Classic Movie Picks: May

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.)

5/1: Billy Wilder Comedies
8 PM - A Foreign Affair (1948)
10:15 PM - Some Like It Hot (1959)
12:30 AM - The Fortune Cookie (1966)
2:45 AM - The Major and the Minor (1942)
One of the reasons I love Billy wilder is his knack for making me laugh. Though his material can sometimes be a bit too broad for me, when he gets it right, it's perfection. To see this perfection for yourself watch Some Like It Hot followed by The Fortune Cookie.
BONUS: 4:30 AM - Billy Wilder Speaks (2006)
This documentary is highly enjoyable, especially if you are a Wilder fan, because you get a real glimpse of the director's personality. I would also recommend Cameron Crowe's book Conversations With Wilder which was compiled from numerous interviews Crowe conducted with Wilder around the same time as this film was made.

4/3: Robert Osborne's Musical Picks
8 PM - Can't Help Singing (1944)
9:45 PM - Moon Over Miami (1941)
11:30 PM - Cover Girl (1944)
1:30 AM - The Harvey Girls (1946)
Tonight, Robert Osborne takes his turn as programmer with four musicals starring some of his favorite actresses (that is my guess anyway). This evening of lovely leading ladies starts off with the delightful songbird Deanna Durbin followed by Moon Over Miami starring Betty Grable at her best. (This one is a favorite of mine, so I was surprised to see that it is a TCM premiere! I must have seen it on AMC when they used to show older films.) Then, the graceful Rita Hayworth dances with Gene Kelly in Cover Girl. And finally, plucky Judy Garland tames the Wild West in The Harvey Girls; Angela Lansbury (another personal favorite of mine) also stars as a woman of somewhat ill-repute.

5/16: Respect Your Elders Night
2:00 AM - Tokyo Story (1953)
This is probably Japanese director Yasugiro Ozu's best-known film and tonight you will see why. Speaking from my own experience, this story about an elderly couple whose family considers them an inconvenience is so heart-breaking it will stay with you forever. Many people may find the pacing slow, but hang in there, it's worth it.
4:30 AM - The Sunshine Boys (1975)
Keeping up the theme of elderly main characters this film stars Walter Matthau - hilarious as usual - and George Burns - in his Oscar-winning role - as a cantankerous pair of vaudeville comedians. These now-feuding former partners prove to be just as vexing to their younger caretakers as they are to each other. Even though he was only 55 at the time, Walter Matthau is totally convincing here as an ornery old coot alongside the 79 year old Burns.

5/28 - 5/31: Memorial Day Weekend Military Marathon
This weekend is heaven for military buffs with several days programming devoted to war films. I've picked out several that fall into my favorite category of war picture which seems to have peaked in popularity during the 60s. I'm talking about films in which a group of men (preferably misfits of some type) are brought together to complete one daring mission. Whether it be an escape or an invasion, they all end up heroes, even the dirty ones.
5/28, 10:15 PM - The Great Escape (1963)
5/29, 4:45 AM - The Secret Invasion (1964)
5/30, 12:00 PM - The Dirty Dozen (1967)
2:45 PM - The Guns of Navarone (1961)
5/31, 5 PM - Where Eagles Dare (1969)
8 PM - Kelly's Heroes (1970)
BONUS, 10 PM - The Eastwood Factor
May 31 is technically devoted to the films of Clint Eastwood in celebration of his 80th birthday. So, after catching Clint in two war films, stick around for this TCM original documentary. It is another in the fine series of documentaries made for TCM by film historian Richard Schickel. If the other docs were any indication, after watching this one, I'm sure to be inspired to seek out Eastwood films I've never seen and revisit those that I have.