Netflix, 3:00 a.m. ET
MOVIE PREMIERE: The documentary American Factory already had appeared at Sundance, in finished form, but without a distributor or production financial deal. That changed when Barack and Michelle Obama selected it as the first project to be presented under their new TV production deal with Netflix. Their backing gives American Factory a much higher profile, but it’s the story that counts. The documentary tells of a General Motors factory in Dayton, OH, shuttered for years until a Chinese company came in, revived the factory, and hired 2,000 American blue-collar workers to work alongside Chinese immigrant factory workers. American Factory is a story of survival and assimilation, but it’s also a story of culture clashes, learning from one another, and the importance and value of the ability and willingness to adapt.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Preston Sturges’ 1941 movie about a filmmaker suffering an existential crisis – do his films really matter, especially the lighter ones? – has directly inspired several other brilliant films, including Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories and the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? (whose title comes from the working title of the movie being written by Joel McCrae’s filmmaker in Sullivan’s Travels). But on its own, it’s a fabulous movie in its own right, especially with Veronica Lake’s priceless co-starring performance as an unsuccessful actress.
IFC, 10:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s episode is devoted to “The Ladies of Showcase” – which should be a bit like devoting an episode of a documentary series on Hullaballoo to the cage dancers. Or an episode of a documentary series on In Living Color to The Fly Girls. Or a bit of both…