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Thursday 3/11/10

2:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Police Dog Story (1961 USA): Director Edward L. Cahn sure knew how to churn ‘em out: Police Dog Story is one of 11 films the man helmed (at the not so tender age of 62!) in 1961 alone. B-movie queen Merry Anders stars as Terry Dayton, a journalist writing a specialty piece about Wolf, a stray dog adopted by the police and turned into a super K-9 trained to smash the mob. Officer Edwards (James Brown...no, not THAT James Brown) is in charge of Wolf, and the team are soon hot on the trail of the scumbags responsible for the death of fellow cop Dana (Barry Kelley). As the film's poster breathlessly declares, "man's best friend becomes killer's worst enemy!"

5:00 PM Sundance
Rescue Dawn (2006 USA-GER): I'm gonna get on my knees and pray...I won't get fooled again! On at least two previous occasions, I've reported pending widescreen airings of this film on Showtime 3. They never panned out, but now that Rescue Dawn is appearing on Sundance, the odds are increasingly (though still not overwhelmingly) in favor of a letterboxed broadcast. So, in case you missed one of those recommendations, here's what I wrote about the film: German bad boy Werner Herzog briefly dipped his toe into the mainstream with this exciting film about American prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict. Christian Bale stars as Dieter Dengler, a German immigrant who joins the US Air Force, only to get shot down whilst flying a combat mission over Laos. Imprisoned and tortured by the Viet Cong, Dieter meets fellow POWs Duane (Steve Zahn) and Gene (Jeremy Davies), and though the three are desperate to escape, they disagree vehemently about how to do so. Filmed in lush jungle reminiscent of Herzog's Aguirre the Wrath of God and FItzcarraldo, Rescue Dawn is a fictional representation of the events depicted in the director's earlier documentary, Little Dieter Learns to Fly. Also airs at 11:50 PM.

Friday 3/12/10

3:00 AM HBO 2
The Queen and I (2008 SWE): Communist filmmaker Nahid Sarvestani fled Iran shortly after the 1979 revolution when it became clear to her that the new regime was going to be no more friendly than the Shah's towards secular leftists. She settled in Sweden, and thirty years later met Queen Farah, the widow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. This documentary examines the relationship that developed between these unlikely comrades, who, though miles apart ideologically, still share a deep and abiding love for their homeland. Though the film ultimately feels like a bit of a puff piece - Sarvestani couldn't bring herself to ask her friend the really tough questions - it's still interesting stuff. Also airs at 6:00 AM.

3:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
633 Squadron (1964 GB): Here's a World War II flag-waver that always seemed to be on TV when I was a kid, but rarely gets shown these days. Cliff Robertson stars as RAF Wing Commander Roy Grant, a Canadian flyer tasked with a tricky mission: to destroy a Nazi rocket fuel factory in Norway. The factory is well-guarded, perhaps even bomb-proof - but the brave lads of 633 Squadron are determined to succeed! If the plot sounds familiar, it should, because it's quite similar to that of The Dam Busters (1955), a superior aerial adventure about the RAF's attempts to destroy the Mohne and Eder dams in Germany's industrial heartland. A fine supporting cast - including Harry Andrews, Donald Houston, and Maria Perschy - and some genuine Mosquito fighter-bombers, however, make 633 Squadron a must-see for war movie buffs.

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