2025 Memorial Day Film Fest on TCM

Turner Classic Movies celebrates 2025 Memorial Day Weekend starting May 23 with dozens of classic war films including The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Here are the movies in the TCM Memorial Day Marathon starting Friday, May 23, 2025, and running until early Tuesday morning, May 26.  All times are ET.  Also included in the list below is the IMDB rating for each film and a link to the IMDB review.

Friday, May 23, 2025

• 8:00 PM The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Upon returning to small-town America, three World War II veterans have difficulty readjusting to life in post-war America. Director William Wyler, Cast Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews. IMDB: 8.1
• 11:00 PM Till the End of Time (1946).
• A returning World War II veteran falls for a troubled war widow. Director Edward Dmytryk, Cast Robert Mitchum, Dorothy McGuire. IMDB: 6.7

Saturday, May 24, 2025

• 1:00 AM Pride of the Marines (1945). A blinded Marine tries to adjust to civilian life. Director Delmer Daves, Cast John Garfield, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark. IMDB: 7.3
• 3:15 AM Battle Cry (1955). A group of Marines eagerly await deployment during World War II. Director Raoul Walsh Cast Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, James Whitmore. IMDB: 6.4
• 5:45 AM Marines in the Making (1942). This war-time promotional short exhibits the U.S. Marine Corps’ training.
• 6:00 AM  Wings for the Eagle (1942). Dedicated aircraft workers compete for the same girl. Director Lloyd Bacon, Cast Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson. IMDB: 5.8
• 7:30 AM Mister Roberts (1955). A naval officer longing for active duty clashes with his vainglorious captain. Director John Ford, Cast Henry Fonda, James Cagney. IMDB: 7.6
• 9:45 AM Sergeant York (1941). True story of the farm boy who made the transition from religious pacifist to World War I hero. Director Howard Hawks, Cast Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie. IMDB: 7.7
• 12:00 PM Hit the Deck (1955). Sailors on leave in San Francisco get mixed up in love and show business. Director Roy Rowland Cast Water Pidgeon, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone. IMDB: 6.5
• 2:00 PM Men Must Fight (1933). Prophetic tale of a mother in 1940 trying to keep her son out of war. Director Edgar Selwyn Cast Leius Tone, Diana Wynyard. IMDB: 6.1
• 3:15 PM Men of the Fighting Lady (1954). Men on a U.S. aircraft carrier fight to survive the Korean War. Director Andrew Marton, Cast Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Louis Calhern. IMDB: 6.2
• 4:45 PM Target Zero (1955). International soldiers fight to ignore their differences while holding a hill during the Korean War. Director Harmon Jones Cast Richard Conte, Charles Bronson. IMDB: 5.8
• 6:30 PM The Steel Helmet (1951). Americans trapped behind enemy lines fight off Communists during the Korean War. Director Samuel Fuller, Cast Robert Hutton, Steve Brodie, James Edwards. IMDB: 7.4
• 8:00 PM Men in War (1957). Two enemies join forces to save their men during a retreat from the North Koreans. Director Anthony Mann,  Cast Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Robert Keith. IMDB: 7.1
• 9:45 PM A Walk in the Sun (1946).  A platoon of American soldiers captures an Italian farmhouse. Director Lewis Milestone, Cast Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, George Tyne. IMDB Rating: 6.9
• 12:00 AM Cornered (1945) (Noir Alley). A World War II veteran hunts down the Nazi collaborators who killed his wife. Director Edward Dmytryk, Cast Dick Powell, Walter Slezak. IMDB: 6.6

Sunday, May 25, 2025

• 2:00 AM Battleground (1949). American soldiers in France fight to survive a Nazi siege just before the Battle of the Bulge. Director William Wellman Cast Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalban. IMDB: 7.4
• 4:15 AM Armored Command (1961). a Mata Hari type spy for the Nazis, infliltrates a small armored unit of the 7th U.S. Army which is attempting to hold off a German attack in the Vosges Mountains. Director Byron Haskin Cast Howard Keel, Tina Louise, Warner Anderson, Earl Holliman. IMDB: 5.1
• 6:00 AM Ace of Aces (1933). After he’s branded a coward, a sculptor travels to France to help fight World War I. Director J. Walter Ruben Cast Richard Dix, Ralph Bellamy. IMDB: 6.3
• 7:30 AM The United States Air Force Band (1942)
• 7:45 AM Air Force (1943). A bomber crew sees World War II action over the Pacific. Director Howard Hawks Cast John Garfield, Gig Young, Harry Carey. IMDB: 7.0
• 10:00 AM Cornered (1945) (Noir Alley). A World War II veteran hunts down the Nazi collaborators who killed his wife. Director Edward Dmytryk, Cast Dick Powell, Walter Slezak. IMDB: 6.6
• 12:00 PM A Farewell to Arms (1932).  An American soldier falls in love with a British nurse. Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. Director Frank Borzage, Cast Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou. IMDB: 6.4
• 1:45 PM Fighter Squadron (1948). A dedicated flyer pushes himself and those around him during a perilous World War II campaign. Director Raoul Walsh Cast Robert Stack, Edward O’Brien. IMDB: 6.2
• 3:30 PM Merrill’s Marauders (1962). A grizzled U.S. general leads his men against the Japanese in Burma during World War II. Director Samuel Fuller, Cast Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown. IMDB: 6.6
• 5:15 PM Take the High Ground! (1953). A tough drill sergeant prepares green recruits for service in the Korean War. Director Richard Brooks Cast Richard Widmark, Karl Malden. IMDB: 6.0
• 7:00 PM Memphis Belle (1944). Footage of actual bombing missions highlights William Wyler’s account of the U.S. Air Force’s bombing missions in World War II.  Director Lt. Col. William Wyler, Cast Eugene Kern, Corp. John Beal, Capt. Robert K. Montgomery. IMDB: 7.3
• 8:00 PM The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). The Japanese Army forces World War II POWs to build a strategic bridge in Burma. Director David Lean, Cast William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins. IMDB: 8.1
• 11:00 PM The Red Badge of Courage (1951). A young Union soldier fights to atone for a moment of cowardice during the Civil War. Director John Huston, Cast Audie Murphy, Andy Devine, Robert Easton Burke, Douglas Dick. IMDB: 7.1

Monday, May 26, 2025

• 12:15 AM Shoulder Arms (1918). In this silent film, a private fresh out of boot camp accepts a daring mission behind enemy lines. Director Charles Chaplin Cast Charles Chaplin Edna Purviance.
• A Sailor-Made Man (1921). In this silent film, a feckless young man joins the Navy to prove himself worthy of the girl he loves. Director Fred Newmeyer Cast Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis. IMDB:
• 2:00 AM The Mirror (1975) (TCM Imports). A dying man’s recollections of his childhood during World War II capture the spirit of the Soviet Union. Director Andrey Tarkovskiy Cast Ignat Daniltsev, Margarita Terekhova. IMDB: 7.9
• 4:00 AM A Generation (1955) (TCM Imports). Story of youth during the German occupation of Poland in World War II who come to adulthood through love and adversity. Director Andrzej Wajda, Cast Tadeusz Lomnicki, Urszula Modrzynska, Tadeusz Janczar. IMDB: 7.1
• 6:00 AM Report from the Aleutians (1943)
• 7:00 AM Go For Broke! (1951).  The true story of World War II’s all Japanese-American unit. Director Robert Pirosh, Cast Van Johnson, Lane Nakano, George Miki. IMDB: 6.6
• 8:45 AM The Flying Leathernecks (1951). A World War II Marine officer drives his men mercilessly during the battle for Guadalcanal. Director Nicholas Ray Cast John Wayne, Robert Ryan. IMDB: 6.1
• 10:30 AM Destination Tokyo (1943).  A U.S. sub braves enemy waters during World War II. Director Delmer Daves, Cast Cary Grant, John Garfield. IMDB: 7.1
• 1:00 PM The Story of G. I. Joe (1945).  War correspondent Ernie Pyle joins an Army platoon during World War II. Director William A. Wellman, Cast Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele. IMDB: 7.2
• 3:00 PM Darby’s Rangers (1958). An Army Major leads his men behind enemy lines during World War II. Director William A. Wellman, Cast James Garner, Etchika Choureau, Jack Warden. IMDB: 6.3
• 5:15 PM Where Eagles Dare (1968). A team of Allied Forces specialists is sent on a mission to Bavaria to rescue a kidnapped American officer. Director Brian G. Hutton, Cast Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure. IMDB: 7.6
• 8:00 PM The Great Escape (1963). Drama based on the efforts of Allied prisoners to escape from a German prison camp.  Director John Sturges, Cast Steve McQueen, James Garner. IMDB: 8.2
• 11:00 PM The Dirty Dozen (1967).  During World War II, an American Major is given the task of recruiting 12 soldiers from military prison for an impossible mission behind German lines. Director Robert Aldrich, Cast Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson. IMDB: 7.7

Tuesday, May 27, 20258

• 1:45 AM Kelly’s Heroes (1970).  An American platoon tries to recover buried treasure behind enemy lines. Director Brian G. Hutton, Cast Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles. IMDB: 7.6
• 4:15 AM Dark of the Sun (1968). A mercenary band fights to get refugees and a fortune in diamonds out of the Congo. Director Jack Cardiff, Cast Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Peter Carsten. IMDB: 6.8

Memorial Day War Film Previews

Below are film trailers for The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen and The Bridge on the River Kwai, all showing on TCM during the Memorial Day film festival.

For schedules and more information see the links below.

Complete TCM Schedule, Highlights

For TCM schedules and more information see the links below.

• TCM Schedule for Today
• TCM Highlights for May 2025
• TCM Alphabetical List of May 2025 Films
• TCM Schedule for This Month
• TCM YouTube Channel

How to Watch TCM

Turner Classic Movies is available on every cable and satellite TV provider, including:

• • • DirecTV: Channel 256
    • Dish: Channel 132
    • Spectrum: Channel varies by location; to find yours visit Spectrum Channel Guide
    • YouTube TV: Search for TCM

If you have TCM on your cable, you can also stream it free on your smartphone or PC:  Streaming TCM

TCM Facebook Page – Latest Posts