Film Noir and Neo-Noir on TCM: March, 2024

*All times are PT. Please check your local listings to confirm dates and times.

Friday, March 1, 11:00 AM

I WANT TO LIVE (1958): Susan Hayward deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for her bravura performance as Barbara Grahame, a former prostitute and drug addict, executed for murder. Hayward perfectly captures a possibly innocent woman convicted more for her lifestyle than evidence. Dir. Robert Wise

Saturday, March 2, 5:15 AM

THE THIN MAN (1934): Dashiell Hammett’s urbane but fun-loving sleuths Nick and Nora Charles, along with their pup Asta, investigate the disappearance of an inventor in this classic blend of laughs and suspense. Shot in just two weeks by director Woody "One-Shot'' Van Dyke and cinematographer James Wong Howe, this gem set the gold standard for the sophisticated comedy—inspiring five sequels as well as countless inferior imitations. Van Dyke previously directed Myrna Loy and William Powell in Manhattan Melodrama and spotted the terrific chemistry of their off-screen banter between takes. He insisted on casting the pair as Hammett’s hard-drinking super-couple and the glamorous pair became one of the movies' great romantic teams. Shot by the legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe. The film garnered four Oscar nominations, Best Picture, Best actor for Powell, Best Director, and Best Writing, Adaptation for Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Dir. Woody Van Dyke

Saturday, March 2, 9:00 AM

ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959): In this dryly witty courtroom drama, based on real events, a small-town lawyer (James Stewart) more interested in fishing and playing the piano then practicing law gets the case of a lifetime when he defends a soldier (Ben Gazzara) accused of murdering the man who beat and raped his flirtatious wife (Lee Remick). Eve Arden once again does a lot with a small part as his long-suffering secretary. George C. Scott earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as the District Attorney. Duke Ellington composed the jazz score. Dir. Otto Preminger

Sunday, March 3, 1:00 PM

THE LOST WEEKEND (1945): Ray Milland won the Oscar for his performance as Don Birnam, an alcoholic writer with writer’s block who reaches the lower depths while on a bender. The story cuts between the present and the past, trying to explain what’s led him down the path of self-destruction despite the love of his brother (Phillip Terry) and his girlfriend (Jane Wyman). The film also won the Oscars for Picture, Director and Screenplay. Based on the groundbreaking novel by Charles R. Jackson Dir. Billy Wilder

Tuesday, March 5, 5:00 PM & Thursday, March 21, 7:00 PM

IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967): In a small Mississippi town, racist Police Chief Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) mistakenly accuses African American Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) of the recent murder of a prominent Northern industrialist. When Gillespie discovers that Tibbs is a Homicide detective from Philadelphia, he enlists his help to solve the murder. This groundbreaking neo-noir won five Oscars, including Best Picture. Dir. Norman Jewison

Wednesday, March 6, 1:30 AM

ALL THE KING’S MEN (1949) In this Best Picture Oscar winner, Broderick Crawford, who also won an Oscar for his performance, stars as backwoods lawyer Willie Stark, whose canny and calculating populist politics take him to national prominence—before chicanery and deceit lead to his shocking and sudden demise. Robert Penn Warren based his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel on the rise and fall of 1930s Louisiana governor Huey “Kingfish” Long, and this film version is given a dark noir patina by writer-director Rossen (Johnny O’Clock, Body and Soul), Oscar-nominated for both his script and direction, and DP Burnett Guffey. Mercedes McCambridge won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Stark’s ruthless political aide Sadie Burke, and John Ireland received an Academy nod as Jack Burden, a conscience-stricken newsman turned Stark press agent. Dir. Robert Rossen

Thursday, March 7, 8:45 AM—3:00 PM

A Hitchcock, a Noir, and one for the Myrna Loy/William Powell fans

8:45 AM

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940): An American reporter (Joel McCrea) covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat which leads to his uncovering a political conspiracy with the aid of the daughter (Laraine Day) of a prominent politician (Herbert Marshall) and a chap named ffolliott “with two small ‘f’s” (George Sanders), his rival for the girl’s affection. This tremendously entertaining film features several vintage Hitchcock set pieces. The film was nominated for six Oscars. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

11:00 AM

THE LETTER (1940): Bette Davis gives a masterful performance as a married woman claiming self-defense in the murder of a fellow Britisher on her husband’s rubber plantation in Malay. This succeeds both as a film noir and an incisive look into colonialism. Herbert Marshall gives a deeply empathetic performance as the loving husband. Watch for Victor Sen Yung as a solicitous lawyer’s clerk. Based on a play by Somerset Maugham, dramatized from his own short story. Nominated for seven Oscars: Best Picture; Best Actress in a Leading Role, Bette Davis; Best Actor in a Supporting Role, James Stephenson; Best Director, William Wyler; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Tony Gaudio; Best Film Editing, Warren Low; Best Music, Original Score, Max Steiner. Dir. William Wyler

1:00 PM

LIBELED LADY (1936): When a major newspaper libels wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) stating she’s a home-wrecker, she files a multi-million-dollar lawsuit. Frazzled editor, Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) delays his marriage to his long-suffering fiancé (Jan Harlow) to focus on the crisis. He enlists his dashing friend Bill Chandler (William Powell) in a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with hilariously unexpected results. Nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Dir. Jack Conway

Saturday, March 9, 8:00 AM

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941): How do I love this movie, let me count the ways… In arguably the first, and greatest, film noir, hard-boiled detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) gets caught up in the deadly search for a priceless statue. Along the way he tangles with a murderous liar (Mary Astor), a foppish thug (Peter Lorre) and an obese mastermind (Sydney Greenstreet). Director John Huston brilliantly adapted it from the Dashiell Hammett novel and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay. The film also garnered nominations for Best Picture and for Sydney Greenstreet, in his film debut, Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Dir. John Huston

Sunday, March 10, 1:00 AM

BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967): In this critically acclaimed and deeply influential classic, the legendary bank robbers and lovers (Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway) embark on a crime spree during the Depression era Dust Bowl of the 1930s and become folk heroes. The film won two Oscars, Estelle Parsons for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Burnett Guffey for Best Cinematography, an additional eight nominations. Dir. Arthur Penn

Monday, March 11, 3:00 AM—6:30 PM

Humphrey Bogart Double Feature

3:00 AM

THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940): Truck driver Joe Fabrini (George Raft) finds himself the victim of sexual harassment by his boss’s amorous wife (Ida Lupino) in a movie stealing performance. When Joe refuses her advances, she murders her husband and then tries to frame him for it. Humphrey Bogart portrays Raft’s brother and trucking partner. Dir. Raoul Walsh

4:45 AM

HIGH SIERRA (1941): Humphrey Bogart plays Roy Earle, a hardened criminal with a heart of gold, who finds love, redemption, and a not so happy ending with the lovely and vulnerable Ida Lupino in this noir classic. This was one of three roles that George Raft refused that Bogart accepted, ironically the three roles that shot him into stardom after years of playing second bananas at Warner Brothers to among others, George Raft. Dir. Raoul Walsh

Monday, March 11, 11:45 AM

WHITE HEAT (1949): “Top of the world, Ma!” A G-man (Edmond O'Brien) infiltrates a gang run by a mother-fixated psychotic, James Cagney in a standout performance. This film marks the cinematic movement away from the traditional Warner Brothers’ portrayal of the gangster to the more cynical and psychological film noir interpretation. Virginia Kellogg garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story for the film. Pointless trivia: Naked Gun 33 1/3 borrowed the plot. Dir. Raoul Walsh

Tuesday, March 12, 3:00 PM

THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974): Lieutenant Garber (Walter Matthau) races the clock to thwart the plot of four criminals Blue (Robert Shaw), Green (Martin Balsam), Grey (Hector Elizondo) & Brown (Earl Hindman). They’re holding a subway car full of passenger’s hostage and threaten to shoot one each minute until a one-million-dollar ransom is fully paid. Dir. Joseph Sargent

Tuesday, March 12, 7:00 PM

MILDRED PIERCE (1945): Joan Crawford won an Oscar for her performance as a woman who builds herself up from grass widow to successful restaurateur in a desperate effort to win the love of the most ungrateful brat in the history of cinema, her daughter Veda, brilliantly played by Ann Blyth. A marriage of convenience, adultery and murder ensue. At least Mildred has the greatest best friend ever, a wisecracking Eve Arden. Based on the James M. Cain story. Dir. Michael Curtiz

Tuesday, March 14, 3:30 AM—2:30 PM

Street Crime Marathon

It’s a pun, son.

3:30 AM

SIDE STREET (1950): A New York City mailman (Farley Granger) dreams of taking his wife (Cathy O’Donnell) to Europe. So, he steals a shipment of dirty money and soon finds himself pursued by both cops and crooks. Dir. Anthony Mann

5:00 AM

STAKEOUT ON DOPE STREET (1958): Three teens (Yale Wexler, Morris Miller, Jonathon Haze) get into the drug business when they discover heroin in a stolen briefcase. Things end badly. Dir. Irvin Kershner

6:30 AM

SCARLET STREET (1945): A henpecked cashier and weekend painter, Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson), falls for heartless tramp Kitty (Joan Bennett) whom he meets by chance. She and her pimp/boyfriend Johnny (Dan Duryea) play the sucker for everything he has. Then Chris starts to embezzle to keep his lady love happy and things go from bad to worse. Dir. Fritz Lang

8:30 AM

MAIN STREET AFTER DARK (1945): Lt. Lorrigan (Edward Arnold) has dedicated himself to getting the Dibson family off the streets and into prison. Ma (Selna Royle) guides her thieving children the best that she can. Her daughter (Dorothy Morris) and daughter-in-law (Audrey Totter) fleece service men at bars while her sons, newly out of prison Lefty (Tom Trout) and unemployed Posy (Dan Duryea) plan an armed robbery. Hume Cronyn plays the pawnshop owner (Hume Cronyn) who serves as the family’s fence. Dir. Edward L. Cahn

9:30 AM

THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET (1949): Managing editor Dave Joslin (Wayne Morris) is demoted to advice columnist when he criticizes the police for failing to protect a witness set to testify against a crime boss (Bruce Bennet). He enlists the help of the previous advice columnist and girlfriend Kit (Janis Page) to solve the murder of the witness. Dir. Richard Bare

10:45 AM

CRIME IN THE STREETS (1956): A social worker (James Whitmore) tries to redeem a juvenile delinquent (John Cassavetes) and finds himself trying to prevent a murder. Can he stop the kid from becoming another statistic? Dir. Don Siegel

12:30 PM

MYSTERY STREET (1950): A Cape Cod coroner (Ricardo Montalban) and a Harvard criminal pathologist (Bruce Bennett) try to solve a possible murder with nothing but the victim's bones to go on. Elsa Lanchester steals the show as the victim’s shady landlady. Leonard Spigelgass received an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story. Dir. John Sturges

Saturday, March 16, 11:30 AM

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955): A one-armed veteran (Spencer Tracy) uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family. Noir icon Robert Ryan shines as the bigoted boss of the town. This film earned 3 Oscar nominations: Spencer Tracy for Best Actor in a Leading Role; John Sturges for Best Director; and Best Writing, Screenplay for Millard Kaufman. Dir. John Sturges

Noir Alley

Saturday, March 16, 9:00 PM & Sunday, March 17, 7:00 AM

FNF Prez Eddie Muller presents

LE SAMOURAI (1967): A hit-man (Alain Delon pretty much wearing Alan Ladd’s costume from This Gun for Hire) tries to get away with murder but a beautiful pianist spells his doom. Achingly beautiful and sublimely meditative. Five stars. Dir. Jean-Pierre Melville

Friday, March 15, 11:15 AM

EXPERIMENT PERILOUS (1944): A chance meeting on a train with a stranger leads psychiatrist Huntington "Hunt" Brailey (George Brent) into the orbit of a beautiful married woman (Hedy Lamarr) whom he believes is in danger and whose husband (Paul Lukas) claims that she’s insane. Dir. Jacques Tourneur

Sunday, March 17, 5:00 AM

ODD MAN OUT (1947): Carol Reed’s intense manhunt thriller won the inaugural “Best Film” prize from the British Academy of Film Awards, and it remains one of the most highly regarded movies ever made in the United Kingdom. James Mason portrays beleaguered fugitive Johnny McQueen, an Irish Nationalist (the filmmakers were forbidden from using the name “Irish Republican Army”) on the lam after escaping from prison. While still in hiding, Johnny is roped into committing a heist that goes fatally wrong. Wounded, he caroms through the Belfast night trying to make it safely back to his guardian angel Kathleen (Kathleen Ryan), who has fallen for the escaped convict. Can Johnny navigate a nocturnal nightmare of danger and deceit? The stellar supporting cast, drawn mostly from Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, includes Cyril Cusack, Robert Newton, Dan (Conal Cochran) Dan O’Herlihy and William (Dr. Who) Hartnell. The cinematography by Robert Krasker is as good as his legendary work with director Reed on The Third Man. An all-time classic! Dir. Carol Reed

Monday, March 18, 4:30 AM

CRY WOLF (1947): A woman (Barbara Stanwyck) visits her late husband's family to claim her inheritance and soon finds herself in conflict with her scientist brother-in-law (Errol Flynn). Things take a gothic twist when she discovers agonizing cries coming from his secret laboratory. Richard Basehart, as always, raises the film out of its slightly silly story with his supporting performance. Dir. Peter Godfrey

Monday, March 18, 5:00 PM

THE BIG COMBO (1955): Lt. Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde), a police detective, tries to convict a mob boss Mr. Brown (Richard Conte) by going to the man's suicidal girlfriend Susan (Jean Wallace). Diamond’s obsessive desire to catch Mr. Brown may be due to his love for Susan. Cinematographer John Alton provided the iconic noir visual style of the film. Dir. Joseph Lewis

Wednesday, March 20, 8:30 AM

M (1951): The American version of Fritz Lang’s 1931 classic about a child murderer simultaneously hunted by the police and the underworld receives renewed impetus in the setting of Bunker Hill locations under the direction of Joe Losey. David Wayne turns in a bravura performance as the killer and is supported by a veritable character actor’s Hall of Fame: Howard Da Silva, Luther Adler, Steve Brodie, Raymond Burr, Norman Lloyd, Walter Burke and Jim Backus. Dir. Joseph Losey

Thursday, March 21, 5:00 PM

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968): A bored business tycoon (Steve McQueen) turns to bank robbery and courts the insurance investigator (Faye Dunaway) assigned to bring him in. Hard to decide which of the leads is prettier. Dir. Norman Jewison

Sunday, March 24, 1:00 AM

EDGE OF THE CITY (1957): A black stevedore, (Sidney Poitier) and a white army deserter (John Cassavetes) forge a deep bond while attempting to stand up to union corruption. Jack Warden co-stars as their abusive boss. Dir. Martin Ritt

Noir Alley

Saturday, March 23, 9:00 PM & Sunday, March 24, 7:00 AM

FNF Prez Eddie Muller presents

WHERE DANGER LIVES (1950): A suicidal patient (Faith Domergue) draws her doctor (Robert Mitchum) into a web of sex and murder in this dream like noir. When he accidentally kills her husband (Claude Rains in a film stealing performance), they go on the run to Mexico despite the brain injury that is slowly incapacitating him. Dir. John Farrow

Sunday, March 24, 6:30 PM

NOTORIOUS (1946): Ruthless but attractive U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) recruits party girl Alicia (Ingrid Bergman), the daughter of a German spy who committed suicide in prison, to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring in post-WW2 Brazil. In this morally gray but thrilling espionage tale by Ben Hecht, love plays second fiddle to duty: Alicia makes the supreme sacrifice and marries suspected ringleader Alexander (Claude Rains) to aid her lover Devlin’s mission. Rains and Leopoldine Konstantin (who plays Alexander’s overly devoted mum) steal the picture from one of the most gorgeous romantic pairs of all time with their sterling performances. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

Friday, March 29, 9:30 PM

WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH HELEN? (1971): After their sons are convicted of the brutal murder of a young woman, Harlowesque Adelle Bruckner (Debbie Reynolds) and frumpy Helen Hill (Shelly Winters) move to 1930’s Hollywood to start a dance studio dedicated to turning out "little Shirley Temples." Madness, greed, jealousy and revenge follow. Dir. Curtis Harrington

Saturday, March 30, 3:00 PM

GET CARTER (1971): A must-see brutal neo-gangster-noir. Ruthless gun-for-hire Carter (Michael Caine) searches for the truth behind his brother's death. The director went on to make another great gangster revenge picture thirty years later with Clive Owen called I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (2003). Dir. Mike Hodges

Noir Alley

Saturday, March 30, 9:00 PM & Sunday, March 31, 7:00 AM

FNF Prez Eddie Muller presents

PUSHOVER (1954): A police detective (Fred MacMurray) falls for the bank robber's girlfriend (Kim Novak) who he is supposed to be tailing. You’d think after what Barbara Stanwyck did to him in Double Indemnity, MacMurray would know enough to stay away from the damn blondes. Dir. Richard Quine

NOIR ALLEY on Hiatus for 31 Days of Oscar

NOIR ALLEY with FNF prez Eddie Muller will be on hiatus during the first two weeks of March due to TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar 2024. The show will return with Eddie on March 16. He will be presenting Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï (1967) starring Alain Delon.

Susan Hayward in I Want To Live on March 1

Myrna Loy and William Powell in The Thin Man on March 5

George Sanders, Laraine Day and Joel McCrea in Foreign Correspondent on March 7

Bette Davis on the set of The Letter screening March 7

Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracey in Libeled Lady on March 7

Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon on March 9

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde on March 10

Ida Lupino in They Drive by Night on March 11

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three screens March 12

Farley Granger stars in Side Street on March 14

Stakeout on Dope Street screens March 16

Edward Arnold, Dan Duryea and Tom Trout in Main Street after Dark on March 16

The House Across the Street screens March 16

Eddie Muller presents Bad Day at Black Rock on NOIR ALLEY on March 16

Eddie Muller presents Le Samourai on NOIR ALLEY on March 16 and March 17

Hedy Lamarr stars in Experiment Perilous on March 15

Top-noir Odd Man Out starring James Mason on March 17

Barbara Stanwyck and Errol Flynn in Cry Wolf on March 18

David Wayne in Joseph Losey's M on March 20

John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier in Edge of the City on March 24

Eddie Muller presents Robert Mitchum and Faith Domergue in Where Danger Lives on March 23

Michael Caine stars in Get Carter on March 30

Debbie Reynolds and Shelly Winters in What's the Matter with Helen on March 29

Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak in Pushover on March 30