Classic Movie Picks: April

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

4/16 : "April Fools" - The Comedies of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker
8 PM - The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
9:30 PM - Top Secret! (1984)
11:15 PM - Airplane! (1980)
This is no joke, if you are looking for subtle humor or witty repartee - don't watch these films. These films are very silly. If you like watching silly films, well, then the work of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker (or ZAZ!) may be just what you are looking for. The directing and writing team of ZAZ takes a buckshot approach to comedy - throw so many gags onscreen that something is bound to hit. So, while some of the more topical jokes can fall flat (especially 30 years later) there is still a lot to laugh at in all three of these films.

BONUS FOOL: 1 AM - The Silencers (1966)
In this slice of pure 60s cheese Dean Martin stars as a playful James Bond knock-off named Matt Helm. This film, which would be the first in a series of Matt Helm adventures, finds Dino defending a nuclear testing ground - when he's not romancing Stella Stevens, of course.

4/18, 2:15 PM - The Palm Beach Story (1942)
4/28, 8 PM - Midnight (1939)
10 PM - Arise, My Love (1940)
Claudette Colbert was one of the most popular actresses of the 30s and 40s. She won the best actress Oscar for her role as a spoiled heiress on the lam in 1934's It Happened One Night. I loved her in that film and my appreciation grows with each new performance I see. She is probably best known for comedy, but she was just as skilled at drama. This month you get to see the two sides of Miss Colbert (ironic due to the fact that she was apparently hard to light and, therefore, often only filmed from one side). The Palm Beach Story and Midnight are two cracking screwball comedies; in fact two of her best films, period. Arise, My Love is a romance set in Europe on the eve of World War II. I've never seen Arise, My Love, so I am eager to discover another great Colbert performance.


4/22: Twenty Years of the Film Foundation
The Film Foundation is a non-profit organization, founded by Martin Scorsese and many other distinguished filmmakers, devoted to film preservation. Through partnerships with the nation's leading archives, the Foundation has funded the restoration of 525 films. TCM is showing 5 of these films tonight. Scorsese has called The Red Shoes and The River the two most beautiful Technicolor films ever made - that's got to be worth setting the DVR (or VCR) for tonight!
8 PM - The Red Shoes (1948)
10:30 PM - Once Upon a Time in the West (1969)
1:30 AM - The River (1951)
3:30 AM - Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
5:30 AM - The Night Club Lady (1932)


4/24: Vanity Fair's Tales of Hollywood
In a previous post I mentioned this recently published collection of excellent behind-the-scenes essays. Several of the films covered in the book will be screened during the TCM Classic Film Festival, but you can catch 4 of the films tonight on TCM. All four are essential viewing for anyone who loves classic film.
8 PM - The Graduate (1967)
10 PM - The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
12 AM - Reds (1981)
3:30 AM - Rebel Without a Cause (1955)