Video pick of the week--find it in your video store Purple Noon (1960)--René Clement directed this tense adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's superb novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. Alain Delon plays the young American, Tom Ripley, who kills a friend and assumes his wealth and identity. Delon's impassive, porcelain face conveys perfectly the amorality and sexual ambiguity of Ripley. Luminous Mediterranean cinematography by the great Henri Decae. Look for the recent, restored version. (MJ)

Asterisk indicates a film of exceptional interest.All times are EDT.

A&E=Arts & Entertainment, AMC=American Movie Classics, FXM=Fox Movie Channel, HBOF=HBO Family, HBOP=HBO Plus, HBOS=HBO Signature, IFC=Independent Film Channel, TCM=Turner Classic Movies, TMC=The Movie Channel, TNT=Turner Network Television

Saturday, April 24

*6:25 a.m. (HBOS)-- Barry Lyndon (1975)--An intelligent adaptation of William Thackeray's novel about an eighteenth century scoundrel, directed by Stanley Kubrick. (DW)

6:30 a.m. (Cinemax)-- Play It Again, Sam (1972)--Woody Allen's very funny homage to Bogart and Casablanca.Starring and written by Allen, but directed by Herbert Ross. With Diane Keaton. (MJ)

*7:00 a.m. (AMC)-- Sherlock Jr. (1924)--A work of genius, made by Buster Keaton. A projectionist walks into a movie screen and becomes part of the action. Not to be missed. (DW)

7:00 a.m. (A&E)-- Merrill's Marauders (1962)--It's questionable how much this has to do with real history, but engrossing war film directed by Samuel Fuller; Jeff Chandler as commander of US soldiers fighting Japanese in Burmese jungle. (DW)

8:00 a.m. (Comedy)-- Heaven Help Us (1985)--On-the-mark depiction of life in a Catholic high school in 1960s Brooklyn. With Donald Sutherland, Andrew McCarthy, and Wallace Shawn. Directed by Michael Dinner. (MJ)

9:30 a.m. (HBOS)-- Ship of Fools (1965)--Ponderous film that attempts to show the social elements responsible for the rise of Nazism in the microcosm of a ship bound for Hamburg in 1933. By the self-important liberal producer/director Stanley Kramer--the Oliver Stone of his day. Even a star-filled cast (Vivien Leigh, Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret, José Ferrer, Lee Marvin) can't keep this wooden boat from sinking. Interesting only because it shows what passed for serious film in the mid-1960s. (MJ)

11:00 a.m. (Bravo)-- Fahrenheit 451 (1966)--François Truffaut's adaptation of the Ray Bradbury dystopian science fiction story about a world in which firemen are sent around to set fire to books, which are banned items. Oskar Werner plays a fireman who rebels; with Julie Christie. (DW)

11:00 a.m. (Sundance)-- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)--Bizarre crime thriller about horrific revenge exacted by mob boss (played with extreme creepiness by Christopher Walken in a motorized wheelchair) upon local hoods. With Andy Garcia and Steve Buscemi. Directed by Gary Fleder. (MJ)

11:00 a.m. (TCM)-- Dodge City (1939)--One of the Errol Flynn-Olivia de Haviland cycle of films, usually directed by either Michael Curtiz or Raoul Walsh. Curtiz directed this one, a rousing, lively Western. With the Warner Bros. company of character actors. (DW)

12:00 p.m. (Cinemax)-- Breakdown (1997)--Suspenseful thriller in which the wife of a meek computer programmer (played by Kurt Russell) disappears during a cross-country trip.One of the last performances by the late, great character actor J.T. Walsh. (MJ)

2:00 p.m. (HBOS)-- Night Falls on Manhattan (1997)--Another of Sidney Lumet's tales of police corruption. They are usually incisive, with a good feel for urban realities, but this one, with Andy Garcia as a cop turned crusading DA, is a bit paint-by-numbers. (MJ)

6:00 p.m. (Sundance)-- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)--See 11:00 a.m.

7:00 p.m. (TCM)-- Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu (1998)--A profile of the silent screen actress Louise Brooks, one of the most extraordinary figures of the 1920s, the devastating star of Pandora's Box (1928). (DW)

8:00 p.m. (TCM)-- Some Came Running (1958)--Remarkable melodrama, directed by Vincente Minnelli, about disillusionment in a small town after World War II; more generally, this is an extraordinary film about disillusionment with postwar America. With Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Martha Hyer.(DW)

*10:30 p.m. (TCM)-- The Apartment (1960)--Billy Wilder's cynical-sentimental comedy-drama about a corporate lackey (Jack Lemmon) who tries to climb the company ladder by loaning his apartment to his bosses for their trysts. He falls for Shirley MacLaine. Fred MacMurray is memorable as a particularly unpleasant company executive. (DW)

11:00 p.m. (HBOP)-- Barbarians at the Gate (1993)--James Garner is outstanding in this saga of the 1980s, about the corporate piracy that led to the takeover of RJR Nabisco. Larry Gelbart wrote the witty screenplay for the made-for-cable film.(MJ)

12:00 a.m. (Comedy)-- Heaven Help Us (1985)--See 8:00 a.m.

12:50 a.m. (TBS)-- The Horse Soldiers (1959)--Another classic John Ford Western, with John Wayne as a cavalry officer leading Union troops into Confederate territory during the Civil War. (DW)

3:20 a.m. (TBS)-- Rio Grande (1950)--One of John Ford's great cavalry films. John Wayne is an officer with family problems. Claude Jarman, Jr., is his son, Maureen O'Hara his wife.(DW)

4:00 a.m. (A&E)-- Merrill's Marauders (1962)--See 7:00 a.m.

Sunday, April 25

*6:20 a.m. (TBS)-- She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)--The second part of John Ford's cavalry trilogy, with John Wayne as an officer about to retire, drawn into campaign against a group of Indians. With Joanne Dru, Ben Johnson, Victor McLaglen.(DW)

8:00 a.m. (AMC)-- Niagara (1953)--Marilyn Monroe is an adulterous wife planning to kill her husband (Joseph Cotten) on their honeymoon at Niagara Falls, in this somewhat overwrought, but tense film, directed by Henry Hathaway. (DW)

*8:25 a.m. (TBS)-- The Searchers (1956)--John Ford classic. John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter search for Wayne's niece, taken by Indians. Natalie Wood plays the girl. An essential American film. (DW)

9:45 a.m. (HBO)-- John Grisham's the Rainmaker (1997)--Francis Coppola took a John Grisham potboiler and made it into an engrossing but pedestrian film. Nonetheless, it is rich in characters, with particularly good work by Danny DeVito and Mickey Rourke (in a surprising stand-out performance as an ultra-sleazy lawyer) Also starring Matt Damon, John Voight and Claire Danes. (MJ)

11:00 a.m. (USA)-- Sea of Love (1989)--New York City cop searches for serial killer. Directed by Harold Becker from an excellent screenplay by novelist Richard Price, this was Al Pacino's comeback film after a long period of unwise role choices. (MJ)

11:00 a.m. (HBOS)-- Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)--In Copenhagen, a half-Inuit scientist (Julia Ormond) investigates the suspicious death from falling of a young Inuit boy.A quiet, brooding film with beautiful photography of Denmark and Greenland is marred by a conventional melodramatic ending with a conventional corporate villain (overplayed by Richard Harris with evil white hair). Also starringGabriel Byrne. (MJ)

*12:00 p.m. (Showtime)-- Last Action Hero (1993)--Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle that proves to be a delight. A boy goes to a movie theater and meets his idol--an action hero--who steps out of the screen and takes him back in. A good action film that spoofs the genre and plays with the tension between movies and reality. It also includes hilarious send-ups of Olivier's Hamlet and Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Directed by John McTiernan.(MJ)

1:00 p.m. (TCM)-- King Kong (1933)--Beauty and the Beast story, with Fay Wray as the former and an animated ape as the latter. Last 10 minutes are worth waiting for. Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. (DW)

*3:00 p.m. (A&E)-- The Getaway (1972)--Steve McQueen as a convict who gets out of jail and immediately takes part in a bank robbery. With Ali McGraw. Directed by Sam Peckinpah, from the novel by Jim Thompson. (DW)

*3:00 p.m. (Sundance)-- Salesman (1969)--Albert and Davis Maysles's exceptional cinéma verité documentary follows four Bible salesmen around the Midwest. Much of it is very sad as they sit around in drab motel rooms discussing their futile day and try to think up new selling strategies.(MJ)

*4:30 p.m. (HBOS)-- The Graduate (1967)--Important coming-of-age film about a young man (Dustin Hoffman, in his first big role) deciding whether to throw in his lot with the adult world.Should he cast off his rebelliousness and join the prospering middle class of the late sixties--i.e., go into "plastics"?Anne Bancroft is the memorable middle-aged seductress (and mother of his fiancée) Mrs. Robinson. Excellent music by Simon and Garfunkel. Directed by Mike Nichols. (MJ)

*5:00 p.m. (Bravo)-- Henry V (1989)--Kenneth Branagh's exuberant production of the great Shakespeare historical play about Britain's warrior-king. "He which hath no stomach to this fight,/Let him depart..." (DW)

*5:45 p.m. (Cinemax)-- Last Action Hero (1993)--See 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. (TCM)-- Father of the Bride (1950)--Spencer Tracy is the father and Elizabeth Taylor the bride in Vincente Minnelli's look at the American marriage ritual. Amusing, and sometimes pointed. With Joan Bennett. (DW)

*6:35 p.m. (Encore)-- The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)--Woody Allen combines Keaton's Sherlock Jr. and Fellini's The White Sheik to come up with a satisfying tale about a drab housewife (Mia Farrow) romanced by a character (Jeff Daniels) who literally steps out of the movie screen. (MJ)

7:00 p.m. (TBS)-- Rio Lobo (1970)--Howard Hawks' last film (he died in 1977), something of a disappointment. John Wayne is an ex-Union colonel who discovers a gold shipment and uncovers a traitor. Jennifer O'Neill was not up to the task in this film.(DW)

*12:00 a.m. (TCM)-- Battleship Potemkin (1925)--Sergei Eisenstein's monumental film about the naval mutiny and the consequent participation of the masses in pre-Revolutionary Russia.Exciting and essential viewing. (MJ)

12:35 a.m. (HBO)-- Against All Odds (1984)--Decent remake of the 1947 film noir Out of the Past. Good performances by Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods.Directed by Taylor Hackford. (MJ)

2:05 a.m. (TBS)-- The Quiet Man (1952)--John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara star in this John Ford film about an Irish-American boxer who goes back to his native country. (DW)

2:25 a.m. (HBOS)-- Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)--See 11:00 a.m.

Monday, April 26

6:00 a.m. (HBOS)-- A Star Is Born (1954)--Judy Garland is the star on the way up and James Mason the unfortunate drunk on the way down, in George Cukor's version of the tragic tale. A remake of the 1937 film made by William Wellman, with Fredric March and Janet Gaynor. (DW)

*7:40 a.m. (Encore)-- The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972)--An unjustly forgotten film about a naive young man joining up with a cattle drive. Grittily realistic depictions of the daily working life of cowboys--the kind of detail rarely shown in Westerns. A gem. With Gary Grimes, Billy "Green" Bush and Geoffrey Lewis.Directed by Dick Richards. (MJ)

9:00 a.m. (AMC)-- Hold Back the Dawn (1941)--Charles Boyer is a European refugee living in a Mexican border town. He woos unmarried Olivia de Haviland in an effort to get into the US. Mitchell Leisen directed with a certain flair. Billy Wilder co-wrote the script, basing it in part on his own experiences as a German refugee. (DW)

10:50 a.m. (TMC)-- Touch (1987)--Interesting but disappointing film written and directed by Paul Schrader about faith healing in the South. With Christopher Walken and Bridget Fonda. (MJ)

11:30 a.m. (Cinemax)-- The Cotton Club (1984)--Richard Gere stars in Francis Coppola's sometimes successful attempt to capture the music and gangster violence of Harlem in the 1930s.The production was riddled with problems and the often-rewritten screenplay is by novelists William Kennedy and Mario Puzo.(MJ)

12:30 p.m. (AMC)-- Captain Lightfoot (1955)--Rock Hudson is a somewhat unlikely nineteenth century Irish rebel in Douglas Sirk's costume drama. With Barbara Rush and Jeff Morrow. Made in Ireland with Sirk's usual visual precision and beauty.(DW)

1:30 p.m. (HBOS)-- Saturday Night Fever (1977)--A hardware store salesman in Brooklyn becomes a champion disco dancer at night. This is the film that launched John Travolta's film career, and he is a marvel as a dancer. Music by the Bee Gees. Directed by John Badham.(MJ)

2:05 p.m. (AMC)-- Canyon Passage (1946)--Stylish Jacques Tourneur directed this Western set in Oregon about settlers facing Indian attacks and the consequences of white man's greed. With Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews. (DW)

4:00 p.m. (FXM)-- At Long Last Love (1975)--Burt Reynolds and Cybill Shepherd can neither sing nor dance--they are definitely not Astaire and Rogers. Still, it's fun to watch them mangle Cole Porter's beautiful music and lyrics.Peter Bogdanovich's glitzy, expensive film proves that a warm affection for 1930's film musicals is not enough.One of the great bombs. With Madeline Kahn (often funny, despite her material) and John Hillerman.(MJ)

*6:00 p.m. (TCM)-- Strange Cargo (1940)--One of the strangest films ever to come out of Hollywood. Prisoners escape from Devil's Island, and it turns out that one of them may or may not be Jesus Christ. With Clark Gable, Joan Crawford and Ian Hunter. Directed by Frank Borzage. (MJ)

7:30 p.m. (TMC)-- The Tall Guy (1989)--Moderately funny film about an American actor (Jeff Goldblum) trying to make it in British theater. Highlights are the daffy musical version of The Elephant Man and Rowan Atkinson's inspired mugging. Also with Emma Thompson.Directed by Mel Smith. (MJ)

*10:00 p.m. (AMC)-- The Lady Eve (1941)--Barbara Stanwyck, as a con man's daughter, and Henry Fonda, as a rich young man who happens to love snakes, slug it out in this battle of the sexes directed by Preston Sturges. "Snakes are my life," says Fonda. "What a life!," replies Stanwyck.(DW)

10:45 p.m. (HBOS)-- Ship of Fools (1965)--See Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

11:15 p.m. (HBOP)-- The Fifth Element (1997)--Vacuous, silly science fiction film in which the future of the universe hinges on a Brooklyn cabdriver (played in proletarian style by Bruce Willis) finding something called "the fifth element." Worth seeing only for its imaginative settings and special effects. Typical scenery-chewing villainy by Gary Oldman. Directed by Luc Besson. (MJ)

*2:25 a.m. (Encore)-- The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972)--See 7:40 a.m.

*4:15 a.m. (AMC)-- The Lady Eve (1941)--See 10:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 27

6:00 a.m. (FXM)-- At Long Last Love (1975)--See Monday at 4:00 p.m.

8:00 a.m. (HBOS)-- Ship of Fools (1965)--See Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

8:00 a.m. (Sundance)-- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)--See Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

*8:30 a.m. (TCM)-- Kiss Me Deadly (1955)--Ralph Meeker is Mike Hammer, Cloris Leachman and Albert Dekker also star, in this startling film noir, directed by Robert Aldrich. In many ways, a very frightening film, and not simply because of its explosive conclusion. (DW)

*9:45 a.m. (Encore)-- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)--A visitor from another galaxy visits our planet to issue a stern warning. Robert Wise's film is a liberal plea for peace and understanding; as such, it defied the McCarthyite xenophobia and bellicosity dominating Hollywood at the time.It stands up surprising well almost 50 years later.Starring Patricia Neal and Michael Rennie. (MJ)

10:00 a.m. (Showtime)-- A Place in the Sun (1951)--A George Stevens film based on Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. Not very faithful to the book, but valuable in its own right. Elizabeth Taylor is extraordinary as Montgomery Clift's dream girl. (DW)

*12:00 p.m. (FXM)-- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)--See 9:45 a.m.

12:00 p.m. (TCM)-- Cry Terror! (1958)--Andrew L. Stone and his helpful wife-editor made this little suspense drama about psychopath Rod Steiger who kidnaps and bombs to blackmail an airline. With James Mason, Inger Stevens, Angie Dickinson and Neville Brand.(DW)

2:00 p.m. (FXM)-- The Razor's Edge (1946)--An overlong film, with some embarrassingly silly moments, but also some extraordinarily believable ones. With Tyrone Power, looking for the meaning of life, Gene Tierney, Anne Baxter. Directed by Edmund Goulding, from the novel by Somerset Maugham. (DW)

2:30 p.m. (AMC)-- Bend of the River (1952)--Excellent Anthony Mann-James Stewart collaboration. Stewart is former outlaw guiding wagon trains west; Arthur Kennedy is his ex-partner in crime who now steals settlers' supplies. Remarkable moral drama about what violent events do to people and the choices they have.(DW)

*3:30 p.m. (HBOS)-- The Graduate (1967)--See Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

4:00 p.m. (Sundance)-- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)--See Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

5:15 p.m. (HBOS)-- The Firm (1993)--Another film that takes a shot at the legal profession. In this paranoid potboiler, a young, ambitious lawyer finds out that his high-toned firm is totally owned by organized crime. An unremarkable film is saved by a remarkable performance by Gene Hackman (always dependable), playing a cynical partner.From the bestseller by John Grisham. (MJ)

*8:00 p.m. (Encore)-- Last Action Hero (1993)--See Sunday at 12:00 p.m.

*8:00 p.m. (Starz)-- Wag the Dog (1997)--A US president hires a PR team to distract attention from a sex scandal by fabricating a war with Albania. Barry Levinson's film has bite, and the screenplay by David Mamet is sinister and funny.Great ensemble acting by Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Denis Leary, and Anne Heche. (MJ)

10:00 p.m. (TCM)-- In This Our Life (1942)--John Huston's second effort at directing. Bette Davis steals her sister's husband and eventually ruins her own life. Based on the novel by Ellen Glasgow. With Olivia de Haviland and George Brent. (DW)

*2:00 a.m. (FXM)-- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)--See 9:45 a.m.

4:00 a.m. (FXM)-- The Razor's Edge (1946)--See 2:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 28

6:00 a.m. (TCM)-- Lady for a Day (1933)--Frank Capra directed this story about an apple vendor transformed into a society lady by a kindhearted hoodlum. With May Robson and Warren Williams.(DW)

*8:05 a.m. (Cinemax)-- The Gunfighter (1950)--A famous gunfighter tries to retire and find peace in his later years, but his reputation follows him like a curse. A young gunslinger, eager to make a name for himself, challenges the older man to a final shootout. One of the best Westerns, somber and tragic, with fine performances by Gregory Peck and Skip Homeier. Directed by Henry King.(MJ)

1:00 p.m. (HBOS)-- Little Women (1933)--George Cukor's film version of the Louisa May Alcott classic, perhaps the best of the lot. Four sisters growing up in Civil War America, with Katharine Hepburn and Joan Bennett. (DW)

2:00 p.m. (TCM)-- The Cincinnati Kid (1965)--Norman Jewison directed this film about a big poker game in New Orleans. The performances of Steve McQueen, Tuesday Weld and Edward G. Robinson are the best things in the film. (DW)

8:00 p.m. (AMC)-- Dark Command (1940)--Raoul Walsh directed this lively Hollywood version of the rise and fall of the murderous Quantrill raiders, active in Kansas during the Civil War. Walter Pidgeon plays William Quantrill, John Wayne is the marshal with whom he clashes. (DW)

9:45 p.m. (IFC)-- Gas Food Lodging (1992)--Amiable film about a waitress (Brooke Adams) at a diner in Laramie, New Mexico, trying to get by, with two daughters. Directed by Allison Anders; with James Brolin, Ione Skye, Fairuza Balk. (DW)

10:00 p.m. (FXM)-- Wall Street (1987)--Oliver Stone directed this film about Wall Street sharks and their comeuppance with his usual subtlety and restraint. With Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen and Michael Douglas. (DW)

11:00 p.m. (Bravo)-- Repulsion (1965)--Catherine Deneuve starred as a sexually repressed girl who goes homicidal when her sister leaves her on her own in an apartment for a few days. Startling at the time, it seems dated today. Directed by Roman Polanski.(DW)

12:35 a.m. (HBOS)-- Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)--See Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

1:45 a.m. (Showtime)-- Men of Respect (1991)--Fascinating but largely unsuccessful attempt to translate Macbeth into a modern gangster milieu. Starring John Turturro, Peter Boyle and Rod Steiger. Directed by William Reilly. (MJ)

1:50 a.m. (IFC)-- Gas Food Lodging (1992)--See 9:45 p.m.

2:00 a.m. (AMC)-- Dark Command (1940)--See 8:00 p.m.

2:10 a.m. (TBS)-- Apache (1954)--Pro-Indian film about an Apache (Burt Lancaster) who wages a one-man war against the US government and military for his tribe's rights. With Jean Peters and John McIntire. (DW)

Thursday, April 29

6:00 a.m. (HBOP)-- Saturday Night Fever (1977)--See Monday at 1:30 p.m.

*6:10 a.m. (HBOS)-- Barry Lyndon (1975)--See Saturday at 6:25 a.m.

8:00 a.m. (TCM)-- The Tender Trap (1955)--Likable film, real 1950s fare, about a "swinging" bachelor (Frank Sinatra) and a determined young woman (Debbie Reynolds) out to ensnare him. Charles Walters directed; memorable Cahn-Van Heusen title song. (DW)

*9:00 a.m. (Showtime)-- Notorious (1946)--One of Alfred Hitchcock's best. American counterespionage agents convince the patriotic daughter of a convicted Nazi spy to marry a Nazi agent in South America. Very suspenseful (especially the sequence with the dwindling champagne bottles), and with complex characterizations. Wonderful chemistry between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, and an oddly sympathetic performance by Claude Rains as the Nazi agent.(MJ)

10:00 a.m. (TCM)-- High Society (1956)--Glossy musical version of The Philadelphia Story has music and lyrics by the great Cole Porter. Starring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Louis Armstrong. Directed by Charles Walters. (MJ)

12:30 p.m. (Bravo)-- Repulsion (1965)--See Wednesday at 11:00 p.m.

2:20 p.m. (Cinemax)-- Breakdown (1997)--See Saturday at 12:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. (HBOP)-- Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)--See Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

8:00 p.m. (HBO)-- John Grisham's the Rainmaker (1997)--See Sunday at 9:45 a.m.

*8:00 p.m. (TCM)-- Anatomy of a Murder (1959)--Otto Preminger directed this absorbing courtroom drama. James Stewart is the defense lawyer; Ben Gazzara, Lee Remick and Arthur O'Connell costar. Duke Ellington wrote the score. Rather daring in its day.(DW)

*9:00 p.m. (HBOS)-- Barry Lyndon (1975)--See Saturday at 6:25 a.m.

9:00 p.m. (USA)-- Cape Fear (1991)--Martin Scorsese directed this ambitious, but overblown and generally unsuccessful remake of the 1962 J. Lee Thompson-Robert Mitchum-Gregory Peck film. This time Nick Nolte is a lawyer whose family is stalked by a vicious ex-convict (Robert De Niro). Jessica Lange is Nolte's wife, Juliette Lewis his daughter. (DW)

1:45 a.m. (TNT)-- American Gigolo (1980)--Paul Schrader wrote and directed this flawed but fascinating study of an upscale male prostitute. Starring Richard Gere.(MJ)

4:00 a.m. (AMC)-- The Glenn Miller Story (1954)--By no standard a great film--it is burdened with a sentimental and largely fictitious story, as well as insipid June Allyson as Miller's wife--but everything by Anthony Mann of this period is worth seeing. Beautifully done. James Stewart is fine as Miller. (DW)

Friday, April 30

6:00 a.m. (AMC)-- The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)--Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone star as British soldiers in colonial India. Reactionary as history, but a lively and colorful film, directed by Henry Hathaway. With Richard Cromwell, C. Aubrey Smith and Douglas Dumbrille. (DW)

6:00 a.m. (Sundance)-- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)--See Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

9:45 a.m. (Showtime)-- Duel in the Sun (1946)--King Vidor's intense Western psychodrama. Jennifer Jones, a "half-breed," is caught between two brothers (Gregory Peck and Joseph Cotten). With Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Herbert Marshall, Charles Bickford and Walter Huston. (DW)

*10:00 a.m. (FXM)-- The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972)--See Monday at 7:40 a.m.

*10:00 a.m. (TCM)-- Mildred Pierce (1945)--Powerful melodrama, directed by Michael Curtiz, about a woman (Joan Crawford) who goes from rags to riches and her ungrateful daughter. Based on the novel by James M. Cain. (DW)

12:00 p.m. (Showtime)-- A Place in the Sun (1951)--See Tuesday at 10:00 a.m.

12:30 p.m. (USA)-- Cape Fear (1991)--See Thursday at 9:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m. (Sundance)-- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)--See Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

3:30 p.m. (HBOS)-- Night Falls on Manhattan (1997)--See Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

*3:45 p.m. (Cinemax)-- Last Action Hero (1993)--See Sunday at 12:00 p.m.

4:00 p.m. (TMC)-- The Tall Guy (1989)--See Monday at 7:30 p.m.

*5:45 p.m. (Showtime)-- Last Action Hero (1993)--See Sunday at 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. (TCM)-- Manpower (1941)--Lesser Raoul Walsh, but memorable for performances of Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich and George Raft. (DW)

*6:15 p.m. (AMC)-- They Live by Night (1949)--Wonderful, tragic film directed by Nicholas Ray about doomed young lovers during the Depression. Based on Edward Anderson's Thieves Like Us, remade, under that title, in 1974 by Robert Altman. With Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell. (DW)

*1:30 a.m. (Encore)-- Blue Velvet (1986)--This is the quirky film that launched director David Lynch's career.It was then a short jump to his influential,idiosyncratic TV series "Twin Peaks."And then he flickered out like a shooting star.With Dennis Hopper. (MJ)

4:00 a.m. (A&E)-- Body Double (1984)--Another homage to Hitchcock by the talented Brian De Palma--this time, however, unnecessarily violent, especially in the early scenes.(MJ)