennant sees him leave and goes after him.

Conlan is sentenced to hang by the British military. Shortly after, Kerr is spotted and followed. He's captured by an angry mob. When Tennant arrives at the military post the next morning, he finds Norah waiting there for news of her husband. She tells him that she no longer loves him, that he's "three years too late".

A messenger arrives from Sinn Féin. He claims to be a peacemaker, and tells the general Kerr will be released if Conlan is. But the general tells him Conlan will be hanged at 6:00 a.m. the next morning. Norah begs the general to comply, but the general refuses.

Tennant tries to bargain for Kerr's life, but is told nothing will do except the release of Conlan. He returns to HQ and, against orders, goes into the general's office, breaks into his desk, and forges a release for Conlan. Kerr is also released. The next morning the crowd celebrates Conlan's release. Tennant's forgery is discovered, and Kerr is distressed to find his friend has committed career suicide to free him. In their final meeting, Tennant tells Kerr that Norah's seeing Tennant again, coupled with Kerr's disappearance, has caused the scales to fall from her eyes, and caused her to realize she really loves her husband.

Tuesday, Jan. 29 - Footsteps in the Dark

Footsteps in the Dark (1941)

Investment adviser Francis Warren (Errol Flynn) moonlights secretly as the author of detective novels. When a client who wants to cash in a stash of jewels is murdered, Francis believes that -- with his insight into the criminal world -- he can solve the case. His first suspect, however, meets a mysterious end. As the investigation grows more complicated than Francis imagined, he is unexpectedly accused of infidelity by his wife, Rita (Brenda Marshall), and also suspected by the police.

Francis Warren, a respected, upscale investment advisor, carries on a double life as a mystery writer aided by his faithful chauffeur/secretary Wilfred without the knowledge of his beautiful wife, her suspicious mother, and his society clients. When a shady character tries to coerce Warren into converting hot diamonds into cold cash, he balks at the scheme, and the client ends up as an even colder corpse on his yacht. The none-too--bright police don't believe it's murder, but when the whodunit writer sets out to prove it, he becomes involved with an aging burlesque queen much to the chagrin of Mrs. Warren and his mother-in-law.

Monday, June 28 - Highway Patrol: Gambling

Highway Patrol (1955–1959): Gambling (Season 1 | Episode 5 - aired 31 October 1955)

After several unsuccessful raids, Wilcox County Sheriff Barney Bishop enlists the aid of Dan Mathews in closing down Al Sandy's Club Bahamas, the site of an illegal gambling casino. Another raid is unsuccessful, even with the aid of Dan and his officers. However, they learn that the activity takes place behind two sets of doors and that very little advance notice is needed for Sandy and club manager Ollie Dyer to be able to squelch the activity and conceal the gambling tables and equipment. Dan assumes the identity of a heavy-tipping businessman and has Sergeant Corey pose as a telephone repairman in order to position themselves to control all of the doors when the next raid takes place.

Sunday, Jan. 27 - The Eagle Has Landed

The Eagle Has Landed (1976)

During World War II, Nazi officer Max Radl (Robert Duvall) devises a plan to kidnap or kill the British prime minister. Approved by German Cmdr. Heinrich Himmler (Donald Pleasence), the scheme moves forward with Col. Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine) leading the mission, aided by Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland), an Irishman with a deep hatred of England. As the plan unfolds, it seems to be going well -- until certain events threaten the group's shot at success.

Saturday, Jan. 26 - If Winter Comes

If Winter Comes (1947)

It's 1939 in the small English town of Penny Green and events in Poland are about to change lives. Mark Sabre, a writer of school text books, has married Mabel "on the rebound", after his real love Nona marries some one else. Just as war is about to break out, Nona returns home with husband Tony. Mable is sure she can hold onto Mark, though. But misunderstood good deeds on Mark's part turn life for him upside down when his relationship with a young girl starts tongues wagging. Soon, wartime casualties take their toll in Penny Green as well as on the front, as the death of fighting men affects lives back home.

The small English town of Penny Green is swarming with scandal when textbook author Mark (Walter Pidgeon), unhappily married to the shrewish Mabel (Angela Lansbury), cultivates a friendship with Effie (Janet Leigh), a young pregnant girl. As the townsfolk theorize that Mark is the baby's father, Effie -- already troubled because of her impending motherhood -- commits suicide, and circulating rumors lead the authorities to think Mark killed her. The innocent writer must fight to clear his name.

Friday, Jan. 25 - The Law in Her Hands

The Law in Her Hands (1936)

Two waitresses working in New York, Mary Wentworth (Margaret Lindsay) and Dorothy Davis (Glenda Farrell), pass their bar exam and become lawyers. When their employer Franz (Al Shean) takes a photo of the two women, he accidentally photographs a gangster in the background, just before the gangster throws a smoke bomb in the restaurant. This was an effort to intimidate Franz into joining the protection racket run by Frank Gordon (Lyle Talbot). The perpetrator is arrested and the case is prosecuted by Robert Mitchell (Warren Hull), who is Mary's boyfriend. At the trial, Gordon finds people to testify that the accused was not at the restaurant, but Mary and Dorothy show the photograph taken in the restaurant. Gordon is actually impressed by Mary and offers her a job as his lawyer, but she turns him down. This has also impressed Robert, but he still believes that the law is no profession for a woman, and asks her to quit and marry him instead.

When a lawyer plants a bottle of liquor in a coat Mary has entered into evidence, she loses her first case in court. Hoping to discourage Mary, Robert suggests that she represent a man who has already signed a confession. Later, Mary decides to use the same trick and beats Robert in court. She also decides to take Gordon as a client and acquires a big reputation. When Mary learns that Gordon was responsible for the deaths of several people, she changes her mind and refuses to represent him anymore. However, Gordon forces her into defending him, and in court she deliberately gets herself disbarred from the case. No longer his lawyer, she accuses Gordon of the murders, allowing Robert to win the case and convict Gordon. Later, Mary marries Robert and decides to give up her law career.

Thursday, Jan. 24 - Thieves Like Us

Thieves Like Us (1974)

Bowie, a youthful convicted murderer, and bank robbers Chicamaw and T-Dub escape from a Mississippi chain gang in 1936. They hide out with some colorful associates and continue robbing banks. Later, they hole up with T-Dub's sister-in-law Mattie and her children -- including her older daughter Lula, the object of T-Dub's lascivious attention.

Bowie is injured in an auto accident and takes refuge with the daughter of the gas station attendant, Keechie. They become romantically involved but their relationship is strained by Bowie's refusal to turn his back on crime. Chicamaw is eventually recaptured and T-Dub is killed while waiting in his car for his wife. Bowie poses as a sheriff's deputy to spring Chickamaw from jail but he quickly becomes disgusted with the violent, raving Chicamaw and abandons him on the side of the road. The Texas Rangers catch up with Bowie, who is betrayed by Mattie and meets a violent end. Keechie carries on, pregnant with Bowie's baby. (In Anderson's novel, she too is killed by the Texas Rangers.)

Wednesday, Jan. 23 - Drive-In

Drive-In (1976)

"Disaster '76", the latest disaster film, is playing at The Alamo, a drive-in theater in a small Texas town. The night brings together a young couple, two rival youth gangs, a pair of thieves planning to rob the drive-in, a nervous doctor and a host of other characters.

During a hot summer night in Texas, the local drive-in plays host to a number of hook-ups and hijinks. Glowie (Lisa Lemole), the town's most attractive girl, tries to dodge the attentions of local bad boy Enoch (Billy Milliken) and at the same time seduce the sweet but socially inept Orville (Glenn Morshower). Meanwhile, bungling stick-up man Will Henry (Gordon Hurst) repeatedly tries and fails to rob the place, and a couple of local gangs argue over who owns what turf.

Tuesday, Jan. 22 - Hide-Out

Hide-Out (1934)

About handsome, smartly-dressed "Lucky" Wilson (played by Robert Montgomery), ladies' man and racketeer who spends his time hitting up successful New York nightclubs for "protection" money and at the same time hits on every blonde he sees (even when it means dumping the current blonde he's with). When a couple of smart cops get someone to spill the beans on his rackets, Lucky is forced to leave town in a hurry and head for a hideout, but he gets himself shot on the way out and ends up getting picked up on the road by a Connecticut farmer, who bunks injured Lucky in his quite lovely family home/farm.

The kindly family proceeds to nurse Lucky back to health, but Lucky just wants to get out of there - until he meets the farmer's beautiful daughter Pauline (Maureen O'Sullivan). Soon he's feeding the chickens, milking the cow, picking cherries, chopping wood, and performing other farm chores (all dressed in his nice white shirt and jacket) all in pursuit of the girl.

Monday, Jan. 21 - The Night Visitor & Highway Patrol: Reckless Driving

The Night Visitor (1971)

A man named Salem escapes from an insane asylum where he was confined for an axe-murder. Falsely convicted under a plea of "guilty due to insanity", he does not plan to let his sister and her husband forget that they were responsible for the murder of a farmhand and for his cruel imprisonment in the asylum.

An inmate named Salem (Max von Sydow) escapes from an insane asylum in the dead of winter. His destination is the house of his sister, Ester (Liv Ullmann) and her husband, Anton (Per Oscarsson). His quest is revenge as he sets about framing Anton because Salem feels he was set up for a horrendous axe murder two years previously. On the case is a police inspector (Trevor Howard) who must determine if Anton is really crazy for claiming he saw Salem outside of the asylum and discover if Salem was really framed.

Highway Patrol (1955–1959): Reckless Driving (Season 1 | Episode 3 - aired 17 October 1955)

A program of stepped-up enforcement reduces the accident rate on a new stretch of highway, but fast-driving salesman Harry Brent fails to heed several warnings. On the recommendation of Dan Mathews, the State DMV suspends Harry's license and his wife Clara begins driving him on his sales trips. Clara's cautious style of driving doesn't set well with Harry's impatient nature and the situation comes to a head when she is unable to drive after her glasses are accidentally broken at a roadside diner. Harry makes an impetuous decision to ignore the Highway Patrol's willingness to help and drive them on the rest of the trip himself, even though he has no driver's license. The decision has tragic consequences.

Sunday, Jan. 20 - Eye in the Labyrinth & Highway Patrol: Machine-Napping

Eye in the Labyrinth (1972) - L'occhio nel labirinto (original title)

Julie (Rosemary Dexter) is disturbed by the disappearance of her psychiatrist boyfriend Luca (Horst Frank) following a bizarre dream where she witnessed him murdered. She travels to a seaside village where he might be and encounters Frank (Adolfo Celi), who tells her Luca has indeed been there. Julie's investigation leads her the house of Gerta (Alida Valli), where the mystery deepens among the odd characters residing at this artists enclave.

Highway Patrol (1955–1959): Machine-Napping (Season 1 | Episode 2 - aired 10 October 1955)

Posing as truck drivers, two men steal a $100,000 computer from Ferris Electronics and demand $100,000 in ransom for its safe return. The computer is large and unassembled, so Dan Mathews deduces that it must be hidden in a large building in a remote location. He arranges to have Richard Ferris get the ransom money from the bank, but an officer who resembles Mr. Ferris is assigned to take it to the prearranged rendezvous. The thieves panic when they realize that they are under inescapable surveillance by the Highway Patrol helicopter. One gives himself up and the other makes a frantic (and inevitably futile) attempt to get away in the rough terrain.

Saturday, Jan. 19 - Woman of Straw

Woman of Straw (1964)

A ruthless tycoon, whom his nephew (Anthony "Tony" Richmond) hates as he had both deprived his father of half of the family business and had (after his father had committed suicide) married his mother. A nurse (Maria) from a poor Italian family, is initially hired to care for the tycoon. She initially dislikes him because he abuses his employees. Tony convinces Maria to persist in his employ, however, telling her that he plans to bequeath his entire (50 million pound) fortune to charity. He plans to help her marry him, then to help him change his will, and (perhaps) then to help her achieve her inheritance...all for a payoff of 1 million pounds.