THE LEMON DROP KID
TCM, 9:30 p.m. ET
This Bob Hope comedy takes place around Christmas, so it qualifies for TCM’s holiday screening month – but Bob Hope on film is a treat any time. He’s a clear comedy precursor to Woody Allen, and though he excels in buddy comedies with Bing Crosby, he more than holds his own here as well. In this 1951 comedy, he pays a man who runs afoul of a powerful gangster and has to scramble to repay some money. Lots of money, very quickly. Marilyn Maxwell co-stars as the gangster’s moll – and, at Christmas, who can avoid at least one visit to a moll?