TCM Schedule for Fri, July 3, 2026: Musical Americana / Classic Film Noir / Neo-Noir

[Auggie]

Tonight: a quartet of outstanding Film Noir efforts begins with Force of Evil (1948), a good B-movie produced by John Garfield's production company, Enterprise Productions. There's a reason it leads off the evening. First-time director Abraham Polonsky, with the aid of veteran cinematographer George Barnes, fashion a wonderfully gritty crime drama about mobsters' plans to consolidate the numbers racket in New York City. Garfield plays the slick lawyer caught between their plans and his bookmaking older brother (Thomas Gomez) who wants to keep the status quo.

The next three films are all included in Eddie Muller's blog post "25 Noir Films That Will Stand The Test Of Time." https://www.eddiemuller.com/top25noir.html

Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, and a young Janet Leigh excel in the suspenseful Act of Violence (1949) about an ex-World War II POW looking to avenge a barracks stool pigeon.

Directed by the great Robert Siodmak, Criss Cross (1949) stars Burt Lancaster and Yvonne De Carlo (The Munsters) in a tale of robbery, double crosses, and murder.

Thieves' Highway (1949), set in San Francisco's old produce district, pits good guy Richard Conte against amoral produce broker Lee. J. Cobb in a fight to the finish.

These late 1940's films were made at the peak of the classic Film Noir era (1941-1959), and are great introduction for anyone interested in "dark film."




DAYTIME (listings EST)

6:00 AM Show Boat (1951)
The daughter of a riverboat captain falls in love with a gambler, but their romance is threatened by bad luck.
Dir: George Sidney | Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel

8:00 AM Strike Up the Band (1940)
A high-school band sets out to win a national radio contest.
Dir: Busby Berkeley | Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra

10:15 AM Bathing Beauty (1944)
A songwriter enrolls in an all-girl school to court a pretty gym teacher.
Dir: George Sidney | Cast: Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone

12:15 PM Viva Las Vegas (1964)
A race car driver preparing for the Grand Prix whiles his time away in Las Vegas working to pay for a new engine.
Dir: George Sidney | Cast: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova

2:00 PM Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
The seven Pontipee brothers ease the loneliness of their Oregon farm by courting seven women.
Dir: Stanley Donen | Cast: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards

4:00 PM The Harvey Girls (1946)
Straitlaced waitresses battle saloon girls to win the West for domesticity.
Dir: George Sidney | Cast: Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger

6:00 PM Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
Ball players, who work in vaudeville during the off-season, run into trouble with their team's new female owner
Dir: Busby Berkeley | Cast: Gene Kelly, Esther Williams, Frank Sinatra



PRIME TIME, LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNING

8:00 PM Force of Evil (1948)
An unethical lawyer tries to enrich his older brother as the numbers racket consolidates.
Dir: Abraham Polonsky | Cast: John Garfield, Beatrice Pearson, Thomas Gomez

9:30 PM Act of Violence (1949)
An embittered veteran tracks down a POW camp informer.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann | Cast: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor

11:00 PM Criss Cross (1949)
A man tries to save his fickle ex-wife from her criminal lover.
Dir: Robert Siodmak | Cast: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea

12:45 AM Thieves' Highway (1949)
A truck driver avenges the crippling of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw.
Dir: Jules Dassin | Cast: Richard Conte, Valentina Cortesa, Lee J. Cobb

EARLY MORNING: NEO-NOIR

2:30 AM Against All Odds (1984)
A gangster hires an ex-football player to find his estranged girlfriend. Of course they'll fall in love.
Dir: Taylor Hackford | Cast: Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, James Woods

4:45 AM Marlowe (1969)
Detective Philip Marlowe probes the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles in search of a missing woman.
Dir: Paul Bogart | Cast: James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O'Connor