TiVoPlex
By John Seal
May 29, 2007
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 05/29/07
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
High Plains Drifter (1973 USA): Clint Eastwood returns, after a fashion, as The Man With No Name-here anointed The Stranger-in this all-American take on the Euro-western style that made him a star. Not to be confused with The Stranger portrayed by Tony Anthony in three forgettable spaghetti oaters, our High Plains Drifter is hired by the timid townsfolk of Lago to protect them from the a trio of outlaws who have beaten the local sheriff (long time Eastwood colleague Buddy Van Horn) to death. With an assist from a midget named Mordecai (Billy Curtis), our avenging angel soon brings a measure of justice to Lago-but only after the amoral out-of-towner has had his way with a comely maiden (Marianna Hill) and exposed some of the town's dirty little secrets as well. Ably directed by Eastwood, and with a screenplay from Shaft creator Ernest Tidyman, High Plains Drifter exudes dusty old west ambiance thanks to the widescreen, rust red cinematography of Bruce Surtees.
10:30 PM Cinemax
The Dark Corner (1946 USA): Not sure why this Fox noir is airing on Cinemax instead of FMC, but regardless, it's a worthwhile genre entry with extra added interest thanks to the out of character presence of comedienne Lucille Ball in a lead role. Ball plays Kathleen, secretary to private investigator Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens), who's just started his business anew after serving a two-year term for manslaughter (don't worry, he didn't do it). Whilst wining and dining his gal Friday one evening, Galt discovers they've been shadowed by a mystery man in a white suit (William Bendix), who promptly frames him for the murder of his old business partner Jardine (Kurt Krueger) on behalf of smarmy businessman Hardy Cathcart (Clifton Webb). Together, Kathleen and Bradford must track down White Suit, who holds the key to Galt's innocence-and, of course, knows who actually committed the murder. Director Henry Hathaway is best known for his cracking police procedurals, but he does sterling duty on The Dark Corner, which also airs 5/30 at 1:30 AM.
Wednesday 05/30/07
7:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Grand Exit (1935 USA): This cheap, cheerful, and long forgotten Columbia programmer makes its TCM debut this morning. A low budget suspenser, Grand Exit stars Edmund Lowe as Tom Fletcher-raconteur, lady's man, and brilliant arson investigator. Called to the scene of a disastrous blaze at the Acme Fur Company, Tom meets attractive Adrienne (Ann Sothern), a woman of mysterious provenance who has a strange knack for also showing up at suspicious fire scenes. Enlivened by some impressive stock footage of blazing buildings, Grand Exit also stars Edward Van Sloan as a crotchety business executive and Onslow Stevens as Fletcher's assistant Grayson, whose loyalty is shaken when he begins to suspect Tom is responsible for the blaze.
2:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Alfred the Great (1969 GB): We may not know who burned the Acme Fur Company, but we DO know who burned the cakes-Britain's Alfred the Great, whose life story is sketchily depicted in this rather dry biopic from director Clive Donner. David Hemmings plays the King as a callow youth determined to put down the sword and take up the priesthood-but he's forced to change his plans when the barbarous Danes invade and proceed to plunder his kingdom. Though the battle sequences are well staged, the film fails to catch fire dramatically, and Hemmings seems strangely distracted throughout his performance. It's still worth a look for the impressive supporting cast-including Michael York, Ian McKellen, Sinead Cusack, and Peter Vaughan-and is making its widescreen American television debut this afternoon.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Quartet (1948 GB): Yes, it's definitely a TCM kind of week here in the TiVoPlex. This time the world's greatest channel brings us three anthologies based on the collected works of W. Somerset Maugham, who also personally introduces each segment. First up is 1948's Quartet, followed at 7:15 PM by Trio (1950) and at 9:00 PM by Encore (1952). Amongst the highlights are The Kite (Quartet), in which the titular toy both destroys and then restores a relationship; The Verger (Trio), in which an illiterate church administrator loses his job and opens a tobacco shop; and Winter Cruise (Encore), in which an over-talkative passenger drives a ship's crew to take desperate measures. The stories vary in quality, but are generally very well done, and the cast include virtually a who's who of 1950s British cinema talent, including Dirk Bogarde, James Robertson Justice, James Hayter, Glynis Johns, Honor Blackman, Bernard Lee, Ernest Thesiger, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Michael Hordern, Michael Rennie, Jean Simmons, Finlay Currie, and many others. These films used to play regularly on PBS affiliates during the 1970s, but haven't had many, if any, airings of late-and they're unavailable on home video, so be sure to tune in this evening.
Thursday 05/31/07
2:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Cheat (1915 USA): A fascinating silent drama, The Cheat stars the great Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa as Tori, a Long Island ivory merchant who has his eye on Edith (Fannie Ward), the wife of wealthy stockbroker Dick Hardy (Jack Dean). After Edith spends some of hubby Dick's vast wealth on an ill-advised stock tip, she turns to Tori for help-which he is willing to offer in exchange for a night of carnal bliss with the attractive matron. Unfortunately for Edith, Tori has a taste for sado-masochism, and an encounter with his branding iron leaves her in considerable pain. Enter stage right the local necktie party, who don't take too kindly to mysterious foreigners from the East leaving their mark on white women. Somehow, Hayakawa manages to maintain his dignity whilst working within the confines of a blatantly racist and sexist script, and the result casts fascinating light on American social, sexual, and racial mores of the time. After complaints from a Japanese-American group in 1918, Hayakawa's character was re-branded (so to speak) as a Burmese-I guess at the time there were very few Burmese in the country to protest-but I don't know which version will be airing on TCM this morning.
9:40 AM The Movie Channel
The Century Plaza (2005 USA): A documentary examining the last days of a rundown residence hotel in Portland, Oregon, The Century Plaza returns to the small screen today. Director Eric Lahey took his assignment seriously and rented a room in The Plaza, which once primarily housed traveling salesmen but had long since become a resting place for vagrants and drug dealers. Lahey spent seven months in the ramshackle (and now closed) SRO - which has since reopened under a new name as city-funded low-income housing - and got to know residents such as Bob the paroled pedophile and Mr. Friedman the bloodthirsty World War II vet. Inspired by the experiences of Lahey's father, who spent much of his life residing in similar domiciles, The Century Plaza is a fascinating and non-exploitative feature that would make a great double bill with 2001's equally fine look at life on New York's Bowery, Sunshine Hotel. Also airs at 12:40 PM.
6:00 PM Showtime
Shame (2006 PAK-USA): This Showtime original documentary takes a look at the deeply disturbing case of Mukhtaran Mai, a thirty-year old Pakistani woman who found herself sentenced in 2002 to being gang-raped-for a crime allegedly committed by her brother, no less. The case drew international condemnation when Ms. Mai refused to go quietly into that good night, using her outrageous treatment as a way to cast light on her nation's woefully inadequate system of rural justice-and as a way to help her community via the construction of a school. Alternately maddening and life-affirming, Shame was shot over a span of five years by director Mohammed Naqvi, a Canadian of Pakistani descent. Also airs at 9:00 PM.
Friday 06/01/07
6:20 AM Flix
The Last Waltz (1978 USA): Long considered one of the forefathers of the rockumentary, The Last Waltz is Martin Scorsese's tribute to The Band, the group of Canadian musicians who grew to prominence supporting Bob Dylan and then established themselves as a rock n roll attraction in their own right. In 1976 the group decided to chuck it in after spending 16 years on the road, and Scorsese was there to record the event. Clearly at the end of their collective tethers, The Band plod through all their 'hits', with able if over-earnest support from the like of Neil Young, Van Morrison, and others. The result is an impressive historical document, but the poker-faced participants bring a dour atmosphere to the proceedings and seem to be going through the motions. The bottom line is, if you're a fan of Robbie Robertson and company, The Last Waltz is essential viewing-especially as it's airing in widescreen today. If, on the other hand, you're like me and prefer your rock a little more upbeat and a little less serious, you can safely fast forward your way to Muddy Waters' appearance, the segment featuring The Staples Singers, and the truly bizarre appearance of an apparently embarrassed Bob Dylan towards the end.
11:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Guns At Batasi (1964 GB): Richard Attenborough stars as a hard-nosed Regimental Sergeant Major in this film about the decline and fall of the British Empire. Set in an East African colony on the cusp of independence, the film depicts the denizens of a British military outpost who find themselves at the wrong end of the gun barrel when the native troops they've been training turn against them. Hunkered down in their base and unable to escape, Her Majesty's finest find themselves little more than pawns in the political awakening of a new nation. Shot almost entirely on the back-lot at Pinewood, the film lacks authenticity, but still looks quite good thanks to Douglas Slocombe's widescreen cinematography. The cast also features Jack Hawkins as base commander Colonel Deal, pop star John Leyton as Private Wilkes, and 19-year old Mia Farrow as love interest Karen.
9:00 PM IFC
Creepshow (1982 USA): George Romero's anthology tribute to EC Comics makes its widescreen television debut this evening courtesy IFC's Grindhouse. Written by Stephen King, the film collects five tales of terror under one roof: Father's Day, in which a family gathers to celebrate the memory of their murdered pater familias; The Lonely Death of Jordy Verril, featuring King himself as a backwoods hick who has an unfortunate encounter with a meteorite; Something to Tide You Over, in which Leslie Nielsen vows revenge against his cheating wife; The Crate, in which a deadly packing case wreaks havoc on a college campus; and the best of the lot, They're Creeping Up On You, in which a rich hypochondriac (Hal Holbrook) finds his antiseptic apartment under siege by an army of unpleasant insects. It's far from prime Romero, but it's good fun nonetheless. Also airs 6/2 at 12:15 AM.
Saturday 06/02/07
Too Many Crooks (1959 GB): Fans of the great Terry-Thomas will not want to miss this crime comedy from the same team who went on to produce the uproarious Make Mine Mink (1960). He plays Billy Gordon, a tax-dodging millionaire whose fortune is enviously eyed by four hapless villains (Sid James, Bernard Bresslaw, George Cole, and Joe Melia). The baddies decide the easiest way to acquire his riches is to kidnap Gordon's daughter and hold her for ransom, but they mistakenly snatch his wife (Brenda de Banzie) instead-and Billy is not to keen to get her back! Michael Pertwee's screenplay is frankly a bit underdone, missing a number of comedic possibilities, but Terry-Thomas is always fun to watch, and James, Bresslaw, and John Le Mesurier (as a frustrated judge) deliver the laughs, too.
Sunday 06/03/07
5:00 AM Sundance
House (1980 ISR): Amos Gitai's trilogy of films about the Palestinian 'troubles' air in succession this evening, beginning with 1980's House, one of the first Israeli films to depict Israel's treatment of its Palestinian subjects. The film depicts the 'requisitioning' of an Arab-owned domicile by the misnomered Israeli Defense Forces, and its upfront honesty got it banned from Israeli television for many years. Gitai revisited the subject, 7 Up-style, in 1998's A House In Jerusalem (which follows at 5:50 AM) and in 2005's News From Home (which follows at 7:20 AM).
Monday 06/04/07
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Algie the Miner (1912 USA): I always though Algie was actually Biggles' best friend, but apparently he also spent as much time underground as above it. I can't tell you much about this two-reel comedy, but THIS Algie is a milquetoast trying to impress his future father in law with a display of spelunking masculinity. It features forgotten comic Billy Quirk in the title role and was directed by Alice Guy, the first woman to establish a career as a filmmaker. Look her up on IMDb-she has 249 films to her credit!