Shadowy and Satiny Picks: What to Watch on TCM in April 2023
Usually, in this space, I offer up two recommendations, for the film noir feature and the pre-Code feature airing on TCM in the coming month that I think you should watch. But TCM has thrown quite a hefty monkey wrench into my plans this time around – in the month of April, the channel is airing all Warner Bros. movies to celebrate the studio’s 100th anniversary, and when I started going through the list of films, I discovered a veritable smorgasbord of first-rate offerings – so many pre-Code and film noir delights that I simply couldn’t, in good conscience, decide on just two. So this month, I’m turning you on to all of the pre-Codes and film noirs airing on TCM in April that are worth your time. And if I’ve written about any of them previously on this blog, you can find the links to those posts below. Tune in and enjoy!
PRE-CODE:
April 1
Night Nurse (1931)
Jewel Robbery (1932)
Blessed Event (1932)
Employees Entrance (1933)
April 2
Little Caesar (1930)
The Public Enemy (1931)
Baby Face (1933)
One Way Passage (1932)
Two Seconds (1932)
Life Begins (1932)
April 3
Safe in Hell (1931)
Heroes for Sale (1933)
April 4
The Truth About Youth (1930)
My Past (1931)
Love is a Racket (1932)
42nd Street (1933)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Three on a Match (1932)
Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933)
April 5
So Big (1932)
April 7
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
The Mayor of Hell (1933)
April 8
Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
April 12
Union Depot (1932)
April 13
The Crowd Roars (1932)
April 20
20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)
FILM NOIR:
April 2
High Sierra (1941)
Key Largo (1948)
April 6
The Letter (1940)
April 12
Nora Prentiss (1947)
White Heat (1949)
April 14
Flamingo Road (1949)
April 16
Dark Passage (1947)
Crime Wave (1954)
April 17
The Big Sleep (1946)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
April 18
Mildred Pierce (1945)
April 19
Nobody Lives Forever (1946)
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
April 25
Caged (1950)
April 26
The Breaking Point (1950)
Have a great April!
shadowsandsatin 
I just scanned through your entire list of movies, and the one movie I was happiest to see listed was Two Seconds. I don’t say it’s the greatest, just the one that made me happiest because I think it is an often overlooked classic by Eddie G. Thank you!
It’s such a great movie — and it’s rarely discussed. I hope more people will check it out!
The 1946 version of The Big Sleep — which was released in theaters two years after the film was made — is quite confusing to first-time viewers. Crucial scenes were cut, edited or replaced with new scenes to highlight the relationship between Bogart and Bacall. Their onscreen chemistry reflected the off-screen drama of their personal lives.
I had to watch this film several times before it started to make any sense. Edited scenes included:
— Bogart’s extensive search of Geiger’s home where he found a dazed and confused Carmen Sternwood sitting over a murdered Arthur Geiger to whom she owed gambling debts. An edited scene with less detail was included in the reprint.
— When Bogart takes Carmen home, her older sister Vivian Rutledge (Bacall) is not there in the original cut. The tense banter scene between Bogart and Bacall was added later for a romantic spark.
— All of the scenes of Mona Mars, Eddie Mars wife, were cut from the first print. In the edited version, it was suggested that Mona disappeared with General Sternwood’s aide Sean Regan. She does appear at the end of the film in a residence where Bogart has been bound and gagged. Surprisingly, Vivian Rutledge was there, too. A different actress was cast to play Mona in the reshoot because the original actress was not available.
— Perhaps the most critical cut was the scene where Bogart is called to the District Attorney’s office to discuss his ongoing investigation related to General Sternwood, Carmen, Vivian, Regan, Geiger and Mona and Eddie Mars. That one scene explained the entire plot of the movie. Without it, the film made no sense.
To compound the confusion, scenes had to be reordered or redubbed to explain the tense relationship between Bogart and Bacall. Despite these distractions, critics actually prefer the final cut. The original version, which made sense, seemed dull in comparison.
[The first cut was not released until 1997, although it was shown to soldiers overseas in 1945. The main reason the movie was re-edited was due to the popularity of Bogart and Bacall in 1944’s To Have and Have Not.]
Thank you so much for this interesting information, David! Of all the noirs with twisty-turny, confusing goings-on, this one takes the cake.
I love that TCM is going All In with Warner Bros movies this month. And look at the great line-up here!
I really need to see Flamingo Road. Am a bit embarrassed to say after reading so many good things about it, I still haven’t seen it!
TCM is really on fire — I thought that this year’s Oscar celebration was their best yet, and now this Warner Bros. line-up! I hope you see Flamingo Road soon — it’s a corker!