Wow, is it January already? Of 2021? I had no idea that was coming. Boy.

Only one more month until TCM’s annual 31 Days of Oscar, so enjoy the network while you can.

I have been informed that TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar is being pushed back to April due to the late airing of the annual Academy Awards ceremony, so: yay!

There are a number of great blocks of pre-Codes including a good chunk of Lubitsch classics on the 7th an Alice White block on the 19th. There are some gems all over the month which is pretty nice, so you should be able to find something good pretty easily.

New year means that I’m making some resolutions to clean up the site. Since I’m moving sometime mid-2021 to who-knows-where, I will hopefully have more free time to dedicate to revamping and cleaning up this site, as well as working on my Maisie book which is slowly, slowly getting there.

So here’s to optimism in 2021! Maybe I’ll even have some left come February!

Pre-Code Movies on TCM in January 2021

  • All times listed here are Eastern Standard. This schedule is subject to change (like if someone dies or the world ends– you know how it is).
  • Plot descriptions and casts lists below come from TCM. See the full listings for the month here.
Date & Time Film

1/1
8:00 AM

Twentieth Century (1934)

A tempestuous theatrical director tries to win back the star he created and then drove away.

Dir:  Howard Hawks Cast:  John Barrymore , Carole Lombard , Walter Connolly .

BW- 91 mins, CC,

1/3
6:00 AM

The Blue Angel (1930)

A stodgy professor falls from grace when he’s seduced by a nightclub singer.

Dir:  Josef von Sternberg Cast:  Emil Jannings , Marlene Dietrich , Kurt Gerron.

BW- 107 mins,

1/4
9:15 PM

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

The famed English monarch suffers through five of his six disastrous marriages.

Dir:  Alexander Korda Cast:  Charles Laughton , Merle Oberon , Wendy Barrie .

BW- 94 mins, CC,

1/5
5:15 AM

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

A British aristocrat’s effete facade masks a swashbuckling hero rescuing victims of the French revolution.

Dir:  Harold Young Cast:  Leslie Howard , Merle Oberon , Raymond Massey.

BW- 98 mins, CC,

1/5
7:00 AM

Wedding Rehearsal (1932)

To avoid marriage, a nobleman schemes to marry off the eligible women on his family’s list.

Dir:  Alexander Korda Cast:  Maurice Evans , Roland Young , John Loder .

BW- 79 mins, CC,

1/7
12:30 PM

Let Us Be Gay (1930)

A visit to Paris brings divorced spouses back together.

Dir:  Robert Z. Leonard Cast:  Norma Shearer , Rod La Rocque , Marie Dressler.

BW- 79 mins, CC,

1/7
2:00 PM

Riptide (1934)

A chorus girl weds a British lord then falls for an old flame.

Dir:  Edmund Goulding Cast:  Norma Shearer , Robert Montgomery , Herbert Marshall .

BW- 92 mins, CC,

1/7
8:00 PM

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

A misfired flirtation lands a young lieutenant married to a princess instead of the one he loves.

Dir:  Ernst Lubitsch Cast:  Maurice Chevalier , Claudette Colbert , Miriam Hopkins .

BW- 89 mins, CC,

1/7
10:00 PM

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

A love triangle ignites trouble between two jewel thieves and their intended victim.

Dir:  Ernst Lubitsch Cast:  Miriam Hopkins , Kay Francis , Herbert Marshall .

BW- 82 mins, CC,

1/7
11:30 PM

Design For Living (1933)

An independent woman can’t chose between the two men she loves.

Dir:  Ernst Lubitsch Cast:  Fredric March , Gary Cooper , Miriam Hopkins .

BW- 91 mins, CC,

1/8
1:15 AM

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)

Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of a scientist who unleashes the beast within.

Dir:  Rouben Mamoulian Cast:  Fredric March , Miriam Hopkins , Rose Hobart .

BW- 96 mins, CC,

1/9
6:00 PM

King Kong (1933)

A film crew discovers the “eighth wonder of the world,” a giant prehistoric ape, and brings him back to New York, where he wreaks havoc.

Dir:  Merian C. Cooper Cast:  Fay Wray , Robert Armstrong , Bruce Cabot .

BW- 104 mins, CC,

1/13
3:15 AM

A Connecticut Yankee (1931)

An accident sends a modern repairman back in time to King Arthur’s court.

Dir:  David Butler Cast:  Will Rogers , William Farnum , Maureen O’Sullivan.

BW- 85 mins,

1/13
2:30 AM

Before Midnight (1934)

A police inspector investigates the murder of a man who prophesied his own death.

Dir:  Lambert Hillyer Cast:  Ralph Bellamy , June Collyer , Claude Gillingwater .

BW- 62 mins,

1/13
3:45 AM

The Phantom of Crestwood (1933)

Five men have to prove their innocence when a blackmailer is murdered.

Dir:  J. Walter Ruben Cast:  Ricardo Cortez , Karen Morley , Anita Louise .

BW- 76 mins, CC,

1/17
6:00 AM

Footlight Parade (1933)

A producer fights labor problems, financiers and his greedy ex-wife to put on a show.

Dir:  Lloyd Bacon Cast:  James Cagney , Joan Blondell , Ruby Keeler .

BW- 103 mins, CC,

1/19
8:15 AM

Show Girl in Hollywood (1930)

A Broadway songbird goes to Hollywood in search of screen stardom.

Dir:  Mervyn LeRoy Cast:  Alice White , Jack Mulhall , Blanche Sweet .

BW- 78 mins, CC,

1/19
9:45 AM

Employees’ Entrance (1933)

An unscrupulous department store manager stops at nothing to get what he wants.

Dir:  Roy Del Ruth Cast:  Warren William , Loretta Young , Wallace Ford .

BW- 75 mins, CC,

1/19
1:30 PM

Red Dust (1932)

A plantation overseer in Indochina is torn between a married woman and a lady of the evening.

Dir:  Victor Fleming Cast:  Clark Gable , Jean Harlow , Gene Raymond .

BW- 83 mins, CC,

1/19
8:00 PM

Smilin’ Through (1932)

A young woman falls in love with the son of an old family enemy.

Dir:  Sidney Franklin Cast:  Norma Shearer , Fredric March , Leslie Howard .

BW- 98 mins, CC,

1/20
2:45 AM

The Penguin Pool Murder (1932)

A feisty school teacher sets out to solve a murder in an aquarium.

Dir:  George Archainbaud Cast:  Edna May Oliver , James Gleason , Robert Armstrong .

BW- 65 mins, CC,

1/21
11:45 AM

Sing and Like It (1934)

A gangster tries to turn his tone-deaf girlfriend into a singing star.

Dir:  William A. Seiter Cast:  ZaSu Pitts , Pert Kelton , Edward Everett Horton .

BW- 72 mins, CC,

1/21
2:45 PM

Speak Easily (1932)

A professor gets mixed up with chorus girls in a Broadway musical.

Dir:  Edward Sedgwick Cast:  Buster Keaton , Jimmy Durante , Ruth Selwyn .

BW- 81 mins, CC,

1/21
8:00 PM

The Richest Girl in the World (1934)

To put off fortune-hunters, an heiress trades places with her secretary.

Dir:  William A. Seiter Cast:  Miriam Hopkins , Joel McCrea , Fay Wray .

BW- 75 mins, CC,

1/24
6:00 AM

Grand Hotel (1932)

Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through scandal and heartache.

Dir:  Edmund Goulding Cast:  Greta Garbo , John Barrymore , Joan Crawford .

BW- 113 mins, CC,

1/25
6:00 AM

Strictly Unconventional (1930)

A woman looks up her philandering mother-in-law for advice on adultery.

Dir:  David Burton Cast:  Catherine Dale Owen , Paul Cavanagh , Tyrrell Davis .

BW- 55 mins,

1/25
7:00 AM

Our Betters (1933)

An American heiress marries into the British nobility.

Dir:  George Cukor Cast:  Constance Bennett , Violet Kemble-Cooper , Phoebe Foster .

BW- 83 mins, CC,

1/25
2:30 PM

The Painted Veil (1934)

A wife strays, then fights to redeem herself to her husband.

Dir:  Richard Boleslawski Cast:  Greta Garbo , Herbert Marshall , George Brent .

BW- 84 mins, CC,

1/25
4:00 PM

Rain (1932)

A missionary tries to reform a streetwalker trapped on a Pacific island.

Dir:  Lewis Milestone Cast:  Frederic Howard , Ben Hendricks , William Gargan .

BW- 94 mins,

1/26
7:30 AM

Journal Of A Crime (1934)

Before she can confess to shooting her husband’s mistress, a woman succumbs to amnesia.

Dir:  William Keighley Cast:  Ruth Chatterton , Adolphe Menjou , Claire Dodd .

BW- 65 mins, CC,

1/26
11:30 AM

Dracula (1931)

The legendary bloodsucker stakes his claim on a British estate in search of new blood.

Dir:  Tod Browning Cast:  Bela Lugosi , Helen Chandler , David Manners .

BW- 74 mins, CC,

1/26
8:00 PM

I’m No Angel (1933)

A carnival dancer evades the law and invades high society.

Dir:  Wesley Ruggles Cast:  Mae West , Cary Grant , Gregory Ratoff .

BW- 88 mins, CC,

1/27
3:30 AM

Morocco (1930)

A sultry cabaret singer falls hard for a Foreign Legionnaire.

Dir:  Josef von Sternberg Cast:  Gary Cooper , Marlene Dietrich , Adolphe Menjou .

BW- 92 mins, CC,

1/27
10:00 PM

The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a murder tied to a Long Island dog show.

Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  William Powell , Mary Astor , Eugene Pallette .

BW- 73 mins, CC,

1/29
2:45 PM

Adventure Girl (1934)

A female explorer and her aged father search the Guatemalan jungle for a lost city.

Dir:  Herman Raymaker Cast:  Joan Lowell , Captain Nicholas Wagner , William Sawyer .

BW- 69 mins,

1/31
6:00 AM

Gabriel Over The White House (1933)

A crooked president reforms mysteriously.

Dir:  Gregory LaCava Cast:  Walter Huston , Karen Morley , Franchot Tone .

BW- 86 mins, CC,

Questions? Comments? Or do you just want to bug me? Leave a comment below!

Categories: TCM Schedules

Danny

Danny is a writer who lives with his lovely wife, adorable children, and geriatric yet yappy dog. He blogs at pre-code.com, a website dedicated to Hollywood films from 1930 to 1934, and can be found on Twitter @PreCodeDotCom.

4 Comments

Mariah · December 31, 2020 at 11:16 am

Actually, since the Oscars have been pushed back to April, 31 Days of Oscar is being pushed back too.

Andrew Hahn · January 1, 2021 at 1:57 am

Why are some movies in blue and others in black?
Is there a color code which I missed?

    Danny · January 1, 2021 at 4:27 pm

    Blue ones are links to my reviews. Those in black I haven’t reviewed yet.

Troy Peterson · January 2, 2021 at 6:09 pm

Shame that The Story Of Temple Drake wasn’t scheduled for Miriam Hopkins’ Star Of The Month series. They’ve shown it twice before in the past two years and I missed both times!

Comments are closed.