Thursday, January 30 - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1970)

Ivan Denisovich (Tom Courtenay) is a prisoner in a Siberian labor camp where he's been sentenced to 10 long years. Sick one morning, he oversleeps and is punished for it with latrine duty. When he reports his illness to the infirmary, he's told no more prisoners can be exempted from work and is sent to do construction work in the brutal cold. As the day wears on, Ivan rejoices that his illness has passed, does a favor for a scrap of food and tries to maintain what he can of his humanity.

Wednesday, January 29 - A Matter of WHO

A Matter of WHO (1961)

After American oilman Cooper (Cyril Wheeler) lands in England deathly sick with smallpox, a detective for the World Health Organization named Archibald Bannister (Terry-Thomas), attempts to find out how the American contracted it and if anyone else exposed to the disease has entered the country. Other cases do sprout up around Europe, seemingly with no common connection. While on the hunt for the origin of the contagion, Bannister gets cozy with Cooper's wife, Michele (Sonja Ziemann).

Tuesday, January 28 - Highway Patrol: Trojan Horse & Female Hitchhiker

Highway Patrol: Trojan Horse (Season 2 Episode 23 - aired Mar 12, 1957)

Truck driver Buzz Larkin gets clearance to leave his truck parked overnight on the grounds of the Jarmin Manufacturing Company. During the night, his older brother Whitey and their accomplice Jim emerge from crates on the truck. They assault the watchman, rob the safe of $27,000, and return to their hiding crates in time for the foreman (and Dan Mathews) to permit Buzz to leave the grounds with the truck. Subsequently, Dan learns that Whitey was a convicted safe-cracker and he deduces that the Larkins and their accomplice are the perpetrators. When Dan and his officers arrive at the Larkins' home, Whitey becomes anxious to avoid a return to prison and initiates an armed conflict.

Highway Patrol: Female Hitchhiker (Season 2 Episode 24 - aired Mar 18, 1957)

Warren Childs has two female accomplices (Charlene and "The Blonde") who pose as hitchhikers in order to rob male motorists that are carrying large sums of cash. The Blonde steals $2,500 from businessman Doyle Houston, but is forced to shoot and kill him when he tries to fight back. Dan Mathews investigates the murder and traces Childs, Houston, and the two women back to the Highway Motel. When they learn that Houston had left a nearby restaurant with The Blonde, they realize that Childs and both women have been involved in the crimes. Dan trails the three to a remote cabin and captures Childs and Charlene. The Blonde initially eludes Dan, but her distinctive "Midnight Lure" perfume ultimately proves her undoing.

Monday, January 27 - The Magnet

The Magnet (1950)

A mixture of a psychological study of a ten-year-old boy, an English domestic comedy and a satire on psychologists finds young Johnny Brent, the only child of a pair of psychologists, trading an "invisible watch" to a much-younger child for a large magnet. His nurse/nanny accuses him of stealing and scolds him and he runs away. He soon convinces himself that the police are after him and following several unsuccessful attempts to get rid of the magnet, he presents it to an organizer of a fund-raising campaign for acquiring an iron-lung for the local hospital. The magnet is one of the auction items and finally is mounted on the iron-lung as a tribute to the unknown donor. Meanwhile, the father makes a completely inaccurate diagnosis for the mother of the boy's worries. In the end the boy meets the child he thought had died as a result of losing the magnet, and trades the boy back for the return of his "invisible watch" the gold medal the town mayor had given him for his part in the hospital campaign.

Sunday, January 26 - I See a Dark Stranger

I See a Dark Stranger (1946)

Determined, independent Bridie Quilty comes of age in 1944 Ireland thinking all Englishmen are devils. Her desire to join the IRA meets no encouragement, but a German spy finds her easy to recruit. We next find her working in a pub near a British military prison, using her sex appeal in the service of the enemy. But chance puts a really vital secret into her hands, leading to a chase involving Bridie, a British officer who's fallen for her, a German agent unknown to them both, and the police... paralleled by Bridie's own internal conflicts.

Saturday, January 25 - Wall of Death

Wall of Death (Original title: There Is Another Sun - 1951)

Laurence Harvey is a tank fighter for Leslie Dwyer in a traveling carnival; Maxwell Reed is his pal, and a daredevil motorcycle rider in the same show. Susan Shaw is a chorus line dancer who falls in with them. Harvey is the man she has set her cap at, but Reed has some less-than-legal plans that keep drawing Harvey into danger, especially when policeman Meredith Edwards comes by, knowing more than he can prove; but of course all the carny folk close ranks against him...

Friday, January 24 - Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased): The Man from Nowhere

My Partner the Ghost: The Man from Nowhere (Season 1 Episode 15 - aired Dec 28, 1969)

Jeannie is approached by a man who claims to be the reincarnation of Marty. He is very convincing and she is eventually taken in - unlike the real Marty. The impostor takes her to a hotel in the Cotswolds where the Hopkirks spent their honeymoon - shadowed by Marty and Jeff - and two other men. It transpires that the trio are robbers who buried their loot in the vicinity but had a car smash involving the Hopkirks. The false Marty lost his memory in the prang and is hoping that Jeannie can lead him to the spoils. Fortunately the real Marty - and Jeff - intervene, with Jeff claiming the reward.

Thursday, January 23 - Family Plot

Family Plot (1976)

Blanche (Barbara Harris), a less than reputable psychic, and her equally shady boyfriend, George (Bruce Dern), are hired by an elderly lady to find her nephew Arthur (William Devane), who had been given up for adoption as a boy. With little information to go on, the pair track down the now-adult man in San Francisco. Arthur has had a colorful past, including murder and thievery with girlfriend Fran (Karen Black). So when he discovers he is being trailed, he assumes it's for other reasons.

Wednesday, January 22 - Bourbon Street Beat: If a Body

Bourbon Street Beat: If a Body (Season 1 Episode 28 - aired Apr 18, 1960)

When another singer at her nightclub is murdered, Lusti Weather becomes the prime suspect.

Tuesday, January 21 - The Naked Truth

Your Past Is Showing (Original title: The Naked Truth - 1957)

Nigel Dennis publishes a scandal magazine. But for each story he writes, he first approaches the person whose scandalous behavior is described (or rather implied, to avoid any libel suit) and says he will suppress the story in return for money. Several of his victims first decide individually to kill him instead of paying, but fail in amusing ways. Then they find that to protect their various secrets they must now join forces for a rather different purpose.

Monday, January 20 - Hunted

The Stranger in Between (Original title: Hunted) (1952)

Violent fugitive and mistreated small boy team up to flee from authority: Bogarde is a hopeless, alienated character fleeing from the police after a crime of momentary passion. He is joined by a scared and emotionally scarred small boy also on the run from a harsh reality. Their journey together is grueling yet at the same time strangely aimless, as they focus on escaping the past with little idea of their future.

Sunday, January 19 - The Champions: Get Me Out of Here!

The Champions: Get Me Out of Here! (Season 1 Episode 22 - aired Feb 26, 1969)

Whilst on a philanthropic visit to her home island of San Dios medical researcher Professor Anna Maria Martes is placed under house arrest as the corrupt government want her to continue her work on the island, allowing them to take the credit. She is on the verge of an important breakthrough and the Champions are sent to rescue her. Craig makes contact but is spotted and Anna Maria is taken to jail, allegedly for her own safety. The Champions cripple the jail's generator and, using their night vision to see in the dark, break in and spring her. They have still to get her to the escape boat moored on the coast but help comes from an unlikely source.