Yolanda and the Thief (TMC Sunday at...

Yolanda and the Thief (TMC Sunday at 6 a.m.). One of the most venturesome but least popular of the lavish MGM musicals of the ‘40s, it is an extravagantly lush fairy tale starring Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer in the title roles and features some dazzling dance sequences staged by Eugene Loring--and a bathtub sequence that out-DeMilles DeMille. Directed by Vincente Minnelli.

The Long Goodbye (Channel 13 Friday at 3:30 a.m.). In this 1973 release, a key American film of the ‘70s, Robert Altman dared to drop Raymond Chandler’s private eye Philip Marlowe into contemporary Los Angeles--and to turn him into a shaggy, sloppy hangdog type (Elliott Gould, perfectly cast). The result is a sly, elegant classic that has so much fun with Southern California archetypes that we’re in danger of overlooking the film’s serious moral undertones. The film was written by Leigh Brackett, Howard Hawks’ frequent collaborator.