TiVoPlex
By John Seal
July 13, 2004
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 07/13/04
3:30pm Turner Classic Movies
The Enforcer (1951 USA): A brutal crime drama with a noir twist, The Enforcer stars Humphrey Bogart as a DA trying to keep his case against a local crime lord (Everett Sloane) alive after his star witness falls to a suspicious death. Credited to director Bretaigne Windust, the film was actually completed by Raoul Walsh - fresh off his success with James Cagney in White Heat (1949) - when Windust fell seriously ill. One of the last Warner Bros gangster features, The Enforcer also features the wonderful Zero Mostel as a heavy, as well as familiar contract players Don Beddoe, Creighton Hale, and King Donovan.
7:00 IFC
Liam (2000 GB): I’ve recommended this film several times over the years, but IFC is now airing a wide-screen print, so it’s time to give it another plug. Stephen Frears' film about poverty in 1930s Liverpool is a fine - at times great - production and Jimmy McGovern's screenplay is superb, until the absurd final-reel conclusion. I won't give away the ending, and I heartily recommend the rest of the film, but the way the story barrels along in an effort to tie up its loose strings is very disappointing, especially after the careful and deliberate pacing of the first 80 minutes. Beyond this serious flaw, Liam has a tremendously likable and drop-dead cute lead in little Anthony Borrows, who couldn't have been more than five when he made this film, and solid grown-up stars in Ian Hart and Claire Hackett. Trivia fans please note: Hart has played John Lennon twice…and Anthony Borrows has played him once! Cue The Twilight Zone theme.
8:30pm The Movie Channel
Thief (1981 USA): If you missed this Michael Mann film when it aired in May, here’s another chance. Paced more like a character-driven 1970s feature than a Reagan-era Rambofest, Thief stars James Caan as a safecracker trying to go straight…but only after pulling off a few last jobs to provide himself and his family with some financial security. While the film is far from boring, it relies on lengthy expository segments featuring Caan and Tuesday Weld that open the film up and make it much more than a simple-minded gangster flick, and the droning Tangerine Dream score adds an otherworldly touch to the proceedings. TMC is airing a nice letterboxed print, so if you’ve never seen Thief, now’s the time.
Wednesday 07/14/04
12:30am Turner Classic Movies
Murder! (1930 GB): Dashing Herbert Marshall stars in this early Alfred Hitchcock talkie. He plays a jurist who has second thoughts about his role in condemning a young actress (Norah Baring) to death for the murder of a stage colleague. Though slowly paced at times, Murder! is an essential film for Hitchcock admirers, offering hints of the master’s latent and developing talents. It also features Una O’Connor (Bride of Frankenstein) in one of her prototypical screeching landlady roles, and reputedly features the first interior monologue ever put to film.
8am Fox Movie Channel
A Wedding (1978 USA): Last week I recommended this Robert Altman comedy-drama, whilst lamenting the fact that Fox Movie Channel didn’t have a letterboxed print on their schedule. Well, perhaps if I’d bothered to check their Web site, I’d have been better informed. Here it is in all its 2.35:1 glory. There’s still no DVD, and the ancient VHS release is pan-and-scan, so this is well worth your time.
2pm Turner Classic Movies
Railroaded! (1947 USA): This week’s theme seems to be films with exclamation points in their titles. Fans of Poverty Row cinema will be thrilled to have the opportunity to check out this PRC noir starring John Ireland as a mobster who frames an innocent man (Ed Kelly) for a double murder during a botched robbery (One of the victims is perennial Gong Show whipping boy Keefe Braselle). Hugh Beaumont plays the homicide detective assigned to the case, Jane Randolph is a sultry troublemaking temptress, and Grandma Walton, Ellen Corby, makes an uncredited appearance as a landlady. Director Anthony Mann soon went on to bigger and better projects at Universal - primarily westerns - but Railroaded! marked the beginning of his crime period, notable primarily for the six films he shot with cinematographer John Alton. Railroaded!, shot by journeyman Guy Roe, lacks the distinctive Alton touch but is a real rarity you won’t want to miss.
Friday 07/16/04
4:30am Sundance
Chance or Coincidence (1998 FRA-CAN): Ever-busy director Claude Lelouch returned to near-form with this story of an obsessive man and the ballerina he stalks. She’s played by bobbed Alessandra Martines, who just happens to be Lelouch’s wife (she’s 25 years younger than he), and the film is basically a tribute to her dazzling beauty. Filmed in France and Canada, this is a gorgeously-shot fairy tale about a bereft woman, a pair of villainous thieves who steal her holiday snaps, and the handsome prince waiting in the wings to rescue her. Lelouch goes overboard at times, especially when he tries to lard on subtext to what is essentially a melodrama, but the film looks great and, though overlong, should still keep the attention of serious cineastes. Also airs at 1:30pm.
10:30am Starz!!
I Capture the Castle (2003 GB): If you’re still in the mood for a fairytale after Chance or Coincidence, you might want to take a look at this flawed but interesting frock flick from BBC director Tim Fywell. The story revolves around an artistic family - Dad’s a dried-up author, Step-Mum’s an aspiring painter - who rent an abandoned castle when life elsewhere becomes too expensive. Raising three children isn’t cheap, however, and when the family fall behind in their monthly payments and are threatened with eviction, Prince Charming arrives just in time in the form of wealthy Yank landowner Simon Cotton (Henry Thomas). Cotton is soon falling in love with eldest daughter Rose (Aussie actress Rose Byrne), but complications ensue when younger sibling Cassandra (Romola Garai) decides she fancies him, too. This is an odd film that doesn’t fit comfortably into any particular genre, lurching from overdone romance to barbed humor and subtle social commentary without warning. While Heidi Thomas’ screenplay leaves a bit to be desired, the cast is flawless, especially Bill Nighy as the family patriarch, Tara Fitzgerald as his flighty second wife, and the charming Ms. Garai. Less effective are the American actors, including Sinead Cusack, who seem one-dimensional in comparison to the family of eccentric Brits. I Capture the Castle was shot on the Isle of Man and looks stunning, and if you can overlook the meandering nature of the writing, is an above-average chick flick. Also airs at 1:30pm and 7/19 at 8am and 11am.
Saturday 07/17/04
5am IFC
Kill! (1968 JAP): Well, that’s putting things bluntly. But if you’re a fan of IFC’s Samurai Saturday feature, you probably aren’t tuning in to these things to pick up on the finer points of Japanese tea rituals or to learn more about medieval Honshu. No, you’re tuning in for the swordplay and the violence, and 1968’s Kill! (the THIRD title this week to feature an exclamation point!) will satisfy your cravings. Directed by Sword of Doom helmer Kihachi Okamoto and shot in black-and-white Tohoscope, the film features the great Tetsuya Nakadai (Sword of Doom, Samurai Rebellion) as a warrior who swears off violence and takes the spiritual path after killing his closest friend. But wait; you know he’s not going to spend the rest of the movie fingering his prayer beads. Before long, Nakadai is taking up his trusty blade to defend another village of defenseless farmers from another roving band of merciless ronin. If you’ve seen a lot of these films, you’ll appreciate the genre tributes scattered throughout Kill!, but if not...well, there’s always the swordplay to keep you entertained. Also airs at 10:20am and on 7/18 at 3am.
1:45pm Encore Action
The New Centurions (1972 USA): I wish, wish, wish that Encore had a wide-screen print of this Richard Fleischer cop drama, but if wishes were horses, which they thankfully aren’t, I’d, erm, be getting lavishly compensated for writing this column (The slavemasters at BOP are very generous with the shiny beads, though). That aside, this is a really fine, episodic film about life as a street cop in Los Angeles. Based on a Joseph Wambaugh novel (boy, that guy sold a lot of books in the ‘70s), The New Centurions stars George C. Scott as a grizzled veteran cop breaking in his idealistic young partner (Stacy Keach). The set-up sounds predictable, but the sharply-honed screenplay by Sterling Silliphant defies expectations, throwing curve balls throughout the film that lend added realism to the proceedings. Scott and Keach are excellent, and the balance of the cast includes familiar faces like Ed Lauter, Isabel Sanford, Rosalind Cash, and a pre-CHiPs Erik Estrada. The pan-and-scan print is awful, consistently compromising cinematographer Ralph Woolsey’s work, but the storytelling remains strong and the film comes highly recommended.
Sunday 07/18/04
5:30am Black Starz!
Hoop Dreams (1994 USA): One of the few documentaries to make any kind of impact at the American box office, Hoop Dreams is the story of two young African-American high-school students trying to fulfill their life-long dream of escaping the projects and establishing themselves as NBA stars. At three hours, you’d think the film might be overlong, but it isn’t, though it’s certainly painful to watch these youngsters slowly come to terms with the reality of their situations and the incredible long shot they’re relying on to improve their lot in life. Somehow this film was overlooked by the Academy in 1995 - the winner that year for Best Feature Documentary was Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision - but this is riveting filmmaking on a par with the best of the Maysles Brothers or Errol Morris. Also airs at 5pm and 7/19 at 1:30am.
11:30am Turner Classic Movies
Key Witness (1960 USA): This minor crime drama was almost impossible to see for decades, but TCM dug it up in late 2002 and is airing it again this morning. The film's claim to fame is a very early performance by Dennis Hopper as a nasty street-punk named Cowboy who kills a rival and then terrorizes the only witness willing to talk, the straitlaced Jeffrey Hunter. Directed by hard-boiled auteur Phil Karlson (Kansas City Confidential, The Phenix City Story), the film looks great thanks to cinematographer Harold Wellman, but is let down somewhat by a pedestrian script. It's still essential for fans of Hopper and Karlson, and it may disappear again for another 30 years, so catch it while you can!
10:45pm Turner Classic Movies
Greed (1924 USA): The written word can’t do justice to Erich Von Stroheim’s screen adaptation of the magnificent Frank Norris novel, McTeague. One of the greatest films ever made, and one of the five greatest silent pictures, Greed is an epic-length meditation on most of the seven deadly sins, including greed, envy, gluttony, and pride. Filmed on location in San Francisco, Oakland, and elsewhere in California, the film was originally over nine hours long, but studio pressure forced Von Stroheim to cut it down to the svelte four-hour version available today. If ever those cutting room floor sweepings were to show up, you’d have the greatest special-edition DVD of all time, but alas, those reels of silver nitrate were no doubt recycled almost immediately. Featuring two great performances by ZaSu Pitts and Gibson Gowland as a struggling couple trying to get by on an unlicensed dentist’s wages, Greed once seen is never forgotten, and after watching the Death Valley set piece that concludes this astonishing masterwork, you may decide to forego buying that next lottery ticket.
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