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From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.

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.

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