The Big Street (AMC Monday at 7...

The Big Street (AMC Monday at 7 p.m., again at 11:30 p.m.). This 1942 adaptation of a Damon Runyon story, a “Midnight Cowboy” of a more innocent era, was Lucille Ball’s favorite among her films. She plays a flashy, gold-digging star singer at a Times Square nightclub, and Henry Fonda is the naive, hick busboy who worships her from afar--until tragedy strikes. A heart-tugging reminder that the beloved Lucy was also a fine dramatic actress.

The Late Show (Channel 13 Tuesday at 10 a.m.). One of the drollest American films of recent decades, Robert Benton’s 1977 production teams (perfectly) Art Carney as an aging Hollywood private eye and Lily Tomlin as a flaky L.A. type. There’s much shrewd, affectionate satire of the Hammett-Chandler archetypes.

Dance of Death (Bravo Thursday at 8:30 p.m.). One of the finest examples of that often maligned category, the filmed play. Scaled to the camera, this is a priceless 1968 record of the National Theater Company of Britain’s splendid production of the Strindberg classic, featuring masterful performances by Laurence Olivier and Geraldine McEwan.