A
Guide to the Interesting and Unusual on TCM
By
Ed Garea
TCM
SPOTLIGHT
July’s
TCM Spotlight for July is 50 Years of Hitchcock,
and they’re showing just about every film the director made over
the course of his career. Which films do we recommend? Why, all of
them, of course. This is not to say that Hitchcock ever made a bad
film. He did. Plenty of them. But a director’s bad films can be
just as interesting, and can sometimes provide more insight into his
inner workings. There are some of his silent works scheduled,
especially for this fortnight, and we know that for some, silent
films are anathema. Frankly, I have never understood it. There are
also those at the opposite end on the pole who insist that not only
are silent films superior, there has never been a bad one made. This
argument, like the one some Pre-Code film fans give for their
favorite, is pure fantasy. There are good and bad films in all
genres, all styles of filmmaking. To deny this is to deny the power
of film itself.
However,
there are two shorts Hitchcock made in 1944 for England’s Ministry
of Information. The first is Aventure
malgache (Madagascan Adventure), airing at 4:30
am July 7. While preparing backstage, one of The Moliere
players tells a castmate that his face reminds him of an opportunist
turncoat he knew when he was in the Resistance. He then relates the
adventure that he had in the Resistance, running an illegal radio
station and dodging the Nazis in the Axis-controlled French colony of
Madagascar.
The
second short, Bon Voyage,
immediately follows at 5:15 am. A young Scottish RAF gunner has made
it back to England and is debriefed by French officials about his
escape from occupied territory. In particular the officials are
interested in one person who may or may not have been a German agent.
Both shorts are directed in the immaculate Hitchcock style and are
captivating to watch. Our advice is to record them for later.
As
for Hitch, the schedule for this edition is July 5, 7,
12 and 14, all beginning at 8 pm.
NOTABLE
July
2: At 2:30 am comes I Knew
Her Well (1965), a story about a naive country
girl (Stefania Sandrelli) who comes to Rome hoping to become a movie
star and instead finds herself ignored, used and made fun of as those
she meets hoping to get ahead only see her as an exploitable body.
Sandrelli is amazing, injecting the part with passion and a knowledge
beyond her years (she was 18 when she made the film). Think of La
Dolce Vita without the Dolce. While she tries
her best to socialize and befriend people, the results are
disappointing and frustrating, as people ignore her, use her and make
fun of her while exploiting her body and her good intentions. No one
even grants her the small favor of taking her seriously. This could
just come off as another girl comes to the big city and gets abused
flick, but director Antonio Pietrangeli shoots the film in such a
style that we fell as if we’re right there alongside Sandrelli.
Mario Adorf and the versatile Jean-Claude Brialy co-star, but
Sandrelli’s the show.
Speaking
of Jean-Claude Brialy, Le Beau
Serge (1958), the directorial debut of Claude
Chabrol, follows at 4:45 am, a hell of a time to watch this
engrossing drama. Record it, you won’t be sorry. Brialy is
Francois, a sickly theology student who returns to his hometown for a
recuperative rest only to find his best friend from youth, Serge
(Gerard Blain), has become a drunkard trapped in a bad marriage. To
make matters worse, Francois learns that his son was born a
mongoloid, living just a short time, and his wife is pregnant again.
The film is generally considered the first official film of the
French New Wave, a point that is hotly debated, but the most
important thing is that it is a riveting drama about a man who finds
he cannot go home again. Shades of Thomas Wolfe.
July
9: A double feature from Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki
features two of his wry comedies: Shadows
in Paradise (1986), at 2:00 am, followed
by Ariel (1989)
at 3:30. The first concerns Nikander, a garbage man (Matti Pellonpaa)
who falls head over heels for Ilona, a grocery store cashier (Kati
Outinen). Their first date is a crashing bore for both, but when
Ilona is fired and steals the company cash box, the only person she
can think of for refuge is Nikander, and so she moves in with him,
starting things off as a romance of convenience. But as time passes,
feelings deepen into a love that transforms them both.
Ariel is
the story of Taisto Kasurinen (Turo Pajala), a northern Finnish coal
miner whose depressed friend gives him his old Cadillac just before
going into the toilet and blowing his brains out. Taisto drives down
to southern Finland, where muggers quickly relieve him of his life
savings. He gets a job as a laborer, procures a bed in a Skid
Row mission, and later strikes up an instant romance with a
metermaid, who decides to toss away her parking tickets and go
for a ride with him in the Cadillac. While meeting the metermaid may
be seen as a stroke of luck for Taisto, life has other ideas, and
film sees him suffering one misfortune after another. Think of a
Finnish version of Detour, only not as optimistic.
JAMES
WHALE
July
8: The evening is devoted to one of my favorite directors,
the brilliant James Whale, with four of his features. We begin
with The Bride of
Frankenstein (1935) at
8 pm, which is being shown on The Essentials. This should
give fans a chance to decide on what the bigger horror is: Karloff
and Lanchester or Essentials hosts Alec Baldwin and
Tina Fey. We recommend using your fast-forward button to cut through
the useless blather and get to the film, which is seen by many
critics and historians alike as the greatest horror film ever made.
And the irony is that it’s really a black comedy, with Whale taking
jabs at religion, science and society in general. It was a film he
wasn’t all that keen on making, fearing that he was being typecast
as a horror director. But horror was where he shined, another irony.
Watch for the amazing performance of Ernest Thesiger, who walks away
with the film. And also look for a marvelous inside joke when Dr.
Pretorious shows Henry Frankenstein his creations.
At
9:45 airs a film Whale was keen to make: The
Man in the Iron Mask (1939). Based on the last of
the D’Artagnan–Three Musketeers books by Alexandre Dumas, this
story of a despotic king, his wronged identical twin brother, and the
four heroes who devise a plan to free him from prison and place him
on the throne has been filmed multiple times over the years, but
Whale’s version may well be the best one. Louis Hayward does double
duty as Louis XIV and his twin brother, Phillipe, while Joan Bennett
plays Maria Theresa. Warren William is excellent as D’Artagnan,
with Alan Hale as Porthos. In the hands of the stylish Whale, the
film shines with vivid period detail, not to mention the many
exciting moments.
At midnight
it’s a film many would never associate with Whale: Show
Boat (1936). But this is a film that benefited
from the meticulous attention to detail and style that was a Whale
hallmark. Irene Dunne and Allan Jones star, but the real star – and
soul – of the movie is Paul Robeson, especially his stirring
rendition of “Old Man River.”
The
evening closes out at 2:15 am with Whale’s sardonic version of H.G.
Wells’ The Invisible Man (1933).
In a typical Whale irony, it marked the first starring role for
Claude Rains, who wasn’t seen until the last few seconds of the
film, being invisible up till then. Despite this, Rains was
brilliant, expressing himself solely through the use of his voice.
It’s one of my favorite films and one I can watch again and again.
JOHN
GILBERT
On July
10, the day is devoted to John Gilbert. The morning begins at 6
am with Gilbert and Renee Adoree in La
Boheme (1926). Adoree is a seamstress in love
with would-be playwright Gilbert among the downtrodden in 1830s
Paris. At 8 am, A Woman of
Affairs (1928), with co-star Greta Garbo. At
10:45 am it’s the film that made Gilbert a star: King Vidor’s
World War I drama, The Big
Parade (1925). One of the best films ever made
about “The War to End All Wars,” Gilbert is an innocent enlistee
who learns about the horrors of war firsthand. Adoree is the French
farm girl who loves him. Forget about it being a silent. Tune in for
some of the most realistic battle scenes ever filmed.
At
1:30 pm comes the first of two talkies on the bill. Way
For a Sailor (1930), sees Gilbert as a dedicated
sailor torn between his love of the sea and his love for Joan (Leila
Hyams). As Leonard Maltin says in his review, it’s mainly for fans
of early talkies.
Ah,
but following right after, at 3:00 pm comes my favorite Gilbert film
and the one I think is his best. In Downstairs (1932)
he’s a heel chauffeur who sleeps and schemes his way from one
wealthy household to another. His performance should put the lie to
the oft repeated accusation that Gilbert wasn’t made for the
talkies. It was studio politics that did Gilbert in, not the tenor of
his voice.
Closing
out the day at 6 pm is Gilbert’s first pairing with Garbo, Flesh
and the Devil (1926). Reputedly, the scene at the
train station was the first time Gilbert had ever laid eyes on his
co-star and it was love – hot passionate love – for both at first
sight. That day he decided to leave his wife. And if you want to see
chemistry, take a gander at this film. They weren’t faking it.
PRE-CODE
July
12: For those enamored with Pre-Code movies, who think
nothing was as honest or daring, I invite you to take a look at Way
Back Home (1931), airing at 10:30 am. Starring
Phillips Lord as Seth Parker and based on his cracker barrel drama
radio show A Prairie Home Companion, it is insufferably
dull, filled with homespun honor that wasn’t funny back then. Look
for Bette Davis (her fourth film) in a minor role as Seth’s
neighbor. I expect the Pre-Code junkies to write in and defend
this as great cinematic art.
PSYCHOTRONICA
AND THE B HIVE
As
always, there’s a good selection of psychotronic films.
July
1: A morning double-feature of The
Mummy (1932) with the one and only Karloff at
6:30 am, followed by Charles Laughton in 1933’s Island
of Lost Souls at 7:45 am. Following at 10:30 am
is Chester Morris as Boston Blackie in The
Chance of a Lifetime (1943), Blackie helps
ex-cons adjust to life as defense workers. But always something goes
wrong...
July
8: Boston Blackie helps the police recover a stolen Egyptian
diamond in One Mysterious
Night (1944). For those having trouble sleeping
we have just the remedy: Gymkata (1985),
starring the unforgettable Kurt Thomas, will be showing at 3:45 am.
July
13: An entire day of psychotronic films begins at 6 am with
Peter Lorre in Mad Love (1935).
Following at 7:30 am is The Hidden
Hand (1942), a send-up of old dark house
mysteries concerning a group of greedy heirs called to the mansion
for the reading of the will. At 8:45 am comes Bela Lugosi’s only
color film, Scared to Death (1947).
Bored to Death would be more like it. It’s as lifeless as the
corpse around which the plot revolves. At 10 am come one of Val
Lewton’s best: The Seventh
Victim (1943), centered around a Satanic cult in
Greenwich Village and a young woman’s search for her missing
sister. At 11:15 Boris Karloff and wife Catherine Lacey live
vicariously through decadent playboy Ian Ogilvy in The
Sorcerers (1967). Worth a watch.
The
afternoon kicks off with one of the strangest films ever made: The
Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962). Filmed in 1959
but not released (or escaped) until 1962, this is a genuine laff
riot. Demented doc Jason (Herb) Evers, racing to his mountain
hideaway with fiancee Virginia Leith, ends up in a car crash that
decapitates his fiancee. Clutching her head in his jacket he makes
like O.J. Simpson for the house, where he puts her head in a roasting
pan supported by wires and tubes while he goes out looking for a
suitable body. Meanwhile his monster – kept in a closet – is
getting antsy. The best version is the MST 3000 version,
but for those who like their crap straight, this will do fine.
At
2:15 comes Christopher Lee and Betta St. John in Horror
Hotel (1960), followed by another Lewton
production, The Leopard Man (1943)
at 3:45 pm. Closing out the day is the Australian horror, The
Plumber (1979) at 5:00 pm, followed by Karloff
and Jack Nicholson in Roger Corman’s lethargic The
Terror (1963) at 6:30 pm.
July
15: Boston Blackie Booked on
Suspicion (1945) airs at 10:30 am, while Hammer’s
excellent Five Million Years to
Earth (1968) is scheduled for 6 pm.
At
2:30 am Stacy Keach and Jason Miller star in The
Ninth Configuration (1980), followed by Peter
Breck as a reporter who feigns insanity to solve a murder committed
in an asylum in Samuel Fuller’s Shock
Corridor (1963).
No comments:
Post a Comment