By John Seal
January 13-19, 2003
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated - they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PST.
Monday 01/13/03
10:35 AM Encore
Duel (1971): Steven Spielberg's TV movie really is as good as its reputation, and star Dennis Weaver is at the top of his game in this tale of a man being pursued by a mysterious stranger in a truck. The concept was unashamedly appropriated in John Dahl's Joy Ride (2001 USA), a decent film that occasionally bogged down in hormone overdrive. This is presumably the slightly expanded version Spielberg cut for theatrical release outside the US, but either way, it's good. Also airs at 1:35 PM.
7:35 PM More Max
Emmanuelle, the Joys of A Woman (1975 FRA): The film that launched a thousand in-name-only sequels (not to mention the entire Skinemax softcore subgenre) spawned this decent (real) sequel a year after first bursting onto screens across the world. After this one, it became a rapidly accelerating case of diminishing returns, but for an early example of this much-reviled style, you can’t do much better than …Joys of A Woman.
Tuesday 01/14/03
12:35 AM Showtime 2
Return from the Ashes (1965 GB): Pretty decent tale of marital skullduggery, starring the ruggedly handsome Maximilian Schell and a beautiful Samantha Eggar - who never looked better on screen). Written by Julius Epstein - responsible for a little film called Casablanca a few decades earlier - this is a small and intimate picture with a rather confusing plot that demands you pay attention. Worthwhile nonetheless.
1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Run For the Sun (1956 USA): One of many Hollywood renderings of Richard Connell’s story The Most Dangerous Game , this version benefits from a fine cast (Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard, Peter Van Eyck, and Jane Greer) and high production values. Airing in its correct Techniscope aspect ratio and shot on location in Mexico, this one is going to look terrific.
5:40 AM Encore Love Stories
Pieces of Dreams (1970 USA): The speculative pick of the week, Pieces of Dreams has an interesting cast, including Robert Forster, Will Geer, and a young Lauren Hutton in her second feature, and features a score by Michel Legrand.
Noon Flix
Ladybug Ladybug (1963 USA): This is a very unusual and much underappreciated film about a small rural school and how it deals with an impending nuclear attack. Director Frank Perry was one of the leading lights of American indie cinema in the ‘60s, and this film deserves to be as well known as his debut, David and Lisa. Personally, I think it’s the better of the two pictures.
9:00 PM More Max
Lantana (2001 AUS): Lantana was released in late 2001 in the United States and was overshadowed by the similar but not-as-good emotional rollercoaster In the Bedroom. In some ways, it’s also an Australian version of Magnolia, weaving a number of seemingly unrelated characters into a single overarching story (albeit without any frogs falling from the sky). American actress Barbara Hershey is noteworthy as an incredibly annoying doctor, and there’s good work by reliable Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia, and others.
Wednesday 01/15/03
5:30 AM Showtime
Story of Adele H. (1975 FRA): Francois Truffaut’s tale of love and obsession in 19th century Canada introduced Isabelle Adjani to a worldwide audience and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress - a rare nod for a thespian in a multilingual film. Filmed by the great Nestor Almendros and based on the diary of the real Adele Hugo, this is a rare opportunity to see this somewhat atypical Truffaut work. Also airs at 8:30 AM.
Thursday 01/16/03
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Sellout (1952 USA): A rather obscure MGM feature about a time when newspapers were independent and feisty enough to take on corruption in big cities, The Sellout features another great group of actors: Karl Malden, Whit Bissell, John Hodiak, Walter Pidgeon, and Audrey Totter. A low budget affair, I wouldn’t expect too much, but for fans of ‘50s crime dramas this is a must.
9:30 AM Fox Movies
The Undying Monster (1942 USA): The Undying Monster belongs to the same genre of films that Val Lewton was producing at RKO in the ‘40s: something I call “gothic noir.” Lucien Ballard's rich black and white photography hints of his future work on noir classics like Laura and The Killing, and John Brahm's assured direction makes the absolute most of the rather pedestrian scenario. There are some simply amazing compositions for what was obviously a second feature, and the cast is buoyed by stalwarts Halliwell Hobbes and Holmes Herbert (I love the way their names sound together!). There's even a brief scene that features a shaky cam in extreme close-up - half a century before The Blair Witch Project. Highest recommendation for noir fans, though blood and guts horror mavens will probably be disappointed.
1:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Postmark For Danger (1954 GB): Shot in Britain by Anglo-Amalgamated and directed by the great Guy Green (A Patch of Blue, The Mark), this tale of diamond smuggling and intrigue stars American Terry Moore (fresh from appearing in the paranoia classic, Shack Out On 101) as an actress who survives an automobile mishap that wasn’t just an “accident.” Naturally there’s a mystery to be unraveled, and Moore is in the middle of it, along with Canadian Robert Beatty and Geoffrey Keen, here playing the local police inspector, and later to essay the role of Sir Frederick Gray in seven James Bond films.
Friday 01/17/03
8:20 AM Encore Action
When Worlds Collide (1951 USA): There are few science fiction films from the '50s that can still evoke a sense of wonder. This is one of them, as mankind is forced to adapt to Planet Earth's looming destruction due to an oncoming collision with a roving planet. The film must have been particularly effective for Cold War audiences, but it's still a gem, and one of the crown jewels of producer George Pal’s career.
9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Sea Hawk (1924 USA): This silent epic was later remade successfully in 1940 with Errol Flynn, but the original version is pretty good, too. Handsomely produced and directed by Frank Lloyd, the film has some terrific action scenes and features Wallace Beery in one of his typical scene-stealing turns as a pirate captain.
Noon Black Starz
Yellow Card (2000 ZIM): This cautionary tale from Zimbabwe was funded in part by the UK and US governments and is basically intended to warn Zimbabwean youth of the dangers of unprotected sex. It should be dull and preachy, but benefits from an earnest and attractive cast, especially Kasamba Mkumba and Leroy Gopal as the young star-crossed lovers. Football is only used metaphorically (the yellow card signifying a warning before you're sent off the field) and serves as bait to get the target audience interested. Nothing particularly new, but done extremely well. Also airs 1/18 at 1:10 AM.
8:30 PM IFC
Bad Lieutenant (1991 USA): If you don’t like watching Harvey Keitel snort coke, abuse prostitutes, and fire off guns with minimal provocation, you should avoid this film. If the thought of Keitel indulging in all that naughtiness and more fills you with glee, Abel Ferrara’s incredibly bleak story of the corruption of the human soul is a must-see. I rather like it, though I do feel the need to take a long bath after every viewing.
Saturday 01/18/03
Fight Zatoichi Fight! (1964 JAP): The blind swordsman was back for an eighth time in this gorgeous looking Daiei film, another good example of the Japanese predilection for extreme widescreen. This time he falls in with a single mother trying to find her child’s father and reunite their family. Shintaro Katsu was always a fine actor, but he’s particularly affecting in this entry, getting the opportunity for the first time in the series to feel something akin to love-in between slicing and dicing no-goods who get in his way.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Spellbound (1945 USA): TCM is showing a block of Hitchcock classics tonight, leading off with one of the best, with Gregory Peck as the new doctor in charge of Green Manors mental asylum. Things go well for a while, but Peck starts exhibiting some rather strange symptoms, and the film details - by way of psychoanalysis - his efforts to recover his real past. This is the one that features the Salvador Dali-designed dream sequence, which is worth the price of admission alone. Following at 7:00 PM is Notorious (1946 USA), the second of Hitch’s four collaborations with Cary Grant. The film also features Ingrid Bergman, the heroine of Spellbound , as well as Claude Rains in a particularly despicable role. At 9:00 PM we get the underrated Marnie (1964 USA), with Hitchcock favorite Tippi Hedren teamed up with Sean Connery in a story of sex and kleptomania, and the evening concludes with the enjoyable if slight Dial ‘M’ For Murder (1954 USA) at 11:30 PM.
8:00 PM HBO Signature
Heavenly Creatures (1994 NZ): Director Peter Jackson started making the transition from gruesome comedies to something more substantive with this outstanding film, based on a true murder case in 1950s New Zealand. The film still bears some of Jackson's cinematic trademarks but is a million miles away from Dead Alive, Bad Taste, and Meet the Feebles (all of which are great films in their own right). Kate Winslet is on hand as one of a pair of schoolgirls who live in a fantasy world that intrudes more and more into real life, and their obsession with Mario Lanza soon turns deadly. Of particular note is the performance of Sarah Peirse as the murder victim - who also happens to be one of the girls’ mothers.
Sunday 01/19/02
1:05 AM Flix
Silver Dream Racer (1980 GB): It’s going to stink, probably. Nevertheless, I’m so shocked to see this obscure David Essex movie about the fab world of motorbike racing show up on American screens that I felt compelled to mention it. There, took care of that impulse. For those who like their glass half full, the film was shot by TiVoPplex favourite Paul Beeson, and also features Harry “Steptoe and Son” Corbett in his last feature role, so maybe it won’t be terrible. On the other hand, Beau Bridges is in it. Forewarned is forearmed.
6:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Johnny Guitar (1954 USA): Nicholas Ray’s highly stylized western about a woman barkeep in the Old West plays a bit like a 19th century Mildred Pierce, but maybe that’s because Joan Crawford is the woman in question. This film has become infamous on the postmodernist circuit for its lesbian “subtext,” which arguably is there, but not to the extent some might hope. Top acting kudos go to Mercedes McCambridge (why didn’t she work more?) as Emma Small, the town bluenose determined to get rid of the den of iniquity owned and operated by Ms. Crawford. Lushly shot in Trucolor (there’s a process we all miss), Johnny Guitar has acquired a camp reputation it doesn’t really deserve. Either way you view it, it’s pretty good.
5:00 PM IFC
Sweet and Lowdown (1999 USA): Sean Penn plays Emmet Ray, a thinly disguised Django Reinhardt substitute and jazz guitarist with all the accompanying demons we expect from our tortured musical geniuses. This was Woody Allen’s last decent film to date, and made a name for Samantha Morton as Emmet’s mute girlfriend. Woody’s love of ‘20s and ‘30s jazz is in full bloom and the film is warm-hearted, (bitter) sweet, and not terribly lowdown. Also airs at 8:45 PM.
9:00 PM Fox Movies
Les Miserables (1935 USA): Fox offers us a rare chance to compare and contrast their two versions of Victor Hugo’s mammoth novel, as the 1952 version airs immediately following at 11:00 PM. Sounds like a high school writing assignment, doesn’t it? The 1935 version is a rock-solid classic, with Fredric March as poor Jean Valjean and Charles Laughton as the brutish Inspector Javert. I haven’t seen the 1952 version, but Michael Rennie strikes me as a good choice for Valjean. Robert Newton as Javert is a good physical match, but does he have the overpowering evil presence of Laughton? We’ll find out. Please submit your essays typewritten and double-spaced on acid free paper by Monday.
