TiVoPlex
By John Seal
June 15, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Wednesday 06/17/09
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 GB): I'm not a huge admirer of director Tony Richardson, but this marks the widescreen television premiere of his revisionist take on one of the British army's most embarrassing moments, and therefore earns a nod. For those of you unfamiliar with British history, the Charge took place in 1854, when Britain, France, and Ottoman Turkey faced off against the might of the Russian Empire during the Crimean War. The result of disastrous, ill-advised decision-making by Lord Lucan (here portrayed by the marvelously crusty Harry Andrews), it resulted in the near-destruction of an elite cavalry unit and inspired Alfred, Lord Tennyson to write a poem that British schoolboys would recite religiously for over a hundred years. Also featuring Trevor Howard as Lord Cardigan (who led the charge), John Gielgud as Lord Raglan (who shared blame with Lucan for the disaster), and Richardson's then-wife Vanessa Redgrave as one of the ladies observing the action from the sidelines, this is a film best appreciated when seen in its original aspect ratio. Look for five-year old Natasha Richardson, here making her screen debut as a flower girl at a wedding. The Charge of the Light Brigade is followed at 5:15 AM by Richardson's screen adaptation of Marguerite Duras' novel Sailor From Gibraltar (1967), also featuring Mrs. Richardson as well as Orson Welles and Jeanne Moreau; at 6:45 AM by the director's outback biopic Ned Kelly (1970), with Mick Jagger portraying the titular Aussie villain; and at 8:30 AM by Hamlet (1969), with Nicol Williamson as the slightly loopy Danish heir.
7:00 PM Sundance
Ten Canoes (2006 AUS): The first feature film to be shot almost entirely with Aboriginal dialogue, Ten Canoes is a mytho-poetic drama inspired by a famous 1930s photograph of Australian natives gathered around ten bark dugouts. Set a thousand years or so in the past, the film stars the legendary David Gulpilil as The Storyteller, a fount of knowledge and common sense who imparts useful advice to young buck Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil, son of guess who), who's eager to find him a woman — even if it means stealing his brother's wife. Directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, Ten Canoes is a beautiful, lazy daydream of a film, and will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the early films of Peter Weir or Nicholas Roeg's Walkabout.
Thursday 06/18/09
5:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Reunion in France (1942 USA): I'm a huge fan of director Jules Dassin, and whilst Reunion in France is far from his best effort, it still offers considerable entertainment value. Set during the Nazi occupation of Dassin's native France, the film stars Joan Crawford as a Parisian (!) woman hiding ditched RAF airman Pat Talbot (chickenhawk John Wayne!!) from Gestapo ogre Winkler (John Carradine!!!). And if that doesn't sound ridiculous enough, future Gilligan's Island star Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Howell) also shows up as the wife of a German officer. The story is utterly absurd, but Crawford is good, and as with all Dassin films, it looks terrific. Reunion in France is followed at 7:00 AM by A Letter for Evie (1946), a rather bizarre Dassin romantic comedy about a woman (Marsha Hunt) finding love via her job in a shirt factory.
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Bride Wore Black (1968 FRA): TCM goes full frontal Truffaut tonight, including amongst its offerings this Cornel Woolrich adaptation starring Jeanne Moreau as a widow out for revenge against a handful of men she holds responsible for the death of her husband, murdered on the church steps immediately following their marriage. It's stylish if atypical Truffaut, intended by its creator to serve as an homage to his idol, Alfred Hitchcock. I don't find The Bride Wore Black particularly Hitchcockian (perhaps not surprising considering the material — Woolrich was less concerned with MacGuffins than with the psycho-dramas resulting from the fickle finger of noir-era fate), but it's a very good thriller regardless. It's followed at 11:00 PM by Small Change (1976), one of Truffaut's many paeans to the magic and mischief of childhood.
Friday 06/19/09
1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Wild Child (1970 FRA): Truffaut made many great films, but for my money, this is the purest piece of art he ever created. Based on the life of "The Wild Boy of Aveyron", the film stars Truffaut himself as Dr. Jean Itard, an 18th century medico who takes charge of a feral boy (Jean-Pierre Cargol) found in the woods. The lad is buck naked, cannot speak, and scores less than zero in the social skills department, and becomes a scientific experiment for Itard, who is convinced that given time and patience, The Wild Child can be tamed and trained. Shot in black and white and a huge influence on David Lynch's The Elephant Man, it's a film I guarantee you'll never forget, though it probably won't settle that nature versus nurture debate you've been having with your significant other.
4:00 AM Sundance
Gretchen (2006 USA): Described with some accuracy as a female take on the Napoleon Dynamite meme, Gretchen features Courtney Davis as the title character, a less than socially adept high school student. Nerdy Gretchen has a crush on campus bad boy Ricky (John Merriman), but Mom (Becky Ann Baker) disapproves of the relationship and despatches her wayward progeny to the Shady Acres Center for Emotional Growth. Things go downhill from there, as our Gretch does a runner and searches out her estranged father — who she finds holding down a job at a burger joint. Gretchen is definitely cut from the same cloth as many other off-kilter indie character studies, but Davis is so good you'll forgive the film its genre flaws.
7:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Carey Treatment (1972 USA): James Coburn is the primary reason to watch this otherwise so-so feature based on a Michael Crichton novel. Coburn plays Dr. Peter Carey, a Boston physician enmeshed in intrigue revolving around a botched abortion that leaves the daughter of hospital administrator Randall (Dan O'Herlihy) dead, and professional colleague Tao (James Hong) accused of medical malfeasance. Granted time off by supervisor Sanderson (Regis Toomey), Carey is soon stalking the hospital wards in search of clues that will exonerate his friend — and uncovers more than he anticipates. It's all overheated stuff of the operatic soap variety, but if you're a Coburn fan, you have to make an appointment with The Carey Treatment.
Sunday 06/21/09
4:45 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Girl Can't Help It (1956 USA): Perhaps the greatest rock-and-roll film ever made, The Girl Can't Help It is fun from the opening credits to the final fade-out. Director Frank Tashlin got his start directing Looney Tunes shorts for Warner Bros, and his eye for the outrageous is on full display here, as is his ability to transfer cartoon-like qualities to his characters. Starring ‘50s sex bomb Jayne Mansfield as the unlikely protégé of music promoter Tom Ewell (excellent here as always), the film is a wonderful excuse to parade various rock-and-rollers across the screen in glorious Technicolor. Need to see Little Richard, Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, Eddie Cochran, Fats Domino, The Platters, and The Treniers (The Treniers, I tell you!) in full color? This is the best (and in some cases only) way to see them that way. Tashlin also co-wrote the screenplay with Herbert Baker, and its hilarious over-the-top characters include the wonderful Edmond O'Brien (overweight and elderly only a few years after being a matinee idol) as "Fats" Marty Murdock, the over-the-hill gangster who hires Ewell to turn Mansfield into a star, and Henry Jones as O'Brien's loyal-but-meek sidekick, Mousey. Perfect in almost every respect, The Girl Can't Help It is the ultimate rock flick, embodying in its 99 minutes everything you need to know about the music that changed the world.
6:45 AM IFC
Hearts and Minds (1974 USA): My earliest Oscar memory is of Sacheen Littlefeather. My SECOND earliest memory is the acceptance speech of Hearts and Minds producer-director Peter Davis, who, I seem to recall, was wearing a really hideous tuxedo and bowtie combination when he laid claim to the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 1975 Academy Awards. Davis, whose film was one of the first American films to tell the ugly truth about the Vietnam War, laid into American foreign policy with a zeal that would only be topped by Vanessa Redgrave's Zionism is racism speech a couple of years later. Must-see TV it was, as is his film, which remains a red-hot burst of righteous indignation that urgently needs to be seen again as we escalate our war in Afghanistan. The United States eagerly continues to maim and kill civilians around the world: we still haven't quite figured out the hearts and minds bit.
Monday 06/22/09
1:35 AM More Max
Crash Drive (1959 GB): I'm not quite convinced that the program guide is telling the truth regarding this one, but we'll give it a mention just in case. This low budget British programmer stars Dermot Walsh as Paul, a race-car driver paralyzed from the waist down in an horrendous track accident. Paul's wife Ann (Wendy Williams) still loves him, but can't quite come to terms with his new lot in life, whilst Mum (Grace Arnold) empties her piggy bank in a fruitless effort to "cure" her son. This Danziger Brothers production packs a fair amount into its 65-minute running time, but unless you're like me — an indiscreet fan of British film — you can probably give it a miss.
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Devil Commands (1940 USA): One of Boris Karloff's generally mediocre "mad doctor" films of the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, The Devil Command features Dear W. H. Pratt himself as Julian Blair, a good man driven insane by the death of his wife. Determined to communicate with her from her new abode in the great beyond, Blair retires to a remote old dark house and begins conducting weird experiments that threaten to delve into areas of knowledge best left unexplored by mortal man. A decent if unexceptional Columbia second feature helmed by a young Edward Dmytryk, The Devil Commands also features three-time Oscar nominee (and one time winner!) Anne Revere in a supporting role.