DVR Alerts for This Weekend

Set your DVR for the following upcoming presentations this weekend on Turner Classic Movies (all times Eastern):


Friday, Noon:  "It Happened One Night" (1934)  This was the first movie that swept the four major Academy Awards, Best Picture, Actor, Actress, and Director.  (Two other movies have done it since.  Can you name them?)  I watched this movie for the first time about five years ago and found it to be absolutely delightful.  Allowing for updates for time and historical references, if this same movie were made today, it would still be terrific.  This is also the movie that gave rise to the perhaps apocryphal statement: "When Gable took off his shirt, underwear sales dropped 50%."


Friday, 8:00 PM: "American Graffiti" (1973) Great movie from director George Lucas about teenagers in 1962 getting ready to leave high school and begin young adulthood.  An unbelievable cast of actors who were mostly unknown at the time: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Suzanne Sommers, and Harrison Ford, among others and an absolutely fabulous sound track.


Saturday, 6:15 PM: "Knute Rockne, All American" (1940) Pat O'Brien in his most famous role as Notre Dame's legendary football coach.  This movie is a must for all fans of the Fighting Irish.  And if you like seeing our 40th President on screen, this may also be Ronald Reagan's most famous role as well.  As George Gipp, Reagan was on screen for less that 10 minutes in this flick, but he milked his role as "the Gipper" all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.


Sunday, 11:30 AM: "The Seven Year Itch" (1955)  This Billy Wilder movie is an ordinary comedy at best, except, and it is a pretty big exception, when Marilyn Monroe is on screen.  She is a delight as the mysterious and alluring "girl upstairs."