From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PDT.
Tuesday 09/09/03
4:30am Showtime 2 At the Earth’s Core (1976 GB): Though it’s strictly B material, I have fond childhood memories of this Saturday matinee feature. This was the second of three low-budget Edgar Rice Burroughs’ adaptations produced by Britain’s Amicus Productions in association with AIP (the others were 1975’s The Land That Time Forgot and 1977’s dreadful The People That Time Forgot) and features Doug McClure and Peter Cushing as intrepid explorers of the Earth’s interior. Surprisingly, it doesn’t consist entirely of a hot molten core, housing instead a parallel prehistoric world filled with cavemen and pterodactyls, who, as we all know, actually lived together in harmony on the planet’s surface eons earlier. It’s good fun, and big boys may enjoy seeing ‘70s heroine Caroline Munro as McClure’s love interest.
5pm Turner Classic Movies Rita (2003 USA): This TCM original documentary makes its broadcast premiere this evening. I’ve never been a big fan of the sloe-eyed Rita Hayworth, but as usual, TCM have done their homework and come up with enough goodies to make this a worthwhile hour for fans of golden age cinema. Incorporating interviews with Ms. Hayworth’s daughter, husband James Hill, and other family members and professional friends, the film also features never-before-seen home movie footage and commentary recorded by Hayworth shortly before her death in 1987.
Wednesday 09/10/03
1:30pm Turner Classic Movies The Hitch-Hiker (1953 USA): It’s lost a bit of its bite as the years have passed, but this film single-handedly kick-started the “psycho on the roadside” sub-genre that would later blossom in films like 1974’s Hitch Hike and 1977’s Hitch Hike to Hell. Directed by the great Ida Lupino, one of the few women allowed behind the camera in late-‘40s and early-‘50s Hollywood, the film stars Edmond O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy as vacationing army buddies waylaid by a marauding serial killer, played by William Tallman. Tallman, the handsome actor best remembered for playing District Attorney Hamilton Burger on television’s Perry Mason, is excellent, and it’s sad to note that his career was stymied by a trumped-up morals charge. This is a terrific RKO thriller and one of Lupino’s best efforts.
3pm Fox Movies Just Imagine (1930 USA): It has an unjustifiably poor reputation, but Just Imagine is such a unique film that it's essential viewing for those who can overlook the bad songs and the unfunny antics of El Brendel. Set in the distant future (1980!), this film posits a world where cars have been replaced by airplanes (the film may be single-handedly responsible for that cliché of futurism), babies are bred in test tubes, and love is obsolete. The art direction is, of course, inspired; the dance sequences wonderful (especially on Mars); and the joke about Henry Ford is truly hilarious. Despite its creakiness, there's no more lovable film than Just Imagine, one of the most marvelous and wide-eyed looks at the future ever to come from Hollywood. Also airs 9/11 at 5am.
6pm Sundance The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972 BRD): This small but powerful Rainer Fassbinder film stars Margit Carstensen as the title character, a fashion designer who falls in love with prospective model Hanna Schygulla. Based on Fassbinder’s play of the same name, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant is a mature cinematic look at lesbianism (sorry, fellow Box Office Prophets) and a cut above most contemporaneous American efforts attempting to deal with issues of homosexuality. Magnificently shot by frequent Fassbinder collaborator Michael Ballhaus, this is an intense and beautiful film that ranks as one of the highlights of the quirky German’s illustrious career. Also airs 9/15 at 10:45pm.
Thursday 09/11/03
8:30am Flix Some Kind of a Nut (1969 USA): Even the mighty box-office presence that was Dick Van Dyke eventually had to bow to the counterculture realities of the ‘60s. Unfortunately, the result - this film - isn’t much to look at, but it certainly is a unique and odd entry into the lanky comedian’s filmography. When Dick suffers from a bee sting, he grows a beard to cover it, and as a result loses his job. Hilarity attempts to ensue, but the laughs are infrequent, and this film is best remembered for its cast, which includes Rosemary Forsyth, a very young Zohra Lampert, and Angie Dickinson as Van Dyke’s wife. Written and directed by a past-his-prime Garson Kanin, Some Kind of a Nut desperately tries to score some hip points with its “with-it” title, but will disappoint most viewers. Watch for Howard Hesseman (WKRP in Cincinnati) in a small role as a bartender.
2pm Sundance Blank Generation (1976 USA): Amos Poe’s cinema vérité record of the early days of the New York punk rock scene is as frustrating as it is important. Mid-‘70s footage of The Ramones, Talking Heads, and Blondie is fascinating stuff to watch, but the unfortunate absence of sound - underlined by the understandable but really inappropriate addition of studio recordings - render the film deeply flawed. Nonetheless, anyone with the slightest interest in the music of the period, which should be anyone who likes rock and roll, should make time to watch this time capsule. With a running time of 53 minutes, Blank Generation is a suitably brief salute to the pioneers of punk and New Wave.
6pm Trio 11’09’01: September 11 (2002 International): A tip of the hat to the good folks at Trio for offering the American television premiere of this controversial film about the attack on the World Trade Center. It’s actually a collection of 11 different segments from 11 different countries, each segment offering its own meditations on or interpretations of the events of September 11, 2001. With contributions from Ken Loach, Mira Nair, Shohei Imamura, Claude Lelouch, and TiVoPlex favorite Samira Makhmalbaf, this is going to be a decidedly cerebral affair and most definitely not for all tastes. Hopefully, Trio won’t cut to commercial breaks mid-segment.
Friday 09/12/03
1:45am Turner Classic Movies Ding Dong Williams (1946 USA): I have no idea if this is a decent film, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to plug a movie called Ding Dong Williams. It’s a musical about a semi-pro clarinetist hired and fired by a Hollywood studio when they discover he can neither read nor write music. Glenn Vernon (I Bury the Living) plays the title character, and the supporting cast is an interesting one, including perennial B nice guy Robert Clarke, attractive Anne Jeffreys, Jason Robards the Elder, and even RKO music director Constantin Bakaleinikoff as himself.
3:20am HBO American Standoff (2003 USA): Barbara Kopple, the director of the magnificent Harlan County USA (1976 USA), produced this superb documentary about the efforts of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to unionize the Overnite Transportation Company and their 2,500 workers. Focusing on the efforts of the overly-slick Teamster president, James P. Hoffa, the film also includes footage of Hoffa’s father stonewalling Senator Robert Kennedy in 1957. Though the film doesn’t ignore the corrupt past of the union, it concentrates its firepower on the corporate bean-counters at Overnite and showcases the courageous and frequently heartbreaking stories of those on the picket line. There’s no happy ending here, either; the strike continues to this day, with Overnite spending roughly $100,000,000 so far in an effort to break the Teamsters. Wouldn’t it be just as cost-efficient to recognize the union and broker a contract agreement? BOYCOTT OVERNITE! Also airs at 6:20am.
4:10am Encore Mystery Hunter(1971 USA): Humankind has always hearkened to the siren song of the unknown. We have to know it all, see it all, and experience it all. Geographical and scientific explorers have taken it upon themselves to chart and record what had previously been out of sight or beyond reach. And so, too, the cinematic explorer - that’s me - must push the boundaries and expose the forgotten and hidden remnants of an earlier civilization; in this case, the sick and twisted world of 1970s made-for-TV movies. Here’s one I had completely forgotten about, a thriller about an FBI agent out to bust a brainwashing plot. Avuncular John Vernon stars as the G-Man and Czech-born Steve Ihnat plays bad-guy Alain Praetorious. All things considered, this is one of the better small-screen films of the period, and hasn’t been broadcast in many years, so plan accordingly. Also airs at 1:20pm.
10:05pm Sundance L.I.E. (2001 USA): Films about pedophilia aren’t exactly box office gold, but between Larry Clark, Harmony Korine, and Todd Solondz, the topic hasn’t exactly been ignored by filmmakers. In my opinion, Clark is little more than a pornographer (in the worst sense of the word), Korine an overrated no-talent, and Solondz a solid filmmaker, with his Happiness (1997 USA) making a valiant stab at confronting the issue in a relatively honest way. It’s qualities are matched if not trumped, however, by Michael Cuesta’s L.I.E., a film about a 15-year \-old boy (Paul Dano) taken in by a local bigwig (Brian Cox) who also happens to, erm, like young boys. Cox is outstanding, bringing pathos, tenderness, and sliminess to his role in equal measure, but Dano is the real star, offering an utterly guileless and charming performance as a befuddled and confused teenager. Also notable are Billy Kay as semi-pro male prostitute Gary and Marcia DeBonis as Dano’s school guidance counselor. Although saddled with an overdramatic (though plausible) conclusion, this is a very impressive freshman effort by a director to keep an eye on.
Saturday 09/13/03
3:50am Flix Time Limit (1957 USA): I recommended this one sight-unseen a few months ago, and I'm happy to report that for once I didn't steer my readers wrong! The only film directed by Karl Malden, Time Limit is the story of a Korean War vet (Richard Basehart) under threat of court-martial for treason whilst imprisoned as a POW. Richard Widmark is excellent as usual as the colonel assigned to prosecute the case, a man who won't be satisfied by the guilty plea Basehart seems determined to make. Dolores Michaels is also fine as Widmark's secretary (there's little indication of office romance for once), and Martin Balsam is good as a rough-edged non-com. Though the film can be viewed as a typical 1950s anti-Communist screed, it arrived late enough in that cycle - as well as several years removed from HUAC and the Army-McCarthy hearings - to paint a picture of events with some shades of grey. Also airs at 1:05pm.
Sunday 09/14/03
11am IFC Man of the Century (1999 USA): I’ve also recommended this one in the past, and I do hate to repeat myself, but I absolutely love this film and I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t give it all the support it needs in its ancillary afterlife. Man of the Century may not have been the best film of 1999, but it was my favorite film that year, and while it’s lightweight fluff, this fish-out-of-water story firms, lifts, and supports my spirits every time I watch it. Gibson Frazier stars as Johnny Twennies, a reporter on a struggling New York newspaper who’s trying to get the big scoop and save his job and the paper’s independence. Set in contemporary New York, Twennies lives and breathes 1928, refraining from profanity, pre-marital sex, or unnecessary violence. What’s delightful about the film is the way he fits in the Big Apple, a city with enough room for every race, creed, color, sexual orientation, or chronologic preference. Though people consider him a little odd, no one rejects him out of hand, and the film’s raucous and hilarious finale brings everyone together in a heart-warming affirmation of love’s power to trump all. If you don’t crack a smile during this film, you’re dead. Also airs 9/15 at 4am.
9pm Turner Classic Movies The Flying Fleet (1929 USA): Hollywood was still not entirely convinced that sound would replace silence in 1929, and some studios continued to release films sans soundtrack. Here’s one of the last silents from a major studio, starring Ramon Novarro - soon to be a casualty of the shortcomings of his own voice - as a Navy flyer out to win the hand of sweet young thing Anita Page (still with us at the age of 93!). It’s a routine romancer from MGM, but it benefits from some superb aerial sequences, and Ramon, no matter how he sounded, always looked pretty good.
Monday 09/15/03
4:30am Turner Classic Movies Divorce in the Family (1932 USA): The somewhat taboo (at least in the 1930s) topic of annulment is the mooted subject of this Metro production, but the film prefers to concentrate on the wickedness of stepfather Conrad Nagel and the stoicism of young Jackie Cooper (another long-term Hollywood survivor, now aged 82) in the face of his adult adversary. Judge Hardy himself, Lewis Stone, appears as the boy’s natural father, who is, of course, a paragon of virtue, and Maurice Murphy plays second fiddle to Cooper as his older brother. There’s a bit of pre-Code edge here, but don’t expect too much from this rarely-seen drama.
6pm Sundance Missing Allen (2001 GER): This real-life mystery follows German filmmaker Christian Bauer as he attempts to trace the steps of his friend and co-worker, Allen Ross, an American cameraman who suddenly disappeared without a trace in 1995. Is a shadowy religious cult responsible, or did Allen vanish for family reasons? Tune into this fascinating documentary for the answers.
