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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 10/21/08

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film (2008 USA): Warner Bros. was the studio best known for producing gritty crime dramas, and this brand new TCM original documentary re-examines its heyday throughout the 1930s and '40s. It was at Warners that actors James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart became huge stars, whilst directors such as Mervyn LeRoy, Michael Curtiz, and Raoul Walsh helped define the style in films such as Little Caesar, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, and White Heat. I didn't get the opportunity to pre-screen Public Enemies, but it features dozens of interview subjects, clips from 100 films, and narration from that big goombah Alec Baldwin. All told, it should be a comprehensive overview of the studio's crime output, and well worth a look.

Wednesday 10/22/08

11:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Mystery on Monster Island (1981 ESP): Fantasy films don't get much worse than this Spanish made junker from director Juan Piquer Simon (Pieces, Slugs: The Movie). It's a lame and tame kid-friendly (and extremely loose) adaptation of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, and stars a gurning Terence Stamp as the evil ruler of a remote island populated by some less than convincing dinosaurs. Enter callow youth Jeff Morgan (Ian Sera), who must come to maturity by facing the island's horrifying dangers, which consist primarily of men in rubber suits. Mystery on Monster Island co-stars Peter Cushing and Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy, but don't let that fool you: from the pathetic special effects to the cop-out ending, this is one mystery best left unsolved.

Thursday 10/23/08

6:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Dear Murderer (1947 GB): Eric Portman stars as a betrayed husband with homicide on his mind in this above average British crime drama from Gainsborough Pictures. Portman portrays Lee Warren, whose beautiful wife Vivien (Greta Gynt) is shamelessly carrying on with another man (Dennis Price). Lee decides to rub out the competition and disguise the death as a suicide — but when he discovers that his wife's lover isn't such a bad sort after all, things take on a new and more treacherous complexion. Directed by Arthur Crabtree and co-starring Jack Warner and the recently deceased Hazel Court, Dear Murderer is an effective if methodically paced blend of noir and character study.

2:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Cloudburst (1951 GB): Another forgotten British mystery — this one from Hammer Films — arrives this afternoon in the form of Cloudburst. Set in 1946, the film features Robert Preston as John Graham, a Canadian code-breaker and spy now married and living in Britain. His spouse Carol (Elizabeth Sellars) served alongside him during the war and suffered horrific torture at the hands of the Gestapo, leaving her disabled and embittered and John extremely protective — especially now that she's pregnant. When Carol is killed by a hit and run driver, an enraged John decides to take the law into his own hands, leading, unsurprisingly, to tragic consequences. The first Hammer production to earn widespread American release, Cloudburst is a sombre effort that would have made a great vehicle for Robert Ryan and Gloria Grahame if it had been produced in Hollywood. It's followed at 3:30 PM by the colorfully titled Cop Hater (1958), in which Robert Loggia plays a New York police officer pursuing a serial killer during a deadly Big Apple heat wave.

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