TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
January
1–January 7
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
SOYLENT
GREEN (January 1, 8:30
am): This is one of my "go-to" movies. I've watched it
dozens of times and still love it. Charlton Heston
plays tough New York City Police Detective Robert Thorn in the year
2022. Something awful, almost certainly man-made, has happened
that has resulted in almost no fresh food or water (only the very
wealthy and/or politically-connected are able to obtain some). There
are serious problems with the death of most animals and plant-life,
overpopulation, poverty, pollution and people surviving on wafers
provided by the Soylent Corp., which has just come out with
a new "high-energy plankton" called Soylent Green. As
a cop, Thorn has some perks, primarily a tiny apartment that he
shares with Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson), an elderly scholar who
remembers what life was like before the environmental disaster. Thorn
is investigating the murder of a high-level Soylent executive (Joseph
Cotten in a far too small role). Thorn immediately suspects a
conspiracy is the cause of the murder. Eddie G.'s performance, sadly
his last, is one of his finest. It's beautifully tragic. The
scene with Eddie G. goes to a place called "Home,"
a government-assisted suicide facility that looks like Madison Square
Garden, is one of the most touching I've seen. And the
ending is one of cinema's most memorable with an injured and possibly
dying Thorn screaming, "Soylent Green is people!"
THE
CANDIDATE (January
2, 8:00 pm): This is a great political satire, and its message of
having to sell your soul and give up your integrity to get elected is
more relevant today than it was when The
Candidate came out
in 1972. Robert Redford is Bill McKay, a liberal attorney and son of
a former California governor (played by the great Melvyn Douglas),
recruited by Democratic political operative Marvin Lucas (Peter
Boyle) for a long-shot challenge to popular Republican Senator
Crocker Jarmon (Don Porter). At Lucas' recommendation, McKay softens
his message, which isn't resonating with voters, and compromises his
principles. It works. McKay and Jarmon essentially become one as
both say the same thing. The difference is McKay is young and
good-looking, and Jarmon is older and doesn't look like Robert
Redford. After McKay wins, the panic-stricken senator-elect brings
Lucas into a room and asks, "What do we do now?" as the
film ends. The storyline is intelligent and compelling, giving
viewers a fascinating inside look at the political process.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
THEM! (January
1, 12:00 pm): Not only is this the best of the “big bug” films
that came out in the 1950’s, but it also has elements of a noir
mystery. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s
also one of the best “Red Scare” films of the period. The cast is
terrific: James Whitmore, pre-Gunsmoke James Arness,
veteran supporting actor Onslow Stevens, promising actress Joan
Weldon, a young Fess Parker, and the great Edmund Gwenn. And look
sharp for a very young Leonard Nimoy in a small role. It’s proof
that when a sci-fi film is made intelligently, it’s a legitimate
classic.
HIS
GIRL FRIDAY (January 3, 8:00 pm): It was at least 10
years since the original Front Page, and by the Hollywood
clock – time for a remake. But the genius of Howard Hawks was in
the casting. Instead of going with another two males in the roles of
editor Walter Burns and reporter Hildy Johnson, Hawks thought to make
reporter Hildy a woman, formerly married to Burns, and about to leave
the paper to remarry. It was pure inspiration, and in my opinion,
made the film even funnier. Decorated with all the touches Hawks was
famous for, including the overlapping dialogue, it still holds up
today and is funnier than ever. Part of the brilliance in the remake
was the casting of Cary Grant, a superb comic actor, as Walter Burns.
But it is in the part of Hildy Johnson that Hawks struck gold. Jean
Arthur, Hawks’ first choice, turned down the role, as did Carole
Lombard, Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, and
Irene Dunne. Columbia's studio head managed to borrow Rosalind
Russell. She wasn’t thrilled at being assigned to the film and
Hawks wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to “settle” for her.
But once they got rolling, she turned out to be Hawks’ best move,
as she’s perfect in the part: gorgeous, intelligent, sassy, and one
step ahead – or so she thinks – of her ex-husband, Burns. It’s
not only a movie to watch, but also one for cinephiles to own.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... BROADCAST NEWS (January 3, 9:45
pm)
ED:
B. This Network wannabe written and
directed by James L. Brooks, is actually much better than Network,
boasting excellent performances from leads Holly Hunter, William
Hurt, and Albert Brooks. However, there is a good reason I gave it
only a “B.” James L. Brooks is also famous as the creator and
writer of both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its
spinoff, Lou Grant, both of which were concerned with
journalism. In the case of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, it
was television journalism. And when we get right down to
it, Broadcast News is nothing but a freer adaptation
of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but without the censorship
from CBS. Holly Hunter is nothing more than Mary Richards with a
better sex life and William Hurt is a more articulate Ted Baxter. A certain anchorman for New York's Channel 4 was later said to have been the basis for Hurt’s character. And whenever I see a Brooks performance,
I know I’m in for a boatload of frustrated pathos. If I’m given
the choice between Holly Hunter as Mary Richards and Mary Tyler Moore
as Mary Richards, give me the original every time.
DAVID:
A. James L. Brooks wrote, directed and produced
Broadcast News, one of the funniest and most clever satires on
journalism. And the casting is perfect. William Hurt plays Tom
Grunick, a good-looking, smooth-talking TV network anchor who is able
to fake sincerity about news he not only doesn't care about, but
largely doesn't understand. He represents the move toward news
as entertainment that's been prevalent for the past few decades,
Albert Brooks is Aaron Altman, a reporter who likes his news hard and
serious. He is essentially Brooks portraying the same intelligent
over-thinker he's played wonderfully in many movies. You love him and
yet you laugh as he sweats so much blowing his big chance to anchor
because he's unable to overcome his self-doubt and insecurity. Holly
Hunter is magnificent as TV producer Jane Craig, neurotic to the
point she cries at her desk every morning and can't help herself when
Tom becomes interested in her. To Aaron and Jane, work is everything,
and it's just about everything to Tom only without the stress. It's
easier for Aaron and Jane to bury themselves in their work, which
they love, than to focus on their dysfunctional private lives. The
1987 film could have easily become depressing. Brooks gives us a
taste of that depression, but keeps it light enough through satire
and some brilliant and funny lines. Describing to Jane what the devil
would be, Aaron says, "He
will be attractive. He'll be nice and helpful. He'll get a job where
he influences a great God-fearing nation. He'll never do an evil
thing. He'll never deliberately hurt a living thing. He will just bit
by little bit lower our standards where they are important; just a
tiny little bit. Just coax along flash over substance; just a tiny
little bit. And he'll talk about all of us really being salesmen. And
he'll get all the great women." As for Ed's contention that this
film is "nothing but a freer adaption of The
Mary Tyler Moore Show,"
I disagree though his "better sex life" and "more
articulate Ted Baxter" lines are very funny. While much of the
legendary TV show takes place at the WJM station, the show is more
about a woman working in a mid-management position in a
traditionally-male business. The show would essentially be the same
if Mary worked as a junior partner in a law firm or as an executive
for a Wall Street investment house. Television news is essential to
the plot of Broadcast
News. Without it,
Broadcast News
a completely different film in need of a different name.
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