TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
October
1–October 7
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
THE
CIRCUS (October 3, 6:00 am): Along with The
Gold Rush, this is my favorite Charlie Chaplin film in which he
portrays his signature "Tramp" character. This 1928 silent
movie is funny, sweet, entertaining, and did I mention funny? The
Tramp stumbles into a circus and greatly entertains the crowd with
his unintentionally amusing antics. He has a formal tryout for the
circus and bombs because he's trying to be funny. But when the
circus' set-up crew quits when they're not paid, the Tramp is hired
to take their place. Through a series of mishaps, he becomes the star
of the circus. There's a beautiful girl with whom the Tramp falls in
love. She, of course, is in love with someone else. One of the best
parts of the film has the Tramp on the high-wire. The movie is a lot
of fun and Chaplin's ability to entertain an audience without
uttering a word is on full display here. There was a lot of drama
going on behind the scenes of this film, including a studio fire, an
IRS investigation into Chaplin and his divorce, but you'd never know
it.
STRANGERS
ON A TRAIN (October 7, 4:45 pm): I'm a huge fan of
Alfred Hitchcock and this among my favorites. The
premise is simple, but the plot, acting and directing of the movie
makes it a classic. Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) wants his father
dead. While on a train, he meets a stranger - tennis player Guy
Haines (Farley Granger) with a similar dilemma. Haines wants to get
rid of his wife so he can marry another woman. Anthony comes up with
the idea that these two "strangers on a train" will do each
other's dirty work and no one will suspect them. Haines brushes it
aside, but when the psychotic Anthony kills Haines' wife, he expects
his "co-conspirator" to respond in (not so) kind. The
interaction between Walker and Granger, two highly underrated actors,
in this film is outstanding. Hitch did a fantastic job - which he so
often did - building tension and drama.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
PEEPING
TOM (October 4, 3:00 pm): Michael Powell almost lost
his career in the uproar that followed the release of this
controversial film about a serial photographer who captures his
victims with his camera at their moment of death. He also documents
the police investigation that follows each killing, and finally, his
own suicide. We later learn that the killer’s father (played by
Powell) was a psychologist who used his own son as a guinea pig in
experiments exploring the nature of fear. The original print was
heavily edited upon its 1960 release, but later restored by none
other than Martin Scorsese. Don’t miss it.
A
CANTERBURY TALE (October 5, 6:00 am): A most unusual
and totally charming film about an English Tommy, a Land Girl, and an
American soldier who find themselves in a small Kent town on the road
to Canterbury when the Land Girl becomes the latest victim of the
“Glue Man,” a mysterious stranger who pours glue in the hair of
women he catches in the company of GIs. The three stay to investigate
the mystery, and in the process explore the local countryside,
especially its history and tales of pilgrims. The path eventually
leads to Canterbury Cathedral, where each receives an unexpected
“blessing:” the granting of their most fervent wish. It’s a
deeply beautiful film that teaches its main characters not to lose
faith or hope while it also celebrates English country life and
traditions. Written and directed by the team of Michael Powell and
Emeric Pressburger, the film has only the most casual relationship to
the famous Chaucer work, yet, there is a strong mystical quality to
this movie that transcends the Christian and English pagan settings
and traditions. It is a tale of humans brought together by a shared
faith, love and optimism that everything will come out all right if
we only give it a chance to work. This is a film one can see time and
again and still remains fresh.
WE
DISAGREE ON . . . THE AFRICAN QUEEN (October 3, 8:00 pm)
ED:
A+. The African Queen is one of the true
classics of Hollywood, and in the manner of true classics, it was a
film that almost wasn’t made. The property had passed through two
studios (RKO and Warner Bros.), each of which eventually decided
against filming it. John Huston and Sam Spiegel bought it from
Warner’s for $50,000 and managed to cast the leads perfectly in the
persons of Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. Hepburn was
especially perfect, as all she was really required to do in the film
was to play herself, which she did magnificently. As for Bogart, it’s
impossible to imagine anyone else in the role, which is probably the
main reason a big-budget remake has never been attempted. It is what
I would describe as a “personal epic,” an epic on a small scale.
There is no need for a large cast of extras or elaborate special
effects, as the story itself is so personal. Also, with a script such
as Huston had to work with on the film, there was no need for
anything extra, as the script described and fleshed out every scene
perfectly. Join all this with the excellent color photography by
cinematographer Jack Cardiff, and the result is a film that can truly
be counted as among “The Essentials.” But don’t take my word
for it. Critics from Roger Ebert to Pauline Kael to Georges Sadoul
have been lavish in their praise for the film. Ditto for such
filmmakers as Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, and Francois Truffaut. In
1994, it was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the
National Film Registry. And the American Film Institute placed it at
No. 17 on its “100 Greatest Movies” list, No. 14 on it's “100
Greatest Love Stories” list, and No. 48 on it’s “Most Inspiring
Movies” list.
DAVID:
C-. This 1951 movie is an overrated piece of garbage
starring film's most overrated actress, Katharine Hepburn. If there
ever was an actress who could suck the life out of a film, it was
Hepburn. Look at her body of work, particularly the largely awful
series of movies she did with Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant. In The
African Queen she drags down Humphrey Bogart, another
all-time great actor. I really want to like this film. Bogie is one
of my favorites and John Huston was a great director. The plot is
interesting enough: a prim English missionary (Hep) and a gruff,
cynical Canadian junk-boat captain (Bogie) work together to blow up
Germans (who else?) at the start of World War I and fall in love. But
there are a number of problems with the film with Hepburn at the root
of most of them. First, as Ed mentioned above, Hepburn plays herself.
Hep made a career out of over-the-top, scenery-chewing acting. Find
me a single film in which she doesn't overact. If such a movie exists
it would only be because she had a forceful director telling her to
stop or be fired. Yes, she was in some fine films, but the reason
they were good had little to do with her. Back to my point about the
need for a forceful director - it's hard to believe John Huston let
her take control of his film. That's on him and not her. As for
Bogart, he too largely takes a back seat to Hepburn. His character is
cliche and if you can't tell where the plot is heading 20 minutes
into the film, you're not paying attention (though, honestly, it's
such a dull film that I wouldn't blame anyone for not paying
attention). Bogart won his lone Oscar for this film in yet another
example of the Academy giving an actor an Oscar for a lesser role
when it failed to honor that person for some of the great
performances he or she delivered in previous years. The attempts at
comedy are awkward. The attempts at romance are embarrassing. I'm
going to try to get into Ed's head a moment about all the
name-dropping in his review of some of my favorite film legends,
particularly Francois Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock and Roger Ebert.
Just because they liked this movie and it stars Bogart and is
directed by Huston doesn't make The African Queen a
great or even a good movie. The praise only shows that no one is
perfect. Also, Ed isn't a Hepburn fan though he doesn't loathe her as
much as I do. The American Film Institute ranking mean nothing,
particularly when it lists Hepburn as the No. 1 female "American
screen legend." It's the same organization that has James Dean
as the No. 18 male American screen legend when he made a grand total
of three mediocre films in his career.
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