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Friday 06/05/09

5:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Running Man (1963 GB): For those who resent paying their insurance premiums - and who amongst us doesn't - there is Carol Reed's The Running Man, not to be confused with the Arnold Schwarzinator film of the same name. The always-dapper but much-too-thin Laurence Harvey stars as Rex Black, a professional pilot whose insurance claim is turned down by frosty Allen Cuthbertson due to coverage that expired two days prior to an accident. Enraged, Harvey and wife Stella (played by the icily beautiful Lee Remick) launch a scheme to bilk the insurance company of a very large sum of money. Unfortunately, claims adjustor Alan Bates is on the job to complicate matters for the felonious couple. John Mortimer's screenplay is a bit flat and frankly unbelievable at times, but the superb cast more than makes up for it. The film, shot in color and on location in Spain, looks gorgeous, and finally gets the widescreen airing its original Panavision framing deserves. Of especial note is The Running Man's credits sequence, which features superb work by Bond main man Maurice Binder.

10:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
Hilda Crane (1956 USA): Further adventures in pre-feminism appear on Fox this week, this time in the form of Hilda Crane, a marvelously antiquated feature written and directed by Philip Dunne. (It's often claimed that Douglas Sirk had a monopoly on this genre, but that's patently untrue.) Jean Simmons stars as Hilda, a failed career woman who moves back to her home town in hopes of rekindling her relationship with old flame Russell Burns (Guy Madison). When Russell's mother (Evelyn Varden) keels over and dies, Hilda finds the strain unbearable, and begins an affair with snooty French academic Jacques de Lisle (Jean-Pierre Aumont). There's only one option left for a woman of such low morals: suicide, but can Russell intervene in time to save her from herself? You'll want an extra hanky handy for this unapologetic tearjerker, which makes its widescreen television debut today.

6:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Saving Private Ryan (1998 USA): Here's another widescreen boob tube premiere, this time for a film that needs no introduction. It's Spielberg night on TCM, and though his best films aren't on offer tonight, at least we get "the most realistic World War II film ever made." It isn't, of course, but it's not too bad for a Spielberg picture.

7:00 PM Sundance
Duck Season (2004 MEX): Thankfully not to be confused with the wretched indie drama Bee Season, Duck Season is a much more interesting Mexican film about a day in the lives of Flamo and Moko, two Mexico City teenagers wiling away a quiet Sunday. All they have is some Coca-Cola and a video game — delightfully entitled Bush vs. Bin Laden — until 16-year-old Rita (Danny Perea) shows up and announces she needs to use their oven to bake herself a birthday cake. The film examines the yawning emotional and sexual distance between 14- and 16-year-olds, as well as the general boredom and ennui of teen existence. Shot in grainy black and white, Duck Season also airs 6/6 at 2:35 AM.

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