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9:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1959 GB): Jayne Mansfield's career was on the slide by the time she appeared in this British-made comedy-western helmed by (of all people) Raoul Walsh. La Mansfield plays Kate, love interest for Brit expatriate Jonathan Tibbs (Kenneth More), whose unintentionally heroic exploits aboard a stagecoach have led to employment as chief lawman of the titular Old West town. Naturally, Tibbs is not REALLY up to the task, but when the local cowboys and Indians decide to put him to the test, his deadpan drollery serves him well and the folks of Fractured Jaw are well pleased with the results. The first western shot in Spain, The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw co-stars Bruce Cabot, Sid James, Henry Hull, and Robert Morley: as for Jayne, things just got worse from here, her future projects consisting primarily of low budget European films predicated more on her physical attributes than her comedic talents.

6:30 PM HBO 2
Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi (2009 USA): Ajmal Naqshbandi made his living dangerously: he helped western journalists establish contact with Taliban insiders, enabling intrepid scribes to get the scoop on more risk-averse corporate writers. One of his employers was Nation writer Christian Parenti, who traveled to Afghanistan in 2007 to try and gain access to euphonious Taliban bigwig Mullah Dadullah. Instead, Parenti got a story he'd rather have done without: Islamic fundamentalists kidnapped and murdered Naqshbandi, whose tragic fate is related in this gruelling doc from filmmaker Ian Olds (Occupation Dreamland). An award-winner at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, Fixer is not for the faint of heart, and features some extremely unpleasant excerpts from the Taliban's own (non-award winning) videos. Also airs at 9:30 PM.

Thursday 08/20/09

7:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
On the Threshold of Space (1956 USA): If you prefer your space opera a little more realistic and a little less reliant on bug-eyed monsters, you may want to check out this Fox feature, which makes a very rare television appearance this morning. Guy Madison stars as Jim Hollenbeck, a doctor experimenting in the new field of "space medicine". He's ably assisted by John Hodiak, Marty Milner, Warren Stevens, and Dean Jagger, and there's love interest on hand in the shape of Virginia Leith. It's all shot in color and in Cinemascope, though sadly this initial airing on Fox is in pan and scan.

5:00 PM IFC
Inglorious Bastards (1978 ITA): Is there a movie I've been looking forward to LESS this summer than Quentin Tarantino's remake of this Enzo Castellari actioner? Besides G.I. Joe, that is. Perhaps it's just me, but the idea of American troops taking extra-legal liberties and submitting their victims to incalculable pain and torture cuts just a little bit close to the post-9/11 bone. Yuck. Anyway, the original, correctly spelled version of Inglorious Bastards is much sillier and much less ethically questionable. The Hammer, Fred Wiliamson, takes the lead as Fred Canfield, an American private who somehow managed to integrate the United States Army years before Harry Truman did. Fred is one of a group of escaped POWs who find themselves tasked with stealing a V2 rocket and handing it over to the Maquis, who presumably intend to paint it to resemble a baguette, dress it in a stripy shirt, and point it at the Fuhrerbunker. Fred's lovely and charming assistants include Lt. Yeager (Bo Svenson), killer Tony (Peter Hooten), petty criminal Nick (Michael Pergolani), and conshy Berle (Jackie Basehart), and they all sport their standard ‘70s hair-don'ts throughout the film. It's tremendous fun, and won't make you feel like taking a shower afterwards. Also airs at 10:15 PM.

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