TCM Schedule for Thurs, Feb 5, 2026: John Carradine/ Star of the Month, Bugs Bunny
Birthday tribute to the great John Carradine. Missing in today's line-up: The Grapes of Wrath, in which Carradine excels as an ex-preacher who has lost the faith.
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John Carradine (February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema.
He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, known for his roles in horror films, Westerns, and Shakespearean theater, most notably portraying Count Dracula in House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966), and Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula (1979).
Among his other notable roles was "Preacher Casy" in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath. In later decades of his career, he starred mostly in low-budget B-movies. In total, he holds 351 film and television credits, making him one of the most prolific English-speaking film and television actors of all time.
Carradine's first film credit was Tol'able David (1930), but he claimed to have done 70 pictures before getting billing. Carradine claimed to have tested, as an unknown – along with well-known leading men Conrad Veidt, William Courtenay, Paul Muni, and Ian Keith – for the title role in Dracula, but the historical record does not support the claim (the part eventually went to Bela Lugosi). Carradine also claimed to have tested for the monster role in Frankenstein (1931), though again, no account exists other than his own that he actually did so.
Carradine was married four times, had five children, and was the patriarch of the Carradine family, including four sons and four grandchildren who are or were also actors.
FULL BIO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carradine
Carradine in John Ford's epic classic Stagecoach (1939), airing today.
DAYTIME (EST)
6:30 AM Mary of Scotland (1936)
Biography of the flighty Scottish queen who was brought down by love.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge
9:00 AM Captains Courageous (1937)
A rich boy, lost at sea, is rescued by a fishing boat where hard work help him become a man.
Dir: Victor Fleming Cast: Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore
11:00 AM The Last Gangster (1937)
When a notorious gangster gets out of prison, he vows revenge on the wife who left him.
Dir: Edward Ludwig Cast: Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Rose Stradner
12:30 PM Of Human Hearts (1938)
A rebellious son neglects his parents after enlisting in the Civil War.
Dir: Clarence Brown Cast: Walter Huston, James Stewart, Gene Reynolds
2:30 PM Stagecoach (1939)
Passengers battle personal demons and each other while racing through Indian country.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine
4:30 PM Captain Fury (1939)
An Irish convict escapes an Australian prison to organize a revolution.
Dir: Hal Roach Cast: Brian Aherne, Victor McLaglen, Paul Lukas
6:30 PM Five Came Back (1939)
Survivors of a jungle plane crash realize that their repaired airplane can only carry five passengers.
Dir: John Farrow Cast: Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, Wendy Barrie
PRIME TIME, LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNING
8:00 PM Operation Rabbit (1952)
Wile E. Coyote set up an elaborate scientific contraption to trap Bugs Bunny.
Dir: Chuck Jones Cast: Mel Blanc
8:10 PM To Hare Is Human (1956)
Wile E. Coyote consults a "Univac Electric Brain (Do It Yourself)" in his efforts to catch Bugs Bunny.
Dir: Chuck Jones Cast: Mel Blanc
8:20 PM Rabbit's Feat (1960)
Bugs Bunny escapes a hungry Wile E. Coyote
Dir: Chuck Jones Cast: Mel Blanc
8:30 PM Picnic (1955)
A handsome drifter ignites passions at a small-town Labor Day picnic.
Dir: Joshua Logan Cast: William Holden, Kim Novak, Betty Field
10:30 PM Baseball Bugs (1946)
Bugs Bunny plays every defensive position against the Gas-House Gorillas baseball team.
Dir: Friz Freleng Cast: Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet, Frank Graham
10:40 PM Rabbit Punch (1948)
Heckling the Champ gets Bugs Bunny into a boxing world championship fight as the challenger.
Dir: Chuck Jones Cast: Mel Blanc, Billy Bletcher
10:50 PM Bully for Bugs (1953)
Bugs Bunny fighs one heck of a big bullying bull.
Dir: Chuck Jones Cast: Mel Blanc
11:00 PM The Brave One (1956)
A Mexican boy saves his pet bull from death in the bull ring by securing a presidential pardon.
Dir: Irving Rapper Cast: Michel Ray, Rodolfo Hoyos, Elsa Cardenas
1:00 AM Bewitched Bunny (1954)
Bugs Bunny attempts to rescue Hansel and Gretel from Witch Hazel.
Dir: Chuck Jones Cast: Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet
1:10 AM Broom-Stick Bunny (1956)
Witch Hazel's claim to be the ugliest witch of all is threatened by Bugs Bunny trick-or-treating.
Dir: Chuck Jones Cast: Mel Blanc, June Foray
1:20 AM A Witch's Tangled Hare (1959)
Shakespeare is all ears as Bugs Bunny battles Witch Hazel in Macbeth's castle.
Dir: Abe Levitow Cast: Mel Blanc, June Foray
1:30 AM Hamlet (1948)
The melancholy Dane flirts with insanity while trying to prove his uncle murdered his father.
Dir: Laurence Olivier Cast: Laurence Olivier, Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney
4:15 AM Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Shakespeare's classic tale of young lovers from feuding families.
Dir: George Cukor Cast: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore