Ah, the fall. Time for me to watch my wife ritually drown herself in pumpkin spice while I engage in my annual cardigan-centered shopping spree. We are very basic.

TCM this month has a day dedicated to Ruth Chatterton (always good!) on the 13th and a lot of really nice ones playing on the 19th. If you haven’t seen Easy to Love or Lilly Turner, this is a great time to do so.

Exciting news from Criterion. Here is their hint doodle from the last email:

It’s a temple and a drake, if that helps. For such an important film that’s been so unavailable for so long, it’s very exciting to hear that it’ll get the deluxe treatment from Criterion. And I can’t wait to see how that cover art turns out…

For those of you who are subscribed to Criterion Channel (I am, though it hates my computer and refuses to run on it), the last month has seen them add a ton of Stanwyck pre-Codes and excellent Borzage films as well. They all get my highest recommendations.

Lastly, I owe you guys an extra review sometime in September since I missed a week in August, which I don’t think I’ve done in a while. Personal issues, etc, etc. But you’ll get that review, I promise.

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 September

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.
  • If you don’t have cable, check out Sling TV, where (Americans) can watch TCM online, via an app or on their Roku.
Date & Time Film

1st
6:00 AM

The Merry Widow (1934)

A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.

Dir:  Ernst Lubitsch Cast:  Maurice Chevalier , Jeanette MacDonald , Edward Everett Horton .

BW- 99 mins, CC,

2nd
7:30 AM

The Great Meadow (1931)

Early American frontiersmen brave the mountains to settle Kentucky.

Dir:  Charles Brabin Cast:  John Mack Brown , Eleanor Boardman , Lucille LaVerne .

BW- 79 mins,

4th
7:30 AM

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,

4th
9:15 AM

Street Scene (1931)

A husband’s violent reaction becomes the talk of the neighborhood when he catches his cheating wife in the act.

Dir:  King Vidor Cast:  Sylvia Sidney , William Collier Jr. , Estelle Taylor .

BW- 79 mins, CC,

4th
6:15 PM

Scarface (1932)

A murderous thug shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Dir:  Howard Hawks Cast:  Paul Muni , Ann Dvorak , Karen Morley .

BW- 94 mins, CC,

6th
9:30 PM

Horse Feathers (1932)

In an effort to beef up his school’s football team, a college president mistakenly recruits two loonies.

Dir:  Norman McLeod Cast:  Groucho Marx , Harpo Marx , Chico Marx .

BW- 67 mins, CC,

8th
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,

9th
9:45 PM

Emma (1932)

A housekeeper faces unexpected snobbery when she marries her boss.

Dir:  Clarence Brown Cast:  Marie Dressler , Richard Cromwell , Jean Hersholt .

BW- 72 mins, CC,

9th
11:15 PM

Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise (1931)

A farm girl runs from her abusive father to a series of affairs in the big city.

Dir:  Robert Z. Leonard Cast:  Greta Garbo , Clark Gable , Jean Hersholt .

BW- 77 mins, CC,

13th
7:45 AM

The Lady of Scandal (1930)

A nobleman risks his family’s wrath by courting an actress.

Dir:  Sidney Franklin Cast:  Ruth Chatterton , Basil Rathbone , Ralph Forbes .

BW- 75 mins,

13th
9:15 AM

The Crash (1932)

The stock market crash costs a faithless wife her fortune.

Dir:  William Dieterle Cast:  Ruth Chatterton , George Brent , Lois Wilson .

BW- 57 mins, CC,

13th
10:30 AM

The Rich Are Always with Us (1932)

A socialite gets a divorce but can’t keep out of her ex-husband’s life.

Dir:  Alfred Green Cast:  Ruth Chatterton , George Brent , Bette Davis .

BW- 71 mins, CC,

13th
12:00 PM

Female (1933)

A female CEO who’s used to buying love meets her match in an independent young executive.

Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  Ruth Chatterton , George Brent , Lois Wilson .

BW- 60 mins, CC,

13th
1:15 PM

Frisco Jenny (1933)

A district attorney prosecutes his own mother for murder.

Dir:  William A. Wellman Cast:  Ruth Chatterton , Louis Calhern , Helen Jerome Eddy .

BW- 71 mins, CC,

13th
2:45 PM

Lilly Turner (1933)

After unwittingly marrying a bigamist, a pregnant woman faces many trials on the road to romance.

Dir:  William A. Wellman Cast:  Ruth Chatterton , George Brent , Frank McHugh .

BW- 65 mins, CC,

13th
4:15 PM

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,

13th
5:30 PM

Easy to Love (1934)

When she thinks her husband has been unfaithful, a woman claims to be having an affair of her own.

Dir:  William Keighley Cast:  Genevieve Tobin , Adolphe Menjou , Mary Astor .

BW- 61 mins, CC,

13th
6:45 PM

Ladies They Talk About (1933)

A lady bank robber becomes the cell block boss after she’s sent to prison.

Dir:  Howard Bretherton Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck , Preston S. Foster , Lyle Talbot .

BW- 69 mins, CC,

13th
8:00 PM

That’s My Boy ( 1932)

Dir:  Roy William Neill Cast:  Richard Cromwell , Dorothy Jordan , Mae Marsh .

BW- 70 mins, CC,

15th
2:00 AM

Duck Soup (1933)

When he’s named dictator of Freedonia, a con artist declares war on the neighboring kingdom.

Dir:  Leo McCarey Cast:  Groucho Marx , Harpo Marx , Chico Marx .

BW- 69 mins, CC,

17th
6:00 AM

Five Star Final (1931)

An unscrupulous newspaper editor searches for headlines at any cost.

Dir:  Mervyn LeRoy Cast:  Edward G. Robinson , Marian Marsh , H. B. Warner .

BW- 89 mins, CC,

17th
2:30 PM

The Big Stampede (1932)

A new sheriff faces the rustlers who killed his predecessor.

Dir:  Tenny Wright Cast:  John Wayne , Duke , Noah Beery .

BW- 54 mins, CC,

17th
3:30 PM

The Star Packer (1934)

A U.S. Marshall takes on the job of defeating a mysterious criminal.

Dir:  R. N. Bradbury Cast:  John Wayne , Verna Hillie , George Hayes .

BW- 55 mins,

19th
7:00 AM

Jewel Robbery (1932)

A jewel thief falls for a tycoon’s wife in Vienna.

Dir:  William Dieterle Cast:  William Powell , Kay Francis , Helen Vinson .

BW- 68 mins, CC,

19th
8:15 AM

The Match King ( 1932)

An ambitious young man corners the market on matches, then faces the destruction of his empire.

Dir:  Howard Bretherton Cast:  Warren William , Lily Damita , Glenda Farrell .

BW- 78 mins, CC,

19th
9:45 AM

The Purchase Price (1932)

A night-club singer on the lam becomes a farmer’s mail-order bride.

Dir:  William A. Wellman Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck , George Brent , Lyle Talbot .

BW- 68 mins, CC,

19th
11:00 AM

So Big (1932)

A farmer’s widow takes on the land and her late husband’s tempestuous son.

Dir:  William A. Wellman Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck , George Brent , Dickie Moore .

BW- 81 mins,

19th
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,

19th
2:00 PM

The House On 56th Street (1933)

A woman loses her family after being falsely convicted of a crime.

Dir:  Robert Florey Cast:  Kay Francis , Ricardo Cortez , Gene Raymond .

BW- 68 mins, CC,

19th
3:15 PM

The Working Man (1933)

A wealthy manufacturer takes a vacation incognito and ends up working for his chief rival.

Dir:  John G. Adolfi Cast:  George Arliss , Bette Davis , Theodore Newton .

BW- 77 mins, CC,

19th
4:45 PM

Two Heads on a Pillow (1934)

Once-married attorneys face off during a heated divorce case.

Dir:  William Nigh Cast:  Neil Hamilton , Miriam Jordan , Henry Armetta .

BW- 66 mins,

21st
6:00 AM

The Animal Kingdom (1932)

An intellectual publisher can’t choose between his society wife and his free thinking former love.

Dir:  Edward H. Griffith Cast:  Ann Harding , Leslie Howard , Myrna Loy .

BW- 85 mins, CC,

22nd
6:00 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,

23rd
10:00 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,

27th
5:00 PM

The Barbarian (1933)

An Arab prince masquerades as a tour guide to court a beautiful American.

Dir:  Sam Wood Cast:  Ramon Novarro , Myrna Loy , Reginald Denny .

BW- 83 mins, CC,

27th
12:00 AM

Eleven Men and a Girl (1930)

A college flirt lures the nation’s best football players to join her school’s team.

Dir:  William A. Wellman Cast:  Joe E. Brown , Joan Bennett , Frank McHugh .

BW- 72 mins, CC,

29th
11:00 PM

A Farewell To Arms (1932)

An American serving in World War I falls for a spirited nurse.

Dir:  Frank Borzage Cast:  Helen Hayes , Gary Cooper , Adolphe Menjou .

BW- 89 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.