We always like to try to give you a heads-up on WWI-themed movies on Turner Classic Movies.  It might inspire someone to do a WWI film festival.  In any case, we make no claims about the historical accuracy of these films, but that can be part of the discussion about them.

All times are Central.  Descriptions are generally from TCM’s Now Playing magazine.

June 1—The Emperor’s Candlesticks (1937), 12:30 p.m.  Described as spies on opposite sides fall in love in pre-revolutionary Russia.  Not sure how pre-revolutionary it is.  Interesting cast, though, for movie buffs—William Powell, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan, and Maureen O’Sullivan.

June 1—Waterloo Bridge (1931), 8:30 p.m.  A film shown often on TCM, and  a few versions have been filmed.  A ballerina sinks into prostitution when her husband is reported killed in World War I.  Cast includes Mae Clarke, Kent Douglass, and Bette Davis.

June 2—Storm at Daybreak (1933) 8:00 a.m.  Fictionalized account of the events leading up to Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination and the start of World War I.  Cast includes Walter Huston, Kay Francis, Nils Asther, and the Winfield-born Eugene Pallette.

June 2—Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966), 11:00 a.m.  The Russian monk claims healing powers insinuates himself into Russia’s royal family.  Cast includes Christopher Lee and Barbara Shelley.

June 5—A Farewell to Arms (1932), 1:15 p.m.  Hemingway’s story of an American serving in World War I falls for a spirited nurse.  Cast includes Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes, and Adolphe Menjou.

June 15—The Spy in Black, (1939), 5:00 a.m.  This has been on a few times recently.  A German sub tries to sink the British fleet during World War I.  Stars Conrad Veidt, Sebastian Shaw, and Valerie Hobson.  The trivia here is that Shaw would much later play the unmasked Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi.

June 15—Mata Hari (1932), 7:45 a.m.  Romantic biography of World War I’s most notorious lady spy.  Mata is played by Greta Garbo, and co-stars Ramon Novarro and Lionel Barrymore.

June 15—British Agent (1934), 9:30 a.m.  It’s 1917, and an Englishman falls in love with a Russian spy.  Stars Leslie Howard and Kay Francis.

June 20—Two Arabian Knights (1927), 1:30 a.m.  A silent film where two American soldiers fight to escape the Germans while squabbling over a beautiful harem girl during World War I.  Cast includes William Boyd (later Hopalong Cassidy), Mary Astor and Louis Wolhiem.

Quite a list for June, and it’s possible we missed some.  We’re not responsible for any schedule changes.

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.