TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
July
15–July 22
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
LAWRENCE
OF ARABIA (July 18, 8:00 pm): Unfortunately, the
small screen doesn't do justice to this 1962 epic, but it's still
breathtaking to watch. While meant for large movie screens, I'd still
love it if I only got to see it on a 13-inch, black-and-white Philco
television set. Peter O'Toole was a master at his craft, and this
film captures him at his best. David Lean, known for directing
larger-than-life films with all-star casts, is also at the top of his
game here. It's a dramatic story told over a period of close to four
hours. So get comfortable, pay attention and the reward of watching
this movie about T.E. Lawrence, a British Army officer during his
time in Arabia during World War I, will be great.
BAD
DAY AT BLACK ROCK (July
19, 4:15 pm): This
1955 film is a combination of the suspense of an Alfred Hitchcock
thriller with the action of a great martial-arts movie done in a
Western style. The cast is filled with all-stars, led by Spencer
Tracy playing a mysterious stranger with the use of only one arm.
Robert Ryan is the main bad guy, aided by Lee Marvin and Ernest
Borgnine, along with Dean Jagger as the town's alcoholic sheriff and
Walter Brennan as its undertaker. It's obvious from the moment the
stranger, John J. Macreedy (Tracy), gets off the train in Black Rock
that, well, it's going to be a bad day there. Macreedy has a reason
to be in town. That reason and his presence in Black Rock results in
a lot of havoc for the townsfolk. The best scene is when Macreedy,
using martial arts and only one hand, beats up Coley Trimble (played
by Borgnine in my favorite role of his in cinema) in a bar fight. He
only hits Trimble about five times and the fight lasts for about two
minutes, but it's incredibly effective. See for yourself. A
smart story with excellent action and great
acting.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
SCARFACE,
SHAME OF A NATION (July 17, 12 midnight): Director
Howard Hawks and screenwriter Ben Hecht’s tour de force about the
rise and fall of a violent gangster (based on al Capone) took over a
year to get past the censors but it was well worth the trouble. Muni
is predictably hammy, but mesmerizing, as Tony Camonte, a small time
hood who rises to the top of the heap. Ann Dvorak and Karen Morley
also shine as Tony’s sister and main squeeze, respectively. And who
can forget George Raft, flipping that nickel, as Camonte’s loyal
gunsel. It’s way better than Brian DePalma’s ultra-violent 1983
remake. The only fun of watching both back to back is to see who
chews the most scenery, Paul Muni or Al Pacino.
AND
THEN THERE WERE NONE (July 21, 8:00 pm): Rene Clair
directs this great adaptation of the Agatha Christie story about 10
people invited to a lonely island where they’re murdered one by
one. Dudley Nichols’ wonderful script goes perfectly with director
Clair’s visual deftness; together they bring the novel to a vibrant
life. There have been seven adaptation of this yearn over the years.
This is the best.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... A FAREWELL TO ARMS (July 18, 11:00 am)
ED:
A+. This is a case
where I value style over substance. Director Frank Borzage has taken
a bowdlerized version of Hemingway’s classic and somehow made it
not only entertaining but also almost mesmerizing. Though I missed
Hemingway’s vivid descriptions and candid dialogue between Gary
Cooper’s character, Lt. Henry, and the Italian officers (MGM didn’t
want to offend the Italian market), I loved what Borzage did with the
film. Of particular note is the scene where the wounded Cooper is
carried on a stretcher to an ambulance and then from the ambulance
into the hospital. Rather than following Cooper, the director shows
the action from the viewpoint of the wounded man, and we see what he
sees, the faces, the soothing words, the temporary ceilings, etc.
This is also a film to watch for the performances, and there a plenty
of excellent ones, beginning with Helen Hayes’s nurse, Catherine
Barkeley. She quietly dominates the scenes she appears in; we
naturally want to focus on her character, and she makes a good
counterpoint for Cooper’s laconic Lt. Hayes. Adolphe Menjou almost
walks away with the picture as the surgeon, Major Rinaldi, and
Blanche Friderici shines as the head nurse. It’s somewhat dated, as
all early ‘30s films are, caught in that abyss between silent films
and the perfection of sound, but certainly worth the time, especially
if you haven’t seen it before. It also outshines the remakes by a
country mile.
DAVID:
B-. This melodramatic film, very loosely based on the
Ernest Hemingway book, isn't bad. There are portions that are quite
good and Adolphe Menjou is outstanding. I agree with Ed that it's
somewhat dated though it's difficult to criticize it for that reason
because it was released 82 years ago. One problem is the movie seems
to drag on for a very long time yet it's only 85 minutes in length.
The story is a bit much with Lt. Frederic Henry (Gary Cooper)
traveling all over Europe during World War I to find the nurse (Helen
Hayes) he loves just in time for her to die in his arms as Armistice
is declared. I won't get into the drama related to her pregnancy, but
it's the stuff of soap operas. The film is far too sentimental for my
taste though it's Pre-code so the sexual relationship between the two
is more open than what you'd find in movies made a few years later.
Hayes is fine. Cooper is Cooper. He comes across as stiff as most of
his characters during his long yet curious film career. How did a guy
who largely acts like a block of wood with little personality get to
be the lead in so many major motion pictures?
No comments:
Post a Comment