TCM TiVo Alert for November 8-14

TCM TiVo ALERT

For

November 8–November 14

DAVID’S BEST BETS:

THE MORTAL STORM (November 8, 10:00 pm): It's surprising that this hard-hitting anti-Nazi film was made in 1940 and released about 18 months before the United States got involved in World War II. It's an extraordinarily powerful movie about what happens to a group of friends in a small Bavarian town when the Nazis take over Germany and attempt to conquer Europe. Not only is the acting outstanding, particularly Jimmy Stewart as an anti-Nazi, and Robert Young, who become a Nazi zealot, but the story is uncompromising and tragic. It's one of Stewart's finest roles. It still holds up well.

SUMMER WITH MONIKA (November 12, 2:45 am): It's directed by Ingmar Bergman with Harriet Andersson in the starring role. Need I write more? Even if Bergman films aren't your thing – and if that's the case, it's time to review your cinematic priorities – this is well-worth seeing. Andersson's portrayal of the adventurous, wild and sexy Monika is unforgettable. Monika and Harry (Lars Ekborg) are working-class teenage lovers who steal Harry's father's boat and spend a memorable summer together. Monika gets pregnant, but isn't interested in the family live while Harry embraces it. The film explores topics such as lost innocence, responsibility, freedom, oppression, hopelessness and abandonment. 

ED’S BEST BETS:

THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (Nov. 8, 8:00 pm): Ernest Lubitsch was at his absolute best when he directed this wonderful gem about two feuding co-workers at a Budapest notions store who do not realize that they are secret romantic pen pals. Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan, as the employees, bring the concept of charm to its ideal. They are aided and abetted by a sterling cast, including Frank Morgan (in one of the best performances), Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Felix Bressart, William Tracy, and Inez Courtney. It boasts a superb script by Samson Raphaelson, who adapted it from Nikolaus Laszlo’s play, Parfumerie. In fact, the film was so compelling that it was later remade as a Judy Garland musical, In the Good Old Summertime (1949), a Broadway musical, She Loves Me (1963, revived in 1993), and the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan vehicle, You’ve Got Mail (1998), where the lovers correspond via e-mail. However, the original still stands head and shoulders above the remakes and is an essential.

SCARFACE, SHAME OF A NATION (Nov. 14, midnight): Director Howard Hawks and screenwriter Ben Hecht’s tour de force about the rise and fall of a violent gangster (based on Al Capone) took over a year to get past the censors but it was well worth the trouble. Muni is predictably hammy, but mesmerizing, as Tony Camonte, a small time hood who rises to the top of the heap. Ann Dvorak and Karen Morley also shine as Tony’s sister and main squeeze, respectively. And who can forget George Raft, flipping that nickel, as Camonte’s loyal gunsel. It’s way better than Brian DePalma’s ultra-violent 1983 remake. The only fun of watching both back to back is to see who chews the most scenery, Paul Muni or Al Pacino.

WE AGREE ON ... JULES AND JIM (Nov. 10, 3:15 pm)

ED: A+. It was only the third feature film he directed, but it is one of the most influential and heralded films of the French New Wave. The movie follows the relationship between two friends, Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) and the object of their mutual and lasting obsession, Catherine (Jeanne Moreau) over the course of 25 years. Though it may seem like a story of an enduring love triangle, it is actually a sublime and moving story about what happens when an uncompromising friendship meets uncontrollable love. Set in the period between the two world wars, we see the friendship of Jules and Jim develop and later put to the test when they meet and fall for Catherine. At first she marries Jules and they move to Austria. They have a daughter and all seems well. But Jules confesses to Jim that Catherine has run away repeatedly during their marriage and had several affairs. To keep her happy he suggests sharing her with Jim. But what no one realizes is that the happy youth and freedom they shared is gone and no accommodation in adulthood will bring it back. While Jules and Jim try to come to terms with this change, Catherine simply cannot and she acts out in an unforgettable manner. The title may be Jules and Jim, but this is Catherine’s film and Moreau makes the most of it. Other actresses might have portrayed Catherine as insane, but Moreau understood that the key to her complex character is her unpredictability. Insanity may be boiling below the surface, but she hangs onto a basic principle of never acting as expected and she uses this unpredictability to test the love the men both have for her. It is only when Jim finally refuses one of her requests that she snaps, and her final words to Jules (“Jules, watch us carefully!”) are only made sadder by their poignancy. Considering he was 29 and this was only his third feature, Truffaut does a marvelous job of direction, using narration to move the story along quickly and painlessly without lingering. Raoul Coutard’s cinematography is almost flawless, blending smooth tracking shots with shaky hand-held camera shots. Combined with Truffaut’s use of jump cuts and freeze frames, it gives us an emotional connection with the characters, which heightens our shock and intensifies our sadness in the final scenes. Jules and Jim is an abject lesson is what happens when obsession and the longing for freedom take the place of love as seen in the characters’ basic inability to love one another, even though they profess to be in love.

DAVID: A+. This is one of the finest films ever made and while I don't have a favorite movie, this one is definitely in the top five. It is as much a piece of art as a master painting, a captivating song or a brilliant poem. The plot takes place over a period of about 25 years before, during and after World War I, depicting the intense friendship between two men – Jules (Oskar Werner), an Austrian, and Jim (Henri Serre), a Frenchman – that is stronger than many marriages, and how it evolves because of the presence of Catherine (Jeanne Moreau, one of cinema's all-time best actresses), an impulsive, captivating and enchanting woman. Catherine loves both men, marrying Jules before the war – he and Jim are fighting for opposing countries and are fearful they'll meet in combat. After the war, Jim visits Jules and Catherine, who have a daughter. But things aren't good between the couple and Catherine, who's had several affairs, falls for Jim. Jules' love for her is so great that he agrees to divorce Catherine so she can marry Jim with all three of them, and the child, living together. But that marriage also has its problems. Jim leaves, but plans to return when Catherine becomes pregnant with his child. They don't get back together because of a miscarriage with Jules and Catherine becoming a couple again. That too is short-lived when the three meet years later and Catherine wants to get back together with Jim, who loves her but realizes there's no future for them as a happy couple. The acting is extraordinary, the voice-over narration by Michel Subor greatly enhances the storyline – narration can easily kill a movie – and everything works to perfection from the beautiful cinematography that uses photos, freeze-frame, archived footage and tracking shots to the storyline adapted from Henri-Pierre Roché’s book to Georges Delerue’s soundtrack. Passion and the impact it has on people is something director Francois Truffaut focuses on in a number of films, including The Woman Next Door. While the ending to that 1981 film is outstanding and memorable, the conclusion of Jules and Jim is even better. 

For the complete list of films on the TCM TiVo Alert, click here.