TiVoPlex
By John Seal
June 17, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 6/18/13
1:10 AM Encore Love Stories
The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965 GB): Inspired by the critical and boxoffice success of 1963’s Tom Jones, filmmakers took up the cause of 18th century fiction and proceeded to churn out a plethora of inferior adaptations. Amongst the crowd is this big screen version of Daniel Defoe’s novel The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders – and though I’ve never read the book, I suspect the film doesn’t do it justice. Directed by Terence Young, it features Kim Novak as the titular young woman of low breeding who uses her body to charm her way to the top of English society. As one might suspect, the focus of the film is on her bedroom adventures, including those with thief-with-a-heart-of-gold Jemmy (Richard Johnson) with whom she eventually absconds to America. The film is silly fluff but beautifully shot in Shropshire by Ted Moore, and features a decent supporting cast, including Angela Lansbury, Leo McKern, and Lilli Palmer. Unavailable on DVD, The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flander will be done no favors by what will probably be a pan-and-scan screening, but is rare enough to warrant a look.
4:50 AM Encore
The Song Remains the Same (1973 GB): Decades after the fact, Led Zeppelin's massive popularity confounds me more than ever – and this film does nothing for their legacy. Except for Stairway to Heaven and the horrendously misogynistic Whole Lotta Love, Zep sticks to a pattern: Jimmy Page flails, Robert Plant moans, John Paul Jones plays jazzy riffs, and John Bonham solos for fifteen minutes, during which the film consists of poorly mounted "fantasy" sequences. The only fun stuff is the backstage footage where we get to see the king of bombast, manager Peter Grant, abusing stadium employees. I'd need a rider's worth of mind-altering substances to enjoy any of this monotonous and tedious "documentary", but if you’re a Zep fan you’ll probably love every moment – especially as it’s been well over ten years since it last showed up on the small screen. Also airs at 7:50 AM.
5:30 AM HBO Signature
Espacio Interior (2012 MEX-ESP): Kuno Becker stars as a kidnap victim in this spare but effective feature from first-time director Kai Parlange Tessmann. Becker plays Lazaro, a man held for ransom in a tiny room with a window, a toilet, four walls, and nothing else. Espacio Interior examines the physical and emotional toll this "interior space" takes on him – not least when he suddenly finds himself free again. This unusual drama should be avoided if you’re not keen on lingering shots of grotty commodes.
Wednesday 6/19/13
3:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Thirteenth Chair (1937 USA): Did you miss this one when it aired last month? I know I did. Here’s what I wrote about it prior to that screening:
Not to be confused with either 1919’s or 1929’s The Thirteenth Chair (the former is lost, the latter one of Tod Browning’s more obscure efforts), this is a very entertaining MGM second feature starring Dame May Whitty as Madame La Grange, a medium hired by the police to assist in a murder investigation. How does she help? Why, by holding a seance, of course – one to which a number of suspects and red herrings have been invited so that Inspector Marney (Lewis Stone) can ferret out the culprit. Instead of solving the crime, however, the seance muddies the waters, as one of the participants ends up dead when the lights unexpectedly go out. A wealth of familiar faces enliven the film, including Elisa Landi, Holmes Herbert, and Henry Daniell.
Thursday 6/20/13
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Untamed Youth (1957 USA): It’s Mamie Van Doren day on TCM – and I must admit, those are words I never imagined I’d ever write. The blonde bombshell was kind of a big deal for a few years back in the middle of the 20th century, when she carved out a decent career picking up the table scrapings left behind by Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe. Jayne and Marilyn are, of course, long gone, but Mamie’s still with us and her films are some of the period’s campiest. The evening begins with Untamed Youth, in which Mamie plays Penny Lowe, a foolish youngster who goes skinny dipping with sister Jane (Lori Nelson) and lives to regret it when an arrest for indecent exposure leaves them in the care of prison-industrial complex magnate Tropp (John Russell), who promptly assigns his two newest inmates to field work. It’s not a stretch to claim this film was the prototype for many a Roger Corman and Jess Franco women-in-prison film to come, moving lady inmates outside the walled confines filmgoers had grown accustomed to in earlier films like Caged (1950). It’s tame stuff in comparison, of course, but thoroughly entertaining (and with Van Doren and Nelson still alive, crying out for a sequel). Untamed Youth is followed at 6:30 PM by 1959’s Richard Matheson-penned The Beat Generation, featuring Mamie as a woman helping to track down a rapist; at 8:15 PM by Born Reckless (1958), a rather bizarre western-musical hybrid; at 9:45 PM by Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1958), a somewhat tepid crime drama in which Van Doren plays a moll; at 11:00 PM by Vice Raid (1960), featuring our heroine as a bad girl trying to get a good cop in trouble; at 12:15 AM by the legendary and self-explanatory Sex Kittens Go to College (1960); and at 2:00 AM by the brilliant, groundbreaking pseudo-noir Girl In Black Stockings (1957).
6:35 PM The Movie Channel
Perfect Sense (2011 GB-DEN-SWE-IRE): Last week we had The Perfect Host, so this week it must be time for Perfect Sense, a unique sci-fi effort from director David Mackenzie (Young Adam). Set in Scotland, the film stars Ewan McGregor and Eva Green as Michael and Susan, lovers beset by an encroaching epidemic that leaves its victims quite literally senseless. Michael’s a chef, whilst Susan is an epidemiologist researching the disease, and her knowledge – and foreknowledge of what lays ahead – lends the film particular emotional power. As much love story as chiller, Perfect Sense won the Best New British Feature award at the prestigious Edinburgh International Film Festival. Also airs at 9:35 PM.
Saturday 6/22/13
10:25 AM Fox Movie Channel
Man In the Middle (1964 GB-USA): Directed by Guy Hamilton and penned by mildly angry young man Keith Waterhouse (Billy Liar, A Kind of Loving), Man In the Middle stars Robert Mitchum as Barney Adams, a military lawyer defending a fellow officer charged with murdering a British soldier. The difficulty: there’s no question that defendant Winston (Keenan Wynn) did the deed. It’s up to Adams to discover why Lieutenant Winston did what he did, and to offer him the best possible defense before the anticipated guilty verdict and death penalty. Set and partly shot in India, this is a solid drama with a super supporting cast, including Barry Sullivan, Trevor Howard, Sam Wanamaker, Alexander Knox, and Glenn Beck. No, not that Glenn Beck, silly - the Canadian one.
1:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Bhowani Junction (1956 USA-GB): Want more India as seen through the eyes of Western filmmakers? Consider this George Cukor-helmed end-of-Empire epic starring Ava Gardner as Victoria Jones, a half-breed unsettled by looming Indian independence. Currently serving in the British Army, Victoria finds herself in trouble with rapacious soldier McDaniel (Lionel Jeffries), leading to tragedy and a flaming hot love affair with Colonel Savage (Stewart Granger), an officer tasked with putting down a local rebellion. Will Victoria buy British and stick with Savage, or will she incline towards Indian and stay loyal to the land of her birth? Bhowani Junction is far better than my brief precis suggests, featuring an intelligent screenplay, excellent widescreen cinematography courtesy Freddie Young, and a really fine performance from Gardner. The film loses some credibility by featuring white actors (Abraham Sofaer, Peter Illing, Marne Maitland) in Indian roles, but that was a common crime in the 1950s and shouldn’t deter you from giving it a look.
Sunday 6/23/13
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Kean (1924 FRA): I’ve never seen this silent drama, which means, of course, I’m super excited to note its appearance on TCM this evening. The film stars legendary Russian thespian Ivan Mozzhukhin (aka Mosjoukine) as Edmund Kean, a 19th century Shakespearian actor who offended high society by wooing a woman above his station and is best remembered (if at all) for coining the phrase “dying is easy, comedy is hard” on his deathbed. At 142 minutes in length, this could be a bit of a slog, but I’m up for the challenge – especially considering the film has never previously been broadcast on American television.
Monday 6/24/13
Midnight Turner Classic Movies
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939 JAP): More tales of thespic bad behavior are on tap this morning via this excellent early effort from Kenji Mizoguchi (Ugetsu, Sansho the Bailiff). This time the tortured artiste is a struggling kabuki actor named Kiku (Shotaro Hanayagi), who takes out his frustrations on spouse Otoku (Kakuko Mori). Their relationship would have been considered clinically co-dependent in the 1990s, with Otoku’s frequently slavish attitude towards her man matched only by Kiku’s clueless narcissism and emotional cruelty. Beautifully lensed by Yozo Fuji and Shigeto Miki, this is widely considered one of the best of the pre-war Mizoguchis and one of Japanese cinemas all time masterpieces.