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Saturday 7/31/10

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Bowery Battalion (1951 USA): I think you can guess what they’re up to this time. Yes, Slip and Sach get drafted; their mission: to ferret out some commie spies in the Army. The rot was really setting in at this point in the series, so I won’t blame you if you give Bowery Battalion a miss.

10:30 AM HBO
Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County (2010 USA): Prepare for heartbreak, all ye who enter here. Only miles away from The Happiest Place on Earth, working-class youngsters of all ages live with their parents in discounted motel rooms, always on the move and one pay check away from the streets. A dozen of these children are the subject of Alexandra (daughter of Nancy) Pelosi’s new film, and only the stoniest and coldest of hearts will fail to be moved. Also airs at 1:30 PM.

Sunday 8/01/10

5:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Mudlark (1951 USA-GB): Irene Dunne stars as middle-aged Queen Victoria in this charming, if ahistorical, comedy-drama. Secluded within the walls of Windsor Castle, Her Majesty is hosting Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (Alec Guinness), who has informed the Queen that her subjects wish she’d get out and about a bit more. Cue the arrival of the titular character (Andrew Ray), a scruffy working-class lad who’s found a brooch with a picture of Victoria and is now bound and determined to meet his idol. Will his dream come true - or will he be caught up in a nefarious Irish plot to burn down the castle? Also touching their forelocks: Finlay Currie as a loyal retainer, Anthony Steel as a military officer, and Wilfrid Hyde-White.

Monday 8/02/10

3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Fast Lady (1963 GB): A rarely seen widescreen British comedy, The Fast Lady makes its TCM debut this early morning. James Robertson Justice, best known as Dirk Bogarde’s bad-tempered mentor in the Doctor series, stars as Charles Chingford, a blustery motorist who meets bicyclist Murdock Troon (Stanley Baxter) in a road accident. Troon rather fancies Chingford’s daughter Claire (who can blame him - she’s played by 22-year-old Julie Christie, in only her second film), but she won’t give him the time of day until he learns to drive. Directed by Ken Annakin, who would further develop the fast cars, romance, and comedy themes in 1969’s Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (reviewed in last week’s TiVoPlex), this delightful little picture also features Allan Cuthbertson, Leslie Phillips, Frankie Howerd, Kathleen Harrison, Bernard Cribbins, Clive Dunn, and Danny Green.

8:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Go-Between (1971 GB): Those who favor something a little more serious and cinematic than The Fast Lady won’t find a better option in this week’s TiVoPlex than The Go-Between. Directed by Joseph Losey and written by Harold Pinter, it’s a finely detailed story of forbidden cross-class love in the bucolic English countryside. Christie is the aptly named Lady Trimingham, who engages in a spot of adultery with rough trade tenant farmer Ted Baxter (Alan Bates). Her ladyship can’t carry on in this fashion without a little help though, and she finds it in the form of 13-year old innocent Leo (Dominic Guard), who carries messages between the lovers. Set during the summer of 1913 - perhaps the last summer before the English nobility began to sense that their days of dominance were numbered - The Go-Between was stunningly shot by Gerry Fisher, and co-stars Michael Redgrave, Edward Fox, and Michael Gough.

10:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Quiet Please: Murder (1943 USA): This convoluted and unusual Fox mystery features George Sanders as a dapper villain who steals a rare edition of Hamlet, produces some forged copies, and sells one to—horrors—a Nazi spy (Sidney Blackmer). When the spy discovers he’s been rooked, he demands his money back, but the waters are further muddied by a nosy policeman (Kurt Katch) and Sanders’ middleman—er, woman (Gail Patrick)—who’s adept at manipulating all sides in the dispute. There’s a lot of plot crammed into Quiet Please: Murder’s 70-minute running time, so quiet please, and pay attention!

5:00 PM Sundance
Nick Nolte: No Exit (2008 USA): Nolte is one of the most talented actors of his generation. He’s also a man with problems. Lots and lots of problems. This bizarre documentary consist of Nolte interviewing himself and others about…Nick Nolte. It’s perhaps not the most illuminating film ever made about a celebrity, but its definitely interesting, thematically and stylistically.

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