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11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Wife For a Night (1952 ITA): A young Gina Lollabrigida, still a year away from international stardom, takes the lead in this periodically amusing sex farce from director Mario Camerini. She portrays Ottavia, the plain jane (!) wife of poor 17th century composer Enrico (Armando Francioli), who's hoping to ingratiate himself with the local nobility. When Enrico's music finally gets its day in court, he decides to hire a sultry courtesan (Nadia Gray) to masquerade as his wife, and win him a few brownie points with Count D'Origo (Gino Cervi) in the process. Based on a play by Anna Bonacci, Wife For a Night was remade by Billy Wilder in 1964 as Kiss Me Stupid, but as is usually the case, the original version is superior, if deeply obscure.

Monday 01/12/09

11:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Chairman (1969 USA): Gregory Peck stars in this somewhat stodgy Cold War thriller, which makes a rare widescreen television appearance this morning on Fox. He plays John Hathaway, an industrial spy sent to Red China to steal a newly developed enzyme that promises to revolutionize food science. What he hasn't been told is that his masters in Foggy Bottom have implanted a tiny explosive device in his brain, which will be detonated should his mission fail! Naturally, things don't go well, and Hathaway flees to the Sino-Soviet border in hopes of escaping...but the clock is inexorably ticking down. Peck was too old at this point to convincingly pull off such derring-do, but the film is saved by an excellent Jerry Goldsmith score and a surprisingly effective turn by unknown Conrad Yama as Chairman Mao.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
No Greater Glory(1934 USA): Frank Borzage has come in for some critical re-appraisal of late, and here's one of his rarer efforts for our delectation. Based on a novel by Ferenc Molnar, No Greater Glory relates the tale of two competing street gangs in pre-Great War Germany. The Paul Street Boys are led by Boka (Jimmy Butler), and are looking to upstage the older and wiser Red Shirts, commanded by Ats (Frankie Darro). The film's moral compass is Nemescek (George Breakston), a weedy youngster who adores Boka and finds himself caught up in the dangerous street battles that periodically break out between the two outfits. Beautifully filmed by Joseph August, this isn't first rank Borzage, but should certainly be considered essential viewing by anyone enamored of Man's Castle or Seventh Heaven.

7:00 PM Sundance
Secrecy (2008 USA): This essential documentary had a blink and you missed it theatrical run last autumn and now makes its television debut, where it will hopefully earn a much wider audience. Examining our government's love affair with secrecy, subterfuge, and classified information, the film is an attempt to wake up Americans to the dangers inherent in keeping citizenry in the dark about the most critical issues of the day. Put simply, our leaders — of either major party — will lie, and lie, and lie again, all in the name of "national security", whilst burying the truth beneath layers of patriotic drivel and jingoistic diversions. Every concerned citizen needs to see this film.

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