It’s August, so TCM is filled with your favorite stars and good chunks of their filmography to peruse! This means A) there’s some really great days of pre-Codes and B) there are no pre-Codes on the network until August 16th (!).

That’s Irene Dunne’s day, with Buster Keaton’s talkies on the 19th, Joel McCrea on the 21st, a bunch of Leila Hyams rarities on the 22nd, Mary Astor fun on the 26th, and a Paul Lukas day on the 29th. That’s some fun variety, too bad we have to suffer through the likes of Marlon Brando and James Stewart to get to it. You can see everything programmed for August over at the channel’s dedicated Summer Under the Stars site.

On the home video front, Warner Archive has now added two more amazing pre-Codes to their blu-ray catalog– Footlight Parade and The Thin Man.

Meanwhile, for those of us who plunked some cash down for the Criterion Channel, it looks like August will feature an early Frank Borzage showcase and a pre-Code Barbara Stanwyck series.

A friendly reminder: if you want to support my site, you can become a Patron over at Patreon. Cheers!

Pre-Code Movies on TCM in August

Please note:

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.
If you subscribe to TCM via cable, you can watch TCM online via the TCM Watch site.

Date & Time	Film
16th 6:00 AM	Ann Vickers (1933)
	A social worker’s fight for reform is compromised by her love for a corrupt judge. Dir: John Cromwell Cast: Irene Dunne , Walter Huston , Conrad Nagel . BW- 76 mins, CC,
16th 7:30 AM	The Age of Innocence (1934)
	A young attorney risks his career for love of a glamorous divorcee. Dir: Philip Moeller Cast: Irene Dunne , John Boles , Lionel Atwill . BW- 81 mins, CC,
16th 9:00 AM	If I Were Free (1934)
	A man and a woman trapped in bad marriages try to make an adulterous affair work. Dir: Elliott Nugent Cast: Irene Dunne , Clive Brook , Nils Asther . BW- 66 mins, CC,
19th 10:30 AM	Doughboys (1930)
	A young eccentric joins the Army and tries to outwit his temperamental sergeant. Dir: Edward Sedgwick Cast: Buster Keaton , Sally Eilers , Cliff Edwards . BW- 80 mins, CC,
19th 12:00 PM	Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931)
	A henpecked husband gets in hot water when he becomes a landlord. Dir: Edward Sedgwick Cast: Buster Keaton , Charlotte Greenwood , Reginald Denny . BW- 73 mins, CC,
19th 1:15 PM	Sidewalks of New York (1931)
	A society boy gets mixed up with gangsters when he falls for a girl from the slums. Dir: Jules White Cast: Buster Keaton , Anita Page , Cliff Edwards . BW- 74 mins, CC,
19th 2:30 PM	The Passionate Plumber (1932)
	A woman hires a plumber to make her lover jealous. Dir: Edward Sedgwick Cast: Buster Keaton , Jimmy Durante , Polly Moran . BW- 74 mins,
21st 6:00 AM	The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
	A big game hunter decides to stalk human prey. Dir: Ernest B. Schoedsack Cast: Joel McCrea , Fay Wray , Robert Armstrong . BW- 63 mins, CC,
21st 7:15 AM	Bed of Roses (1933)
	A girl from the wrong side of the tracks is torn between true love and a life of sin . Dir: Gregory LaCava Cast: Constance Bennett , Joel McCrea , John Halliday . BW- 67 mins, CC,
21st 8:45 AM	Gambling Lady (1934)
	Two gamblers fall in love but one is already married to a possible murderer. Dir: Archie Mayo Cast: Barbara Stanwyck , Joel McCrea , Pat O’Brien . BW- 66 mins, CC,
21st 10:00 AM	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- 76 mins, CC,
22nd 7:30 AM	The Bishop Murder Case (1930)
	Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a series of murders inspired by Mother Goose rhymes. Dir: Nick Grindé Cast: Basil Rathbone , Leila Hyams , Roland Young . BW- 87 mins, CC,
22nd 9:00 AM	The Girl Said No (1930)
	A college sports star surprises everyone with his money-making schemes. Dir: Sam Wood Cast: William Haines , Leila Hyams , Polly Moran . BW- 91 mins, CC,
22nd 10:45 AM	Sins of the Children (1930)
	A young man fights to overcome his criminal past. Dir: Sam Wood Cast: Louis Mann , Robert Montgomery , Elliott Nugent . BW- 86 mins, CC,
22nd 12:15 PM	Way For A Sailor (1930)
	A devoted sailor jeopardizes his love life for love of the sea. Dir: Sam Wood Cast: John Gilbert , Wallace Beery , Jim Tully . BW- 85 mins, CC,
22nd 1:45 PM	Gentleman’s Fate (1931)
	A bootlegger falls apart when his wife leaves him. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy Cast: John Gilbert , Louis Wolheim , Leila Hyams . BW- 93 mins, CC,
22nd 3:30 PM	Men Call It Love (1931)
	A man leaves his mistress to court a happily married woman. Dir: Edgar Selwyn Cast: Adolphe Menjou , Leila Hyams , Norman Foster . BW- 72 mins, CC,
22nd 5:00 PM	Stepping Out (1931)
	After catching their husbands with other women, two wives go on a girls-only vacation. Dir: Charles F. Riesner Cast: Charlotte Greenwood , Leila Hyams , Reginald Denny . BW- 74 mins,
22nd 6:30 PM	Red-Headed Woman (1932)
	An ambitious secretary tries to sleep her way into high society. Dir: Jack Conway Cast: Jean Harlow , Chester Morris , Lewis Stone . BW- 79 mins, CC,
22nd 8:00 PM	Freaks (1932)
	A lady trapeze artist violates the code of the side show when she plots to murder her midget husband. Dir: Tod Browning Cast: Wallace Ford , Leila Hyams , Olga Baclanova . BW- 62 mins, CC,
22nd 10:45 PM	Way Out West (1930)
	When a carnival barker gets caught conning the local cowboys, he’s forced to work off his sentence on the open range. Dir: Fred Niblo Cast: William Haines , Leila Hyams , Polly Moran . BW- 70 mins, CC,
22nd 12:15 AM	The Big House (1930)
	An attempted prison break leads to a riot. Dir: George Hill Cast: Chester Morris , Wallace Beery , Lewis Stone . BW- 87 mins, CC,
22nd 2:00 AM	Island of Lost Souls (1932)
	On a remote island, a mad scientist turns wild animals into human monsters. Dir: Erle C. Kenton Cast: Charles Laughton , Richard Arlen , Leila Hyams . BW- 70 mins, CC,
22nd 3:30 AM	The Phantom of Paris (1931)
	A magician is charged with killing his fiancee’s father. Dir: John S. Robertson Cast: John Gilbert , Leila Hyams , Lewis Stone . BW- 74 mins, CC,
23rd 12:00 AM	The Gay Divorcee (1934)
	An unhappily married woman mistakes a suitor for the gigolo hired to end her marriage. Dir: Mark Sandrich Cast: Fred Astaire , Ginger Rogers , Alice Brady . BW- 105 mins, CC,
26th 8:15 AM	The Runaway Bride (1930)
	A criminal gang goes after the jewels their dying leader stashed in a woman’s handbag. Dir: Donald Crisp Cast: Mary Astor , Lloyd Hughes , David Newell . BW- 66 mins,
26th 9:45 AM	Behind Office Doors (1931)
	An under-appreciated secretary finds a new job and takes her former boss’s success with her. Dir: Melville Brown Cast: Mary Astor , Robert Ames , Ricardo Cortez . BW- 82 mins,
26th 11:15 AM	Smart Woman (1931)
	A woman plots to make her cheating husband jealous. Dir: Gregory La Cava Cast: Mary Astor , Robert Ames , John Halliday . BW- 68 mins, CC,
26th 12:30 PM	A Successful Calamity (1932)
	A family pulls together to help a member in financial trouble. Dir: John G. Adolfi Cast: George Arliss , Mary Astor , Evalyn Knapp . BW- 72 mins, CC,
26th 2:00 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,
26th 3:30 PM	The Little Giant (1933)
	When Prohibition ends, a bootlegger tries to break into high society. Dir: Roy Del Ruth Cast: Edward G. Robinson , Mary Astor , Helen Vinson . BW- 76 mins, CC,
29th 6:00 AM	Strictly Dishonorable (1931)
	An Italian opera star falls for a southern belle who’s already engaged. Dir: John M. Stahl Cast: Paul Lukas , Sidney Fox , Lewis Stone . BW- 91 mins,
29th 8:00 AM	Downstairs (1932)
	An evil chauffeur seduces and blackmails his way through high society. Dir: Monta Bell Cast: John Gilbert , Paul Lukas , Virginia Bruce . BW- 78 mins, CC,
30th 4:00 AM	Little Women (1933)
	The four March sisters fight to keep their family together and find love while their father is off fighting the Civil War. Dir: George Cukor Cast: Katharine Hepburn , Joan Bennett , Paul Lukas . BW- 115 mins, CC,