THE SANTA CLAUSE (1994)
Monday, 8 p.m., Disney
A delightful Christmas fantasy about a cynical divorced, ad-exec dad (Tim Allen), who finds himself stuck not just in Santa’s suit and beard, but in his life. Dad’s cynicism starts to melt like snow on a spring day when he has to take over for the out-of-commission fat man. With Judge Reinhold.
THE WOMEN (1939)
Monday, 10 p.m., TCM
It really doesn’t get better than this campy, Clare Boothe Luce tale about a group of wealthy divorcing wives. Norma Shearer is the good Mrs. Stephen Haines, and Joan Crawford is Crystal Allen, Mr. Stephen Haines’ evil and easy mistress. With an all-star cast, including Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine and even Hedda Hopper, there’s not a missed beat.
A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
Tuesday, 8 p.m., TCM
From Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy,” this is a six-Oscar movie about murder, lust, and class distinction. And oh baby, it doesn’t get classier or lustier than Elizabeth Taylor as a sexy socialite, Montgomery Clift as an uneducated climber, and Shelley Winters as the needy factory girl.-
A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)
Thursday, 10:15 p.m., TCM
Elia Kazan’s brilliant study of a self-promoting ex-con, hayseed and philosopher (Andy Griffith), who plays the media like a guitar during his megalomaniacal rise as TV personality and political kingmaker. With Patricia Neal as the college girl who discovers him in a backwater jail. Hard to believe that this is a 50-year-old movie because of its right-this-second relevance.
A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001)
Friday, 8 p.m., TNT
Ron Howard’s Best Picture winner is based on Sylvia Nasar’s biography of John Nash, Princeton’s schizophrenic, Nobel Prize-winning mathematician. Russell Crowe is brilliant as Nash who went from fame to depravity and back. Jennifer Connelly won Best Supporting Actress as Nash’s student and wife, Alicia, and Ed Harris, is as always, is outstanding as the creepy fed.