Top 10 Oscars Movies to see during TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar

February starts on Sunday and you know what that means. Yes, it is the Super Bowl, but more importantly, it’s the start of Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar event. This is like ABC Family’s month-long Christmas movie marathon, but much more fun for movie fans.

From Feb. 1 to March 3, the network only plays films that were nominated for or won Oscars. Each year, they also do a theme and for 2015, it’s genres. During each day, they’ve scheduled films in a particular genre, so there’s a full day of Westerns, Noir, Melodramas, Adventure movies and even Swashbucklers.

What makes 2015 different though is that TCM has added many more recent films, even including The Artist (2011) and The King’s Speech (2010) on the final day. One night, they will be running all three Lord of the Rings films.

Each day will also include at least one Best Picture winner, with a total of 37 being run during the entire event. On the first day alone, the network will run the first four Best Picture winners, Wings (1927); All Quiet on the Western Front (1930); Cimarron (1930); and The Broadway Melody (1929). All four really are essential viewing.

Of course, for many regular TCM viewers, you’ve seen most of the movies before. That’s why for this list, I’ve picked some of my favorites that aren’t so well known. Of course One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (airing on Feb. 22 - the night of the Oscars) is one of the best films ever made, but it’s not listed here.

I’ve also listed them in the order that they air. So, get your DVR cleared, you’re going to want to record these!

[new page = Feb. 2 pick]

Even if a movie scored only one nomination, it makes it to the schedule. That’s the case for Douglas Sirk’s melodrama classic Magnificent Obsession. The film was nominated only for Jane Wyman’s tear-jerking lead performance as an older woman who goes blind. Who can save her? The young doctor played by Rock Hudson, of course! Get the tissues ready for this one.

[new page = Feb. 4 pick]

Jean Renoir’s Le grande illusion is one of the greatest films ever made. It was only nominated for one award - Best Picture of 1938, making it the first foreign language film to be nominated for the top prize. (And still, none have won.) If you’ve never seen it, now’s your chance.

[new page = Feb. 7 pick]

Here Comes Mr. Jordan was remade by Warren Beatty as Heaven Can Wait and is a little gem starring Robert Montgomery as a boxer who is accidentally taken up to heaven. Claude Rains also gives a great performance as the title angel who will help him out. The film won two Oscars - Best Writing (Original Story) and Best Writing (Screenplay). Yeah, I can’t explain how the writing Oscars used to work either.

[new page = Feb. 8]

During a day full of family movies, TCM will air The Yearling, which won Oscars for its beautiful cinematography and its art direction. The film tells the story of a young family in unsettled Florida, whose son takes in a deer. This is worth it for Gregory Peck’s Oscar-nominated performance, since he’s warming up for Atticus Finch.

[new page = Feb. 12 pick]

While Arthur Penn is best known for directing Bonnie And Clyde, his other masterpiece is The Miracle Worker, a stark telling of how Annie Sullivan struggled to teach the young Helen Keller. Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke won Oscars for their performances.

[new page = Feb. 14 pick]

The More The Merrier is a delightful comedy set in Washington D.C. during World War II, when there was a housing shortage. Jean Arthur lets Oscar winner Charles Coburn rent a room and, unbeknownst to her, he lets Joel McCrea rent half of his room! This was directed by the great George Stevens and shows off the director’s comedy side.

[new page = Feb. 15 pick]

For those who love Noir, Feb. 15 is going to be a really cool day. It starts off with Johnny Eager, which earned Van Heflin a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Heflin showed that all you really do need to do to win an Oscar is play a drunk, but he does it so well. Lana Turner and Robert Taylor also make this one worth watching.

[new page = Feb. 20]

Eleanor Parker earned a Best Actress nomination for Caged, which has become kind of a camp classic. It’s a women’s prison picture, but with the grit you don’t expect from a movie made in 1950. This might be worth watching if you like Orange is the New Black.

[new page = Feb. 22 pick]

If you need a break from Oscars coverage, watch John Huston’s masterpiece The Man Who Would Be King. The film was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay. It brings a Rudyard Kipling story alive as few other films have, with Michael Caine and Sean Connery at their absolute best. Christopher Plummer also plays Kipling.

[new page = Feb. 28 pick]

If you think you really know Audrey Hepburn, you don’t until you’ve seen Wait Until Dark, one of the great 1960s thrillers. She plays a blind woman stuck in her New York apartment while Alan Arkin leads a group of robbers trying to steal from her. It’s filled with tense moments and proves that Hepburn was one of the great actresses of her time. The film earned her a Best Actress nomination.

There are plenty of other great movies on and I suggest you see any Best Picture winner you haven’t seen that’s on the schedule, which you can find right here.