Booze News: May TCM Booze Movies Schedule

Month after month, Turner Classic Movies provides the finest programming for soused cinema fanatics (and for film lovers of all stripes). In May, the whiskey will be flowing freer than ever, as TCM salutes legendary crooner and Jack Daniels advocate, Frank Sinatra. Ol’ Blue Eyes will own Sunday and Wednesday nights on the network, with a retrospective of 40 of his films and TV specials.

I’ve listed some highlights of TCM’s Sinatrafest below (including a showing of all of the Rat Pack films on May 21st). There are a number of additional “booze movies” scheduled on the network next month, so they are listed as well.

By the way, I’m considering making this a monthly feature. If you find the schedule useful, let me know. I’d also appreciate comments if you know of soused cinema screenings coming up on other networks.

Cheers,

garv

All Times Eastern

2 Friday

12:45 PM Country Girl, The (1954)

While Der Bingle drinks, his wife, Grace Kelly, eyes another man. Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden. Dir: George Seaton. BW-104 mins

2:30 PM High Society (1956)

Musical version of The Philadelphia Story. Whatta swell party this is. Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra. Dir: Charles Walters. C-107 mins, Letterbox Format

1:36 AM Short Film: Drunk Driving (1939)

BW-21 mins,

3 Saturday

4:15 PM Moulin Rouge (1952)

Absinthe anyone? Toulouse-Lautrec fights to find love despite his physical limitations. Cast: Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Colette Marchand. Dir: John Huston. C-119 mins

4 Sunday

8:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music (1965)

Sinatra’s swingin’ 60’s TV music special. Dir: Dwight Hemion. C-50 mins

11:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music (1965)

(Watch it again if you’re drunk enough.)

7 Wednesday

8:00 PM From Here To Eternity (1953)

Enlisted men in Hawaii fight for love and honor on the eve of World War II. They also drink. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra. Dir: Fred Zinnemann. BW-118 mins

8 Thursday

4:30 PM Thunder Road (1958)

Drive-in moonshine classic. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Keely Smith. Dir: Arthur Ripley. BW-93 mins

6:15 PM Entertainer, The (1960)

A third-rate vaudevillian uses liquor and young women to escape the pressures of changing times. Cast: Laurence Olivier, Brenda de Banzie, Joan Plowright. Dir: Tony Richardson. BW-104 mins, Letterbox Format

9 Friday

8:15 AM Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)

A dying plantation owner tries to help his alcoholic son solve his problems. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives. Dir: Richard Brooks. C-108 mins, Letterbox Format

11 Sunday

8:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, part 2 (1966)

Frank Sinatra, joined by his daughter Nancy, performs a set of classics. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra. Dir: Dwight Hemion. C-50 mins

11:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, part 2 (1966)

(Drink. Swing. Repeat.)

12:00 AM Guys And Dolls (1955)

A big-city gambler bets that he can seduce a Salvation Army girl (with the help of Bicardi). Cast: Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons. Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. C-149 mins, Letterbox Format

12 Monday

6:00 PM African Queen, The (1951)

A gin-swillin’ skipper and a spirited missionary take on the Germans in Africa during World War I. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn. Dir: John Huston. C-105 mins

11:15 PM Slight Case Of Murder, A (1938)

Gangsters, murder, comedy, and beer. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins. Dir: Lloyd Bacon. BW-85 mins

14 Wednesday

11:30 AM Kissin' Cousins (1964)

Elvis and moonshine. Cast: Elvis Presley, Arthur O'Connell, Yvonne Craig. Dir: Gene Nelson. C-96 mins, Letterbox Format

10:15 PM Marriage on the Rocks (1965)

Frank and Dino in a so-so romantic comedy. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin. Dir: Jack Donohue. C-109 mins, Letterbox Format

12:15 AM High Society (1956)

(It’s still a swell party.)

18 Sunday

8:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (1967)

Frank Sinatra is joined by Ella and Jobim for the second of his 1960s television specials. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Antonio Carlos Jobim. Dir: Michael Pfleghar. C-60 mins

9:00 PM Pal Joey (1957)

The quintessential Sinatra film! An opportunistic singer woos a wealthy widow to boost his career. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak. Dir: George Sidney. C-109 mins, Letterbox Format

11:00 PM Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (1967)
(Play it again, Frank.)

2:00 AM Joker Is Wild, The (1957)

Sinatra portrays boozin’ singer/comic Joe E. Lewis. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain. Dir: Charles Vidor. BW-126 mins

19 Monday

8:00 PM Hobson's Choice (1954)

A pub-lovin’ widower fights to control the lives of his three strong-willed daughters. Cast: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda De Banzie. Dir: David Lean. BW-107 mins,

20 Tuesday

11:30 AM Philadelphia Story, The (1940)

Jimmy Stewart gets drunk. Cast: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart. Dir: George Cukor. BW-112 mins

5:15 AM Harvey (1950)

Stewart drinks again! Cast: James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Cecil Kellaway. Dir: Henry Koster. BW-104 mins,

21 Wednesday

8:00 PM Ocean's Eleven (1960)

The Rat Pack plans to rob a Las Vegas casino. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr.. Dir: Lewis Milestone. C-128 mins, Letterbox Format

10:15 PM Sergeants 3 (1962)

The Rat Pack goes West. This hasn’t aired on television in over 20 years. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. Dir: John Sturges. C-112 mins

12:15 AM Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964)

The booziest of the Rat Pack films. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. Dir: Gordon Douglas. C-123 mins, Letterbox Format

2:30 AM 4 For Texas (1963)

Frank and Dino are rival saloon owners. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Charles Bronson. Dir: Robert Aldrich. C-115 mins, Letterbox Format

4:45 AM Some Came Running (1958)

Good dramatic turns from Frank, Dino, and Shirley. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin. Dir: Vincente Minnelli. C-136 mins, Letterbox Format

25 Sunday

8:00 PM Frank Sinatra: Ol' Blue Eyes is Back (1973)

Ol' Blue Eyes confidently delivers a slate of quintessentially Frank tunes. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly. Dir: Marty Pasetta. C-60 mins

11:00 PM Frank Sinatra: Ol' Blue Eyes is Back (1973)

(His eyes are just as blue the second time around.)

26 Monday

6:00 AM Wings (1927)

Buddy Rodgers gets drunk in this Oscar-winning silent. Cast: Richard Arlen, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Clara Bow. Dir: William A. Wellman. BW-139 mins