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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 5/17/11

3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Big Shot (1932 USA): Eddie Quillan plays a callow youth taken in by swindlers in this forgotten RKO comedy. Eddie is Ray Smith, a hotel clerk hoping to make a fortune selling a new type of puncture-proof tire he’s developed. Unfortunately, the tires prove to be anything but, and it’s back to the drawing board for Ray, whose girlfriend (Maureen O’Sullivan) mortgages the family home so he can make a sure-fire real estate investment. Alas, Ray’s investment turns out to be swampland, but there’s a twist in the tale and all comes right in the end. Co-starring Roscoe Ates in one of his trademark, oh-so-politically-incorrect stuttering roles, The Big Shot hasn’t been seen on television in at least 30 years, so don’t miss it this morning!

4:50 AM Encore Love Stories
Frankie and Johnny (1966 USA): Here’s one of the few Elvis movies TCM has, to be the best of my knowledge, never aired. Why, I don’t know - it’s neither any worse nor any better than any of the other crap Elvis churned out in the mid-'60s - but here it is on Encore. That means, of course, that it’ll be airing in pan and scan, but what’s an Elvis completist supposed to do? We need this film in our collection, and maybe TCM will haul a letterboxed print out of the vault at some point. As for the story, it’s the old chestnut about squabbling lovers aboard a Mississippi riverboat. Johnny is Elvis, naturally, whilst Frankie is portrayed by Elly May Clampett herself, Donna Douglas. Though widely regarded as one of the King’s least interesting features, Frankie and Johnny does feature an intriguing supporting cast, including Harry Morgan, Billy Benedict, Jerome Cowan, and...Eddie Quillan!

6:30 AM HBO
Monica and David (2009 USA): Not too long ago, folks with Down Syndrome were marginalized from society at best or institutionalized at worst, and their life expectancy was a shocking 25. Today, the stigma is lessening and the lifespans are lengthening, as we learn from this HBO original documentary about a pair of 30-something Syndrome sufferers who get married just like "normal" people do. The film follows them through the trials and tribulations of their first year of marriage, during which David plans to get a job at a grocery store and Monica tries to map out their new independence. Directed by Monica’s cousin, Alexandra Codina, this is a pitch-perfect, up-close-and-personal doc. And what better film to watch after Frankie and Johnny? It’s just a shame that Frank Perry’s David and Lisa isn’t also airing this morning. Also airs at 9:30 AM.

9:45 AM Encore Mystery
Late for Dinner (1991 USA): Remember when The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai was going to provide writer-director W. D. Richter with his big commercial breakthrough? It never happened, of course, and in fact this is the only film the enigmatic Oscar nominee has since directed. Late for Dinner stars Peter Berg and Brian Wimmer as Willie and Frank, two guys running from a murder rap in 1962. And what do you do when fleeing the police? Why, go to the nearest cryogenics facility, of course, where a sawbones named Dr. Chilblains (Bo Brundin) will put you into suspended animation for 29 years, after which you’ll wake up and wonder why cars no longer have tailfins. Will Frank’s wife (Marcia Gay Harden) still love him after he’s missed dinner over ten thousand times? It’s an interesting concept, but you’ll need to, ahem, suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy it.

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