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10:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
Alaska Passage (1959 USA): Super rarity alert! Here’s the first airing in eons of this independently shot, but released by Fox, Cinemascope adventure (sadly, Fox is airing it pan and scan today, but perhaps a widescreen print is in the offing). Directed by the prolific Edward Bernds in between Queen of Outer Space and Return of the Fly, Alaska Passage stars The Giant Spider Invasion’s Bill Williams as a trucker battling bad weather, crooked businessmen, and the Palin family in the wilds of The Last Frontier. No word on whether or not he sparks an international incident by straying across the border into Russia.

9:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Coward (1915 USA): Forgotten for decades until it was included on Image’s excellent Civil War Films of the Silent Era DVD, William Ince’s The Coward makes its TCM debut this evening. Written and directed by Ince, the film relates Rebel soldier Frank Winslow’s (Charles Ray) struggle to overcome his innate fear of fighting. When Frank finds himself behind enemy lines and in possession of vital secret information that may turn the tide of war in favor of the Confederacy, he realizes he must overcome his ‘cowardice’ and return to his unit. Like many Civil War features of the time, The Coward is resolutely pro-South in outlook, but at least Ince had an excuse: he’d already made at least one pro-North film, The Drummer of the 8th (also on the same DVD), two years earlier. Fair and balanced!

Thursday 11/11/10

9:45 PM Showtime Extreme
A Woman of Mystery (1958 GB): Another of those things that make you go hmmm, Woman of Mystery seems an unlikely candidate for Showtime Extreme. When it comes to potential screenings of rare titles, however, the TiVoPlex default is always set to "better safe than sorry," so just in case, here it is. A quota quickie from the Danziger Brothers, A Woman of Mystery was penned by future Avengers creator Brian Clemens and stars Dermot Walsh as an intrepid newsman trying to get the scoop about a suicidal hat-check girl. Look for 25-year old Michael Caine in one of his first (uncredited) screen appearances.

Friday 11/12/10

11:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Galaxy of Terror (1981 USA): We’re not quite at the point where Fred Olen Ray meets Turner Classic Movies, but we’re getting closer ever day! Galaxy of Terror is a campy trash classic starring Happy Days’ Erin Moran as intergalactic empath Alluma, sent by The Planet Master to explore the treacherous planet Morganthus. What she finds is a mysterious pyramid and some horrifying Alien-style creatures. Also aboard the good ship Quest are Grace Zabriskie as the expedition’s captain, Ray Walston as ship’s cook, Zalman King, Robert Englund, and Sid Haig as crewmen, and the eternally boring Edward (not Eddie) Albert. And let’s not overlook the contributions of production designer and second unit director James Cameron, another man who can thank Roger Corman for his career (yes, this is a Corman production). Galaxy of Terror recently arrived on Blu-Ray and makes its widescreen television debut this evening.

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