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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.

Wednesday 10/29/08

9:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
A Life in the Balance (1955 MEX-USA): Ricardo Montalban stars in this very rarely seen Mexican-American co-production. He plays unemployed everyman Antonio Gomez, accused of a series of murders he didn't commit, and reliant on the investigative talents of his eight-year-old son (Jose Perez) to exculpate him and finger the REAL baddie (who else but Lee Marvin). Apparently based on a story by Georges Simenon (though it's not clear to me precisely which one), A Life in the Balance also features Anne Bancroft as a friendly woman of ill repute and Hollywood character actor Rodolfo Acosta as a south of the border cop. It's pretty predictable and bears similarities to 1949's The Window, but the top-line cast makes it worth watching and (for whatever a 1.66:1 OAR is worth to you) is making its widescreen television debut this morning.

Thursday 10/30/08

12:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
On Dangerous Ground (1952 USA): Another film in which Robert Ryan attempts to keep his simmering temper in check, On Dangerous Ground tells the story of Jim Wilson (Ryan), a big city cop who gets into trouble when he roughs up one too many suspects. Exiled by his commanding officer (Ed Begley) to the remote vastnesses of upstate New York, Jim is assigned to investigate the murder of a young woman, but immediately bumps heads with victim's father Walter Brent (Ward Bond), who's busy making arrangements to hold a necktie party for the killer — whomever they may be. Brent and Wilson's paths cross at the remote lodge of blind frail Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), who claims she lives alone — but they begin to suspect she's concealing something, or someone, from them. Directed by Nicholas Ray, On Dangerous Ground also features a fine (if Production Code-neutered) script from A. I. Bezzerides. Unfortunately, RKO owner Howard Hughes held up the film's release, and it's since lived in the shadow cast by William Wyler's similarly themed Detective Story (1951).

3:30 AM Cinemax
W. C. Fields & Me (1976 USA): The source of some controversy when initially released ("The real W. C. Fields would never have used so much foul language!"), this biopic now sinks or swims entirely on the strength of Rod Steiger's performance as the famously cantankerous vaudevillian and screen comedian. A little of Steiger tends to go a long way for most viewers, but with Fields, he found a character big and broad enough to allow him to fully flex his acting muscles. This is a better film than you remember — it's certainly superior to 1976's other Tinseltown biopic, Gable and Lombard — and is worth a look both for Steiger and for Paul Stewart's all too brief appearance as The Great Ziegfeld. Sadly unavailable on home video and airing tonight in pan and scan, W. C. Fields & Me re-airs at 6:30 AM.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Dead of Night (1945 GB): TCM kicks off its 48-hour Halloween horrorthon with this excellent Ealing Films production, a television staple of the 1970s that has since sunk into semi-obscurity. Featuring five stories linked via the subconscious of architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns), Dead of Night provided the template for the horror anthology genre that would thrive well into the 1980s, and reinvigorated the moribund British chiller with its artful blend of gothic trappings and contemporary settings. Most viewers will remember this film for its final chapter, the Michael Redgrave-starring tale of The Ventriloquist's Dummy, but the preceding chapters are all successful, including the much disdained comic aside, Golfing Story. It's perfect viewing for those who prefer their chills to come with a soupcon of sophistication.

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