AIR FORCE

TCM Movies, 6.30pm

Made by director Howard Hawks at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment in the USA, this drama about the crew of a B-17C bomber (named the Mary-Ann) who arrive at Pearl Harbor just as it is attacked has been dismissed as a piece of propaganda. If you look past the occasional overspill of emotion, however, there is a solid war film underneath, with a William Faulkner-assisted script. John Garfield stars.

1943

the 1970s and beyond. Gene Hackman is superb as “Popeye” Doyle, a surly cop determined to trap a suave French drug dealer (Fernando Rey) who is smuggling heroin across the Atlantic. The white-knuckle car chase, in which Popeye tails an elevated train, is as gripping as the plot.

Western is fierce. Monroe falls for Gable’s cowboy, who does odd jobs with his friend, an ex-rodeo rider (Montgomery Clift); said jobs include rounding up horses for dog food. The finale, in which Monroe tries to stop them, is one of her most soulful turns. John Huston directs.