Turner Classic Movies in May

I was somewhat disappointed that the TCM June Allyson series in May does not include the relatively rare Interlude (directed by Douglas Sirk), probably for rights reasons.  In any case, these are some of the movies of some of my favorite directors that will be shown in May:

Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo, an austere, iconic Western. 
In the background, never very far away, is the eternal darkness surrounding human existence, against which the Hawksian stoicism shines.  Robin Wood, Howard Hawks (Doubleday,1968).

Rouben Mamoulian's Queen Christina, one of the two cases where Greta Garbo had a good director (Lubitsch's Ninotchka is the other).
Queen Christina is, precisely, the story of a woman who grows up in the belief that the world is a place of solitude, then suddenly discovers the power to communicate with its enchantment.
Tom Milne, Rouben Mamoulian (Indiana University Press, 1969).

Fritz Lang's Clash by Night, a tense and fatalistic film, typical of Lang's films in the 50's. 
...a strong sense of psychological conflict defining the characters.  Tom Gunning, The Films of Fritz Lang (British Film Institute, 2000).

Samuel Fuller's The Steel Helmet, a film made during the Korean War, very much ahead of its time in its understanding of the U.S. in Asia. 
The settings of Fuller's movies are as bleak as the world of Samuel Beckett -- a perfect objective correlative of the Hobbesian state of nature.  Nicholas Garnham, Samuel Fuller (The Viking Press, 1971).

Rudolph Mate's D.O.A., an intense meditation on an unkind and unfair world.
 D.O.A. is a prime example of a thriller accentuated by factors of cynicism, alienation, chaos, and the corrupt nature of society to convey a dark vision of contemporary America. Carl Macek,  Film Noir (Overlook Press, 1979).

Mitch Leisen's The Mating Season, a film with an unusual understanding of the comedy of history. 
A crackling comedy.  David Thomson, A Biographical Dictionary of Film (William Morrow, 1975).

Frank Borzage's History is Made at Night, wonderfully romantic. 
A profound expression of Borzage's commitment to love over probability.  Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema (Dutton, 1968).