Editors’choice TCM celebrates ‘31 Days of Oscar’ again

Errol Flynn stars in “The Adventures of Robin Hood,“part of “31 Days of Oscar“Wednesday on TCM.

With its annual “31 Days of Oscar” event now in March, Turner Classic Movies has placed it in a month that really does have 31 days.

Generally scheduled to coincide with the Academy Awards ceremony, the TCM festival often was in 28- or 29-day-long February previously. Last year, the Oscars shifted to March ... and they stay there this time, with the 95th edition slated for March 12. Thus, “31 Days of Oscar” remains in the same month starting on Wednesday, March 1.

The TCM programmers use a different approach each year, whether doing an “Oscars A to Z” with titles in alphabetical order, or grouping movies together by a category they all were nominees or winners in. For the 2023 edition, “31 Days of Oscar” gathers movies by theme, starting the first day with “Family Ties” in the daytime and “Adventure” at night.

The earlier attractions range from nostalgic (“I Remember Mama”) and comedic (the original 1950 version of “Father of the Bride”) to tense (“East of Eden”) and even musical (“Meet Me in St. Louis”). Then, the evening adventure tales are led by Errol Flynn in “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and Humphrey Bogart in his Oscar-winning performance (opposite Katharine Hepburn) in “The African Queen.”

Thursday, March 2, opens with several gangster sagas – including Edward G. Robinson in “Little Caesar” and

James Cagney in “White Heat” – then segues into the true-crime stories “I Want to Live!” and “In Cold Blood.” That day ends with literary adaptations led by “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and the 1939 depiction of “Wuthering Heights.”

“On the Homefront” is the opening theme Friday, March 3, with such dramas as the best picture Oscar winners “Mrs. Miniver” and “The Best Years of Our Lives” depicting people at home during times of war. Film noir is that night’s category (likely involving TCM’S guru of that genre, Eddie Muller, as a host), starting with “Double Indemnity” and (starring Joan Crawford in her Oscar-honored title performance) “Mildred Pierce.”