July 6 – Rogue Cop (1954) is an above average crime drama with a recognizable cast that includes Robert Taylor (in the title role), Janet Leigh, George Raft, Steve Forrest, Anne Francis, Alan Hale Jr., and Vince Edwards (with a look that Warren Beatty would later make famous) in one of his first films. The film noir polish that cinematographer John F. Seitz gives this B&W picture earned him the last of his seven unrewarded Oscar nominations. Taylor’s a crooked cop that works for Raft et al until they kill his incorruptible younger brother (Forrest), who was also on the force. Leigh plays a former moll that was keeping this fact from her boyfriend Forrest; naturally she despises Taylor until he has a change of heart per his brother’s murder (by Edwards). Francis plays Raft’s moll, Hale Jr. his bodyguard.

July 8 – The Best Man (1964) – if you watched Advise & Consent (1962) on the channel last month, you might get a little deja vu watching this political drama which also stars Henry Fonda and features a dying POTUS (Lee Tracy delivers an Academy Award nominated Supporting Actor performance), but don’t let that stop you from taking this one in as well. Written by Gore Vidal, it’s still surprisingly relevant because it delivers an insightful, biting look at the behind the scenes machinations (wheeling and dealing) which take place during a wide open political convention where no clear candidate is the right choice (e.g. no one has sewn up the nomination in advance): dirty politics, questions of character, and decisions as to whether to use damning evidence against one's opponent which may jeopardize the party's chances of winning the overall election abound. The cast of this one includes Cliff Robertson (Edie Adams plays his wife) as Secretary of State Fonda’s chief rival for the President’s endorsement (Gene Raymond and Kevin McCarthy play their respective campaign managers). Margaret Leighton plays Fonda’s "in name only" wife; she’s agreed to pretend that their marriage is still solid until the convention is over, but she must convince a powerful women’s issues lobbyist, played by Ann Sothern.

Also for July 8th, a schedule change alert: Silent Shakespeare (a collection of seven silent shorts based on the plays of William Shakespeare) replaces The Garden of Eden (1928), which just aired in May, and will be followed by the TCM premiere of A Nous La Liberte (1931), a highly regarded French comedy from Rene Clair.

July 9 – Spielberg on Spielberg (2007) – a TCM World Premiere Documentary film by Richard Schickel, the exception to my rule (this one IS of the channel's highlighted features).

July 16 – Barbara Stanwyck’s 100th Birthday celebration includes her title role performance as Annie Oakley (1935), a lesser known fictionalized biography of the famous sharpshooting woman than MGM’s musical Annie Get Your Gun (1950), but an entertaining curio if you’re a fan of Ms. Stanwyck’s, or B Westerns. Preston Foster plays her rival and love interest, Melvyn Douglas plays Buffalo Bill’s wild west road show promoter. It was directed by George Stevens.

July 17 – Though I haven’t seen it, Howard Hawks’s original version of The Dawn Patrol (1930) aka Flight Commander (1930) airs on this date; I’m looking forward to it since I missed it when it aired in May because I didn’t recognize this alternate title.

July 22 – Sister Kenny (1946) is an above average biographical drama about the Australian nurse who helped discover the treatment for infantile paralysis (e.g. polio). It features Rosalind Russell in the title role; she deservedly earned a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance. Similar to another high quality biography, The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), the film details the struggles of an outsider with a solution against the skeptical, bureaucratic doctor established medical community, over several decades. The Happy Years (1950) follows Sister Kenny (1946) on this Sunday morning’s schedule and, though it’s not an essential family comedy drama, it is one of those patented MGM pre-"turn of the century" period pieces that at least provides adequate entertainment and positive messages, after its slow start. It was directed by William A. Wellman, and was based on Owen Johnson's Lawrenceville School stories. The "coming of age" story features a 14 year old Dean Stockwell as an incorrigible young lad who eventually learns to fit in at a prep school, after having been thrown out of at least two others. Of course, Leon Ames plays the dad!

July 25 – Three Godfathers (1936) – the best of this oft-filmed story about three outlaws on the run who come across a dying mother and her baby in the desert: ala The Three Wise Men, they decide to help, assuming the burden of responsibility for the helpless infant; they then struggle to make it to New Jerusalem on Christmas Day. This one features Chester Morris, as the orneriest of the bunch, Lewis Stone as the wisest and most educated – ‘Doc’, and Walter Brennan as the most "simple". There's a little more to this story than Hell's Heroes (1930), which is shorter, or the better known John Wayne version (3 Godfathers (1948)), which runs longer.

July 30 – Kapo (1959) – Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film by AMPAS, this realistic and compelling Italian made drama features perhaps Susan Strasberg’s best acting; she plays a young Jewish girl who’s forced into making difficult decisions in order to survive the bleak conditions of her imprisonment in a concentration camp in World War II Germany. The film’s title refers to a role that is offered to certain prisoners, who effectively work for the enemy by keeping their peers in line and/or acting as companions for SS officers.