Folks, it’s finally here. TCM’s annual 31 Days of Oscar festival celebrating its 26th year. Since the Oscars were postponed until April 25, TCM opted to push 31 Days to April as well. This year’s theme is Oscars A to Z. Starting on April 1 with Adam’s Rib and ending with Z! on May 1 (May 2 if you want to be technical). So this year I am recommending one film starting with each letter of the alphabet which include all eight TCM premieres.
A-Alice Adams (April 1 @ 6PM/5PM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn-2nd of twelve nominations-won Best Actress in 1933, 1967, 1968, and 1981)
Kate stars as the title character, a social climber who hosts a disastrous dinner party with prospective rich suitor.
B-Blithe Spirit (April 3 @ 6AM/5AM)
OSCAR WIN
- Best Visual Effects
A new film adaptation was released in 2020 so why not recommend the 1945 version of Noel Coward’s black comedy play.
C-Carol (April 3 @ 9:45PM/8:45PM) TCM premiere
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Actress (Cate Blanchett-7th nomination-won Best Supporting Actress in 2004 and Best Actress in 2013)
- Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara-2nd nomination)
- Adapted Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy)
- Best Cinematography (Edward Lachman)
- Best Costume Design (Sandy Powell)
- Best Score (Carter Burwell)
A socialite has an affair with an aspiring photographer in the 1950s. Shot in Cincinnati.
D-Days of Wine and Roses (April 4 @ noon/11AM)
OSCAR WIN
- Best Original Song (Days of Wine and Roses by Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Actor (Jack Lemmon-4th of eight nominations-won Best Supporting Actor in 1955 and Best Actor in1973)
- Best Actress (Lee Remick-sole nomination)
- Best B&W Art Direction (Joseph C. Wright & George James Hopkins)
- Best B&W Costume Design (Donfield)
A PR man with a drinking problem gets his wife to join in the festivities with disastrous results.
E-The End of the Affair (April 5 @ 2AM/1AM) TCM premiere
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Actress (Julianne Moore-2nd of five nominations-won Best Actress in 2014)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Pratt)
The 1999 remake of Graham Greene’s novel about a man who can’t figure out why his lover left him.
F-Fury (April 7 @ 5:15AM/4:15AM)
OSCAR NOMINATION
- Best Original Story (Norman Krasna)
Spencer Tracy is having a bad day. First he is mistakenly identified as a kidnapper and then a makeshift mob comes for him.
G-Guys and Dolls (April 9 @ 1AM/midnight)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Color Cinematography (Harry Stradling, Sr.)
- Best Art Direction-Color (Oliver Smith, Joseph C. Wright & Howard Bristol)
- Best Costume Design-Color (Irene)
- Best Score (Jay Blackton & Cyril J. Mockridge)
After winning an Oscar for On the Waterfront (airing on April 18) Marlon Brando decides to do a musical.
H-Hangmen Also Die! (April 9 @ 10AM/9AM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Sound Recording (Jack Whitney)
- Best Score (Hans Eisler)
A fictional story about the real-life assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich
I-Inherit the Wind (April 12 @ 12:30AM/April 11 @ 11:30PM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Actor (Spencer Tracy-7th of nine nominations-won Best Actor in 1937 and 1938)
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Nedrick Young & Harold Jacob Smith)
- Best B&W Cinematography (Ernest Lazlo)
- Best Editing (Frederic Knudtson)
The first adaptation of the 1955 play about the 1925 Scopes Monkey trial.
J-Johnny Belinda (April 13 @ 2AM/1AM)
OSCAR WIN
- Best Actress (Jane Wyman-2nd of four nominations-won Best Actress in 1948)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Actor (Lew Ayers-sole nomination)
- Best Supporting Actor (Charles Bickford-3rd of three nominations)
- Best Supporting Actress (Agnes Moorehead-3rd of four nominations)
- Best Director (Jean Negulesco-sole nomination)
- Best Screenplay (Irma von Cube & Allen Vincent)
- Best B&W Cinematography (Ted D. McCord)
- Best B&W Art Direction (Robert M. Haas & William Wallace)
- Best Editing (David Weisbart)
- Best Score (Max Steiner)
- Best Sound Recording (Nathan Levinson)
A mute and deaf woman is raped, gives birth, battles for custody from rapist and is tried for murder. On a side note, the parents of Go-Go singer Belinda Carlisle and MY MOTHER were named Belinda from this movie.
K-Kings Row (April 14 @ midnight/April 13 @ 11PM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Sam Wood-3rd of three nominations)
- Best B&W Cinematography (James Wong Howe)
L-Leaving Las Vegas (April 15 @ 2AM/1AM) TCM premiere
OSCAR WIN
- Best Actor (Nicolas Cage-1st of two nominations-won Best Actor in 1995)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Actress (Elisabeth Shue-first nomination)
- Best Director (Mike Figgis-first nomination)
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Mike Figgis)
M-Mona Lisa (April 18 @ 2:30AM/1:30AM) TCM premiere
OSCAR NOMINATION
- Best Actor (Bob Hoskins-sole nomination)
George Harrison produced this film!
N-Nebraska (April 18 @ 8PM/7PM) TCM premiere
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Actor (Bruce Dern-2nd of two nominations)
- Best Supporting Actress (June Squibb-first nomination)
- Best Cinematography (Phedon Papmichael)
- Best Director (Alexander Payne-7th of seven nominations-3rd Best Director nomination)
- Best Original Screenplay (Bob Nelson)
Old man drives 750 miles to collect lottery winnings.
O-Of Mice and Men (April 19 @ 2:30PM/1:30PM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Score (Aaron Copland)
- Best Sound Recording (Elmer Raguse)
P-Passion Fish (April 21 @ 1:45AM/12:45AM) TCM premiere
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Actress (Mary McDonnell-2nd of two nominations)
- Best Original Screenplay (John Sayles)
Woman takes care of former soap opera actress. I haven’t seen the movie and that’s basically the synopsis.
Q-Quo Vadis (April 23 @ 5:15AM/4:15AM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Supporting Actors (Leo Genn-sole nomination & Peter Ustinov-1st of three nominations-won Best Supporting Actor in 1960 and 1964-and was nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar in 1969!)
- Best Color Cinematography (Robert Surtees & William V. Skall)
- Best Art Direction-Color (William A. Horning, Cedric Gibbons, Edward C. Carfagno & Hugh Hunt)
- Best Costume Design-Color (Herschel McCoy)
- Best Editing (Ralph E. Winters)
- Best Score (Miklos Rozsa)
Sophia Loren was an extra in this film made in Italy.
R-Rashomon (April 23 @ 12:15PM/11:15AM)
HONORARY OSCAR
- For the most outstanding foreign language film released in the USA in 1951
OSCAR NOMINATION
- Best B&W Art Direction (Takashi Matsuyama & H. Motsumoto)
Four different takes on one story, which is true?
S-The Sundowners (April 28 @ 2:30AM/1:30AM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Actress (Deborah Kerr-6th of six nominations)
- Best Supporting Actress (Glynis Johns-sole nomination)
- Best Director (Fred Zinnemann-6th& 7th-(he produced the film as well) of ten nominations)
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Isobel Lennart)
T-The Truman Show and Twice in a Lifetime TCM premieres
The Truman Show (April 29 @ 10:15PM/9:15PM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Supporting Actor (Ed Harris-2nd of four nominations)
- Best Director (Peter Weir-4th of six nominations)
- Best Original Screenplay (Andrew Niccol)
Twice in a Lifetime (April 30 @ 4AM/3AM)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Supporting Actress (Amy Madigan-first nomination)
Two “T” Oscar picks and both are TCM premieres. I haven’t even heard of the second film.
U-Union Pacific (April 30 @ 10PM/9PM)
OSCAR NOMINATION
- Best Special Effects
Barbara Stanwyck goes for an Irish accent.
W-Wait Until Dark (May 1 @ 5:15AM/4:15AM)
OSCAR NOMINATION
- Best Actress (Audrey Hepburn-5th of five nominations-won Best Actress in 1953)
Alan Arkin should have been nominated for his chilling performance but he knew no one would win an award for terrorizing Audrey Hepburn.
X-No X!
Seriously, I don’t think any film starting with the letter X has been nominated for an Oscar.
Y-The Yearling (May 2 @ 2:15AM/1:15AM)
OSCAR WINS
- Best Color Cinematography (Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith & Arthur E. Arling)
- Best Art Direction-Color (Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse & Edwin B. Willis)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Actor (Gregory Peck-2nd of five nominations-won Best Actor in 1962)
- Best Actress (Jane Wyman-1st of four nominations-won Best Actress in 1948)
- Best Director (Clarence Brown-6th of six nominations)
- Best Editing (Harold F. Kress)
Child actor Claude Jarman Jr. won a special Juvenile Oscar for this role.
Z-Z! (May 2 @ 4:30AM/3:30AM)
OSCAR WINS
- Best Foreign Language Film
- Best Editing (Francoise Bonnot)
OSCAR NOMINATIONS
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Costa-Gravas-2nd of three nominations)
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Jorge Semprun & Costa-Gravas)
The title card is awesome: Any similarity to real persons and events is not coincidental. It is INTENTIONAL.
Mariah's Musings 