By Ed Garea
STAR
OF THE MONTH
Janet
Leigh is the Star of the Month for October. It’s an odd choice
considering this is October, when horror films are emphasized. But
keep in mind, perhaps, that Leigh starred in two of the most iconic
horror films of their era: Psycho and The
Fog. So maybe there is method in the madness.
The
problem with Leigh is that her films never quite matched her
potential. The story of her famous “discovery” by Norma Shearer
when Shearer spotted her photo on the desk of her father, who ran a
ski lodge, is part and parcel of Hollywood lore. But Leigh came of
age in the ‘50s, a down time in Hollywood creativity, and she
sublimated her career to husband Tony Curtis in order to raise their
family. Still, there are some quite watchable Leigh films on the
schedule.
October
1: Try The Romance of Rosy
Ridge (1947), a passable little post-Civil War
drama from MGM. It was also Leigh’s debut.
October
8: The pick of the night is Holiday
Affair (1949), with Leigh as a young war widow
pursued by button-down Wendell Corey and ne’er-do-well Robert
Mitchum. Guess who wins?
October
15: Two good films tonight, starting at 8:00 pm with Anthony
Mann’s great psychological Western, The
Naked Spur (1953), also starring Jimmy Stewart
and Robert Ryan, and followed by the great
swashbuckler Scaramouche (1952),
starring Stewart Granger, at 10:00 pm.
FRIDAY
NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: AFRICA
Each
Friday night this month, TCM will run films about Africa or shot in
Africa.
October
3: Three good films are set for the night. First up at 8:00
pm is The African Queen (1951),
followed at 10:00 pm by the underrated war drama, Sahara (1943),
with Humphrey Bogart as a tank commander trapped with a motley crew
at a dried-up oasis in Libya, besieged by German troops. And at 2:00
am. it’s the old stand-by, Casablanca (1942).
October
10: Two
interesting films in the lineup. First, at 10:15 pm, is Something
of Value (1957)
with Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier as friends caught up in the
brutal Mau-Mau uprising in Kenya. Following, at 12:15, is the
brilliant The Battle
of Algiers (1966),
a masterful look at the struggle for Algerian independence.
OUT
OF THE ORDINARY
October
5: One of the best mysteries ever filmed is being shown at
8:15 am. The title is Green For
Danger (1946). We open in the latter stages of
World War II at a rural English hospital. V-1 “buzz bombs” are
falling about the countryside. A postman is injured and dies on the
operating table, but a nurse swears it was murder. Shortly afterward,
she, too, is killed. Enter Scotland Yard Inspector Cockrill (Alastair
Sim) to investigate. His rather unusual methods drive his six
suspects to utter distraction. It’s a joy to watch Sim in action as
he dominates the movie, not an easy task when the co-stars are Trevor
Howard, Leo Genn, Wendy Thompson, and Rosamund John. It’s not run
that often so tune in or record for later.
At
2:00 am, it’s director Ritwak Ghatak’s A
River Called Titas (1973). This is a stark
collection of stories about the impoverished people who live along
the banks of Bangladesh’s rivers. It’s realistic, shot on
location, and deeply moving as one wonders how people can survive in
one of the poorest regions in the world. Best of all, it doesn’t
seem contrived, giving us an ever deeper look into the lives of those
whose livelihood depends on the river.
October
6: A trio of excellent documentaries about animation is on tap.
First, at 8:00 pm, is The Cartoons
of Winsor McKay (2014), the pioneering animator
most renowned for giving us Gertie the Dinosaur. At 9:45 pm, it’s
the 100th Anniversary of Bray
Studios (2014). Little more than a blip on the
historical radar today, John Randolph Bray as a contemporary of
McKay, who invented the process for the commercial method of animated
art, eliminating the need for thousands of individual drawings and
speeding up the process. The program is a series of early cartoons
from the studios, including one made by Paul Terry, who would later
found his Terrytoons studios, giving us Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose,
and Heckle and Jeckle. Terry’s cartoon features a character called
Farmer Al Falfa in Farmer Al Falfa
Sees New York (1916). You might recognize the
character from early television, where the poor farmer is always
besieged by hordes and hordes of mice.
Finally,
at 11:00 pm, comes Animation From
Van Beuren Studios (2014), a look at the almost
forgotten animation studio of the ‘30s. Again, it’s a collection
of some of their cartoons from their brief existence, including one
from their series of “Aesop’s Fables” series and an unusual
cartoon of The Wizard of Oz from around 1933.
There’s also a cartoon featuring their popular duo of Tom and Jerry
(not MGM’s cat and mouse, but a Mutt and Jeff duo). Van Beuren was
a small operation that released their output through RKO. When Walt
Disney jumped ship from United Artists to RKO in 1936, Van Beuren
suddenly became de trop and RKO dropped their
distribution deal. Unable to find another distributor, Van Beuren
simply closed shop. Their cartoons slipped into the public domain and
supplied much of the early Saturday morning fare for television.
October
12: From director Jaromil Jires comes Valerie
and Her Week of Wonder (1970). Based closely on
Vtezslav Nezval’s fantasy novel of the same name, it’s a surreal
tale of the sexual coming of age of a young woman told through a
monstrous metaphor: vampires, who prey on the innocent to drain their
youth and vitality. The film went through the usual process in
Czechoslovakia, released, and later repressed. It was almost totally
forgotten, consigned to the dustbins of cinema history, but
word-of-mouth among cinephiles and revival screenings kept it alive
and in the cinema consciousness. It also served as the role model for
other films that combined the feminine and the monstrous, such
as Lemora: A Child Tale of the
Supernatural (1973), Carrie (1976), and The
Company of Wolves (2012).
THE
B-HIVE
October
8: TCM is airing a mini-marathon of Tom Keene Westerns,
beginning at 1:30 pm with Sundown
Trail, followed by Beyond
the Rockies, Freighters of
Destiny, and Ghost
Valley. It ends with The
Saddle Buster at 5:30 pm. All were made for RKO
in 1931 and 1932 and are excellent examples of the assembly-line
methods of B production. Cowboy star Keene differed from his
contemporaries in that he played a different character in each movie.
While the plots may not be the most complex, the films are
entertaining for both Western and non-Western fans.
October
14: A pair of forgotten Richard Dix Westerns highlights the
day. We begin with The
Arizonian (1935) at 12:45 pm, followed by Yellow
Dust (1936) at 2:15 pm. Dix was Paramount’s big
action star during the silent era. He jumped to RKO in 1929, starring
in the mystery-comedy Seven Keys to
Baldpate (shown at 8:45 am, for anyone interested). As
his star faded in the mid-30s he found himself relegated to B
programmers. However, while these two Westerns may be B’s, they are
well written, tightly directed and well acted. In the case of The
Arizonian, Dudley Nichols, who would later collaborate with
the great John Ford, wrote the screenplay, while Cyril Hume
wrote Yellow Dust. Thus, what we have are two
superior B-Westerns definitely worth checking out.
PSYCHOTRONICA
It
wouldn’t be October without a full helping of psychotronic films,
and we lead off on October 3 at 6:15 pm with
producer/director George Pal’s fantasy film, 7
Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), written by Charles
Beaumont and starring Tony Randall. The makeup for Randall is
outstanding, as are the special effects. Furthermore, it’s a film
the whole family can enjoy.
Director
Michael Powell is featured with two films. On October 5 at
the early hour of 6:00 am, it’s A
Canterbury Tale from 1944. Co-directed by
frequent collaborator Emeric Pressburger, the film is a wonderfully
simple story about three people whose lives intersect in a small
English country village during the war. Together they journey to
Canterbury, each with an agenda - and a wish. Don’t miss this one
if you haven’t seen it.
Roll
back a day to October 4, and it’s the film that almost
destroyed Powell’s career: Peeping
Tom (1960). This is an intense film about a
photographer raised by his sadistic psychologist father. He works by
day as a focus puller at a movie studio, but at night he prowls the
streets, finding great pleasure in photographing, then murdering, a
succession of beautiful women, capturing their reaction at the time
of their death. The critics and press excoriated the film, and the
public stayed away in droves. That might have been it, but as time
passed, the film began to gain a cult reputation, including Martin
Scorsese, who said that this movie and Fellini’s 8½ contain
all that can be said about directing.
Speaking
of October 4, as we all know, not every psychotronic film
is good. For a particularly bad one, look no further than Five
Minutes to Live (aka Door-to-Door
Maniac, 1961) at 2:00 am. Johnny Cash stars as a deranged
bank robber who holds the bank president’s wife hostage. Watch Cash
emote for just 10 minutes and you’ll understand why he decided to
stick to singing. It’s a film so bad, it’s enjoyable to watch.
On October
11, it’s a treat for blaxploitation fans with a
double-bill of Blacula (1972)
at 2:15 am, followed by its sequel, Scream,
Blacula Scream at 4:00 am. At least the latter
has the good taste to feature the lovely Pam Grier as a vengeful
Voodoo priestess out to get Blacula.
Finally,
on Thursdays in October, TCM is running a Special Theme dedicated to
ghost stories. On October 2, the evening’s choice
is The Time of Their Lives (1946),
starring Lou Costello and Marjorie Reynolds as a pair of
Revolutionary War ghosts that must find the letter exonerating them
from treason if they are to leave the mansion they are haunting and
ascend to Heaven. Bud Abbott, who plays a psychiatrist descended from
the man who framed Costello and Reynolds, aids them in their quest.
It’s funny, imaginative, and a nice departure from their usual
slapstick.
On October
9, two films stand out from the rest. The first is Portrait
of Jennie (1948), at 8:00 pm, with Joseph Cotten
as a penniless artist inspired by beautiful ghost Jennifer Jones.
Later, at 4:15 am, it’s the Japanese classic Tokaido
Yotsuya kaidan (aka, The
Ghost of Yotsuya, 1959), a dark tale of fate, passion,
betrayal, and revenge based on a kabuki play from 1825 and concerning
a devious samurai named Iemon who murders to get what he wants.
Finally he gets his when he goes too far and disturbs the spirits.
It’s one to catch; just be aware that it’s in color and the level
of violence is ratcheted way up with gory close-ups of slashed bodies
and amputated limbs.
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