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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 1/26/10

12:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Sergeant (1968 USA): Years before Don't Ask Don't Tell was a twinkle in Bill Clinton's triangulating eye, there was The Sergeant. One of the first studio films to broach the touchy subject of homosexuality (in the military, no less!), the film features Rod Steiger as Master Sergeant Callan, a non-com stationed in post-war France who has a big problem: he's deeply attracted to PFC Swanson (John Phillip Law), a clueless grunt who works in his office. And what do you do when you like someone, but aren't comfortable expressing those feelings? Why, abuse them, of course! Though The Sergeant accepts the stereotype of the predatory homosexual, it remains a groundbreaking and sensitive study of one man's struggles with his sexuality—pretty bold stuff in the pre-Stonewall era. Look for blues musician Memphis Slim, who appears as himself in a brief cameo.

5:00 AM IFC
Death of a Cyclist (1955 ESP): A recent addition to The Criterion Collection, this drama—about a pair of adulterers trying to conceal both their love affair and their involvement in a fatal auto accident—aired on TCM in 2006, but hasn't been seen on the small screen since. Lucia Bose, perhaps best known to American audiences for her role in Fellini Satyricon, stars as the female half of the couple, and Alberto Closas represents the masculine sex as her academic amour. The film's frank approach to relationships seriously annoyed the Franco regime, who made sure Spanish newspapers gave it a thorough bollixing on its initial release, thus ensuring Death of a Cyclist would remain out of the public eye for half a century. Written and directed by Juan Antonio Bardem (uncle of guess who) with a helping hand from future auteur Jesus Franco (no relation), the film airs again at 10:45 AM.

Wednesday 1/27/10

8:40 AM Encore
Theatre Royal (1943 GB): Color me extremely sceptical about this one, but Theatre Royal is the title listed in the program guide, and it's not a title common enough to suggest a mistake has been made. (When I first started writing this column, the guide repeatedly listed an obscure Mexi-horror film, Pacto Diaboloco, but it always turned out to be an American film of considerably more recent vintage entitled Pact with the Devil). So Theatre Royal it shall be, until proven otherwise! It's an obscure musical comedy featuring the amusing British troupe, The Crazy Gang, as well as a host of limey jazz musicians, including Victor Feldman, Ted Heath, and George Shearing—perfect wartime entertainment for folks in need of distraction.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
My Son John (1952 USA): Sometime in 1981 or '82, my future spouse (then a UC Berkeley undergrad) and I attended a series of ‘Red Peril' films at Cal's cavernous Wheeler Hall. They were required viewing for a class my sweetie was taking, and though I can't remember any of the other films we saw (or why a space the size of Wheeler was booked when PFA would probably have sufficed), the series left me with one indelible movie memory: that of My Son John, a film out of general circulation since before the dawn of the home video age. The film features Robert Walker—then apparently heading for stardom after his memorable turn in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, but destined to die in an auto wreck before My Son John wrapped—as John Jefferson, a government employee some suspect of being a bit pink around the gills. Mom (Helen Hayes) just can't believe it, but John's behaviour is a little strange: he speaks in a strange, pod-person like monotone, doesn't believe in the literal truth of the Bible, and, well, is just an all-around smarty-pants. The arrival of FBI agent Stedman (Van Heflin) signals the seriousness of the charges, however, and soon even dear old Mom must face up to the facts: her son John is a Commie rat fink. Directed by the ultra-rightwing Leo McCarey, My Son John is clear claimant to the TiVoPlex Movie of the Week crown. Whether it's the dream-like, Shadow of a Doubt-style paranoid masterpiece I remember remains to be seen! It's followed at 7:15 PM by 1951's I Was a Communist for the F.B.I., another of Tinseltown's attempts to ingratiate themselves with the Neanderthals at HUAC (not to mention Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn over on the Senate side). It's not as good (or as weird) as My Son John, but a solid cast—including Phil Carey and Frank Lovejoy—render it essential viewing for fans of all things hardboiled.

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