By Ed Garea
STAR
OF THE MONTH
We
continue noting the films of TCM’s Star of the Month, Cary Grant.
Now that December is winding down, Grant’s later films are
featured, and there’s hardly a runt in the litter.
December
22: A great night of Grant comedies. Start at 8:00 with the
thoroughly delightful and sophisticated Howard Hawks film, His
Girl Friday, from 1940. Not only is Cary Grant top
form in this creative remake of The Front Page, he’s ably
abetted with an enchanting performance from co-star Rosalind Russell
that matches him note for note. Also starring Ralph Bellamy, Gene
Lockhart, and Porter Hall in wonderful supporting turns.
Next
up is The Awful Truth (Columbia,
1937) at 9:45, with Grant and Irene Dunne as a divorced couple that
keeps interfering in each other’s love lives. It’s top-notch
Grant and Dunne. At 11:30, My
Favorite Wife (RKO, 1940) with Dunne as a
shipwreck survivor, thought dead, who returns to find hubby Grant now
married to Lee Patrick. A goofy plot, to be sure, but the stars make
it work quite well. Howard Hawks’s 1938 screwball comedy, Bringing
Up Baby (RKO), follows at 1:15 am, followed at
3:15 by The Philadelphia Story (MGM,
21940), and at 5:15 am, 1938’s Holiday
from Columbia.
December
23: The spillover from the night before sees Grant in three
more films: The most unusual Sylvia
Scarlett (RKO, 1935), with Katharine Hepburn, at 7:00
am; Penny Serenade (Columbia,
1941) with Irene Dunne ay 8:45 am; and the classic soaper, In
Name Only (RKO, 1939), with Grant caught between
Carole Lombard and Kay Francis, at 11:00 am.
December
29: A mixed bag of Grant’s later films. The best for the
night are Houseboat (Paramount,
1958) with Sophia Loren, at 10:15 pm, and the Hitchcock classic North
By Northwest (MGM, 1959) at 2:15 am.
December
30: Four Grant flicks spill over, with the only ones of note
being Arsenic and Old Lace (WB,
1944) at 8:30 am, and Hitchcock’s Suspicion (RKO,
1942) following at 10:30 am.
FRIDAY
NIGHT SPOTLIGHT
TCM
continues with its tribute to director Charles Walters.
December
19: The best of the night is the first, High
Society, at 8:00. This musical remake of The
Philadelphia Story boasts strong performances from stars
Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. Louis Armstrong and his
band also offer solid support. It was Kelly’s last film before she
turned in her clapboard for a tiara.
December
28: There are better films this time around. Start at 8:00
with Billy Rose’s Jumbo,
combining a decent circus story with some really great musical
numbers staged by Busby Berkeley. Doris Day, Stephen Boyd and Jimmy
Durante star in this 1962 production from MGM. At 10:30 it’s The
Unsinkable Molly Brown, the story of the Colorado
woman who struck it rich and survived the Titanic. Debbie Reynolds
sings and dances up a storm, dominating the picture and getting a
nomination for Best Actress in the process. This 1964 production was
a huge hit for MGM. And at 1:00 am, it’s Please
Don’t Eat the Daises, from MGM in 1960. David Niven
and Doris Day star in this pleasant comedy as a drama critic and wife
who leave the city and try to adjust to life in the country. It’s
based on the best seller from Jean Kerr, who based it rather loosely
on her experiences with husband Walter Kerr, the drama critic for
the New York Times.
OUT
OF THE ORDINARY
December
21: The night is devoted to a new feature, courtesy of a
deal between Turner and Disney. Treasures From the Disney
Vault kicks off a 8:00 with three classic Disney
cartoons; Santa’s
Workshop (1932), Chip
an’ Dale (1947), and On
Ice (1935). Also of note: The
Reluctant Dragon (1941) at 9:30; Davy
Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955), a
compilation of three episodes from the Fess Parker classic, at 11:00;
and the movie Third Man on the
Mountain (1959), starring Michael Rennie, James
MacArthur, Janet Munro, and James Donald. MacArthur is a boy who
attempts to realize his father’s dream of climbing a peak known as
the Citadel.
December
28: Two films from Russian-born French director Sacha Guitry
are on the slate. First up at 2:45 am is The
Story of a Cheat (1937), which was based on
Guitry’s novel Le Memories D’Un Tricheur (The
Memoirs of a Cheater). It’s the story of a boy who is sent to his
room without supper for stealing. When the family dies from poisonous
mushrooms in the dinner, the young man concludes that crime does
indeed pay. Look for Roger Duchesne (Bob le flambeur)
as Serge Abrasmovich. Following at 4:15 am is Guitry’s The
Pearls of the Crown (1937), an anthology about
seven pearls that shape the destinies of those who possess them. It’s
a lovely, fanciful film that played to great acclaim when released in
America. But what happened to Guitry in real life easily eclipsed his
films. He was accused of collaboration during the Nazi Occupation,
and although cleared of all charges later, suffered both personally
and professionally.
December
31: At 10:45 am, it’s one the great British crime
classics, Brighton Rock,
from the Boulting Brothers, in 1947. Based on the Graham Greene novel
of the same name, it features a tour de force performance
from Richard Attenborough as Pinkie Brown, the sadistic teenaged
leader of a gang decimated by the loss of its leader and top
enforcer. While holding his gang together, he romances a shy waitress
named Rose, who may have witnessed a murder he committed. His
solution is to marry her. Opposing him is the formidable Ida Arnold
(Hermione Badderly), whose tenacity ultimately brings him down. Watch
for the macabre ending. And watch for the performances of
Attenborough and Badderly, who steals every scene she’s in.
Bring
in the New Year with a slate of rock ‘n’ roll films, beginning at
8:00 pm with 1972’s Elvis on Tour,
Following in order are A Hard Day’s
Night (1964), Gimmie
Shelter (1970), Tommy (1975),
and Jimi Hendrix (1973),
a filmed concert of the late guitarist.
PSYCHOTRONICA
AND THE B-HIVE
December
20: Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. At least a
psychotronic Santa Claus, that is. At 2:00 am, TCM is airing the
Mexican production Santa Claus,
from 1959. In this film Santa enlists the help of Merlin to help him
save Christmas from the devil. How good is it? Let’s just say that
it was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater
3000. The slasher film, New
Year’s Evil (1981) follows at 4:00 am.
December
27: For those who love the wonderfully absurd Carry
On features, Carry On
Teacher (1962) debuts at 10:30 am. Students try
to sabotage a popular headmaster’s plans to leave for another job.
It features the usual cast: Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, and
Kenneth Williams. For those who are new to these films, I recommend
them highly as great examples of low British humor - and funny.
At
2:00 am, it’s An American Hippie
in Israel (1972). It’s one I haven’t seen, so
I’ll supply a synopsis from IMDb: “Incited by a disillusioned
young man who has decided to flee from civilization, a group of 4
people go searching for freedom and happiness on an isolated island.
When their boat goes astray and they are left without food, their
animal instincts take over, bringing the film to its catastrophic
end.” You decide.
December
31: Two
sci-fi flicks are airing in the afternoon, beginning with 1958’s From
the Earth to the Moon at
12:30 pm and Journey
to the Center of the Earth (1959)
at 5:30 pm. Both are decent fare and quite watchable.
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