THE SCARLET LETTER
TCM, 12:15 p.m. ET
Lillian Gish is the star of the day at TCM, and it’s worth it to sample as many of her films as possible, because some are rarely televised, and others, like this 1926 silent version of the classic story, starring Gish as Hester Prynne (seen here with co-star Lars Hanson), have yet to be released on DVD. For the full treatment, begin at 6 a.m. ET with 1919’s Broken Blossoms, one of her many successful D.W. Griffith melodramas, followed at 7:45 a.m. ET by another, 1921’s Orphans of the Storm. The big draw of the day is saved for prime time, when 1916’s silent epic Intolerance, yet another Gish-Griffith teaming, is presented at 8 p.m. ET.