TiVoPlex
By John Seal
September 24, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 9/25/12
1:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Bye Bye Braverman (1968 USA): Bye bye Braverman, hello cinematic obscurity! Here’s one of those forgotten films that (if not for TCM and/or the bespoke DVD-R business) would otherwise have been lost to the sands of time. Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film is a character-driven think piece focusing on four old friends (George Segal, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Warden, and Sorrell Booke) and their ill-fated journey to the funeral of a recently deceased pal. An accident with a cab driven by Godfrey Cambridge slows their progress, as does a wrong turn, leading to 90 minutes of back-seat kvetching. Think of Bye Bye Braverman as a New York-set, Jewish version of Fred Schepisi’s Last Orders (2001), but with sharper dialogue.
8:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Three Stripes in the Sun (1955 USA): Fair warning: this is going to be one of those weeks when TCM utterly dominates the TiVoPlex. We have to put up with these occurrences two or three times each year - such a burden, I know! As for Three Stripes in the Sun, it’s an unusual-for-the-time drama about an American soldier (Aldo Ray) stationed in Japan, where he transitions from racist asshole to tree-hugging multi-culturalist after falling for a local woman (Mitsuko Kimura) and getting involved with some sad-eyed war orphans. Sounds like this should have been written and directed by Sam Fuller, but those duties fell instead to the unheralded Richard Murphy, whose only other big screen credit is the amusing military comedy The Wackiest Ship In the Army. Shot on location in Japan, Three Stripes in the Sun co-stars Dick York, Phil Carey, and Chuck Connors.
7:05 PM Sundance
Joy Division (2006 GB): Airing immediately following an encore screening of the Ian Curtis biopic Control, this documentary allows viewers to put that fictionalized film into an historical context. Directed by Grant Gee, whose earlier Scott Walker: 30 Century Man cast much deserved light on another musical cult hero, Joy Division tells the full story of the Manchester band who evolved from punk rock to cold wave stars before imploding in the wake of Curtis’ suicide. This is essential viewing for fans and Joy Division neophytes alike, if a little on the predictable side structurally. There are only so many ways to make a rockumentary, though, and the story of Joy Division as told by Gee is certainly a step or two above your average VH-1 puff piece.
9:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Lords of Flatbush (1974 USA): This film made a huge impression on me when I was 12-years-old. Not because I got to see it at the time - heavens, no, it was rated PG! - but because of its ad campaign. Already an aspiring retro rocker/punk in waiting, I found The Lords of Flatbush’s greasy ‘50s imagery tremendously appealing, and intently watched its TV commercials every time they showed up on the goggle box. It wasn’t 'til years later that I actually saw the film, and of course it couldn’t possibly live up to my sky high expectations - but it’s still thoroughly enjoyable. Set in Brooklyn, the film stars Perry King (who was supposed to bloom into a superstar - what went wrong?), Henry Winkler, and Sylvester Stallone as three leather-clad cycle hogs who get into all sorts of low-key trouble in the ‘hood. The film has surprisingly little sex and violence - remember that PG rating! - but still manages to convey a suitably gritty atmosphere. While 1979’s The Wanderers offers a better overall depiction of ‘50s gang culture, The Lords of Flatbush remains good, relatively clean fun - despite what my mother thought at the time.
Wednesday 9/26/12
2:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Castilian (1963 ESP): Here’s a really weird one: a Spanish historical epic starring Frankie Avalon. The producers also hired fellow Americans Cesar Romero and Broderick Crawford to add extra appeal for Anglophone film fans, but Frankie? The same guy who’d later appear in such classics as Sergeant Deadhead and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini? I guess Avalon had a really good agent in 1963. Straying not too far from his teen crooner image, he’s cast here as Jerifan, a bard who sings and narrates his way through the picture, whilst Romero gets the meatier role of Fernan Gonzalez, a resolute nobleman facing off against Moorish invaders in 10th century Spain. Though pretty average by costume epic standards, The Castilian makes its widescreen American television debut this evening and co-stars Fernando Rey, Alida Valli, and future Jess Franco muse Soledad Miranda.
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Harper (1966 USA): Paul Newman plays a tough-as-nails private investigator hired to find a missing husband in this excellent and evocative mystery helmed by Jack Smight. Harper (Newman) is being paid by Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) to track down her absent spouse, but the story is really secondary to the California landscapes and beautiful women (Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin) he encounters during his investigation. Newman is as cool as a cucumber and the film looks great courtesy Conrad Hall’s sun-drenched cinematography.
Thursday 9/27/12
Midnight Starz
In Darkness (2011 POL): Poland’s official Academy Award entry at this year’s Oscars, In Darkness lives up to its title. Directed by Agniewska Holland, much of the film is set in the Lvov sewers during World War II, where a group of Jewish Poles are hiding from the Nazi occupiers hoping to herd them to Auschwitz. In need of help from above, they’re assisted by gentile businessman Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz), who’s willing to keep them fed and watered - for a price. When his clients’ money runs out, however, Socha is forced to make a decision: save them, or turn them over to the Nazi scum ruling his country? In Darkness has been compared unfavorably to Schindler’s List, but I think it stands up pretty well on its own. Also airs at 3:00 AM.
1:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Murder on Approval (1955 GB): Are you a stamp collector? I am, though no longer a very serious one. However, I still have happy memories of receiving stamps in the mail "on approval" - if you liked them, you kept them and remitted payment; if you didn’t, you sent them back. It was a quaint business model built on trust, and though it still exists today is no longer as popular as it once was. Which brings me to Murder on Approval, a British-made mystery about a rare stamp that turns out to be counterfeit. Originally released as Barbados Quest (the title referring to the stamp’s origins, not the film’s shooting location), the film stars Tom Conway as the Yank detective trying to get to bottom of the philatelic forgery.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Hoboken to Hollywood (1926 USA): Plenty more two-reel comedy yuks are on tap throughout this evening’s salute to producer Mack Sennett. The month-long series wraps up with some of Sennett’s best late silents, and then extends into the early sound era, with Laurel and Hardy’s legendary The Music Box (1932) airing at 2:15 AM the following morning.
Friday 9/28/12
Midnight Starz
Hearts and Minds (1974 USA): My earliest Oscar memory is of Sacheen Littlefeather. My SECOND earliest memory is the acceptance speech of Hearts and Minds producer-director Peter Davis, who, I seem to recall, was wearing a really hideous tuxedo and bow-tie combination when he laid claim to the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 1975 Academy Awards. Davis, whose film was one of the first American films to tell the ugly truth about the Vietnam War, laid into American foreign policy with a zeal that would only be topped by Vanessa Redgrave's Zionism is racism speech a couple of years later. Must-see TV it was, as is his film, which remains a red-hot burst of righteous indignation that urgently needs to be seen again as our war in Afghanistan drags on. The United States eagerly continues to maim and kill civilians around the world; we still haven't quite figured out the hearts and minds bit. Also airs at 3:00 AM.
Sunday 9/30/12
1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Looking Glass War (1970 GB): Based on a John Le Carre novel, this suspenser stars Christopher Jones as Fred Leiser, a young Pole hired by British Intelligence (as personified by Ralph Richardson) to scope out a nefarious Soviet plot to station deadly missiles close to the West German border. In exchange, Leiser will be allowed to live in the UK with girlfriend Susan (Susan George), but naturally the mission is not all it seems, and things get complicated PDQ. Typically Le Carrean in its low-key approach, The Looking Glass War rewards close viewing but isn’t recommended for those who prefer their spy movies with gadgets, guns, and gals.
6:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935 USA): Charlie Chan got hounded from Fox Movie Channel some years ago, but the Asian detective still gets a look-in at TCM from time to time. This is a particularly enjoyable series entry, with our hero (Warner Oland) investigating the theft of some valuable Egyptian antiquities and stumbling across a murder in the process. If you’re offended by actors in yellow-face you’ll definitely want to miss it; likewise, if Stepin Fetchit’s shenanigans repulse you, stay well away. If, however, you can put up with Charlie Chan In Egypt’s crude ethnic stereotypes you’ll enjoy it tremendously.
Monday10/1/12
5:30 AM HBO Signature
Greetings From the Devil (2011 COL-MEX-USA): From Colombia’s Orozco brothers (director Juan Felipe, screenwriter Carlos Estaban) comes this solid crime thriller about a former FARC fighter who’s trying to turn over a new leaf in exchange for government amnesty. Edgar Ramirez plays once upon a time guerrilla Angel, whose determination to settle down is sorely tested when his daughter is kidnapped by someone he badly wronged in his previous life. The ransom, however, isn’t money - it’s the cold, dead bodies of Angel’s former comrades-in-arms, and he has 72 hours to deliver them. Uh oh! Surprisingly short on ultra-violence, Greetings From the Devil nevertheless provides a compelling story and a fine performance from Ramirez.