Turner Classic Movies

A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! is a tinsel-filled journey through the most iconic holiday films of all time, including perennial favorites It's A Wonderful Life (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). The special looks at variations within the genre, such as holiday romances, family movies, and even thrillers. A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! features behind the scenes stories and personal Hollywood Christmas memories from the likes of Chevy Chase, Margaret O'Brien, Chazz Palminteri, Deborah Raffin, Karolyn Grimes, Zack Ward, Brian Henson, Joe Dante, Trine Mitchum, authors Julie Salamon and Alonso Duralde, A Christmas Carol expert Michael Patrick Hearn, and many more.

From 1915-1939, Frances Marion was one of the most powerful talents in the movie industry. In one of the most liberating eras for women in film, she wrote more than 200 movies and was the world's highest paid screenwriter - man or woman. Kathy Bates gives voice to Marion's words from her letters, diaries, and memoirs. Includes commentary by silent film historian Kevin Brownlow, critic Leonard Maltin, and Marion's celebrated biographer Cari Beauchamp. Current women filmmakers reflect on the legacy left to them by Marion and the pioneering women of early Hollywood.

Documentary about filmmaker Budd Boetticher.

A look at the life and work of legendary film producer Richard D. Zanuck.

A rare behind the scenes look at the tragedies and bitter disappointments that plagued one of MGM's most popular leading ladies

Documentary about the production of The Third Man (1949).

Misunderstood genius, superstar, Hollywood’s fallen angel... Orson Welles left his indelible mark on the 20th century.

A chronological look at the life and career of jazz musician, composer, and performer Dave Brubeck (1920-2012 ), presented through contemporary interviews, archival footage of interviews and performances, and commentary by family, fellow musicians, and aficionados. Emphases include his mother's influence, his wife's invention of college tours, his skill as an accompanist, the great quartet (with Desmond, Morello, and Wright), his ability to find musical ideas everywhere, his orchestral compositions, his religious conversion, and his unflagging sweet nature.

Directors Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott and James Cameron discuss the science fiction movies of the 1950s that influenced them.

The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.

A survey of movies about politics, with clips from several films and interviews with filmmakers and actors.

For 4 decades movie funnyman Gene Wilder has been keeping audiences in stitches with his combination of over-the-top neurosis and sweet vulnerability. Gene sits down with Alec Baldwin for an intimate conversation about matters both professional and personal, including Wilder's first meeting with Mel Brooks, the time Zero Mostel kissed him on the lips just before his audition for Brooks' The Producers, and his marriage to SNL star Gilda Radner.

A reclusive millionaire who owed his fortune to his father, Howard Hughes staked his fame on many things, including his credits as a producer, director and aviator. But he is perhaps best known for his skills as a Casanova, reportedly romancing Jean Harlow, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth and Bette Davis. Actor Billy Zane narrates this documentary, which offers a glimpse of the man behind the glamour.

Narrated by historian, critic and filmmaker Elvis Mitchell, Becoming Hitchcock reflects the development of the iconic filmmaker's signature style, through the making of one of his benchmark films, Blackmail (1929). The documentary highlights the birth of the "Hitchcock Touch" at a period when talking pictures first emerged and explores his trademark themes, like such as murder, suspense and cool blondes. While focusing on Blackmail, the documentary reveals how this film also foreshadows the director's later masterpieces, from Psycho to North by Northwest and from The Birds to Frenzy.

Produced for Turner Classic Movies, this documentary looks at the early days of the gangster film.

Samuel Fuller discusses his career as a filmmaker, illustrated by plenty of clips.

A reconstruction, made from still photographs, of the lost 1927 Tod Browning film London After Midnight (1927) starring Lon Chaney.

Dean Martin had a laid-back charm that made him successful in everything from big-screen comedies to television variety shows to live acts in Las Vegas. Filmmaker Tom Donahue explores Martin’s varied career, including his complicated relationships with Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and others. We hear from admirers such as critic Gerald Early, actor Jon Hamm, and Hip-Hop artist RZA who testify to Martin’s enduring mystique.

Blonde, beautiful and talented, Marion Davies was the first and funniest screwball comedienne. As star of two of the best comedies ever made, Show People and The Patsy, she combined zany slapstick and exuberant mimicry. Glamorous, witty and kind, both on screen and off, Davies was also famous for her 35-year-long love affair with William Randolph Hearst.

Martin Scorsese narrates this tribute to Val Lewton, the producer of a series of memorable low-budget horror films for RKO Studios. Raised by his mother and his aunt, his films often included strong female characters who find themselves in difficult situations and who have to grow up quickly. He is best remembered for the horror films he made at RKO starting in 1940. Starting with only a title - his first was The Cat People - he would meticulously oversee every aspect of the film's completion. Although categorized as horror films, his films never showed a monster, leaving it all to the viewers imagination, assisted by music, mood and lighting.