Wow. So, uh, it’s September, huh? Really snuck up on me.

I ended up getting way too into Summer Under the Stars this year and logging around 90 movies just from watching TCM. There was some really fun new-to-me discoveries– Revelee with Beverly, Gypsy, This Land is Mine, You and Me, The Sand Pebbles and a couple of others. Of course, I also made mistakes, like watching Diana Dors day or about 50% of the Dolores del Rio films. You can see all my ratings over on Letterboxd, though, god willing, in September maybe I’ll watch a TV show or something.

As for September, TCM has a few good, obscure pre-Codes like Goldie Gets Along and Union Depot playing, both of which are worth seeing. Not mentioned below is the evening of the 14th, mostly pre-Code shorts, including several Zasu Pitts/Thelma Todd teams ups that are a lot of fun. The morning of the 16th has a number of fun time-travel tales well worth checking out, too.

A friendly reminder: if you want to support my site, you can become a Patron over at Patreon. Hope you’re staying safe and watching some good movies!

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.
  • This month, the channel’s listings seemed to leave off most of their Women Make Film series, which is odd. I will note that they showed Merrily We Go to Hell on the 1st and if you can still catch it, it’s well worth your while.
Date & Time Film

2nd
7:15 AM

Madchen in Uniform (1931)

Dir:  Leontine Sagan Cast:  Lene Berdold , Dorothea Wieck , Emilia Unda .

BW- 89 mins,

2nd
1:00 PM

Call of the Flesh (1930)

A Latin lover fights for the heart of a beautiful convent girl.

Dir:  Charles Brabin Cast:  Ramón Novarro , Dorothy Jordan , Ernest Torrence .

BW- 100 mins, CC,

4th
2:15 AM

Arrowsmith (1931)

A crusading doctor fights his way through tragedy to find his true calling.

Dir:  John Ford Cast:  Ronald Colman , Helen Hayes , Richard Bennett .

BW- 99 mins, CC,

10th
4:30 AM

Strictly Dynamite (1934)

A radio comic runs out of jokes, triggering a desperate search.

Dir:  Elliott Nugent Cast:  Jimmy Durante , Lupe Velez , Norman Foster .

BW- 71 mins, CC,

11th
11:30 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,

11th
1:00 PM

Goldie Gets Along (1933)

A small-town girl schemes to get to Hollywood only to run into the man she left behind.

Dir:  Malcolm St. Clair Cast:  Lily Damita , Charles Morton , Sam Hardy .

BW- 68 mins, CC,

11th
6:15 PM

Movie Crazy (1932)

A stagestruck young actor accidentally receives somebody else’s invitation to test in Hollywood.

Dir:  Clyde Bruckman Cast:  Harold Lloyd , Constance Cummings , Kenneth Thomson .

BW- 96 mins,

14th
6:00 AM

Playing Around (1930)

A tenement girl falls for a smooth con artist.

Dir:  Mervyn LeRoy Cast:  Alice White , Chester Morris , William Bakewell .

BW- 66 mins,

14th
7:15 AM

Union Depot (1932)

An out-of-luck con artist discovers a suitcase full of money at a train station.

Dir:  Alfred E. Green Cast:  Douglas Fairbanks , Joan Blondell , Guy Kibbee .

BW- 67 mins,

14th
12:00 PM

Fashions of 1934 (1934)

A con artist and his beautiful assistant take on the fashion world.

Dir:  William Dieterle Cast:  William Powell , Bette Davis , Frank McHugh .

BW- 78 mins, CC,

15th
7:15 AM

Man Hunt (1933)

A teen detective tries to help a jewel thief’s daughter.

Dir:  Irving Cummings Cast:  Junior Durkin , Charlotte Henry , Mrs. Wallace Reid .

BW- 64 mins,

16th
1:45 AM

Turn Back The Clock (1933)

A middle aged working man gets to relive his life and make himself wealthy.

Dir:  Edgar Selwyn Cast:  Lee Tracy , Mae Clark , Otto Kruger .

BW- 79 mins, CC,

16th
5:00 AM

Berkeley Square (1933)

A young American man is transported back to London in the time of the American Revolution and meets his ancestors.

Dir:  Frank Lloyd Cast:  Leslie Howard , Heather Angel , Valerie Taylor .

BW- 88 mins, CC,

18th
6:00 PM

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,

19th
10:45 PM

Midnight Alibi (1934)

An elderly recluse shelters a gambler on the run from bogus murder charges.

Dir:  Alan Crosland Cast:  Richard Barthelmess , Ann Dvorak , Helen Chandler .

BW- 58 mins,

20th
8:15 AM

It Happened One Night (1934)

A newspaperman tracks a runaway heiress on a madcap cross-country tour.

Dir:  Frank Capra Cast:  Clark Gable , Claudette Colbert , Walter Connolly .

BW- 105 mins, CC,

21st
12:30 PM

Possessed (1931)

A factory girl rises to the top as mistress of a tycoon, then falls in love.

Dir:  Clarence Brown Cast:  Joan Crawford , Clark Gable , Wallace Ford .

BW- 76 mins, CC,

22nd
1:30 PM

Private Lives (1931)

A divorced couple rekindles the spark after landing in adjoining honeymoon suites with new mates.

Dir:  Sidney Franklin Cast:  Norma Shearer , Robert Montgomery , Reginald Denny .

BW- 84 mins, CC,

27th
6:00 AM

Mata Hari (1931)

Romantic biography of World War I’s notorious lady spy.

Dir:  George Fitzmaurice Cast:  Greta Garbo , Ramon Novarro , Lionel Barrymore .

BW- 89 mins, CC,

28th
6:00 AM

Not So Dumb (1930)

A scatterbrained miss throws a big party to advance her boyfriend’s career.

Dir:  King Vidor Cast:  Marion Davies , Elliott Nugent , Raymond Hackett .

BW- 76 mins, CC,

28th
7:30 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,

28th
9:00 AM

Bird of Paradise (1932)

An island visitor falls for a Polynesian beauty slated for sacrifice to the gods.

Dir:  King Vidor Cast:  Dolores Del Rio , Joel McCrea , John Halliday .

BW- 82 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.

2 Comments

Janet · September 2, 2020 at 6:29 pm

Sounds like you’ve been very busy Danny! Thanks for bringing these films to my attention. I’ve only seen about half a dozen of these, so I have a bit of catching up to do when I can get hold of these. Unfortunately we no longer have access to TCM in Australia : (

Films on this list that I have seen are some of my all time favourites, including ‘It Happened One Night’, ‘Possessed’ and ‘Grand Hotel’. I also enjoyed ‘Union Depot’ – yes it is an obscure film but I agree that it’s worth a look if only to see Joan Blondell and Douglas Fairbanks Jnr starring together.

madfashionista · September 19, 2020 at 6:09 am

Thanks so much for these guides! I always enjoy reading your blog. I’ve seen ‘It Happened One Night’ too many times to enjoy it but the others are so much fun.

Comments are closed.