31 movies. 72 hours. Turner Classic Movies kicks off its annual three-day, military-themed Memorial Day Weekend Marathon on Friday May 27th at 8pm. The event runs until Tuesday morning at 6am.
Turner will play many of its most beloved classic military films. Sharp-eyed readers with notice that the "72 hours" is actually more like 82 hours and there are 35 films when you include the four bonus films shown on Friday night as part of the channel's "Star of the Month" series. Robert Ryan stars in Battle of the Bulge, The Longest Day, The Dirty Dozen and Men in War.
Saturday May 28th features classics like They Were Expendable (1945), starring John Wayne, to A Bridge Too Far (1977), featuring an all-star cast including Sean Connery and Robert Redford. You can see Frank Sinatra and Montgomery Clift in From Here To Eternity (1953) and the Oscar-winning Best Picture The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957).
Sunday May 29 begins with seven military comedies ranging from Laurel and Hardy's Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) to The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962), starring Jim Hutton. This laugh-filled lineup also includes such classics as Henry Fonda in Mister Roberts (1955) and Andy Griffith in No Time for Sergeants (1958). Sunday night gets a bit more serious films with the silent The Big Parade (1925), set during WWI, to Glory (1989), which takes place during the American Civil War. MASH (1970), a movie that's both funny and serious is also on deck.
On the holiday itself is a daylong list of important films covering a variety of wars including the Boxer Rebellion (55 Days at Peking, 1963) and World War I (Sergeant York, 1941). The bulk of these movies is set during WWII and includes such representative titles as The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Great Escape (1963) and Kelly's Heroes (1970).
Check out the full schedule below.
FRIDAY, May 27th
See the full details on Friday's movies here.
SATURDAY, May 28th
See the full details on Saturday's movies here.
SUNDAY, May 29th
See the full details on Sunday's movies here.
MONDAY, May 30th
See the full details on Monday's movies here.