TiVoPlex
By John Seal
July 3, 2007
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 07/03/07
2:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Flying Devils (1933 USA): Produced for RKO by King Kong creator Merian C. Cooper, Flying Devils is so minor it doesn't even merit a mention in Mark Cotta Vaz's otherwise exemplary Cooper biography Living Dangerously. Of course, that means it's of particular interest to yours truly, who lives by the maxim ‘the more obscure, the better'. Flying Devils features Kong's Bruce Cabot as Ace Murray, a stunt pilot who knocks heads with aerial circus owner Speed Hardy (Ralph Bellamy) and whose penchant for recklessness is endangering the lives of his daredevil employees. To complicate matters, and as a sop to romantic convention, there's also a love triangle involving Hardy, wife Ann (Arline Judge), and Ace's younger brother Bud (Eric Linden), whose double parachute act is the circus' star attraction. As with any Cooper production, there's spectacular aerial footage and plenty of excitement - though, sadly, no giant apes.
8:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Air Hawks (1935 USA): If the sight of actor Ralph Bellamy in pilot's goggles is particularly appealing to you, this is definitely your lucky day. In Air Hawks, he portrays budding entrepreneur Barry Eldon, who's competing against monetarily well-endowed Martin Drewen (Robert Middlemass) for a lucrative government mail delivery contract. Drewen has the inside track, but he isn't taking any chances against his young foe, and has conspired with sneaky Russian scientist Schulter (Dracula and Frankenstein's Edward Van Sloan) to develop a deadly ray that will be able to blast Eldon's planes out of the air. Can Barry dodge this futuristic bullet - and will he win the heart of ravishing taxi dancer Renee (Tala Birell)? Famed real-life pilot Wiley Post, who would perish in an aeronautical accident shortly after completing his work in Air Hawks, makes an extended cameo appearance as himself in this oddball, pseudo-science fiction adventure from Columbia.
6:30 PM Sundance
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox (2006 USA): Emanuel Bronner was a German Jew who emigrated to the United States in 1929 with two things in mind: to escape the gathering storm of Nazism, and to develop and market his own brand of soap, and use it as a tool to spread his unique social gospel, the ‘Moral ABCs'. After spending some time in a mental institution, Bronner's dream came true - and the company he founded is still in business today, each bottle of soap labelled with lengthy bromides extolling the virtues of Albert Einstein, Jesus, and, erm, Mark Spitz, amongst many, many others. His company now in the hands of son Ralph, Bronner (who died in 1997 at the age of 89) appears half madman, half inspirational avatar of capitalism with a conscience. Sara Lamm's documentary is utterly captivating stuff, and though it leaves much unsaid and quite a bit unexplained, makes for a fascinating journey down this very obscure historical byway. Also airs 7/5 at 9:30 PM and 7/8 at 12:30 PM.
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