TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
August
15–August 22
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
THE
SET-UP (August 17, 9:45 pm):
The vastly underrated Robert Ryan plays Stoker Thompson, a
35-year-old washed-up boxer who is pitted against a young, promising
prizefighter in what's supposed to be a set-up. Just a couple of
problems: One, Stoker's manager Tiny (George Tobias) doesn't tell him
it's a fix until the last round because he doesn't think his charge
has a prayer. Second, when Stoker is told to take a dive, he refuses
despite learning that Little Boy, a mobster, is going to lose a lot
of money if he doesn't throw the bout. The film perfectly captures a
blood-thirsty crowd loving the violence and brutality of the fight.
While the filming of the bout is excellent, the post-fight in which
Stocker has to face Little Boy's goons is even better.
THE
LADY IN THE LAKE (August 22, 8:00 pm): Robert
Montgomery is charming as legendary detective Philip Marlowe in this
1947 film. Montgomery, who also directed the film, is charming
as Marlowe, the hard-boiled, street-smart private eye. This movie is
fascinating for its gimmick of having nearly all of it filmed as if
the viewer is Marlowe. The story is sometimes hard to follow, like
many detective film noirs of the time, with several plot twists, but
it's definitely worth watching. Montgomery brings a sense of humor to
the Marlowe character that isn't as developed in other films
featuring the character.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
THE
PHENIX CITY STORY (August 17, 10:00 am): A wonderful
docudrama about “the wickedest city in America” and how it came
to be cleaned up. TCM shows the full version, which includes a
prologue with noted correspondent Clete Roberts interviewing citizens
of Phenix City after the National Guard stepped in to restore order.
If crime movies are your thing, this is one to see. And if crime
movies aren’t exactly your thing, this well-made and well-acted
movie is still worth your time.
CASABLANCA (August
20, 2:00 pm): When recommending movies, I usually look for the
interesting, but not so well known. Not in this case – this is a
no-brainer if ever one existed. It’s one of the greatest romances
ever made and turned Humphrey Bogart into a most unlikely romantic
hero. It’s easy, however, to be romantic when Ingrid Bergman is the
object of one’s affections. I don’t think Bergman has looked any
more beautiful than in this film, and the way she was photographed
only added to her beauty. We all know the story and the fact it’s a
metaphor for America’s becoming involved in the war. But what has
always amazed me is the number of lines from the movie that have
found their way into pop culture, like “Round up the usual
suspects,” “I’m shocked .... shocked to discover gambling is
going on here,” and “I’m just a poor corrupt official.”
Behind Bogart and Bergman is one of the greatest supporting casts
ever assembled, with several European refugees, such as Marcel Dalio,
in the mix. I watch this just about every time it airs. I’m hooked.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... CRIME SCHOOL (August 20, 6:00 am)
ED:
C+. When Warner Bros. signed the Dead End Kids after
their auspicious debut in Dead End, they had no idea
about how to use them. Warner’s also had the same problem with
Humphrey Bogart, an excellent actor consistently misused since his
breakthrough in The Petrified Forest. Their solution was
to team them together in this B-programmer. It was a combination
of The Mayor of Hell and the first half of The
Doorway to Hell with some elements from San Quentin,
and Dead End thrown in for good measure. A true
Mulligan’s stew. Bogart, for once, was allowed to play the hero,
and turned in a fine performance. Cy Kendall played the heavy
(figuratively and literally), and later went on to play an array of
heels in B movies. Gail Page was the tootsie, as the sister of Billy
Halop. She turned out to be the weak link of the picture, as B
productions were often used to test young actresses to see who could
succeed and who would fail. The film served as the blueprint for the
rest of the Dead End Kids pictures: Halop was the bright kid and
always had a sister; Leo Gorcey was the bad kid, Huntz Hall was the
dumb kid, Bobby Jordan and Gabe Dell the wise guys, and Bernard
Punsly sat around and did nothing. The studio liked the results so
much they released it as an A picture and it proved to be a hit. But
even though it’s entertaining to watch, due to the antics of the
Dead End Kids, it’s nothing special and is still what it started
out to be – a B programmer.
DAVID:
B+. While I'm not a Dead
End Kids fan – and completely loathe them as the Bowery Boys –
the groups first few films for Warner Bros. were entertaining tales
of inner-city poverty and crime. As with many Warners films, this one
lays it on a bit thick. But the boys do a decent job of acting – though they were natural-born troublemakers so it probably wasn't
much of a stretch – and Humphrey Bogart is magnificent as Mark Braden, a crusading state prison official. Braden ends up running the
prison reform school the boys are sent to after a near-fatal accident
of a local fence. Braden is outraged at the way the boys are being
treated and the level of corruption he discovers. But Braden doesn't
know the half of it as the fired warden and a guard he retains were
stealing from the food budget. Cy Kendall as the brutal warden is
very good, and I though Gail Page was fine as Billy Halop's sister
who ends up as Bogart's gal. The boys and Bogart first teamed up
in Dead End in
which Bogie plays a hood. He plays a good guy for a change in this
film. The movie, which was a box-office success, flies by at 86
minutes, which was a bit long for films such as this. But it's a fun
ride that shows the tragic results of a stupid mistake.
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