TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
October
1–October 7
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
SCARLET
STREET (October 4,
4:15 am): Director Fritz Lang does a superb job with this 1945
film noir that has Edward G. Robinson give a brilliant performance in
a role that's different from any other he had in his career. Eddie G.
is Chris Cross, a bland, boring clothing company cashier who's never
done anything interesting in his life. Business picks up quickly
after he saves Kitty March (Joan Bennett), a beautiful femme fatale,
being accosted on the street by a guy who turns out to be Johnny (Dan
Duryea), her low-life boyfriend. Completely out of character for
Chris, he dispatches Johnny with his umbrella and quickly falls in
love with Kitty as he's in a loveless marriage with a wife who
constantly hen-pecks him. Because he talks of painting, Kitty and
more importantly Johnny thinks he's a rich artist. The two work
out a plan to make money from Chris' love for Kitty and his ability
as a painter. The story, based on the French novel La
Chienne (The Bitch), has
a number of unforeseen (and excellent) plot twists as Chris' life
goes from humdrum to one filled with way too much passion, deceit and
tragedy. It's one of Eddie G.'s best and most unique roles.
WUTHERING
HEIGHTS (October 5,
1:00 am): It's always challenging to adapt a classic book into a
movie, and this 1939 film uses less than half of Emily Bronte's 34
chapters (eliminating the second generation of characters) from
her book. But it's still a stunning film directed by one of the true
masters, William Wyler. Laurence Olivier gives an unforgettable
performance as Heathcliff, showing a wide range of emotions in a
complicated role. Heathcliff is bitter, vengeful, conflicted and
passionately in love. I doubt anyone else could do justice to the
role. Merle Oberon as Cathy is also wonderful as are many members of
the cast including David Niven, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Hugh
Williams.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
A
FACE IN THE CROWD (October 1, 10:00 am): Budd
Schulberg wrote and Elia Kazan directed this prescient
look at celebrity and media-made pundits in the story of Larry
“Lonesome” Rhodes (Andy Griffith), a drifter discovered in jail
by the hostess (Patricia Neal) of a morning radio show in Pickett,
Arkansas. Through the sheer force of his “down home” personality,
he eventually makes his way to New York, where he becomes not only an
entertainment superstar, but a respected wielder of opinion; powerful
enough to make a nondescript senator into a formidable presidential
candidate. Rhodes, however, is rotten to the core, and as his fame
and power increase, the monster within him begins to break out. It’s
up to Neal, as a letter-day Frankenstein, to destroy the monster she
created before he destroys us, and she does it in a quite unique way.
Neal, of course, is superb as usual, and Griffith gave the best
performance of his career, playing against type and should have
gotten the Oscar. But he wasn’t even nominated, in due to the
less than stellar box office of the movie and the liberal backlash
against director Kazan for supposedly “naming names”
before Congress. (In reality he didn’t name anyone that wasn’t
already named again and again.) What eventually brought critics
around to giving this film another look was Francois Truffaut,
who championed the film as a modern-day classic and a warning.
CITIZEN
KANE (October 7, 10:30 pm): Disappointed that I
recommended this? Seen it before? I truly hope so. Well, it’s
always worth watching again (and again, for that matter). It’s been
written about and praised into the ground, but still retains its
magic. It’s the story of modern America through the eyes of a truly
flawed man; a man responsible for shaping public opinion through his
media empire who found everything but love. This is the feature film
debut of such great actors as Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane,
Ruth Warrick, and the renowned Joseph Cotten, as well as the
starring and directing debut of Orson Welles. It was both an
artistic triumph and a curse to Welles. If you haven’t seen
it, now’s the time to check it out.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES (October 3,
4:00 pm)
ED:
B-. This was the first, and best, of the sequels
to Planet of the Apes and one
that Charlton Heston only agreed to do if his
character was killed off early. In a sense they granted his wish by
having his character disappear after the early scenes and only
reappear at the end to die. They filled in the middle by casting
James Franciscus as an astronaut sent to find Heston,
and who also dies at the end. As with the vast majority of sequels,
it’s not as good as the original; at times it seems as if the
original is being played over again, this time with Franciscus.
However, it has plenty to recommend it as an entertaining film. The
idea of mutants surviving an earlier a-bomb blast and living in an
underground civilization in the ruins of New York City has plenty to
recommend it to psychotronic fans. The writing, by Paul
Dehn and Mort Abrahams, is excellent, with a great downbeat
ending we might not have expected. That’s all on the plus side. On
the minus side is the cheapness of the sequel, which caused the ape
make-up to look less effective than in the original, and the needless
replay of the events of the first film, this time
with Franciscus instead of Heston. Because of this,
only the last 15 minutes is devoted to the search to stop the bomb
the Mutants worship, when it should obviously be the focal point of
the film from near the beginning. And while the quick pace of the
film is a plus, there are times where some points are sacrificed to
the pace, which gives it an uneven quality at times. For sci-fi
fans and fans of the series, this film will meet their standards, but
others may find it all a bit awkward.
DAVID:
A-. First, a disclaimer: I'm a huge fan of the
original Planet of the Apes five movies,
particularly the first one, which is among the most enjoyable films
I've ever seen and has the greatest ending I've seen. So I come with
a bias. Could Beneath, the first sequel, have been
better? Sure. The budget was cut in half, and per his
contract, Charlton Heston's role is kept to a minimum.
However, it is the story that carries this film, and makes it so
enjoyable and so dark. The apes decide it's time to go into the
Forbidden Zone. It's called that for a reason. The Lawgiver, who in
Apes history wrote the Sacred Scrolls, warned them to stay away.
There are mutant survivors of a post-apocalyptic nuclear war who
live underground in what once New York City. The atomic bombs
used to destroy society has scarred the mutants, but has also given
them incredible psychic powers. They wear masks to look like normal
people. They reveal themselves in the presence of their god, what
Heston's character Taylor calls a "doomsday bomb." Kudos
for whoever thought of having the bomb in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
The bomb is capable of destroying the world, and as Taylor is about
to die, he "pushes the button" that sets off the bomb and
blows up Earth. The best part of the original Planet of the
Apes franchise is the endings are extraordinary. They're
dark, unique and often shocking, particularly the first time you see
them. As the film ends, a deep-voiced narrator (Paul Frees, who did
many voices including Boris Badenov) says, "In one of the
countless billions of galaxies in the universe lies a medium-sized
star. And one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet is
now dead." But don't worry, there are three more sequels. The
only one that matches this one is Conquest of the Planet of
the Apes, which is even more dark. In Beneath, James
Franciscus is fine as Brent, the astronaut who is sent to "rescue"
Taylor and his now-dead crew. As he was in the original film, Maurice
Evans as Dr. Zaius is amazing. While his role is small, Heston is
still the best.
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