TCM Look-Ahead (Feb. 20)
The dreaded 31 days of Oscar continues. The highlight of the week is Sunday-Monday some classic WW2 films that emphasize humanism over patriotism. If you are lucky enough to have your pa or grandpa still around, watch these with him. Also featured, some absolutely seminal films about Union Organization.
Sunday, 02/22/26
06:30 a.m. PST Battleground. Today TCM is offering a series of Oscar-adjacent WWII movies. I am going to recommend the three least "official classics" of the bunch, starting with William Wellman's Battle of the Bulge epic that introduced many a young lad such as myself to the Marine marching song "You had a good job but you left, you're right!" Beautifully photographed, much with a snowy backdrop. Wars horror's are mixed with no small amount of humor and humanity. Essential viewing.
1:00 p.m. PST The Story of G.I. Joe. Wild Bill Wellman again. Inspired by the war-time writings of Ernie Pyle (Burgess Meredith). Pyle lived and fought alongside the infantrymen who were his subjects. Where Wellman excels is digging deep in the hour by hour, day by day existence of the Dog Soldiers. One of those dog soldiers is Robert Mitchum, in a star-making early role (and, shamefully, his only Oscar nomination), another is the always-welcome Freddie Steele (pictured above), the "Tacoma Assassin" from his boxing days, and an adorable actual dog. A deeply felt work of art, the one that is often sighted by veterans as "getting it right," and probably my personal favorite war film.
5:00 a.m. PST They Were Expendable. Think about the meaning of this title. Then think about John Ford and all he represented. One of those films that sort of falls through the cracks in the Ford canon, I think it might be my favorite. A bitter, yet somehow still patriotic take on lives lost and forgotten, and, as always with Ford, the meaning of heroism. The fact this guy was in the Pacific Theater filming documentaries on men who more or less resembled these characters just a year or two before mounting this masterpiece is just astounding. An American Hero.
Thursday, 02/26/26
Today TCM offers films on the theme of Unions and Labor. And some really good ones.
06:00 a.m. PST Hallelujah. King Vidor's remarkable all black-cast musical about sharecroppers, and incredibly risky venture by the always game Vidor. Certainly the first non-Afro-American produced movie (1929) to present real people and not stereotypes, it is the rare Hollywood film from the era that keeps the cringes at bay.
10:00 a.m. PST Black Fury. Michael Curtiz directed this 1935 early film about coal miner union organization, in all its complexity (think of it as a companion piece to the masterful Matewan). Based on a true story from 1929 (practically ripped out of the headlines) of the murder which led to some significant police reforms. Paul Muni plays the central figure, and his accent may stretch your patience, but it was so highly regarded a performance that he finished second in the Oscar race that year despite not being nominated (they allowed write-in votes back then)!
11:45 a.m. PST The Organizer. Marcello Mastroianni stars as a professor and labor activist on the run from the police, who unwittingly begins to lead the workers in Turin in a labor strike. Oscar nominated for best original screenplay of 1963 and a must watch (this is also on the Criterion Channel if you miss your chance here).
04:00 p.m. PST Harlan County USA. The Oscar winner for Best Documentary of 1976, directed by the great Barbara Kopple. Coal Miners in West Virginia go on strike and the shit hits the fan. This hit like a ton of bricks upon release for me (I saw it in the theater for some inexplicable reason) as we weren't talking about such matters in the schools I went to.
