Classic Movie Picks: December

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.)

12/4: If you only know him as the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, then tonight's line-up is a lovely introduction to the wider filmography of Mike Newell. (My only complaint is that they aren't showing my favorite Newell film, Donnie Brasco, an excellent film about the mob, as told through the eyes of an undercover FBI agent. Bonus pick for December: rent Donnie Brasco!) Enchanted April (8:00 PM) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (10:00 PM) are charming glimpses of the British upper middle class during two very different time periods and Amazing Grace and Chuck (12:00 AM) is a somewhat forgotten movie from the end of the Cold War era with an intriguing premise - can a little league boycott serve as a catalyst for global nuclear disarmament?

12/6: All of Me (8:00 PM)
In January, I was repeatedly subjected to the trailer for The Pink Panther 2, starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. Each time I saw that trailer I had two reactions: "Wow, this movie looks stupid," followed by, "I wish I was watching All of Me."

12/25-26: "Holmes for Christmas" (12/15, 8:00 PM - 12/26, 6:30 PM)
To coincide with the Christmas Day release of Sherlock Holmes, TCM presents a marathon of 17 Sherlock Holmes films. The evening of the 25th will provide a variety of interpretations of the Holmes mysteries, including the first two films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson, respectively, Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, and the British Hammer Film Productions version of The Hound of the Baskervilles starring Peter Cushing as Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. The 26th offers a day of the definitive detecting duo of Rathbone and Bruce; their series of films from the 1940s will play in chronological order.

Throughout the month, TCM will be showing holiday-themed films. To find all scheduled showings, I suggest you go to TCM.com. Here are a few that I am looking forward to watching while sipping a mug of cocoa:
Fitzwilly - starring Dick Van Dyke as a butler who steals in order to keep his beloved, but clueless, mistress in the black. Also with Barbara Feldon and her hypnotically soothing voice.
Christmas in Connecticut - no, not the one directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is the original, with Barbara Stanwyck getting a lesson in how to flip pancakes and falling in love with the dreamy Dennis Morgan.
In the Good Old Summertime - I actually prefer this musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner, starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, to the excellent original. I suppose I am a sucker for all the singing, dancing, and beautiful costumes, which are unfortunately absent from the older film. And despite the name, it can be considered a Christmas movie.
Meet Me in St. Louis - another Judy Garland musical in glorious Technicolor which has key sequences set during Christmas. This is the film which gave us the classic carol "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."