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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 7/17/12

12:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Thief of Bagdad (1924 USA): I’m a huge fan of Alexander Korda’s 1940 Technicolor spectacle The Thief of Bagdad, but Douglas Fairbanks’ silent version is pretty darn good, too. Fairbanks plays the title character (in this iteration of the tale, we never learn his real name), a wily chap who disguises himself as royalty in order to win the hand of a beautiful princess (Julanne Johnston). Not so fast, bub: Dad (Brandon Hurst) wants his prospective sons-in-law to go on a mission to locate, and return with, the rarest treasure they can find. Can the Thief beat the competition, or will the evil Mongol Prince (Sojin) cross the finish line first? Produced on an epic scale, The Thief of Bagdad could be considered the apex of the 40-year-old Fairbanks’ career - it’s my favorite of his films, at any rate.

Wednesday 7/18/12

4:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
Together Brothers (1973 USA): Unfairly shoe-horned into the ghetto of so-called "blaxploitation" films, Together Brothers is more of a kiddie caper flick about a gang (in the nicest old-fashioned sense of the word) of teenagers who take it upon themselves to investigate the murder of beloved local police officer Mr. Kool (Ed Bernard). You may not believe a minute of it, but it's quality feel good entertainment, and co-stars the great Glynn Turman as a consciousness-raising doctor. This film still hasn’t been issued on DVD or Blu-Ray, so if you want to see it (and in its original aspect ratio), tonight’s your best opportunity.

1:15 PM Sundance
The Art of the Steal (2009 USA): The "theft" of a major art collection is the subject of this fascinating documentary. Albert Barnes was a Philadephia doctor who developed a treatment for VD then plowed his earnings into establishing the Barnes Foundation in suburban Merion, PA. It’s a major collection (including Van Goghs, Renoirs, and Picassos) valued at up to $25 billion (no, not million, BILLION) dollars - and after Barnes death in 1951, he left specific instructions that it was not to leave Merion. The film examines how his wishes have since been subverted, and how the collection will be pried away from its intended resting place at historically-African American Lincoln University by the Philadelphia Museum of Art - an institution Barnes loathed. It’s a sad but familiar tale of how one man’s legacy can be subverted by big money and the ‘establishment’.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
You’re a Big Boy Now (1966 USA): Francis Ford Coppola’s first non-AIP film was, nonetheless, aimed at the young adult audience of the day. Peter Kastner plays a young man on the verge of a late sexual awakening in New York City, and the film is a terrific full-color time capsule of the Big Apple in the 1960s, including a visit to a raunchy Times Square magazine stand. The supporting cast is flawless, including Karen Black, Dolph Sweet, Elizabeth Hartman, and Rip Torn, and the title track - sung by The Lovin’ Spoonful - is particularly memorable.

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