This was my third TCM Classic Film Festival with my mom, we also went in 2018 and 2022, and every year we have a BLAST. The line-up is always centered around a theme, and this year was “Crime and Justice.” To be honest, I feel like the theme always segments off into a bunch of sub-themes anyway, which means: lots of different kinds of classic movies! In the past few years I also feel like they’ve been making more of an effort to be inclusive with more new classics and not just the old black-and-white or Technicolor standbys. That said, here was what we were able to see this year.

Movies from the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival

1. The Good Fairy – An orphan recently freed from her orphanage, Louisa (Margaret Sullavan) gets cornered by a rich man who wants to be her sugar daddy. Frightened by the prospect, she invents an imaginary husband to shake her suitor off. Not willing to go down quietly, said sugar daddy (Frank Morgan) suggests that he can give her nice things by making her husband rich instead (sure). In a whirlwind, Louisa ends up meeting and befriending her false husband, Dr. Sporum (played by an adorable Herbert Marshall), and needs to decide whether to come clean or not when everything inevitably hits the fan. A fluffy romp that is a fun watch for the romantic leads; icky plot line and exhausting Frank Morgan notwithstanding. Read the full review here.
2. The Little Foxes – In 1900s Alabama, a diabolical family tries to muscle each other into seeing who can make the most money out of a business deal. Headed by icy sister Regina (Bette Davis), she and her two brothers try to make a deal with a Chicago businessman. The catch? They’ve promised money that doesn’t technically belong to them; it needs to be approved by Regina’s moralistic, sickly, estranged husband (Herbert Marshall). As they grow more and more desperate and greedy, Regina’s daughter (Teresa Wright) starts to question the true character of her family members and which moral path she will choose when confronted with the truth. Excellent acting by all involved and suspenseful to the end.
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Spliced between the point of views of scientists searching for the truth (headed by Francois Truffaut) and the personal stories of people who have encountered aliens firsthand, Spielberg weaves an optimistic look at what it would look like for us earthlings to interact with our galactic neighbors. An interesting point of view in terms of imagining how this situation would play out, but without a grounding in any sort of character development.
4. The Night has a Thousand Eyes – A professional magician who’s been faking it for years learns that he has a legitimate second sight. But instead of reveling in knowing the future, he’s scared to know more than he should. Confronted with seeing the death of his fiance in childbirth, he decides to renounce himself from influencing the futures of those around him and becomes a recluse. Years later, he is shaken out of his self-exile by images of his fiance’s daughter in mortal danger and decides to help her. A little campy, but given gravity through Edward G. Robinson’s masterful performance and gorgeous costuming from master Edith Head, the film ends up being more engrossing than any plot summary would have you believe.
5. A Little Romance – An American girl named Lauren (played by the babiest Diane Lane) and a Parisian boy named Daniel end up falling for each other in 1979 Paris. But when Lauren learns that her parents want to move back to the States, she and Daniel hatch a plan to escape to Venice for a little romance before they need to part. Aided by (it must be said) a way-over-the-top Laurence Olivier, will they make it to the Bridge of Sighs and kiss for a chance at lifelong romance? A sweet story with believable chemistry between the two young leads, but hampered by a hammy performance from Olivier.
6. North by Northwest – Could you attend a classic film fest without at least one Hitchcock film? One of his more iconic films in terms of cinematography (who can forget Cary Grant trying to evade death by crop duster in an empty field?), seeing this on the big screen was one for the books. Roger Thornhill (Grant) finds himself in a lot of hot water with a criminal mastermind (James Mason) after being mistaken for secret agent George Kaplan. Further complicating matters, he’s fallen in love with the crime lord’s mistress (Eva Marie Saint). Thornhill has to think fast and evaluate who to trust carefully in this complicated caper.
7. Little Women – The ONLY version of Little Women that exists to this Millennial. Four young girls grow up in Massachusetts, spanning the Civil War and many personal hurdles as they try to figure out who they want to be and who they want to end up with. Masterful performances by Winona Ryder as Jo and Susan Sarandon as Marmie, and arguably the best soundtrack of all time.