TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex
By John Seal
June 11, 2007
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 06/12/07
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Niagara Falls (1941 USA): This Hal Roach quickie (in both cinematic senses of the word) stars ZaSu Pitts as Emmy, the pinch-faced new bride of nervous nellie Oklahoma oilman Sam Sawyer (Slim Summerville). The couple are taking a honeymoon trip to Niagara Falls, and cross paths en route with would-be Lothario Tom and aspiring stay-at-home mom Margy (Tom Brown and Marjorie Woodworth), who have met cute over a flat tire but actually can't stand each other. The clueless Sam imagines them to be newlyweds, and his determination to see them kiss and make up finds the four protagonists reuniting at the resort, where a room shortage compels them to share a suite. Complications ensue and the film climaxes with that reliable comic standby, the botched suicide attempt. Directed by Gordon Douglas, Niagara Falls is better than most Roach bill fillers and co-stars Tommy Mack as a peanut seller who is also a skilled listener.
4:00 PM Cinemax
Have You Seen Andy? (2006 USA): Ten-year-old Andy Puglisi disappeared from a Lawrence, Massachusetts, swimming pool in 1976, long before Amber Alerts and vigilant milk cartons rendered missing children a cause celebre. His childhood chum Melanie Perkins swore to help find him, and a quarter century later returned to Lawrence to fulfill her promise via this documentary, which makes its small screen debut this afternoon. Though the Lawrence Police Department had initially gone to great lengths to solve the mystery, including the hiring of a 'psychic' to help track down the lost lad, the case had long since languished in the files and been removed from the front burner. The doggedly determined Perkins was, however, privy to some promising leads, and though they ultimately led down some unhappy paths was able to fill in enough sketchy details to bring a modicum of closure to the Puglisi family. Powerful stuff that will have you reaching for the Kleenex, Have You Seen Andy? also airs at 7:00 PM.
Wednesday 06/13/07
9:45 AM Sundance
Keys to the House (2004 ITA): The great Charlotte Rampling headlines this Italian drama as Nadine, the emotionally and physically exhausted mother of a developmentally disabled teenage girl. She plays Greek chorus to star Kim Rossi Stuart (son of Giacomo), who essays the role of Gianni, a reluctant father re-acquainting himself with Paolo, the muscular dystrophy stricken son he abandoned 16 years earlier. Gianni is desperate to make up for lost time, but is unprepared for the challenges ahead of him, including some ferocious medical workers and the unfathomable mysteries of adolescence. Compared to Have You Seen Andy, however, Keys to the House is a light-hearted romp, as Gianni and Paolo adapt to the strange new world they're sharing together and eventually reach a satisfactory rapprochement. Also airs 6/14 at 2:30 AM.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Big Combo (1955 USA): An excellent hard boiled gangster tale from genre specialists Joseph H. Lewis (direction) and Philip Yordan (screenplay), The Big Combo features Cornel Wilde as a frustrated policeman trying to bring a local slime-ball to justice, and finding his penny pinching department getting in the way. Wilde plays Leonard Diamond, whose case against mobster Mr. Brown (Richard Conte) hinges on the testimony of moll Susan Lowell (Jean Wallace), who also happens to be the object of the detective's unrequited affection. The Big Combo's plot is, however, secondary to the archetypal characters, who exhibit the usual assortment of foibles we associate with the film noir genre, including Brown's loyal lieutenant Joe McClure (Brian Donlevy), Diamonds' unenthusiastic superior officer Peterson (heavy lidded Robert Middleton), Brown's betrayed wife (Helen Walker), and a pair of closeted homosexual heavies (Earl Holliman and Lee Van Cleef). The atmospheric cinematography of John Alton and David Raksin's smoky, jazzy score make this one a must see for fans of period crime dramas and a near classic of the style.
Thursday 06/14/07
9:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Velvet Touch (1948 USA): Rosalind Russell stars as an actress caught in a compromising position in The Velvet Touch, an obscure intriguer (and only feature film) from television director Jack Gage. Russell portrays star-crossed thespian Valerie Stanton, who accidentally kills producer-boyfriend Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames) and is desperate to conceal her involvement in his death — especially if she can kill two birds with one stone by implicating romantic rival Marian Webster (Claire Trevor). Featuring arch dialogue laden with veiled insinuations and double entendres, The Velvet Touch co-stars Sydney Greenstreet as an inquisitive police captain who also happens to be a theater enthusiast, Leo Genn as Valerie's new flame Michael Morrell, and Lex Barker as hunky window dressing.
9:50 PM HBO Signature
Solo Con Tu Pareja (1991 MEX): I haven't seen this film, but it's an item of interest thanks to the presence of director Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) behind the camera. Written by Alfonso's brother Carlos, Solo Con Tu Pareja is apparently a romantic comedy about an incorrect AIDS diagnosis. Sounds a bit dodgy, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the talented Mr. Cuaron was getting up to back in the day.
Friday 06/15/07
1:35 AM Cinemax
Dos Ilusiones (2005 ARG): Been a while since we've had a new Argentinian film to promote in the TiVoPlex, but fear not, fans of Patagonian picture-making — the long drought is over. Dos Ilusiones is a frank comedy about the lust for success, and stars Matias Santoianni as Heniberto, a down at heel clerk with a chance to break away from his dull working class existence when glamorous Cynthia (Claudia Albertario) pops into his shop one day. Cynthia is aspiring to fame and fortune, and, on a whim, she takes Heniberto on as joint minder and publicist on a make it or break it trip to Buenos Aires. Will Cynthia climb all the way to the top — and if she does, will she remember all the little people who helped her become the star she is today? Let's just say the film isn't called 'Two Illusions' for nothing. Also airs at 4:35 AM.
Saturday 06/16/07
12:15 AM Showtime
Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways (2004 USA): The Runaways may not have been very good, bar a few songs like the irresistible Cherry Bomb, but this documentary is essential viewing for rock-and-roll fans. Directed by one of the band's former bass players, Victory Tischler-Blue, Edgeplay is the final cinematic word on the all-female band that gave birth to the careers of both Joan Jett and, less encouragingly, Lita Ford, and is only hampered by the lack of original music, the unfortunate result of Jett's decision not to participate in the project. What Edgeplay does have - and have in spades - is access to the REST of the band, who are incredibly forthcoming and more than make up for Jett's absence with tales of life on the road and in the studio with producer Kim Fowley. For those not completely creeped out by Fowley's presence in 2004's other great rock doc, The Mayor of the Sunset Strip, you're in for more of the same here, as the sleazy Svengali doesn't hold anything back. It would have been nice if Jett had chosen to appear, but Edgeplay is still a first-rate film, especially for those who favor big hair and Spandex. Also airs at 3:15 AM.
3:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Man In the Vault (1956 USA): Here's one of those low budget '50s crime features that does exactly what it says on the label. Directed by action specialist Andrew V. McLaglen on behalf of John Wayne's product ion company Batjac, Man In the Vault features the future star of Dementia 13, William Campbell, as Tommy Dancer, a talented locksmith forced against his will to assist in a bank robbery organized by a goon named Trent (Berry Kroeger). The film is utterly predictable right down to the cardboard romance that allows Tommy to save a Good Woman from a Bad End, but there's always a time and a place for cinematic comfort food, and that's probably what you want at 3:15 in the morning. The supporting cast includes Anita Ekberg, Mike Mazurki, and Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez.
Sunday 06/17/07
12:10 Encore Mystery
Bloody Mama (1973 USA): It's always fun to watch Shelley Winters devour the scenery, and she does so with gusto in this enjoyable if historically inaccurate 1930s gangster pic. She plays Ma Barker, the matronly leader of a killer brood which includes four sons — psychotic sadist Herman (Don Stroud), milquetoast Arthur (Clint Kimbrough), drug addict Lloyd (Robert de Niro!), and out of the closet Fred (Love Boat regular Robert Walden) — in addition to adopted bisexual lover Kevin (Bruce Dern). The film's promotional material screamed that 'the family that slays together stays together', and sure enough, the Barkers cut a bloody swath across Arkansas during the Great Depression, kidnapping a rich businessman (Pat Hingle) and generally laying waste to The Natural State from Jonesboro to Texarkana. Say it with bullets, indeed!
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Visages d'Enfants (1925 FRA): The second Jacques Feyder silent feature to air of late on TCM, Visages d'Enfants (Faces of Children) is a moving story of a young Swiss boy's maturation after the death of his mother. Haunted by his memories of her (and devastated by her mountainside funeral), Jean (Crainquebille's Jean Forest) refuses to accept his father's new wife, and even the intervention of a kindly priest (Henri Duval) cannot heal his wounds. Written by Feyder's wife Francoise Rosay, Visage d'Enfants' timeless themes of childhood betrayal and adult cruelty ring as true today as they did in 1925, and this remains on the finest of all French silent films.
Monday 06/18/07
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Voodoo Island (1957 USA): Boris Karloff stars in this cheapjack horror effort from low budget producer Robert E. Kent and director minion Reginald Le Borg. Dear Boris plays television personality Phillip Knight, who's made a name for himself as the debunker of the supernatural and has now been hired by developer Howard Carlton (Owen Cunningham) to convince the rubes that his new remote Pacific property isn't overrun by ghoulies, ghosties, and things that go bump in the night. Sadly for Howard, his island actually IS a hotbed of voodoo activity, which is rather surprising considering that Santeria is strictly a Caribbean phenomenon. Far from Karloff's best, Voodoo Island also features Rhodes Reason, Elisha Cook Jr., and Jean Engstrom as a seductive practitioner of the love that dares not speak its name.