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5:00 PM Encore Westerns
Backtrack! (1969 USA): Here’s one of the stranger ‘movies’ ever produced for television. It wasn’t uncommon during the 1960s for older episodes of TV shows to be cobbled together into full-length features—The Man From Uncle pulled off the trick four times—but Backtrack! goes one step further: it combines episodes from two entirely different shows! Blending sequences from Laredo and The Virginian, the result is a surprisingly coherent and strangely enjoyable concoction about cowhand Trampas’ (Doug McClure) stymied efforts to acquire a Mexican bull. If you grew up watching either show, you’ll really enjoy the proceedings, but if you didn’t, it’s still worth watching for the cast, which (in addition to McClure) includes Neville Brand, Rhonda Fleming, Ida Lupino, L. Q. Jones, Fernando Lamas, Phil Carey, William Smith, and Royal Dano. Also airs 10/21 at 1:00 AM.

Thursday 10/21/10

8:05 PM The Movie Channel
Staunton Hill (2009 USA): This straight-to-video horror film is awful—it combines the worst elements of the torture porn and killer inbred hillbilly genres—but I just have to mention it briefly to acknowledge Anchor Bay’s audacious marketing effort. The studio sold the film with the tagline ‘Romero’s Staunton Hill’…without bothering to point out that the Romero is question wasn’t George Romero, but George’s son, Cameron. Though the acorn hasn’t fallen far from the tree, based on the evidence herein its unlikely to sprout into anything remotely impressive. Sorry, Cameron—leave the moviemaking to Daddy. Also airs at 11:05 PM.

Friday 10/22/10

4:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Rockabye (1933 USA): A woman tries to overcome the disadvantages of her working-class roots in this excellent early George Cukor women’s picture. Constance Bennett plays Judy, a gal from the wrong part of town who, through hard work and grit, has made a name for herself and become a Broadway star. Her elevated position in society has allowed her to adopt an orphan daughter, but she’s now being subjected to blackmail by former lover Al (Walter Pidgeon), who’s determined that if he can’t have her, she sure can’t have a child. Also on hand: Paul Lukas as Judy’s manager, Joel McCrea as the man of her dreams, and (in uncredited bit parts) Sterling Holloway, Edgar Kennedy, and Charles Middleton.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
X the Unknown (1956 GB): Hammer didn’t delve into science fiction much—their blood and butter was always the horror genre—but when they did, the results were generally good. X the Unknown, the tale of a dangerous Blob-like creature and it’s battle against the British Army on the moors of the Scottish Lowlands, was one of the studio’s earliest sci-fi outings and remains a firm fan favorite. Yank Dean Jagger stars as Adam Royston, an atomic scientist who theorizes that X is searching for, and absorbing, as much radioactive material as it can find. With the assistance of Police Inspector McGill (Leo McKern), Royston develops a plan to take down the amorphous entity, but it’s a risky endeavor which threatens to endanger the entire world. Jimmy Sangster’s screenplay is reasonably intelligent (well, at least as intelligent as you can hope when your subject is a radioactive blancmange), but the film suffers a little thanks to its cheap shot-in-Bray look. Nonetheless, I’ve watched X the Unknown on multiple occasions since I was a wee lad, and recommend it without hesitation.

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