TCM TiVo ALERT
For
June 15–June 22
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
ALL THE
KING'S MEN (June
16, 2:00 pm): I've recommended this 1949 film once before - and it's in regular
rotation on TCM - but I can't stress how outstanding it is and how those who've
never seen it, must do so. It's one of the 10 greatest films ever made.
Broderick Crawford is brilliant as Willie Stark, a do-gooder who fails as a
politician until he works the system, gets dirt on friends and foes, and
becomes a beloved populist governor. There are other incredible
performances, particularly John Ireland as Jack Burden, a journalist who
"discovers" Stark and helps him climb the political ladder, stepping
over anyone in the way; and Raymond Greenleaf as Judge Monte Stanton, Burden's
mentor and role model. As I had previously written, if you love politics, this
is the best movie on the subject ever made. If you hate politics, you'll love
this film as it gives you plenty of reasons to confirm your belief on the
subject.
12 ANGRY
MEN (June
16, 4:00 am): This is another quality film that I've recommended one other
time. It's a movie that really stays with you for its quality, intensity and
outstanding performances by an all-star cast that includes Henry Fonda, Lee J.
Cobb, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, E.G. Marshall and Jack Klugman. The film
takes place almost entirely inside a hot jury room that gets even hotter as the
debate over the guilt or innocence of the man on trial escalates. Director
Sidney Lumet and the cast make the viewer feel like he/she is a voyeur sitting
in the room with the jurors. It's one of the greatest courtroom dramas made,
quite a feat for a movie that skips over the case and gets right to the jury
deliberations.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
PICTURE
SNATCHER (June
17, 9:45 am): Jimmy Cagney is at his best as an ex-con who finds a new line of
work as a reporter/photographer for a struggling tabloid. Bringing his somewhat
unethical ways to the job, he nails prize photo after photo until his
questionable ethics cost the father of his girlfriend his job. Can Cagney make
everything right again? Do we have to ask?
THE
SEARCHERS (June
22, 8:00 pm): It’s an old axiom among serious film buffs that John Wayne was a
most limited actor. While that’s true, just give him a good script and a
director like John Ford or Howard Hawks to keep him in line and milk a good
performance out of him and he’s not only good – he’s compelling to watch. Wayne
is a Civil War veteran obsessed with tracking down the Comanches that killed
his family and slaughtered his niece. He also hates Indians with a passion, and
Ford paints an interesting character study as Wayne pursues the kidnappers. Not
to be missed, even for those that aren’t exactly crazy about Westerns.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (June 22, 6:15 pm)
ED: D. I’m a big fan of both Joseph
Cotten and George Sanders. The film also boasts a good supporting cast,
including Debra Paget, Patric Knowles, Henry Daniell, Ludwig Stossel, and that
Grand Old Man of Sci-fi, Morris Ankrum. So why don’t I like this movie? Simple
– it’s mind-numbingly dull, plodding along for what seems like hours with only
minimal cuts to action. It’s nothing but talk, talk, and more talk, and the
talk is dull at that. And check out the cheesy special effects: we can clearly
see the bar holding up the model spaceship. It’s almost worthy of Ed Wood, Jr.
And while Cotten and Sanders star in this clunker, it’s obvious to see they
just doing this for the paycheck. They look and act bored, especially Sanders.
This is something that belongs not on TCM, but on Mystery Science
Theater 3000.
DAVID:
C+. Is this
a sci-fi classic? Certainly not. Are the special effects not so special? Yes.
But any movie starring Joseph Cotten and George Sanders starts with a grade of
C just for the casting. The storyline, based on a Jules Verne book of the same
title, has its moments. The bitter rivalry between greedy munitions maker
Victor Barbicane (Cotten) and holier-than-thou metallurgist Stuyvesant Nicholl
(Sanders) provides a nice give-and-take for the two screen legends. Barbicane's
latest explosive, the ominous-sounding Power X, is met with skepticism from
Nicholl, who bets it can't destroy his invention, the world's hardest metal.
The metal gets blown up, but it's also converted into a super-strong and
super-lightweight ceramic. So what's next? A trip to the moon, of course, with
the spaceship made of the ceramic. It has some silly scenes and lacks
consistently strong dialogue, but Cotten and Sanders worked well together and
turned a weak script with bad special effects into a decent film.
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