TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
November
23–November 30
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
THE
MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (November
24, 12:00 pm): Warner Brothers wasn't known for making excellent
comedies in the 1930s and 40s, and Bette Davis didn't become famous
for her comedic skills. However, this 1942 screwball comedy is the
exception to the rule. Davis is delightful and funny as Maggie
Cutler, secretary to Monty Woolley's character. Woolley's Sheridan
Whiteside is an arrogant, acerbic lecturer and critic who slips on
the front steps of the house of an Ohio family, injuring himself in
the process. Since he's going to be laid up for a while, Whiteside
thinks nothing of completely takes over the house, leading to some
funny and madcap moments. Woolley, who reprised the role he first
made famous on Broadway, is the best part of the movie. Davis is
great and showed legitimate promise as a comedic actress.
CROSSFIRE (November
28, 4:30 pm): Robert Ryan was a tremendous actor and this is my
favorite film to feature him. This 1947 film noir that deals
with anti-Semitism is considered the first B movie to be nominated
for a Best Picture Oscar. The film stars the great Robert Mitchum
with Robert Young outstanding as a police detective. But it is Ryan's
powerful portrayal of a white supremacist/anti-Semite GI who kills a
Jewish guy he and his buddies meet at a bar who steals the movie.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
TOP
HAT (November 25, 6:00 pm): Not only is this film the
best of the Astaire-Rogers pairings, but it’s also one of the
greatest musicals – if not the greatest – ever to come from
Hollywood. Everything goes off perfectly in this movie: the score by
none other than Irving Berlin, the dance numbers (especially “Top
Hat,” and “Cheek to Cheek”), and even Fred’s pursuit of
Ginger is fresh and funny. It’s the old formula – Fred meets
Ginger, Fred loses Ginger, Fred gets Ginger – but in this film it
has not yet run its course. Add to this a supporting cast featuring
the always-reliable Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore, plus
dependable Helen Broderick and Eric Rhodes, and the result is an
engaging and charming 90 minutes. Look for Lucille Ball in an
unbilled role as a flower clerk.
UMBERTO
D (November 26, 2:00 am): Director Vittorio DeSica
was known for his realistic portrayals of life in Postwar Italy. Next
to The Bicycle Thieves, this is his most important – and
best – film from that time. It takes a long, hard look at the
problems of the unwanted elderly, the protagonist being a retired
professor of linguistics at Bologna who can no longer survive on his
meager pension. Thrown out of his apartment for back rent, he wanders
the streets with his faithful terrier, Flike, Be warned, this is the
saddest owner and pet drama since Old Yeller, and I'm not
kidding when I say that this is a five-hankie picture. The film was
instrumental in helping to reform the Italian pension system into
something more humane. Critically lauded in the '50s, it's almost
forgotten today, much like it's protagonist.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... SANS SOLEIL (November 30, 2:30 am):
ED:
B+. Sans Soleil is an interesting film.
It’s full of documentary images, yet it really can’t be called a
documentary in the strict sense of the word. It’s more of a
personal meditation on the nature of human memory: the inability to
recall context and nuances, and how the resulting perception of
personal and global histories is affected. Director Chris Marker
films most of it in Japan and Guinea-Bissau, two countries with
wildly divergent cultures. The scenes in Japan are compelling,
especially the temple devoted to cats, and it’s a sort of
travelogue through the memory. The best way to enjoy it is surrender
to it from the beginning. Instead of stopping to analyze what is
being seen, as we usually do with a film, we should let it soak in,
and at the end review our impressions. Not everyone is going to like
this, as it does come off a bit pretentious at times. But it is a
whole lot better than sitting through the dull monotony of an
Antonioni, Pasolini, or the later Godard. But see it at least once.
You’ll find yourself running the images through your mind of days.
DAVID:
C. Honestly, I don't know what's going on in this
film. It's not compelling or
even well made, and comes across as a random, mixed-up collection of
film clips with no direction. Most importantly, it is neither
interesting nor fascinating. Like Ed, I found it somewhat
pretentious, but not over the top. Sans
Soleil is a
confusing collage of images at various locations throughout the
world. If there was something that legitimately tied it all together,
it could have worked. Just because there's a narrator talking about a
supposed world traveler and discussing his adventures doesn't mean
it's a cohesive story. It most definitely isn't. But I've seen a lot
worse.
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