New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.

Tuesday 05/29/07

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
High Plains Drifter (1973 USA): Clint Eastwood returns, after a fashion, as The Man With No Name-here anointed The Stranger-in this all-American take on the Euro-western style that made him a star. Not to be confused with The Stranger portrayed by Tony Anthony in three forgettable spaghetti oaters, our High Plains Drifter is hired by the timid townsfolk of Lago to protect them from the a trio of outlaws who have beaten the local sheriff (long time Eastwood colleague Buddy Van Horn) to death. With an assist from a midget named Mordecai (Billy Curtis), our avenging angel soon brings a measure of justice to Lago-but only after the amoral out-of-towner has had his way with a comely maiden (Marianna Hill) and exposed some of the town's dirty little secrets as well. Ably directed by Eastwood, and with a screenplay from Shaft creator Ernest Tidyman, High Plains Drifter exudes dusty old west ambiance thanks to the widescreen, rust red cinematography of Bruce Surtees.

10:30 PM Cinemax
The Dark Corner (1946 USA): Not sure why this Fox noir is airing on Cinemax instead of FMC, but regardless, it's a worthwhile genre entry with extra added interest thanks to the out of character presence of comedienne Lucille Ball in a lead role. Ball plays Kathleen, secretary to private investigator Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens), who's just started his business anew after serving a two-year term for manslaughter (don't worry, he didn't do it). Whilst wining and dining his gal Friday one evening, Galt discovers they've been shadowed by a mystery man in a white suit (William Bendix), who promptly frames him for the murder of his old business partner Jardine (Kurt Krueger) on behalf of smarmy businessman Hardy Cathcart (Clifton Webb). Together, Kathleen and Bradford must track down White Suit, who holds the key to Galt's innocence-and, of course, knows who actually committed the murder. Director Henry Hathaway is best known for his cracking police procedurals, but he does sterling duty on The Dark Corner, which also airs 5/30 at 1:30 AM.

Wednesday 05/30/07

7:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Grand Exit (1935 USA): This cheap, cheerful, and long forgotten Columbia programmer makes its TCM debut this morning. A low budget suspenser, Grand Exit stars Edmund Lowe as Tom Fletcher-raconteur, lady's man, and brilliant arson investigator. Called to the scene of a disastrous blaze at the Acme Fur Company, Tom meets attractive Adrienne (Ann Sothern), a woman of mysterious provenance who has a strange knack for also showing up at suspicious fire scenes. Enlivened by some impressive stock footage of blazing buildings, Grand Exit also stars Edward Van Sloan as a crotchety business executive and Onslow Stevens as Fletcher's assistant Grayson, whose loyalty is shaken when he begins to suspect Tom is responsible for the blaze.

2:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Alfred the Great (1969 GB): We may not know who burned the Acme Fur Company, but we DO know who burned the cakes-Britain's Alfred the Great, whose life story is sketchily depicted in this rather dry biopic from director Clive Donner. David Hemmings plays the King as a callow youth determined to put down the sword and take up the priesthood-but he's forced to change his plans when the barbarous Danes invade and proceed to plunder his kingdom. Though the battle sequences are well staged, the film fails to catch fire dramatically, and Hemmings seems strangely distracted throughout his performance. It's still worth a look for the impressive supporting cast-including Michael York, Ian McKellen, Sinead Cusack, and Peter Vaughan-and is making its widescreen American television debut this afternoon.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Quartet (1948 GB): Yes, it's definitely a TCM kind of week here in the TiVoPlex. This time the world's greatest channel brings us three anthologies based on the collected works of W. Somerset Maugham, who also personally introduces each segment. First up is 1948's Quartet, followed at 7:15 PM by Trio (1950) and at 9:00 PM by Encore (1952). Amongst the highlights are The Kite (Quartet), in which the titular toy both destroys and then restores a relationship; The Verger (Trio), in which an illiterate church administrator loses his job and opens a tobacco shop; and Winter Cruise (Encore), in which an over-talkative passenger drives a ship's crew to take desperate measures. The stories vary in quality, but are generally very well done, and the cast include virtually a who's who of 1950s British cinema talent, including Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, James Hayter, Glynis Johns, Honor Blackman, Bernard Lee, Ernest Thesiger, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Michael Hordern, Michael Rennie, Jean Simmons, Finlay Currie, and many others. These films used to play regularly on PBS affiliates during the 1970s, but haven't had many, if any, airings of late-and they're unavailable on home video, so be sure to tune in this evening.

Continued:       1       2       3