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Friday 08/21/09

3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Mad Dog Coll (1961 USA): This rare gangster pic isn't very good — in fact, it's pretty bland — but there are a few points in its favor. First off, it's the only screen bio of Vincent Coll (John Davis Chandler), a rather nasty Roaring Twenties trigger man who enjoyed his work a bit too much. Secondly, the film features a terrific performance by Vincent Gardenia as mob bigwig Dutch Schultz, who realized that Coll was making everyone's lives a little more dangerous than they needed to be. Finally, Mad Dog Coll features the big screen debut of one Gene Hackman, who makes an uncredited appearance as a policeman playing opposite Telly Salavas! Add it all up, and you have an intriguing second feature from director Burt Balaban, also responsible for the equally tepid Murder, Inc.

11:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
I Never Sang for My Father (1970 USA): Nine years later, and ol' Geno's a star! This time Hackman plays Gene Garrison, a young professor struggling to escape the shadow of his old man (Melvyn Douglas), in this superior drama from director Gilbert Cates. Planning to relocate to California from New York, Gene finds his hopes stymied when his mother passes away unexpectedly — and dear ol' Dad needs him more than ever. Relationship dramas are difficult to pull off convincingly, but this one — adapted from Robert Anderson's stage play of the same name — is a pitch-perfect beauty that shouldn't be missed. Look for the immortal James Karen as the director of an old folks' home and Conrad Bain as the Garrison family clergyman!

Saturday 08/22/09

6:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Ten Days to Tulara (1958 USA): I must admit I've never seen this one, but as a huge Sterling Hayden fan, it's a must-see in this week's TiVoPlex. Hayden plays a pilot for hire who gets caught up in a South American robbery. An independent feature shot in Mexico, Ten Days to Tulara is also one of the few ‘50s features lacking a single user comment on IMDb, which pretty much sums up its level of obscurity.

Sunday 08/23/09

1:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Loving (1970 USA): And speaking of Sterling Hayden and relationship dramas, here's a film that brings the actor and the genre together, along with director Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back). George Segal stars as Brooks Wilson, a commercial artist struggling to maintain his career's upward trajectory. Brooks has a lovely wife (Eva Marie Saint), a great boss (Hayden), and a charming mistress (Janis Young) whose existence is giving his conscience hell to pay. The story follows his efforts to break things off with his lady friend and revitalize his marriage — but a careless night on the town renders his efforts moot and makes matters much, much worse. Co-starring Keenan Wynn and former Charlie Chan Roland Winters, Loving also features rare construction footage of the World Trade Center.

7:00 AM IFC
Rang de Besanti (2006 IND): This week's Bollywood feature is a near interminable history lesson about Indian independence, all wrapped up in a candy-coated package of goofy comedy and bouncy musical numbers. Alice Patten stars as Brit filmmaker Sue, who's working on a project about the execution of Indian revolutionaries during the 1940s. Sue discovers that contemporary Indian youth have next to no interest in their country's history, and she determines to teach them an important lesson through heavy-handed lecture and toe-tapping melody. Rang de Basanti is po-faced and light-hearted in equal measure, which isn't a particularly pleasing blend as far as I'm concerned.

Monday 08/24/09

1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Season of Passion (1959 AUS-GB): Originally released in overseas territories with the much more intriguing title Season of the Seventeenth Doll, this comedy-drama features an impressive cast, including Angela Lansbury and Yanks Ernest Borgnine and Anne Baxter. Borgnine plays Queensland cane-cutter Roo, a man's man with an eye for the ladies and a taste for liquor who enjoys raising Hell with fellow sugar shucker Barney (John Mills). After a long season of sucrose securing, the lads head to Sydney for their hols, where Roo's loyal sheila Olive (Baxter) awaits him — and where Barney is about to discover he's been dumped by Nancy (Jessica Noad). Based on a beloved Australian play, writer-director Leslie Norman's screen adaptation is still regarded with contempt down under — not least for Borgnine's futile attempt at an Aussie accent. It doesn't add up to a great deal, but Lansbury is quite good as Pearl, a working class manicurist with middle-class aspirations.

3:05 PM Sundance
Broken Noses (1987 USA): Boxing fans may want to check out this black and white documentary about a boys' boxing club in Portland, Oregon. Focusing on failed 25-year-old pugilist Andy Minsker, coach for the lads of the Mount Scott club, Broken Noses is a surprisingly arty affair, with a jazz score and snippets of Shakespeare's Richard II thrown in for good measure. Director Bruce Weber's next effort, the Chet Baker bio Let's Get Lost, would end up an Oscar nominee, and while Broken Noses isn't quite as good, it's still a beautifully made film.

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