Robert Benton’s Oscar-winning Kramer vs. Kramer (KTLA...

Robert Benton’s Oscar-winning Kramer vs. Kramer (KTLA Monday at 8 p.m.) is one of the key American movies of the ‘70s, one of those intimate films that are possible in Hollywood only when someone of Dustin Hoffman’s stature agrees to star in them. He is shattering as the husband whose wife (Meryl Streep) abruptly leaves him and their young son (Justin Henry).

Sidney Lumet’s absorbing 1982 The Verdict (KTLA Tuesday at 8 p.m.) stars Paul Newman, who digs deep into himself to show us the rebirth of a decent man, a Boston lawyer on the skids who lands a case never meant for trial. The film is at once the engrossing story of Newman’s redemption, a crackerjack courtroom drama and a suspense piece set in a beautifully evoked Boston.

Fred Walton’s 1986 April Fool’s Day (KCOP Tuesday at 8 p.m.) is a spiffy horror comedy that lends a bundle of new twists to the “let’s scare the dimwitted college kids” genre. Deborah Foreman stars.

Sydney Pollack’s 1981 Absence of Malice (KTLA Wednesday at 8 p.m.) offers an astringent look at contemporary journalistic practices. Written by former newspaperman Kurt Luedtke, it creates an absolutely authentic newsroom only to depict an ambitious reporter (Sally Field) as being so naive as to defy credibility. Field has been duped into placing an innocent Paul Newman (excellent) at the center of a murder investigation.

Written by William Hanley and directed by Randa Haines, the 1984 TV movie Something About Amelia (KTLA Friday at 8 p.m.) is a landmark in its expansive, candid yet sensitive exploration of incest. Ted Danson and Roxana Zal star as troubled father and exploited daughter; Glenn Close shines as the wife and mother caught in the middle.

Day of the Dolphin (KCOP Friday at 8 p.m.) is a genuinely offbeat and oddly compelling 1973 film in which dedicated marine biologist George C. Scott labors with patience and ingenuity to solve the mystery of how dolphins hear and speak so well--only to wonder why a super-rich foundation is so interested in his work.

In his next-to-last film--and his final Western--the elegiac, all-star 1964 Cheyenne Autumn (KCOP Saturday at 8 p.m.), John Ford made a valiant and moving attempt to cast his lot with the plight of American Indians.

The 1988 Crocodile Dundee II (CBS Saturday at 9 p.m.) is almost as much fun the second time around. As an adventure, it’s nothing special, yet it is good-humored and has the tremendously likable Paul Hogan in the title role.