A
Guide to the Rare and Unusual on TCM
By
Ed Garea
ROBERT
RYAN
May’s
Star of the Month, Robert Ryan, has over 90 movie and television
credits to his name. His last film was The Iceman Cometh in
1973, shortly before he succumbed to lung cancer. Ryan was born in
Chicago on November 11, 1909, to a wealthy family who owned a real
estate firm. He attended Dartmouth College, where he worked on the
campus newspaper and joined the boxing team, compiling a 5-0 record.
Ryan moved out to California in the late ‘30s, studying acting
under Max Reinhardt, and it was here that he met his wife, fellow
student Jessica Cadwalader. After their marriage, she retired from
acting to raise a family and became a successful children’s book
author. He served in the Marines during World War II as a drill
sergeant and was a boxing champion, both of which served him well in
the movies. He first gained attention as the anti-Semitic villain in
1947’s Crossfire and as the washed-up boxer who
refuses to take a dive in The Set-Up (1948). These
set the tone for the rest of his career, which took advantage of his
athletic build, handsome looks and authoritarian voice and bearing.
He was made for the shadowy world of film noir and especially for war
films, as some of his best remembered roles were in both genres. The
irony in Ryan’s acting career was that, while he often played
violent men, he himself was of a gentle nature and a pacifist – a
founder of the antinuclear weapon group SANE.
May
20: Not a whole lot to choose from tonight. At 10:00,
there’s The Outfit (1973)
with Ryan as a crime boss targeted for revenge by ex-con Robert
Duvall for murdering Duvall’s brother. This is followed at midnight
by the pick for the evening, Sam Peckinpah’s The
Wild Bunch (1969), a wonderful violent
over-the-top Western with Ryan as the leader of a group of bounty
hunter out to snare his old gang, with an ending only Sam Peckinpah
could come up with. Highly recommended despite the violence.
May
27: Ryan kicks off The Memorial Day Marathon with four of
his war films, starting at 8:00 pm with Battle
of the Bulge (1965), a wildly fictionalized
account of the famous World War II battle. Ryan plays General Gray,
leader of the American troops at Bastogne and a fictional double for
General Anthony McAuliffe. At 11:00. Ryan co-stars in one of the most
famous war movies ever made, The
Longest Day (1962), as General Gavin. The movie
is unique in that it covers the viewpoints of the Allies, the
Germans, and the French Resistance. Based on Cornelius Ryan’s book
of the same name, the movie is almost three hours long, with five
directors and an all-star cast led by John Wayne, Ryan, Robert
Mitchum, Henry Fonda, and Richard Burton.
At
2:00 comes another of Ryan’s most notable war movies, The
Dirty Dozen (1967). Ryan has a supporting role as
Colonel Breed, who opposes Major Reisman's (Lee Marvin) idea of
fashioning a commando unit from 12 convicted military convicts. Of
course, Breed’s opposition dies out after the Major’s men capture
his entire staff during war games, or we wouldn’t have had any
movie. It’s a lot of fun for the eighth grader in all of us as
Marvin and the boys successfully infiltrate the chateau where top
ranking German officers are busy planning the war.
Rounding
out the evening during the graveyard hour of 4:30 am is Men
In War (1957), a taut story about a band of
American soldiers trying to survive a mission behind enemy lines
during the Korean War. Ryan is their leader, Lt. Benson. Directed by
Anthony Mann, the film is unique in that it shows the action from the
viewpoint of the average GI, much like Sam Fuller’s earlier Korean
War drama, The Steel Helmet. It’s a film that deserves
to be seen despite the unfortunate hour and we recommend recording,
unless insomnia gets the better of you.
AMERICAN
INTERNATIONAL
May
19: Tonight the focus is on AIP in the ‘60s, beginning
with Beach Party (1963)
at 8:00, the movie that, while it didn’t start the “beach movie”
craze (Gidget did), probably did more to popularize the
craze than any other movie. It also began the biker craze phenomenon
in a way with Harvey Lembeck playing biker boss Eric Von Zipper.
At
10:00 comes The
Wild Angels (1966)
from director Roger Corman starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra.
There were other biker films in the past, most notably The
Wild One (1953),
but Corman’s low budget flick ignited the biker craze of the ‘60s
and ‘70s. Whereas Eric Von Zipper of the Beach
Party films
was played for laughs, Corman’s films were serious, celebrating
youthful rebellion, free love, and anti-authoritarianism, all to the
merry jungle of the cash register.
Corman
continues to cash in at 11:45 with 1967’s The
Trip as Peter Fonda drops acid in search of a cure for
his troubled emotional life.
At
1:15 comes a film we’re surprised Corman didn’t make: Wild
in the Streets (1968). Get this lot: Max Frost
(Christopher Jones) its elected president of the United States after
managing, by doping Congress with LSD, to have the voting age lowered
to 14. President Frost decrees that anyone over the age of 30 is to
be sent to a concentration camp, where they’re forced to take
hallucinogens. It’s ham-fisted satire at its very best. Watch for
Shelley Winters as Max’s mother giving one of the most bizarre
performances of her career. That alone is worth tuning in to see.
When liberal senator Hal Holbrook drops in to see her to complain
that her son is paralyzing the country, she answers, “I’m sure my
son has a very good reason for paralyzing the country.” The
ultimate stereotypical Jewish mother.
At
3:15, it’s Three in the
Attic (1968), a black comedy whose quasi-feminist
theme was somewhat ahead of its time. When three college students
(Yvette Mimieux, Judy Pace, and Maggie Threat) discover their
erstwhile boyfriend (Christoper Jones) is sleeping with all of them,
they take him captive and keep him in an attic, where they take turns
hoping to service him to death.
Finally,
at 5:00 am, it’s Vincent Price at his hammiest in Dr.
Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965). Price is
a mad scientist (What else?) out to ensnare the fortunes of the
world’s wealthiest men through the use of the beautiful bikini-clad
robots he manufactures in his laboratory. Out to stop the mad doctor
is secret agent Frankie Avalon of S.I.C. (Secret Intelligence
Command). A film that’s perfect for Mystery Science Theater
3000.
May
26: The evening is devoted to AIP in the ‘70s, beginning
at 8:00 with Vincent Price totally enjoying himself in The
Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), a definite Must See
for those of a psychotronic bent. At 10:00, it’s Martin
Scorsese’s Boxcar Bertha (1972),
starring the then husband-and-wife-team of David Carradine and
Barbara Hershey. At midnight, it’s yet another Hitchcock imitation
from director Brian De Palma – Sisters (1973)
– starring Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt. Journalist Salt sees a
man brutally murdered in Kidder’s neighboring apartment, but the
police aren’t buying her story. She enlists the help of private
detective Charles Durning to get to the bottom of things with the
usual strange results.
At
2:00 am, Shelley Winters chews clear through every piece of scenery
she can find as Ma Barker in Roger Corman’s Bloody
Mama (1970). The most interesting thing in the
film is the young Robert De Niro as son Lloyd Barker. At 3:45, it’s
renowned Shakespearean actor William Marshall taking the lead role in
the camp cult blaxploitation classic Blacula (1972).
And, finally, at 5:30 am, it’s Liza Minelli and Ingrid Bergman in
the 1976 romantic drama, A Matter of
Time, directed by Liza’s father, Vincente. Liza is a
young woman who helps eccentric elderly countess Bergman deal with
old age, and Bergman, in turn, introduces Liza to the world of the
upper crust. It could have been a really interesting film, but the
low budget and overuse of stock footage does in whatever director
Minelli is trying to create. But worth seeing, especially for Bergman
completists.
OUT
OF THE ORDINARY
May
16: At 2:45 am, it’s the sublime House
of Pleasure (1954) from director Max Ophuls.
Co-writers Ophuls and Jacques Natanson adapted three short stories by
Guy de Maupassant that relate the joy and irony of romance. "Le
Masque'' is about an elderly man who recovers his youth with the aid
of a magic mask. "Le Maison Tellier'' sees a bevy of prostitutes
embark on their annual holiday in the countryside. And in "Le
Modele,'' a free-living artist weds a model after she cripples
herself in a failed suicide attempt. The film is a typical lush
Ophuls’ production with his trademark fluid camera and baroque art
decoration. Narrated by Peter Ustinov (the English version; Jean
Servais narrates the original) the film has an all-star cast
featuring Jean Gabin, Danielle Darrieux, Simone Simon, Claude
Dauphin, Gaby Morlay, Pierre Brasseur, Pauline Dubost, Madeleine
Renaud, and Daniel Gelin.
May
22: Two rarities beginning at 8:00 pm with Henry Hathaway’s
1933 revenge Western, To the Last
Man starring Randolph Scott, Esther Ralston, Barton
MacLane, and Buster Crabbe. It’s followed at 9:30 pm by the 1962
animated, educational feature film Of
Stars and Men. Based on the 1959 book of the same name
by astronomer Dr. Harlow Shapley, it’s an engaging movie about
theories concerning space and time, matter and energy, and our place
in the universe. Though it can be a bit dry at times, it still
enchants and educates. A film truly ahead of its time.
MEMORIAL
DAY MARATHON
May
on TCM means the annual Memorial Day Marathon, saluting movies about
war and our reaction to war. Though nothing new is added to this
year’s schedule, there are still several favorites being run for
our enjoyment.
May
28: Begin at 9:00 am with the wonderfully weird Behind
the Rising Sun (1943). The best bad movies are
those that take themselves very seriously, and this film, with J.
Carroll Naish, Tom Neal, and Margo playing Asians, comes close to
being an outright laff riot. It’s in the “must be seen to be
believed” category, and we urge you to tune in.
Later
that day is the marvelous The Caine
Mutiny (1954) at 3:30, followed by the tense The
Hill (1965) with Sean Connery and Ossie Davis. In
the evening, it’s the oft played The
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), followed at
11:00 by the not-so-oft-played A
Bridge Too Far (1977).
May
29: Two classics running back to back beginning at 8:00 with
the magnificent Civil War drama Glory (1989)
about the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first African-American
regiment in war. Starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington (who
got the Oscar), and Morgan Freeman (who steals the movie). Following
at 10:15 is William Wyler’s perceptive drama The
Best Years of Our Lives (1946) documenting the
difficult adjustment veterans and their families must make after war
is over.
May
30: At 9:00 am, it’s Howard Hawks’ durable Sergeant
York (1941) with Gary Cooper as the man who
captured 132 Germans in one battle during World War I. At 2:15
comes The Great Escape (1963),
based on the true story of a mass escape from a German POW camp
during World War II. Richard Attenborough, James Garner, and Steve
McQueen star. Immediately following at 5:15 is The
Guns of Navarone (1961), adapted from the novel
by Alistair McLean starring Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony
Quinn as a team of Allied saboteurs who must disable a huge pair of
Nazi cannon making life tough for the Allies in Greece.
The
evening begins at 8:00 with another McLean adaptation, this one
being Where Eagles Dare (1968),
starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood as part of a team of
commandos parachuted into the Bavarian Alps to rescue an Allied
officer held prisoner at a castle-fortress known as the “Castle of
the Eagle.” At 10:45 pm, Eastwood stars in Kelly’s
Heroes (1970) based on the true story of a group
of GIs out to rob a bank in occupied France containing 14,000 bars of
gold. Originally a subtle anti-war film, Eastwood and director Brian
G. Hutton were forced to make cuts by their studio, MGM, that
resulted in a different film from the one they originally made. It
wasn’t until 1999 that the same plot of soldiers taking leave of a
war to find hidden gold was employed for the movie Three
Kings, which was not cut by the studio.
Finally,
at 3:30 am comes Errol Flynn and company fighting the Japanese in
Raoul Walsh’s 1945 actioner, Objective,
Burma!
PRE-CODE
May
17: Three solid Pre-Codes, beginning at 6:00 am with Warren
William obsessed with his building in Skyscraper
Souls (read our essay on it here.)
At 9:15 am, it’s the irrepressible Marie Dressler (June’s Star of
the Month) in one of her finest roles as Tugboat
Annie (1933) co-starring Wallace Beery, Robert
Young, and Maureen O’Sullivan.
We
now have to wait until the late hour of 3:15 am for the rarely shown
film Are These Our Children? (1931).
It's the story of a youth (Eric Linden) from a decent background who
falls in with the wrong people and is led down the road to juvenile
delinquency, and ultimately, death row. With Beryl Mercer in her
usual role of the suffering relative, Rochelle Hudson, and Ben
Alexander. I caught this years ago at a midnight show and can testify
to the fact that it’s a real corker. Definitely worth catching.
May
31: At 8:00 pm, it’s Lew Ayres starring in the 1930 flawed
gangster epic The Doorway to Hell.
Ayres was miscast as ruthless gang baron Louie Ricarno, who “retires”
from the rackets to his Florida mansion to write his memoirs. Co-star
Jimmy Cagney steals the film as Ricarno’s right-hand man, Steve
Mileaway. There's also a brief, but unforgettable performance by the
underrated Dwight Frye as hitman Monk, who packs his chopper in a
violin case.
FASSBINDER
May
22: Enigmatic German director Rainer Warner Fassbinder dominates
the late night beginning at 2:00 am with two of his more popular
films: Lola (1981),
and 1969’s Love is Colder Than
Death. The former is Fassbinder’s take on the
classic The Blue Angel, from 1930, with Armin
Mueller-Stahl as Von Bohm, an upright building commissioner who’s
smitten with his landlady’s daughter, a single mother named Lola
(Barbara Sukowa). What he doesn’t know is that she’s a singer at
a local bordello and the mistress of Schukert (Mario Adorf), a
developer whose profits rely heavily on Von Bohm’s projects. The
question: Can Von Bohm discover Lola’s real occupation and what
Schukert is up to? A clever and perceptive social satire.
Love
is Colder Than Death is a rather unusual gangster story.
Small time pimp Franz (Fassbinder) is torn between his mistress
Johanna (Hanna Schygulla) and Bruno (Ulli Lommel), the gangster sent
after him by the syndicate that he has refused to join. Things are
turned upside down when Franz and Bruno strike up a friendship that
evolves to the point where Franz shares Johanna with Bruno. They also
form a crime trio with Bruno doing most of the dirty work. It’s a
film I have a hard time recommending because of its uneven style, but
it’s one that should be seen at least once. Think of
Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou with a nihilistic bent.
PSYCHOTRONIA
AND THE B-HIVE
May
18: Tune in at 6:15 for the classic and unsettling Eyes
Without a Face (1959). Pierre Brasseur stars as a
surgeon who accidentally disfigured his daughter (Edith Scob) in an
auto accident and now lures young women in order to graft their face
onto that of his daughter.
May
21: At 9:15 am, the Lone Wolf series hits rock bottom with
the last (thankfully) in the series, The
Lone Wolf and His Lady (1949).
The role of Michael Lanyard, once played with with style and grace by
Warren William is now in the hands of Ron Randell, an actor who also
put the Bulldog Drummond series out of its misery. Alan Mowbray takes
over for Eric Blore as Jamison, but there’s little he can do given
the script. It’s followed at 10:30 am by The Bowery Boys in Let’s
Go Navy (1951), the second of their four
“service” comedies. In this surprising lively entry, the Boys
enlist in the Navy to catch some crooks posing as sailors.
May
22: At 2:00 pm it’s Close
Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), followed
by Forbidden Planet (1956)
at 4:30 pm, and Village of the
Damned (1961) at 6:15.
May
26: Six vintage John Wayne B’s from the early ‘30s begin
with Ride Him, Cowboy (1932)
at 6:00 am. At 7:00 am, it’s The
Big Stampede (1932); followed by Haunted
Gold (1932) at 8:00 am; The
Telegraph Trail (1933) at 9:00; Somewhere
in Sonora (1933) at 10:00; and The
Man From Monterey (1933) at 11:00.
May
31: At 6:00 am, it’s Leo Gorcey’s swan song as a Bowery
Boy, 1956’s Crashing Las Vegas.
The plot is typical: an electrical shock gives Sach (Huntz Hall)
psychic powers, so the boys decide to make a killing in Las Vegas,
where Sach cleans up at roulette. For Gorcey, this was the end on the
line. He had been in bad shape since his father, Bernard, was killed
in an auto accident. To deal with his grief he drank heavily and the
results can be seen in the movie, where he clearly appears
intoxicated. He also trashed the set a couple of times between
set-ups in frustration and grief. After filming ended, Gorcey
demanded a huge increase in his salary. The studio (Allied Artists),
noting his behavior, refused and Gorcey left the series. Watch for
the scene in Sach’s hotel room, where, after his soliloquy, Gorcey
comes in too early with his line, “What time do they give out the
awards?” He then cracks up laughing and looking skyward, as if to
his father for approval.
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