By John Seal
December 9-15, 2002
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or under-appreciated - they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PST.
Monday 12/09/02
4:05 AM Encore Mystery
Nightfall (1956 USA): Aldo Ray stars in this noir involving misplaced loot from a bank robbery. Based on a novel by David Goodis, one of the most hard-boiled writers of the crime genre, the film was directed by Jacques Tourneur, about to depart for England to make Night of the Demon. This is a solid entry in Tourneur's filmography and benefits from a good supporting cast, including Brian Keith as one of the baddies, Anne Bancroft as the love interest, and James Gregory as the bank investigator on the trail of the money. Also airs at 5:00 PM.
9:00 AM Flix
Pulp (1972 GB): If you enjoyed 1999's Croupier or the original version of Get Carter, you need to see this film, another unsung entry in the Mike Hodges filmography. Michael Caine is on hand again, this time as a ghostwriter who ends up involved in a real-life murder mystery. The film, narrated by Caine in a mannered homage to pulp fiction, also features Mickey Rooney (good for a change), Lionel Stander, and Lizabeth Scott.
4:40 PM Encore Action
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984 GB): Other than the first two Johnny Weissmuller movies, this is the only really decent film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' pop culture phenomenon - sorry, that Disney version is pretty overrated. What's even more remarkable is that the ape-man is played by the acting-challenged Christopher Lambert, star of numerous awful Highlander films. On the other hand, Weissmuller was probably the WORST actor to ever step in front of a camera (has anyone else sat through his Jungle Jim movies recently?), so Lambert doesn't look so bad in comparison. What makes this version as enjoyable as it is? There's a quality supporting cast (Ralph Richardson, Nigel Davenport, James Fox, and Ian Holm), excellent cinematography by Kubrick colleague John Alcott, and a (relatively) close screen adaptation by Robert Towne. Towne also manages to bring a patina of intellect to otherwise uninspiring source material; Burroughs' prose is horribly flowery and badly outdated, relying on long discredited theories of race and breeding to tell his tale. Director Hugh Hudson made his name with the gauzy nostalgia of Chariots of Fire, but this is the better film. Also airs at 4:40 PM and 12/14 at 3:10 AM and 11:45 AM.
Tuesday 12/10/02
12:15 AM More Max
Dance With the Devil (1997 MEX-ESP): This is the cut, pan and scanned, and dubbed version of Alex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango, but sometimes we have to settle for what we can get. It's still a terrific movie, with Rosie Perez perfectly cast as the title character, a woman of the streets looking to pick up drifters to use as sacrificial offerings to Satan. The real star of the film is Javier Bardem as Perdita's abusive lover, a devil worshipper collecting souls and dispensing bloodshed. The film has a VERY nasty edge and is not for all tastes, but if you like movies like Last House on the Left (1972 USA) or Hitch-Hike (1977 ITA) you should make time for this one.
1:00 AM Sundance
The Jaundiced Eye ( 1999 USA): This low-key documentary details the story of two men (a father and his gay son) accused of child sexual abuse in rural Michigan. Director-producer Nonny de la Pena doesn't try to dress the proceedings up with narration or camera tricks, allowing the shocking story to unfold at its own pace, and the final scene - where the two men go to the local courthouse to pick up the legal papers that exonerate them - doesn't provide any kind of emotional payoff, making the film all the more powerful and serving as a reminder that false accusations are not particularly unusual occurrences.
6:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Dangerous Partners (1945 USA): I haven't seen this MGM rarity, but it has a good cast (Edmund Gwenn, Audrey Totter, and Grant Withers) and an intriguing story about a plane crash and some mysterious wills. Lensed by the great Karl Freund (director of the 1932 The Mummy and 1935's Mad Love) and directed by the reliable Edward L. Cahn, this looks to be an enjoyable little 'B' flick.
9:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Terror On the Beach (1973 USA): Here's the guilty pleasure pick of the week, an absurd story of marauding beach hippies in dune buggies. Debuting in prime time on CBS, Terror On the Beach tried to warn America: there's a Manson family in your neighborhood! And they want to terrify you with their dune buggies and long hair! This Manson family, however, doesn't seem to do much other than drive around being mean to people, including a virginal Susan Dey. No sex, no drugs, and not much rock n roll are in evidence. They also shave. In other words, typical movie-of-the-week stuff with a ridiculous ending. Also airs at 11:00 PM.
11:30 PM Sundance
Heavy Traffic (1973 USA): I'm not a big Ralph Bakshi fan, but this is probably his best film, and the print currently being aired by Sundance is absolutely stunning. A mixture of animation, live action, and Bakshi's trademark roto-scoping, Heavy Traffic treads similar territory that the filmmaker would later explore less successfully in American Pop(1981 USA) and entirely unsuccessfully in Cool World(1992 USA). Rated 'X' on its initial release, the film does feature some typically outrageous Bakshi images, including his troubling depictions of black characters. The film is most memorable for the scenes where the cartoon world intrudes into the real New York City, and the music is brilliant, including a street-folk rendering of Chuck Berry's Maybellene and a wacky Sergio Mendes' version of Scarborough Fair. As long as animated penises don't offend you, take a look.
Wednesday 12/11/02
7:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Son of a Gunfighter (1965 USA-ESP): Slim pickings indeed today. Italy wasn't the only European country involved in making westerns during the 1960s and '70s. Spain was the shooting location of choice for most of the spaghetti western genre, and here's a co-production from a local Spanish producer and MGM, a studio clearly interested in cashing in on the Fistful of Dollars craze. To be honest, the film isn't very good, but it is airing in widescreen, and the cast is a decent mix of Anglos (Russ Tamblyn, Kieron Moore) and Hispanics (Fernando Rey, Aldo Sambrell). It's followed at 9:00 AM by the even more obscure Gunfighters of Casa Grande (1964 USA-ESP), another film apparently made by MGM under the same set of circumstances. Eurotrash veteran Alex Nicol is the American 'star' of this one, and Aldo Sambrell is present again. The recommendation for this one is based on the film's rarity: don't expect a classic!
Thursday 12/12/02
2:45 AM Starz
Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India (2001 IND): I missed the cable debut of this cricket epic in August but I won't be missing it this time. Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2002 Academy Awards, Lagaan lost out to the worthy No Man's Land. A box office smash in Britain as well as in India, this is a long (three and a half hours) film in the great tradition of Bollywood epics. And yes, it really is about cricket, so pull on your sleeveless woolly jumper and assume the position - which is silly mid-off for this film! Also airs at 5:45 AM.
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Little Caesar (1931 USA): One of the greatest and most influential gangster films of all time, Little Caesar also made a star out of Edward G. Robinson, a two-edged sword that frequently saw him typecast as cinema bad boys. Outdone within a year by the ultra-violent Scarface, this is still a powerful and memorable Warner Bros. film, directed by the brilliant Mervyn LeRoy and co-starring studio regulars like Glenda Farrell and Sidney Blackmer.
11:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Panic In Needle Park (1971 USA): Amongst the first of a long line of films depicting the grim fallout of drug addiction, Panic In Needle Park was also Al Pacino's big break. Pacino seems to be out of favor these days, but for my money he's one of the great screen actors of the last 30 years, and unlike Robert De Niro, still seems willing to take on serious roles - this year's Insomnia being an excellent example of his still potent talents. He's ably matched in this film by Kitty Winn, an actress best known for her stage work, as his girlfriend and partner in heroin. Look for Raul Julia and Paul Sorvino in small roles. Also airs 12/13 at 1:00 AM.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951 GB): It's Ealing night at TCM, and the cream of the crop is on display. First up is this Charles Crichton/Alec Guinness story of a meek bank clerk plotting to rob his own bank. Written by the brilliant ex-policeman T.E.B. Clarke, the film is typical Ealing, mild on the surface but deliciously wicked underneath. With a supporting cast including Sid James and Alfie Bass and blink and you'll miss 'em turns by Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Peter Bull, and Desmond 'Q' Llewellyn, this is black comedy with a sunny veneer. It's followed at 8:00 PM by The Ladykillers (1955 GB), my favourite of all Ealing comedies. Darker even than The Lavender Hill Mob, this is one of the few comedies that kills off almost the entire cast by the end of the film, though Ealing's earlier Kind Hearts and Coronets had a similar emphasis on mass murder! And what a cast it is: Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, and Jack Warner, amongst many others. Surprisingly, the film's very English setting was created by screenwriter William Rose, an American expatriate clearly in tune with British cultural mores. Alec Guinness also stars in All At Sea (1958 GB) which concludes TCM's theme evening at 10:00 PM. This is an undeservedly overlooked Ealing film, also penned by T.E.B. Clarke, about a naval officer (Guinness) so overcome by seasickness that he is forced to go landside for a more, er, stable career. He finds solace by taking command of a decrepit seaside pier and running it like a naval vessel, until the local counselors get wind of his scheme, which runs counter to their own plans to knock the pier down in the name of 're-development'. The more things change, they more they stay the same...
Friday 12/13/02
3:45 AM Encore Mystery
See No Evil (1971 GB): This thriller was penned by Brian Clemens, one of the men responsible for the television series The Avengers, and directed by the generally reliable Richard Fleischer (though I still haven't recovered fully from re-watching Che!). Starring Mia Farrow as a blind woman being pursued by a serial killer in the English countryside, the film bears similarities to Audrey Hepburn's Wait Until Dark, but is ultimately the better film, able to escape the limiting confines of a big city apartment for the broader canvas of Berkshire farmland. It also doesn't rely on the unpleasant stereotyping evident in Straw Dogs, the other 1971 film that featured dread amongst the hedgerows of rural Britain. Also airs at 11:45 AM.
10:00 PM Encore True Stories
Money Talks (1972 USA): For anyone who grew up on Candid Camera (and that must be most people over 35), this is an enjoyable feature that has been overshadowed by the other Allen Funt film, What Do You Say to A Naked Lady? (1968 USA). This time the theme is, of course, money, and the lengths that people will go to get some. The best segment involves Muhammad Ali refusing to pay for a COD package. There's also a delightful conversation about rich and poor between Funt and his small daughter. Add in the time capsule footage of East Village hippie dropouts, and you've got a winner!
10:35 PM Starz Theatre
Lord of the Flies (1963 GB): it took a stage director (former RSC man Peter Brook) to bring the great William Golding novel to the screen successfully. If you've already been subjected to the comparatively awful 1990 remake, you need to make amends and see the original version. If you haven't had that pleasure, you won't want to subject yourself to it after seeing Brook's film. Starring a cast of mostly amateur schoolboys, Lord of the Flies is carried by their honest and artifice-free performances. Contrasting the beauty of nature with the ugliness of a social order imposed by unnatural forces, this is an unforgettable film. Also airs 12/14 at 2:35 PM and 10:35 PM and 12/15 at 6:35 AM, 2:35 PM, and 10:35 PM.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Rules of the Game (1939 FRA): Jean Renoir's classic film is a different look at society, one where the adults wear disguises to mask their true intentions or feelings - almost the polar opposite, in fact, of the boys in Lord of the Flies, who shed their identical skins and daub themselves with make-up and markings in an attempt to send a very clear and unambiguous message to those who would remain outsiders. Much as I admire Renoir's Grand Illusion, this is my favorite of his films. Hopefully TCM will be airing a restored print of this worthy classic.
11:45 PM IFC
The Honeymoon Killers (1970 USA): This unique black and white film is based on the true story of a couple who preyed upon lonely widows in the 1950s. The grift involved finding recently bereaved women in need of a new husband, a brief period of courtship and marriage, and a rapid murder disguised as death by natural causes or accident. The film feels like a documentary in many respects, though that may be more a tribute to its low-budget roots, with its simple camera set-ups and lack of musical score. The murderous pair are played by Brooklyn boy Tony Lo Bianco, in his first major role as the lothario-in-waiting, and the marvelous Shirley Stoler as his 'sister', the angel of mercy whose bedside manner ultimately does in the female newlyweds.
Saturday 12/14/02
5:00 PM Fox Movies
Miracle on 34th Street (1947 USA): Not obscure, not overlooked, just my favorite Holiday film. Believe it or not, I've never seen It's A Wonderful Life, but I've watched Edmund Gwenn do the Kris Kringle thing dozens of times, and I never tire of it. Relentlessly materialistic, Miracle on 34th Street is a film I really shouldn't like. I guess I'd better turn in my party card tonight, as I'll be celebrating the season with Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and that cute little Natalie Wood once again.
5:00 PM Starz
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001 USA-NZ): Don't know much about this obscurity, though it's apparently making its cable debut. Also airs about five kazillion other times this month.
Sunday 12/15/02
4:35 AM Sundance
The Firemen's Ball (1967 CZE):The last film Milos Forman made before fleeing Czechoslovakia after the 1968 revolution. Frothy and lightweight, with a tinge of political satire for seasoning, The Firemen's Ball reflects the more liberal atmosphere that briefly prevailed in Dubcek's Czechoslovakia. Forman's greatest work was awaiting him in the United States, but this early precursor of his talents is well worth watching.
9:00 AM Fox Movies
Kiss of Death (1947 USA): It must have been a bit of a shock to see this film in 1947. Not only is it an early example of film noir, it also introduced one of the most amoral characters yet to hit the silver screen: Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo, the laughing, leering psychopath who pushes old ladies in wheelchairs down the staircase. To quote him: "You know what I do to squealers? I let 'em have it in the belly, so they can roll around for a long time thinkin' it over. You're worse than him, tellin' me he's comin' back? Ya lyin' old hag!" Luckily Victor Mature is on hand to keep Widmark in line, but even though Mature was the star of the film, it's Udo we remember today. Also airs at 11:00 PM.
