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1:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Norman...is That You? (1976 USA): Redd Foxx stars as the homophobic father of a gay son in this occasionally amusing, sometimes wince-inducing, decidedly non-p.c. comedy. Hilarious complications ensue when old-fashioned Arizonan Ben Chambers (Foxx) drops by to visit son Norman (Michael Warren) at his new L.A. digs and discovers he has a ‘roommate'—swishy Garson (Dennis Dugan). The light dawns slowly for Ben, who's in the midst of his own relationship crisis with wife Beatrice (Pearl Bailey), but once the truth sinks in he decides to hire a hooker to help Norman straighten out and fly right. The film is painfully out-of-date, but Foxx is always watchable, and former basketball star Warren makes a decent if thankless effort at essaying the role of a non-effeminate gay man. Also on hand: Amazon Tamara Dobson as the woman of the night (if SHE can't scare a gay man straight, no-one can) and Wayland Flowers sans Madam.

3:30 PM IFC
Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask (1972 USA): Woody Allen's comic interpretation of the then-popular sex manual of the same name remains almost as funny today as it was in 1972. A series of seven unrelated skits, ETYAWTKASBWATA's highlights include Gene Wilder's troubled relationship with a sheep, Lou Jacobi as a cross-dressing middle class husband, and the film's appropriately titled climax, the sci-fi themed What Happens During Ejaculation? If you prefer your Allen Bananas-goofy to Manhattan po-faced, you'll love Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex*.

Friday 04/16/10

6:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Chance at Heaven (1933 USA): Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea are a button-cute couple in this passable Great Depression-era small-town drama. McCrea plays gas station operator Blacky, who takes girlfriend Marj (Rogers) for granted: she mothers her man endlessly, but he doesn't fully appreciate her efforts. When transient rich girl Gloria (Marion Nixon) gets into an auto wreck and needs professional assistance, Blacky's there for her—and then follows her to the big city after he decides he needs a sophisticated woman in his life. But not to worry: he soon realizes that there's more to life than evening gowns and art deco décor, and soon returns to sweet, patient Marj. Though why she bothered to wait for him, I'm not sure.

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