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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 12/6/11

8:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Between Midnight and Dawn (1951 USA): Straight from the police procedural mold comes this above average Columbia second feature about a a pair of L.A. beat cops. The flatfoots are idealistic Rocky (Mark Stevens) and deeply cynical Dan (Edmond O’Brien), a prowl car team fascinated by the dulcet tones of dispatcher Kate Mallory (Gale Storm). The two compete for the hand of the attractive Kate, who eventually succumbs to Dan’s charms despite her reluctance to hitch up with a guy who puts his life on the line every time he goes to work. And sure enough, tragedy strikes, leaving Rocky with the task of revenging his partner’s death. Filled with snappy banter and snappier hats, Between Midnight and Dawn co-stars Roland Winters, Myron Healey, and the delightfully named Fred Shellac.

11:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones (1966 USA): Here’s a very rarely seen pilot for a TV show that never happened. Wagon Train regular Robert Horton headlines as the title character, a drifter delivering two bad men to jail in accord with the wishes of a dying sheriff. I’ve never seen this film (and regular readers know how little I care for westerns), but an excellent supporting cast - including Sal Mineo, Nehemiah Persoff, Royal Dano, and Harry Dean Stanton - make this an intriguing option.

Wednesday 12/7/11

1:15 AM Fox Movie Channel
Along Came a Spider (1970 USA): This one failed to materialize on Fox last month, but here it is on the schedule once again. Surely www.foxmoviechannel.com wouldn’t lie to me a second time? To reiterate:

Here’s an above average made-for-TV movie with an excellent cast. Suzanne Pleshette, quite the sex symbol in her day (well, my father lusted after her), stars as Janet Furie, widow of scientist David (Lex Johnson). Janet strongly suspects that David’s colleague Martin Becker (Ed Nelson) is responsible for her husband’s death, and hatches a devious plot to get her revenge - namely, disguising herself as another woman and making his professional and personal life as miserable as possible (or worse). Also on hand: Andrew Prine as a family friend and Richard Anderson as the D.A.

3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Zigzag (1970 USA): George Kennedy stars as a dying man scheming to leave his family in sound financial shape after he’s diagnosed with a brain tumor. George is Paul Cameron, who frames himself for a murder-kidnapping and sets things up so wife Jean (Anne Jackson) can get the reward money. Seems like a great plan - until Paul’s diagnosis changes, and he realizes he’s not going to die after all! This forgotten suspenser makes its widescreen television debut this evening and co-stars Eli Wallach as well as Blacula himself, William Marshall.

Thursday 12/8/11

2:00 AM More Max
Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1993 USA): Cheesefest ahoy! Though not as much fun as AIP’s 1957 fifty-foot woman, this made-for-TV remake sticks close to the original template, right down to the opening scene in which Nancy Archer (Daryl Hannah) and hubby Harry (Daniel Baldwin) set up the story by having an argument in the middle of nowhere. After an encounter with space aliens (lurking off-stage during the lovers’ spat), Nancy begins to grow...and grow...and grow, until she finally reaches the titular height, at which point she starts wreaking havoc in the California desert. It would probably make more sense to wreak havoc in a major metropolitan area, but sometimes you go to production with the story you have, not the story you want.

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