Frigid February nights call for a cozy throw, a comfy couch and these 24 films airing on Turner Classic Movies in February 2022.
A classic movie, a cozy throw and a comfy couch are the perfect way to spend frigid February nights. Here are 24 movies we think you’ll enjoy that are airing on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) this month.
1 of 24 Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Tuesday, February 1, at 8 p.m. ET
With Presidents Day just around the corner, it seems an apt time to watch this film that explores 10 years in Abraham Lincoln‘s early life before he had become a public figure. Henry Fonda ably portrays the future president, and John Ford directs. Fonda fans, take note: He’s TCM’s Star of the Month; the network is airing his films every Tuesday this month, beginning at 8 p.m. and continuing through the night.
2 of 24 Born Yesterday (1950)
Thursday, February 3, at 8 p.m. ET
The great Judy Holliday shines as Billie Dawn, an uneducated young woman whose boyfriend (Broderick Crawford), a crooked junk dealer, is embarrassed by her lack of education and social polish and so hires a journalist (William Holden) as her tutor. Comedic complications ensue. This classic comedy was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture. Holliday took home the statuette for Best Actress.
Sidney Poitier stars as Mark Thackeray, an engineer who takes a temporary teaching job while seeking a position in his field. His students are a rowdy, undisciplined bunch, many of whom come from troubled families. Thackeray sets out to uplift and enrich his students’ lives, teaching them the value of mutual respect, acceptance and hard work. Lulu’s recording of the film’s theme song was a big hit and is one of the film’s highlights.
4 of 24 Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Saturday, February 5, at 12 p.m. ET
A stellar cast makes this, Alfred Hitchcock‘s second Hollywood film, a must-see. Joel McCrea plays an American reporter assigned to cover the war in Europe who stumbles upon a plot to assassinate a Dutch diplomat. Laraine Day and George Sanders costar in this suspenseful thriller, which was nominated for six Oscars.
5 of 24 It Happened One Night (1934)
Sunday, February 6, at 2 p.m. ET
This classic romantic comedy from Frank Capra—truly one of the all-time classics of the genre—is as fresh and funny (and yes, romantic) as it was the day it debuted nearly 90 years ago. Clark Gable plays a newspaperman on the trail of a runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert). This memorable film won five Oscars—Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay—every one of them richly deserved.
6 of 24 Lilies of the Field (1963)
Sunday, February 6, at 8 p.m. ET
Sydney Poitier became the first Black man to win the Best Actor Oscar with his indelible performance in this inspiring tale of a handyman in the Southwest helping a group of German nuns erect a chapel. This film was also Oscar-nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Lilia Skala), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Black-and-White Cinematography.
7 of 24 Cabin in the Sky (1943)
Tuesday, February 8, at 6 a.m. ET
This musical with fantasy elements showcases many of the greatest African-American performers of the 1930s and ’40s. Eddie Anderson plays Little Joe, a family man with a gambling problem who gets fatally shot over his debts but is given six months to straighten himself out before his demise is finalized. Those six months prove to be eventful ones. Ethel Waters plays Joe’s wife, Lena Horne is a temptress who tries to lead Joe off the straight and narrow. Louis Armstrong, Rex Ingram, Mantan Moreland, Willie Best, Butterfly McQueen and Duke Ellington also make appearances. Vincente Minnelli directed and Harold Arlen and E. Y. “Yip” Harburg wrote the songs.
John Wayne makes a rare excursion into romantic comedy as a Marine who, while en route to the West Coast, unwittingly wins the heart of a bestselling author (Claudette Colbert). He is vocal in his disdain for her book (not knowing she wrote it), which naturally creates complications for a potential romance. Watch for a cameo appearance by Cary Grant.
9 of 24 The Little Princess (1939)
Sunday, February 13, at 6 a.m. ET
Shirley Temple stars as Sara, a girl who is enrolled at a private boarding school when her father leaves to fight in the Boer War. All is well until news arrives that he has been killed; in order to remain at the school, Sarah must now earn her keep, scrubbing floors and cleaning fireplaces while she holds out hope that the news of her father’s death was inaccurate. Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter and Cesar Romero costar.
10 of 24 Stormy Weather (1943)
Sunday, February 13; 8 p.m. ET
This terrific musical showcases some of the greatest African-American entertainers of all time, including Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Dooley Wilson, Coleman Hawkins and the amazing Nicholas Brothers, among many others. There’s a plot, but it’s of little importance: The singing, dancing and playing of these legendary entertainers is the attraction here.
11 of 24 Within Our Gates (1920)
Sunday, February 13, 11 p.m. ET
This “race film,” as such movies were known at the time, was made by Oscar Micheaux, a pioneering Black filmmaker, and features an all-Black cast. At the time, the major Hollywood studios had no interest in attracting a Black audience, so African-American filmmakers were left mostly to their own devices. As such, race films didn’t have the production values of studio films but they are fascinating documents of another time. Within Our Gates tells the story of an African-American woman (Evelyn Preer) who heads north to raise money for a rural school for poor Black children in the Deep South. Flo Clements, James D. Ruffin and Jack Chenault costar.
Please be aware that this film, the oldest known surviving movie made by an African-American director, depicts the racial violence of the Jim Crow era, including lynchings.
12 of 24 A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Monday, March 14, at 12:15 p.m. ET
This film, based on Ernest Hemingway’s acclaimed novel, stars Helen Hayes as a British nurse who falls in love with an American ambulance driver in Italy during the First World War. Gary Cooper and Adolphe Menjou costar in this picture that was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
This beloved 1942 biopic depicts the life and career of George M. Cohan, proud patriot—he composed the title song, “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” and “Over There,” among many others—and a giant in the world of late 19th- and early 20th-century entertainment. Cohan was a playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and producer, and James Cagney does him a great turn. Joan Leslie and Walter Huston costar.
14 of 24 The Lady Eve (1941)
Thursday, February 15, at 9:15 p.m. ET
In the minds of many movie buffs, Barbara Stanwyck is most closely associated with dramatic roles, but she excelled in comedies, too, especially this screwball classic from writer-director Preston Sturges. Stanwyck plays a beautiful cardsharp who sets her sights on the wealthy-but-not-worldly heir to a fortune built on beer (Henry Fonda). Charles Coburn plays Stanwyck’s con-man father and Eugene Palette, at his apoplectic best, is Fonda’s dad.
15 of 24 A Kiss in the Dark (1949)
Sunday, February 18, at 8:15 a.m. ET
In this romantic comedy, David Niven plays an exhausted concert pianist who has recently learned he is the owner of an apartment building. Advised to move there to get some rest, he gets involved in the life of his oddball tenants. Jane Wyman, Victor Moore, Wayne Morris and Broderick Crawford costar.
16 of 24 In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Monday, February 19, at 8 p.m. ET
On what would have been his 95th birthday (TCM is starting their tribute a few hours early; he was born on February 20), TCM pays tribute to Sidney Poitier by airing a dozen of his movies over a 24-hour span.
The tribute begins with this hard-hitting drama in which the Oscar winner stars as a Philadelphia homicide detective who is falsely arrested in Sparta, Mississippi. Though he’s quickly cleared, the town’s bigoted sheriff (Rod Steiger) asks him to help solve the crime. This film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning five, including Best Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Steiger).
This movie is followed by The Defiant Ones (1958) at 10 p.m., A Warm December (1972) at midnight, Cry, the Beloved Country (1952) at 2 a.m., Something of Value (1957) at 4 a.m., Good-Bye, My Lady (1956) at 6:15 a.m., Edge of the City (1957) at 8:15 a.m., No Way Out (1950) at 10 a.m., Blackboard Jungle (1955) at noon, To Sir, with Love (1967) at 2 p.m. ET, Lilies of the Field (1963) at 4 p.m. ET and A Patch of Blue (1965) at 6 p.m.
17 of 24 The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
Thursday, February 22, at 6 p.m. ET
In this enjoyable comedy, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz play a married couple (this time not named Ricardo) who decide their honeymoon will be a road trip undertaken with a 32-foot travel trailer. As you might expect, comedic misadventures ensue. Marjorie Main costars.
There have been many film adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel, but for many, this Best Picture Oscar nominee, which stars Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas, Frances Dee, Jean Parker and Edna May Oliver, is the gold standard.
19 of 24 The Secret Garden (1949)
Saturday, February 24, at noon ET
This beloved adaptation of the classic children’s book follows a newly orphaned child (Margaret O’Brien) who is sent to live with her uncle (Herbert Marshall) on his estate. She befriends a young servant (Brian Roper), and together, they tend a secret garden they find on the estate. Dean Stockwell, Elsa Lanchester and Reginald Owen costar.
20 of 24 Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Sunday, February 25, at 7:45 a.m. ET
This classic drama tells the tale of childhood friends (Clark Gable and William Powell) who, as they grow up, end up on opposite sides of the law and in competition for the love of the same woman (Myrna Loy). Leo Carrillo and Nat Pendleton costar.
21 of 24 Stagecoach (1939)
Monday, February 26, at noon ET
By 1939, John Wayne had already appeared in more than 80 films, but it was his portrayal of the Ringo Kid in this classic John Ford western that set him on the path toward becoming a Hollywood icon. Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine and Thomas Mitchell costar.
22 of 24 The Scar of Shame (1929)
Late Sunday, February 27, at 12:15 a.m. ET
This historic melodrama, intended for an African-American audience, is the rare silent picture that was written, produced and directed by white men but starred an all-Black cast. It concerns an educated Black musician (Harry Henderson) from an upscale background who marries a woman from a lower socioeconomic class (Lucia Lynn Moses) to help her escape her abusive stepfather (William E. Pettus). However, he hesitates to let his mother meet his new bride out of fear that she will view her as beneath the family’s station. Some film scholars view this movie as the best independent Black film of the silent era.
Kirk Douglas delivers an Oscar-nominated performance as artist Vincent Van Gogh in this acclaimed biopic, directed by Vincente Minnelli. Anthony Quinn costars in a portrayal of Paul Gauguin for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
24 of 24 The Awful Truth (1937)
Thursday, February 28, at 8 p.m. ET
In this classic screwball comedy, Irene Dunne and Cary Grant play a married couple, each of whom suspects (falsely, natch) that their spouse is not being true to them. They file for a divorce but in the 90-day waiting period set by the judge, they come to realize, though a string of comic situations, that they’re not so eager to go their separate ways after all. Ralph Bellamy costars.
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