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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 5/29/12

5:25 AM Showtime 2
The Long Ride (1984 USA-HUN): It’s not often I get to write about US-Hungarian co-productions, especially ones produced prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. In fact, I’d hazard a guess that 1984’s The Long Ride might be unique in this respect! Directed by Pal Gabor, it’s headlined by American actor John Savage as Brady, a USAF flier shot down over Hungary during World War II and hidden from the Germans by local farmers. Determined to escape to neutral territory, Brady acquires a horse and a young guide (fellow Yank Kelly Reno) to help him reach the border - but will they get there before Nazi patrols track them down? A decent enough action pic, The Long Ride oddly neglects to mention Hungary’s status as an ally of the Third Reich, during which they participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Historical revisionism, anyone?

10:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Secret Bride (1934 USA): A great cast overcomes so-so material in this William Dieterle-helmed Warner Brothers drama. Babs Stanwyck stars as Ruth Vincent, daughter of the governor (Arthur Byron) and fiancee of up and coming District Attorney Bob Sheldon (Warren William). The two wed in secret, and then Bob’s assistant Dave (Douglas Dumbrille) drops a bombshell: it looks like Governor Vincent has been accepting bribes, and Bob will be prosecuting! Determined to protect her husband’s record of impartiality, Ruth decides to keep their marriage under wraps during his investigation, but soon learns the adage "easier said than done" has some truth to it. Co-starring Grant Mitchell and Glenda Farrell, The Secret Bride is patently absurd but hugely enjoyable.

10:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Decks Ran Red (1958 USA): This film doesn’t quite live up to its colorful title, but it’s still a satisfying enough maritime yarn. Directed by Andrew L. Stone - also responsible for The Last Voyage, another tale of trouble brewing on the oceans blue - The Decks Ran Red stars James Mason as Edwin Rumill, first officer on the luxury liner Mariposa. Pressed into commanding the troubled merchantman Berwind, Rumill finds himself in charge of a ship bedeviled by mutinous crewmen, and soon enough the decks, if not exactly awash in sanguinary gouts, are certainly filled with the rumbles and grumbles of not so jolly Jack Tars. Dorothy Dandridge is second-billed as the ship’s Maori cook, and the cast is rounded out by Broderick Crawford, Stuart Whitman, and Katharine Bard.

Wednesday 5/30/12

7:30 AM Encore Dramatic Stories
The Bedroom Window (1987 USA): Steve Guttenberg took a break from his Police Academy movies to star in this erotic thriller about a boring businessman who gets himself into hot water - though surprisingly, not with Shannon Tweed. Guttenberg is Terry Lambert, an empty suit currently and unwisely bedding Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert), the wife of Terry’s boss (Paul Shenar). When the cuckolding couple espy a sexual assault through a neighboring window, Sylvia refuses to get involved - but Terry can’t let victim Denise (Elizabeth McGovern) suffer in silence, and he goes to the police. Alas, his tale immediately pegs him as suspect number one, and without Sylvia’s alibi to back him up it looks like his goose will be well and truly cooked - unless, of course, he can track down the baddie himself. Written and directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile), The Bedroom Window is definitely a cut above the genre - despite the presence of the goofy Guttenberg in a serious role.

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