TCM TiVo Alert for April 15-22

TCM TiVo ALERT

For

April 15–April 22

DAVID’S BEST BETS:

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (April 18, 12:00 am): I'm not a fan of musicals nor am I a fan of sentimental films that play with your emotions, particularly a largely fictitious biopic. Yet I'm a huge fan of Yankee Doodle Dandy, which obviously falls into all of the above categories. The sheer joy that James Cagney brings to the role of George M. Cohan is infectious. It's completely Cagney's movie. He is so spectacular, so engaging, so entertaining, that I find myself humming along to some of the corniest songs ever written and watching with a big smile on my face.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS (April 19, 8:00 pm): How do you take a 400-page classic book and turn it into a great film? I don't know, but I imagine those working on the 1946 film adaption of Great Expectations, led by the skilled direction of David Lean, who co-wrote the screenplay, worked very hard to accomplish that goal. And what's more incredible is Lean – known for lengthy but excellent movies like Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and The Bridge on the River Kwai – did it in under two hours. The film is blessed with an outstanding cast, including John Mills, Alec Guinness, Martita Hunt, Jean Simmons and Valerie Hobson, and the screenplay is an excellent adaption of Charles Dickens' wonderful book. It's a delightful, entertaining film about a young orphan, Pip, who is taken to London at the expense of a mysterious benefactor who believes him to be a man with "great expectations." It's one of those movies that you enjoy watching from the beginning and leaves you with a smile of enjoyment and satisfaction when it's over. 

ED’S BEST BETS:

CURSE OF THE DEMON (April 17, 9:45 pm): A wonderful old-fashioned horror thriller concerning anthropologist Dr. John Holden (Dana Andrews) who made his reputation debunking the occult. He is about to meet his match in the persona of one Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), a practitioner of the black arts much in the style of Alistair Crowley. Those who he perceives as a threat are slipped a small parchment and are later visited by one of the scariest and best monsters in the history of film. But this is more than a mere horror film. It’s a wonderful give and take between the skeptical Holden and the sinister Karswell. The audience is sucked right into the film from the beginning when a colleague of Holden’s, Dr. Harrington (Maurice Denham) gets his when the monster drops in on him. And remember, “It’s in the trees! It’s coming!” (Which Kate Bush sampled for her song “The Hounds of Love.”) Don’t miss this one – it’s a genuine classic of the genre.

THE BANK DICK (April 21, 12:00 pm): W.C. Fields was never funnier than in this film about a no-account who is given a job as a bank guard after he unwittingly foils a robbery. His daughter’s nitwit fiancé works there and Fields soon gets him involved in using the bank’s money to finance a stock scheme that looks as if it will go bust, so they must distract the bank examiner (a wonderfully fussy Franklin Pangborn) until the money can be returned. It all results in a crazy and hilarious car chase when the bank is robbed again.

WE DISAGREE ON ... PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (April 21, 4:00 am)

ED: A-. Peter Weir’s film, based on a 1967 novel by Joan Leslie, about three disappearances of schoolgirls and a teacher on a class outing is a film of haunting mystery. What happened? Did they fall into a crevice? Were they murdered? But there is no explanation offered at the end to tie everything together. And that’s the point: the film is an impenetrable mystery. It’s also a commentary of Victorian mores at the time (around 1900). Appleyard College is a finishing school for adolescents where discipline and ladylike behavior are a substitute for real learning. The ladies, 19 of them accompanied by two teachers, are dressed in the clothing of their time, very modest, and very inconvenient, as one scene in the film shows. When they arrive at Hanging Rock, Weir uses the camera to emphasize the contrast between the girls, carrying parasols and engaged in small talk and happy laughter, and the land itself – the rock is hauntingly crawling with animal life; the drone of insects is loud. The way Weir’s camera lingers, nature itself could be the villain. The sexual undertone can be seen when the girls are spotted walking barefoot by an aristocratic young man and his stable boy who are intrigued and excited enough to follow, yet, like unrequited lovers it comes to nothing. And that’s the point: nothing. The film has no resolution, no answers about the girls’ disappearance. This enigma is what drives the film: are the girls being punished for their rather reckless exploration? Is the answer in nature itself for punishing them? This is a film that challenges us to find different ways of looking at the events. Accompanying it all is stunning photography from Russell Boyd, whose camerawork suggests the land may be alive, combined with stark, haunting music, mainly from panpipes. If you like your film tied up at the end with neat explanations with bows on them, then avoid this one. But if you like being challenged, tune in.

DAVID: C+. This is a decent film, but nothing special. The cinematography is the best part. The plot has promise, but fails to deliver. A group of school girls have a picnic at Hanging Rock; hmm, that might explain the title. A teacher and three girls mysteriously disappear in what could be a dreamlike trance from being out in the sun too long. One of the girls returns, not knowing how she went missing or what happened to the others. There's no reason given, and the plot and acting aren't strong enough to make up for the contrived mystery at the center of the film. What's odd is there are portions in which there isn't enough plot, such as any hint of an explanation for those missing, and too much plot, such as the parts featuring an orphan girl who is treated poorly throughout the film. Also, is this film about sexual repression, sexual awakening, or have anything to do with sex? It's hard to tell because it seems so lacking in direction at times. And the pacing at the end of the film is too slow.

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