It’s TCM‘s 28th annual airing of films recognized by the Academy, and this year’s lineup features only Oscar victors, not nominees, grouped by decade or category. Here are some can’t-miss golden titles airing through the first week of March.
Tuesday: 1940s Winners, Gaslight (2am/1c)
The term gaslighting — manipulating a person for your benefit — comes from this mesmerizing 1944 thriller. Best Actress Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer (above) play a young wife and the husband who preys upon her sanity.
La Strada (Credit: Courtesy of the Everett Collection)
Wednesday: 1950s Winners, La Strada (6/5c)
The Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar went to Federico Fellini’s 1954 tale of a sweet, simpleminded woman (Giulietta Masina) and a callous circus strongman (Anthony Quinn). The tear-jerking finale is stunning.
Thursday: 1960s Winners, The Graduate (10:15/9:15c)
From 1967: that rare film to win Best Director (Mike Nichols) and nothing else. Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin is seduced by family friend Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) to a Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack.
The Graduate (Credit: Courtesy of the Everett Collection)
Friday: 1970s Winners, The French Connection (10:15/9:15c)
Jerry Greenberg’s deserved film editing Oscar — tied to Gene Hackman’s frantic car chase through Brooklyn — is central to this Best Picture, a 1971 heroin-smuggling drama as gritty today as ever.
Saturday: 1980s Winners, Raging Bull (12:45am/11:45c)
Martin Scorsese lost Best Director to Robert Redford (for Ordinary People), but this 1980 biopic of self-destructive boxer Jake LaMotta won Robert De Niro a trophy.
Sunday: 1990s–2000s Winners, Shakespeare in Love (10/9c)
Many expected Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan to win Best Picture, but the statue went to this 1998 period dramedy about the fictional affair between young Will (Joseph Fiennes) and a merchant’s daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow).
31 Days of Oscar, March 2022, 6am/5c, TCM