July 2005 – Audrey Hepburn
July 2005 – Audrey Hepburn
Friday July 1 – Cars in the Movies (The Dawn of the Automobile Age)
6:00 AM It’s Love I’m After (1937)
8:00 AM The Charge Of The Light Brigade (1936) – Directed by Michael Curtiz this film features a Michael Jacoby (who co-wrote the screenplay) original story that was based on Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem. It stars Errol Flynn Olivia de Havilland David Niven Patric Knowles Henry Stephenson Nigel Bruce Donald Crisp C. Henry Gordon (as the leading villain) and Spring Byington in a movie whose plot I don’t remember enough to distinguish it from The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) other than its classic titled scene. It won an Oscar for Assistant Director Jack Sullivan and was nominated for its Musical Score and Sound Recording.
10:00 AM The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
2:00 PM The Male Animal (1942)
4:00 PM The Heiress (1949)
6:00 PM Light In The Piazza (1962)
9:30 PM Speedy (1928) – which earned director Ted Wilde a nomination for Best Director Comedy Picture in the only year this Oscar category existed losing to Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)) and the Howard Hughes produced Two Arabian Nights (1927). Harold Lloyd is an obsessed baseball fan whose love for the game prevents him from keeping a job. Great scenes of Coney Island NY (that must have been a fun place to visit!) a Babe Ruth cameo a funny street fight copied many times over and a perilous chase through the city make this a silent classic not to missed.
12:30 AM The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
2:00 AM Closely Watched Trains (1967) – this Oscar winning Best Foreign Language Film is a TCM premiere!
Saturday July 2 – Take Two Aspirin (Headache Movies)
6:00 AM Larceny Inc. (1942) – full review!
10:00 AM The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
2:15 PM Casablanca (1942)
4:00 PM Fort Apache (1948) – another super John Ford/John Wayne western (the first of his trilogy of U.S. Cavalry pictures these two made along with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) & Rio Grande (1950)). This one also features Henry Fonda Shirley Temple and Ward Bond among others.
6:15 PM She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949) – an all new essential capsule review!
8:00 PM White Heat (1949) – this week’s TCM Essential and an all new essential capsule review!
10:00 PM The Sea Wolf (1941) – all new capsule review!
11:30 PM Dark Victory (1939)
3:30 AM The Good Earth (1937)
Sunday July 3 – Witchy Women
6:00 AM Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
8:00 AM Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
10:15 AM Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
12:00 PM Jaws (1975)
2:15 PM The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
4:00 PM Rear Window (1954)
6:00 PM White Heat (1949) – this week’s TCM Essential is repeated
8:00 PM & 11 PM The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
10:45 PM The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) – silent short version of the classic tale
12:45 AM The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) – one of the best silent films ever made featuring the only performance of Maria Falconetti in the title role. Directed and co-written by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
2:15 AM Bell Book and Candle (1959) – the inspiration for TV’s Bewitched series? A publisher played by James Stewart is attracted to a witch (Kim Novak) whose brother (Jack Lemmon) and aunt (Elsa Lanchester) can also conjure up spells as can a "rival" witch (Hermione Gingold). Like Stewart’s character Ernie Kovacs plays a writer who is also a mere mortal but unlike him he believes in them (e.g. witches and warlocks). Nominated for Art Direction and Costume Design Oscars.
Monday July 4 – Starring Lady Liberty – HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!
3:00 PM Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
6:00 PM The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
8:00 PM Funny Girl (1968) – before Babs became a polarizing political figure to rival Jane Fonda she made her film debut in this William Wyler directed Musical and shared the Best Actress Oscar that year (with Katharine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter (1968)) for her portrayal of comedienne Fanny Brice in this Oscar nominated Best Picture. The film received six other AA noms including for its titled Original Song Score and Supporting Actress Kay Medford. It also stars Omar Sharif Anne Francis and Walter Pidgeon as Florenz Ziegfeld.
11:00 PM Saboteur (1942)
4:00 AM Born To Dance (1936) – only average but an all new full review!
Tuesday July 5 – Sci-Fi Films
6:00 AM Red Dust (1932)
12:00 PM White Banners (1938)
8:00 PM & 10:30 PM Watch the Skies (2005) – a TCM premiere documentary!
9:00 PM The Thing From Another World (1951)
11:30 PM Forbidden Planet (1956)
3:00 AM Village Of The Damned (1960) – pretty good horror film about a strange occurrence which causes a rash of births nine months later. The offspring are children which grow up too fast and possess special abilities which give their parents cause for worry. George Sanders plays a professor who recognizes their capabilities first and initially educates them until he realizes what he’s helped to create. Check out their eyes!
Wednesday July 6 – Audrey Hepburn – TCM’s Star of the Month
10:15 AM Holiday Affair (1949) – an all new capsule review!
12:00 PM Angels In The Outfield (1951) – this original version of the divine assisted baseball team is an enjoyable comedy worth seeing if you haven’t. The lead cast includes Paul Douglas Janet Leigh (miscast too young!) Keenan Wynn Lewis Stone and Spring Byington. The supporting players include Hall of Fame ballplayers Ty Cobb & Joe Dimaggio as well as Bing Crosby (as himself) and Barbara Billingsley!
4:00 PM Touch Of Evil (1958)
6:00 PM Psycho (1960)
8:00 PM Roman Holiday (1953) – an all new essential capsule review!
10:15 PM Sabrina (1954)
12:30 AM The Nun’s Story (1959)
3:30 AM The Bells Of St. Mary’s (1945)
Thursday July 7 – Cars in the Movies (The Chase is On)
6:00 AM Dinner At Eight (1933)
8:00 AM Sylvia Scarlett (1935) – listed only because it is the first pairing of Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant.
10:00 AM Holiday (1938)
11:45 AM The Women (1939)
2:00 PM Gaslight (1944)
6:00 PM Pat And Mike (1952)
8:00 PM Bullitt (1968)
10:00 PM Charley Varrick (1973) – An entertaining film by director Don Siegel featuring Walter Matthau getting the best of the mob after his slimy partner in crime (Andy Robinson) skips. Joe Don Baker is the hit man who tracks him down; Norman Fell plays a police detective also on their trail. Sheree North plays a woman in the mix.
2:00 AM The French Connection (1971) – a TCM premiere!
Friday July 8 – Cars in the Movies (Accidents Will Happen)
12:00 PM Dead End (1937)
2:00 PM Johnny Eager (1942) – this film which earned Van Heflin a Best Supporting Actor Oscar (on his only nomination) is actually quite confusing and silly. Most of the rest of the acting is sub-par or over-the-top and even Heflin’s statuette seems to have been earned on fake tears alone. Sure he plays a likeable literate drunkard and gets to deliver some pretty good lines (the film’s only?) but his character seems to serve only to highlight the cold natured soulless title character played by Robert Taylor who was clearly out of his element in this one. I thought Robert Sterling’s Jimmy Lana Turner’s character’s fiancé was sufficient enough for the contrast needed. Turner’s performance is as laughable (literally) as Paul Stewart’s accent. Edward Arnold plays a character we’ve seen him play before but at least Glenda Farrell as Eager’s former girlfriend plays a worthwhile role. Henry O’Neill Charles Dingle and Connie Gilchrist round out the cast. So this Mervyn LeRoy directed crime drama written by a couple of guys with Oscar nominations could have been a LOT better.
8:00 PM The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
10:00 PM Scarface (1932)
2:00 AM The Conformist (1970) – a TCM premiere!
4:00 AM The Great Dictator (1940) – Charlie Chaplin spoofs Adolf Hitler! Nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture Best Actor (Chaplin) & Writing (also Chaplin) and Supporting Actor (Jack Oakie). Added to the National Film Registry in 1997. #37 on AFI’s 100 Funniest Movies list.
Saturday July 9 – Film Debuts
12:30 PM Buck Privates (1941) – an all new capsule review!
3:30 PM Fistful Of Dollars (1964) – the first of several great spaghetti Westerns that director Sergio Leone made with Clint Eastwood. In this one loner Clint injects himself into a feud between two families much like the titled samurai in Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961). His final confrontation scene with rifleman Rojo is unforgettable.
8:00 PM It Should Happen To You (1954) – an all new full review & this week’s TCM Essential!
9:30 PM Paper Lion (1968) – an all new capsule review!
11:30 PM Splendor In The Grass (1961)
4:00 AM Gaslight (1944)
Sunday July 10
8:00 AM Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)
12:00 PM Suspicion (1941)
4:00 PM The Pink Panther (1964) – this first film with Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau is a comedy classic by director Blake Edwards. With David Niven Robert Wagner and Capucine (before Madonna I guess;- ) it features the great theme music by Henry Mancini as well as introducing the famous "Pink Panther" cartoon even though the film’s title actually refers to a famous diamond.
6:00 PM It Should Happen To You (1954) – this week’s TCM Essential is repeated
1:30 AM Boys Town (1938)
3:15 AM David Copperfield (1935)
Monday July 11 – Directed by Edward Dmytryk
11:00 PM Crossfire (1947)
12:30 AM Raintree County (1957) – you can probably skip this one but an all new full review!
Tuesday July 12 – Guest Programmer: Tom Kenny
8:30 AM Quality Street (1937) – all new capsule review!
12:00 AM Mad Love (1935) – Peter Lorre is a masterful surgeon who’s so obsessed with a married stage actress (Frances Drake) he has a full size wax statue made of her. When her concert pianist husband (Colin Clive) ruins his hands in an accident Lorre’s character surgically replaces them with the hands of a knife throwing murderer (Edward Brophy) that’s just been executed. Ted Healy plays a reporter who learns of it; Keye Luke plays the doctor’s assistant. The last of eight films directed by Oscar winning cinematographer Karl Freund (The Good Earth (1937)).
1:15 AM He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
2:30 AM Man Of A Thousand Faces (1957) – Cagney plays Lon Chaney interesting insight into Irving Thalberg (Robert Evans) and his relationship with Chaney (whether it’s a true biographical piece or not;- ) Early scenes of Cagney becoming the "title" are the best I think. Also in the cast are Dorothy Malone Jane Greer Marjorie Rambeau Jim Backus and Jack Albertson.
Wednesday July 13 – Audrey Hepburn – TCM’s Star of the Month
10:00 AM The Hard Way (1942) – an all new capsule review!
2:00 PM Old Acquaintance (1943) – an all new capsule review!
6:00 PM Deception (1946) – if A Stolen Life (1946) doesn’t serve as the end point of Bette Davis’s 10+ year run of unsurpassed greatness of films then this ill-named drama certainly does. Not that Ms. Davis isn’t terrific in it especially as she matches talents with the equally able Claude Rains but the "deception" itself is as all but non-existent as the rest of the plot in this one – a love triangle which also includes Paul Heinreid. We can all be thankful that the "great Bette" was able to give us more examples of her immense talent some years later in films like the Academy Award winning Best Picture All About Eve (1950) and her characterizations in (e.g.) A Catered Affair (1956) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).
2:00 AM The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
3:30 AM Larceny Inc. (1942) – full review!
Thursday July 14 – Cars in the Movies (Teenage Drivers)
10:00 PM American Graffiti (1973)
12:00 AM Corvette Summer (1978) – a TCM premiere!
2:00 AM Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) – a TCM premiere!
Friday July 15
8:30 AM The Story Of Louis Pasteur (1936)
10:00 AM The Life Of Emile Zola (1937)
12:00 PM Juarez (1939)
2:15 PM Doctor Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet (1940)
6:30 PM Portrait of Jennie (1948) – Jennifer Jones is the "muse" for painter Joseph Cotten who is supported by gallery owners Ethel Barrymore & Cecil Kellaway. But does she really exist? Lillian Gish and David Wayne also appear as does Nancy Davis Reagan (at the very end) in this unusual yet captivating story. A Best Special Effects Oscar winner also nominated for B&W Cinematography.
8:00 PM To Catch a Thief (1955)
4:30 AM They Drive by Night (1940) – Ida Lupino is oh so sexy in this remake of Bordertown (1935). George Raft Ann Sheridan and Humphrey Bogart also star in this Raoul Walsh directed film about a couple of truck driving brothers who are framed for murder by a lady psycho.
Saturday July 16 – Told in Flashback
12:00 PM Carbine Williams (1952) – only fair but somewhat interesting historical bio with James Stewart full review!
2:00 PM Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1963)
6:15 PM Soylent Green (1973) – though there is no great mystery or intrigue about what the titled substance is made of in this futuristic film focused on the problems of overpopulation this Charlton Heston film is noteworthy in that it features the great Edward G. Robinson’s last performance on film that of a man who would give his life to see the beauty of our unspoiled country once again (even if it’s only a virtual reality).
8:00 PM Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) – this is a sci-fi film which holds up today who can forget the ending with Kevin McCarthy! Directed by Don Siegel it was added to the National Film Registry in 1994. This week’s TCM Essential!
9:30 PM Double Indemnity (1944)
11:30 PM Don’t Give Up The Ship (1959) – only average a Jerry Lewis comedy full review!
Sunday July 17 – Starring Laurel & Hardy
6:00 AM The Little Foxes (1941)
8:00 AM A Night at the Opera (1935) – classic comedy from the Marx Brothers added to the National Film Registry in 1993. Groucho and Sig Ruman compete for Margaret Dumont’s affections by trying to sign the best singing talent for their operas. Allan Jones is one of the tenors; Kitty Carlisle (known to many of us younger fans as Miss "To Tell the Truth") also appears.
2:00 PM The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)
5:00 PM Watch the Skies (2005) – a documentary new this month!
6:00 PM Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) – this week’s TCM Essential is repeated; see my 7/16 comments
7:30 PM The Music Box (1932) – all new full review!
8:00 PM Sons of the Desert (1933) – all new full review!
9:15 PM Way Out West (1937) – all new full review!
Monday July 18 – Horror Comedies
8:00 PM Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) – a TCM premiere!
9:30 PM The Ghost Breakers (1940) – a TCM premiere!
11:00 PM The Old Dark House (1932) – a TCM premiere!
Tuesday July 19 – Robert Osborne’s Picks
11:30 AM None but the Lonely Heart (1944) – features one of (only two) Cary Grant’s Best Actor nominated performances; Ethel Barrymore won an Oscar playing his dying mother.
8:00 PM Trader Horn (1931) – full review!
10:15 PM The Kennel Murder Case (1933) – Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca (1942)) adapted by Robert Presnell (Meet John Doe (1941)) with a screenplay co-written by Robert Lee (Little Caesar (1931)) this Philo Vance mystery stars three time Best Actor nominee William Powell as the famous sleuth. The cast also includes Mary Astor (The Great Lie (1941)) Eugene Pallette and Ralph Morgan among others. The model of the house used at the end is a little too elaborate to be believed but other than that this mystery and its resolution is very satisfying.
2:00 AM Madame Bovary (1949)
Wednesday July 20 – Audrey Hepburn – TCM’s Star of the Month
6:00 AM Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) – full review!
1:30 PM Splendor In The Grass (1961)
8:00 PM Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961) – an all new essential capsule review!
10:00 PM My Fair Lady (1964)
1:00 AM Charade (1963) – an entertaining romp pairing Audrey Hepburn with Cary Grant in a comedy mystery that includes some other named actors in humorous roles: Walter Matthau James Coburn & George Kennedy. Directed by Stanley Donen.
Thursday July 21
4:00 PM Beyond Tomorrow (1940) – I haven’t seen this one yet but it was recommended by a trusted friend!
Friday July 22 – Cars in the Movies (Hitching a Ride)
6:00 AM Secrets of the French Police (1932) – not very good but an all new obscure review!
8:15 AM Steel Against The Sky (1941) - pretty awful but an all new full review!
7:00 PM Escape From Crime (1942) – not great but not awful either full review!
8:00 PM Kiss Me Deadly (1955) – Directed by Robert Aldrich this movie adapted from the Mickey Spillane novel features Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer who picks up a trenchcoat clothed hysterical woman (Cloris Leachman in her film debut) on a lonely highway at night only to find out that she’s an escaped mental patient. After he’s almost killed when some unknown assailants do succeed in murdering her Hammer is questioned by the police. He then decides to unravel the mystery himself which leads to the discovery of a dangerous (e.g. Pandora’s) box and one of the most bizarre movie endings you’ll ever see. Also with Albert Dekker Paul Stewart Juano Hernandez and Maxine Cooper. Added to the National Film Registry in 1999.
10:00 PM Detour (1945) – A cheaply made film noir that’s good enough to have been added to the National Film Registry in 1992.
12:30 AM The Hitch-Hiker (1953) – someone else told me about this one and I’m glad they did. A great Ida Lupino directed film with a terrific performance by Edmond O’Brien. Added to the National Film Registry in 1998.
Saturday July 23 – Big Balls
6:00 AM The Great Lie (1941)
8:00 AM The Killing (1956)
12:00 PM The Secret Garden (1949) – full review!
8:00 PM The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) – this week’s TCM Essential
10:00 PM Jezebel (1938)
12:00 AM Wuthering Heights (1939)
2:00 AM Pride And Prejudice (1940)
4:00 AM The Heiress (1949)
Sunday July 24 – Cher and Cher Alike
8:00 AM Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) – a terrific comedy with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy poorly remake in the 80’s as The Money Pit about a businessman who dreams about having a house in the country. It includes an unforgettable sequence with Ms. Loy and the local painters. Support provided by Melvyn Douglas. #72 on AFI’s 100 Funniest Movies list.
12:00 PM Now Voyager (1942)
2:00 PM The Shop Around The Corner (1940)
4:00 PM The Tarnished Angels (1957) – I watched this Douglas Sirk soap opera based on the William Faulkner novel when it premiered on TCM several months ago because Maltin’s guide gave it 3 ½ (out of 4) stars. Well even Leonard can’t be right all the time. Robert Stack plays a former World War I flying ace who only finds work now in air shows racing around pylons. Dorothy Malone plays his too attractive for "his" own good wife especially with Rock Hudson around. Jack Carson is his socially dim-witted too old to still be attractive longtime friend & mechanic. The three (four with Stack’s & Malone’s 10 year old son) barely get by financially as they travel the country with Stack’s stunts providing their only means. Hudson plays a reporter in the town they’re currently in who finds a "how the mighty have fallen" story in the tension these three adults exude. Robert Middleton plays Stack’s former boss now competitor and soon to be partner through circumstances he can’t avoid. Interesting but average. None of the character’s are particularly credible and none of the acting performances are memorable either (though Malone is beautiful even in B&W).
6:00 PM The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) – this week’s TCM Essential is repeated
8:00 PM Moonstruck (1987) – although I don’t personally care much for this film it won Cher & Olympia Dukakis Oscars (its Writing also won) and was directed by the exceptional Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night (1967)). Also featuring Nicholas Cage. " Snap out of it!" is #96 on AFI’s 100 Top Movie Quotes of All Time list.
10:00 PM Mask (1985) – a TCM premiere! No mystery that this film won an Oscar for Best Makeup since Eric Stoltz is unrecognizable as Cher’s deformed son who’s befriended by a blind Laura Dern. Also with Sam Elliot Estelle Getty Richard Dysart and Harry Carey Jr.; directed by TCM’s latest "Essentials" host Peter Bogdanovich.
5:00 AM Five Star Final (1931) – an all new essential full review!
Monday July 25
6:30 AM The Story Of Vernon And Irene Castle (1939) – average full review!
12:00 PM Three Godfathers (1936) – the best version of this oft-remade story (?) and an all new capsule review!
6:30 PM Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
9:30 PM Man in the Shadow (1957) – not bad see my full review!
12:30 AM Watch the Skies (2005) – documentary new this month!
1:30 AM Brainstorm (1983) – only a fair movie but the concept is absolutely fascinating. Christopher Walken married to Natalie Wood (in her last film) is working on a brain recording device with Louise Fletcher. The device allows someone to "see" what another has thought (or dreamed) and recorded. Walken gets obsessed with his invention to the point of neglecting his wife especially after Fletcher records her thoughts while she’s dying from a heart attack. Directed by three time Best Special Effects Oscar nominee Douglas Trumbull with a story by Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost (1990)); Cliff Robertson also appears.
Tuesday July 26 – Reverse Thin Man
1:45 PM The Narrow Margin (1952) – A relatively short film yet highly regarded. A gangster’s former moll (Marie Windsor) asks for protection which the police provide during her train journey to police headquarters where she’ll be expected to give testimony against her former lover. The cop (Charles McGraw) assigned to escort her is not so friendly and is perhaps even a little resentful at first but must do his job against the odds. Directed by Richard Fleischer (Design for Death (1947)) it was nominated for a Best Writing Motion Picture Story Oscar.
4:45 PM Detour (1945) – a great poverty row film noir; it was added to the National Film Registry in 1992.
6:00 PM The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946) – Barbara Stanwyck plays the title role in this drama also starring Van Heflin and Kirk Douglas. As a child Heflin left his small town on a train when it was suspected that he was responsible for a crime. He returns years later to find that the real culprit of the crime Stanwyck is married to the just elected district attorney Douglas though she wears the pants in the marriage given the fact that she inherited the family fortune upon her aunt’s (Judith Anderson) death the crime for which Heflin’s character was suspected per his absence. Lizabeth Scott plays a transient woman Heflin picks up when he returns to town. Of course Stanwyck is still attracted to her former beau especially because her husband is rather wimpy and a drunkard to boot (that’s right Kirk Douglas against type!). Neither Stanwyck who tries to seduce him nor Douglas who uses his newfound position to threaten him want Heflin to reveal the true secret of the long forgotten crime. John Patrick’s Original Story was nominated for an Oscar. Directed by Lewis Milestone with a screenplay by Robert Rossen.
All the Thin Man films in reverse order including:
2:45 AM After The Thin Man (1936)
4:45 AM The Thin Man (1934)
Wednesday July 27 – Audrey Hepburn – TCM’s Star of the Month
7:45 AM National Velvet (1944)
10:00 AM Lassie Come Home (1943) – a family classic featuring the famous titled collie who returns home against all odds after an incredible journey to her family which includes Donald Crisp Elsa Lanchester and child actor Roddy McDowall. Dame May Whitty Elizabeth Taylor (in only her second film) Edmund Gwenn and Nigel Bruce (to whom with Taylor Lassie had been sold by the impoverished family) also appear. Nominated for a Best Color Cinematography Oscar it was added to the National Film Registry in 1993. Hugo Butler (Edison the Man (1940)) adapted Eric Knight’s novel of the same name.
6:15 PM Knute Rockne All American (1940)
8:00 PM The Children’s Hour (1961) – though not quite as good as These Three (1936) this remake does restore the Lillian Hellman’s original plot-line and features great acting by Audrey Hepburn Shirley MacLaine James Garner Miriam Hopkins and Fay Bainter. Directed by William Wyler.
10:00 PM Robin and Marian (1976) – a fair to middlin story about an older Robin Hood who returns home to his Maid Marian but must still battle the Sheriff of Nottingham. Only watchable because of its title character leads Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn’s Marian is now a nun who’s not too happy with her adventurous former lover’s absence; Shaw plays the still evil law man Richard Harris plays King Richard. Directed by Richard Lester written by James Goldman (The Lion in Winter (1968)).
12:00 AM Always (1989) – a TCM premiere!
4:30 AM Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
Thursday July 28 – Cars in the Movies (On the Road)
2:45 PM Alibi Ike (1935) – Joe E. Brown made a number of films some of which (like this one) has a baseball theme. His brand of humor is definitely an acquired taste which ranges between annoying and silly. In this comedy he plays a very talented if mentally below average titled pitcher with a wacky windup who can’t seem to admit that he doesn’t know everything or that he’s responsible for anything – so he makes up an excuse or alibi. Because of these traits he gets mixed up with some gamblers who are convinced he’ll (literally) throw the game for them. But the gamblers then have to conspire to keep Ike from being able to pitch in the big game when he finally figures out "what’s what". Poor Olivia de Havilland has to play opposite Brown as the daughter of a baseball executive and even has the misfortune of becoming his betrothed. Ruth Donnelly (as de Havilland’s sister) Roscoe Karns (as one of Brown’s "friends") and William Frawley (as the team manager) also appear.
10:00 PM They Live by Night (1949)
12:00 AM Rain Man (1988)
2:30 AM Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
4:30 AM You Only Live Once (1937) – pretty good film by director Fritz Lang (one of his best?) featuring Henry Fonda as a criminal who Sylvia Sidney believes is basically good. Lots of familiar faces in this one including Barton MacLane William Gargan Jerome Cowan and Margaret Hamilton and Warren Hymer among others. Even more uncredited like Ward Bond and Al Bridge!
Friday July 29 – Cars in the Movies (Fully Loaded)
6:00 AM One Way Passage (1932)
8:00 PM Back to the Future (1985) – an all new essential capsule review!
10:00 PM Batman (1989) – The first "serious" feature film about the famously dark comic book hero the tortured millionaire who fights crime with special gadgets he’s invented including a wicked automobile keeping his identity a secret by wearing a bat costume with cape. Michael Keaton plays the title role and takes on The Joker (Jack Nicholson in his over-the-top campiest?) in this above average fantasy thriller by director Tim Burton. Kim Basinger appears as the caped crusader’s love interest. Won an Academy Award for Art Direction-Set Decoration.
2:00 AM Ordet (1955) – worth your time especially if you like reading subtitles;-) Another masterpiece by director Carl Theodor Dryer.
4:15 AM The French Connection (1971)
Saturday July 30 – Mythical Lands
2:00 PM Operation Petticoat (1959) – an above average comedy from director Blake Edwards starring Cary Grant as the Captain of a submarine Tony Curtis as his first officer that can get him anything he needs and Dina Merrill as the head nurse of a group which Grant & Co. must transport in close quarters;-) Also features four future television stars: Dick Sargent (Bewitched) Gavin MacLeod (The Love Boat) Marion Ross (Happy Days) and Arthur O’Connell (various). Screenplay nominated for an Academy Award.
8:00 PM The Merry Widow (1934) – this week’s TCM Essential
12:00 AM Duck Soup (1933) – another Marx Brothers classic (the last one with Zeppo) perhaps their best has Groucho playing Rufus T. Firefly the new president of Freedonia so appointed by the richest woman (played by Margaret Dumont of course) in the small country. He declares war on a large neighboring country that of Louis Calhern and spy Raquel Torres (looking an awful lot like Dolores del Rio). Many of the gags and/or lines are classics which have survived and become part of our culture. Directed by Leo McCarey the film was added to the National Film Registry in 1990.
1:15 AM The Prisoner Of Zenda (1937)
Sunday July 31 – Rita Hayworth Double Feature
6:00 AM Lady For A Day (1933)
6:00 PM The Merry Widow (1934) – this week’s TCM Essential is repeated
8:00 PM Tonight and Every Night (1945) – a TCM premiere!
1:30 AM The French Connection (1971)