TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
April
8–April 14
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
THE
BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (April 10, 12:15 am): This is
easily one of the finest all-around films – acting, directing,
screenplay and costumes – ever made. Kirk Douglas is a movie
mogul who needs the help of former friends, who were betrayed by him
in one way or another, for his comeback film. While waiting for his
call, the three former friends – an actress (Lana Turner), a
screenwriter (Dick Powell) and a director (Barry Sullivan) –
share their stories of getting burned by Douglas in the office of a
producer (Walter Pidgeon). The 1952 film is based on actual Hollywood
figures or at least composites of them. It's an incredibly enjoyable
film to watch as it's smart, wickedly funny and entertaining with a
wonderful cast, Gloria Grahame has a small but memorable role (that
earned her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress) in addition to the
fine job by the actors previously mentioned. Vincente Minnelli's
directing brings out the best in each of the performers with a great
screenplay from Charles Schnee. A bit of trivia: the five Oscars won
by The Bad and the Beautiful is the most by any
movie not nominated for Best Picture. The mystery is how did this
film not even get nominated, particularly with the Best Picture award
that year going to the overrated and overproduced The
Greatest Show on Earth.
GASLIGHT (April
14, 11:00 am): As a huge fan of Joseph Cotten and Ingrid Bergman, it's
gratifying to see that when the two teamed together in this 1944
film, the result is spectacular. It has fantastic pacing, starting
slowly planting the seeds of Bergman's potential insanity and
building to a mad frenzy with Cotten's Scotland Yard inspector saving
the day and Bergman gaining a certain level of revenge. While Charles
Boyer has never been a favorite of mine, he is excellent in this role
as Bergman's scheming husband who is slowly driving her crazy. Also
deserving of praise is Angela Lansbury in her film debut as the
couple's maid. It's Lansbury's best role on the big screen who has
the hots for Boyer and nothing but disdain for Bergman. A well-acted,
well-directed film that is one I always enjoy no matter how many
times I see it.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
DRESSED
TO KILL (April 8, 7:45 am): No, it’s not the highly
overrated 1980 Brian DePalma film, but rather the last of the
Sherlock Holmes series from Universal in 1946. Holmes and Watson
(Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) are racing to recover stolen
five-pound bank note plates from associates of the jailed thief that
stole them. The key to the location of the plates is hidden inside
the coded tunes of three music boxes made by the thief in Dartmoor
Prison. Opposing Holmes are the thief’s associates, led by the
beautiful Patricia Morison. It takes all of Holmes’ powers of
deduction, but he’s stumped until an inadvertent remark by Watson
gives him the answer. Most movie series end on a flat note,
but Dressed to Kill only makes us wish the duo of
Rathbone and Bruce had not gone on to make other entries in the
series.
SULLIVAN’S
TRAVELS (April 13, 6:15 pm): This film is
rightly said to be writer/director Preston Sturges’s masterpiece.
John L. Sullivan is a noted director of light musical fare such
as Ants in Your Plants of 1939 and Hey, Hey
in the Hayloft. However, he wants to make an Important Film, and
he has one in mind, namely O Brother, Where Art Thou, a
leaden novel concerned with the struggle between Capital and Labor.
The studio execs pooh-pooh it, noting that he grew up rich and never
suffered. So, Sullivan sets out to see how the other half lives, and
ends up with far more than he bargained for when everybody assumes he
died. It’s both hilarious and touching with many insights from
Sturges into the human ego versus the human condition. It’s best to
record it to be seen again later – and you will definitely want to
see it again.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... GIRL
HAPPY (April 13,
12:00 pm)
ED:
C. The
best thing one can say about an Elvis film from the ‘60s is that
it’s not annoying or stupid. The amazing thing about Elvis movies
is that they followed trends of the time rather than becoming
trailblazers. In this case, it’s the influence of the “Swinging
London” films of the mid-‘60s. In their seemingly never ending
quest to find a character for Elvis, Colonel Tom and the producers
moved him around during the decade from country boy to army guy to
swinging bachelor. In this film, he’s the swinging bachelor, hired
by a gangster to keep an eye on his wayward daughter. Although the
film starts off well – with a great title track – it bogs down as
Elvis gets deeper and deeper into his mission. Like every other
comedy of its type, we can quickly see just where the plot is going
and where it will end. For his part, Elvis is in his usual good form.
It would also have helped if he had been given a vibrant leading lady
instead of the rather bland Shelley Fabares, but I always got the
feeling that the producers figured the presence of Elvis alone is
enough to get the movie over. The real shame is that he was never
given a script of real quality. By the way, the film also features
the song, “Do the Clam,” written
by none other than Dolores Fuller, Ed Wood’ ex-girlfriend.
DAVID:
B. Of
all the "Elvis Formula" films Presley made, Girl
Happy is
my second favorite, behind Clambake (1967).
There's nothing unpredictable about Girl
Happy,
but it's a fun and enjoyable movie. It's a late 1950s beach film
released in 1965. Elvis' character, Rusty Wells (his characters
typically had cool names) is the leader of a four-man band working in
a Chicago nightclub for Big Frank, a guy who's obviously a gangster.
The boys are on their way to Fort Lauderdale for spring break, but
Frank tells them they've been booked for an extended stay. Trying to
work any angle to get down for their annual "fun in the sun,"
Rusty finds out Frank's innocent daughter Valerie (Shelley Fabares)
is heading to Lauderdale and tells him he and the band will go to
keep an eye on her. Who would be dumb enough to trust Elvis to
protect his hot daughter? Don't say, "Only in the movies,"
because that's what Priscilla (Wagner) Presley's father did. Of
course in Girl
Happy,
Rusty falls for her, but she's the boss' daughter and the boss.
Meanwhile, he's got a good-time party girl (Mary Ann Mobley) ready to
go. Oh, the problems Elvis' characters had having to pick between two
great-looking girls. As Ed mentioned, the script isn't strong, but
Elvis and the rest of the cast are solid. Of greater importance in an
Elvis film, the songs are very good and there are a lot of them. I
absolutely love "Do the Clam" (and the dance is hysterical), "Puppet on a String," the
amusing "Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce," and
"Meanest Girl in Town" with
Fabares doing a funky dance on the last one. I disagree with Ed on
Fabares. She always had great chemistry with Elvis, so much so that
she was in more of his films –
this, Spinout a
year later and Clambake the
next year – than any other actress.
No comments:
Post a Comment