TiVoPlex
By John Seal
March 14, 2011
7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Viva Maria! (1965 FRA-ITA): Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau co-star in this fluffy but enjoyable faux western directed by Louis Malle. It’s actually the story of two Marias, one a vaudeville performer (Bardot) the other the daughter of a revolutionary (Moreau), thrown together in unusual circumstances. The two inadvertently invent the strip-tease and then get mixed up in a revolution being led by George Hamilton. Yes, George Hamilton! It’s all completely ridiculous, but looks great in widescreen (thanks to Henri Decae), has a super score (thanks to Georges Delerue), and co-stars the magnificent Claudio Brook as stage magician The Great Rodolfo. (Interestingly but probably apropos of nothing, Brook and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere were both frequent collaborators with Luis Bunuel.)
Saturday 3/19/11
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Hold That Hypnotist (1956 USA): Bowery Boys series entry number 44 features Sach and Duke (Huntz Hall and Stanley Clements) doing their best to imitate The Search for Bridey Murphy. When Sach gets hypnotized, he regresses back to his past life as a tax collector — and his subconscious knowledge of the location of a long-lost treasure map naturally draws unwanted attention from the usual array of bad guys. Look for AIP regular Mel Welles in full pirate regalia as Blackbeard!
2:30 PM IFC
The Calm (1976 POL): Regular readers with an eye for detail will have noticed the recent absence of IFC from the TiVoPlex. That’s due to the channel’s recent decision to interrupt programming with commercials, a slippery slope down which Bravo slid many years ago. Yes, there was a time when Bravo was a good channel! Consequently, IFC is off the TiVoPlex radar...unless they offer something so tantalizing that even I’ll put up with the annoying sales pitches. Such is the case with The Calm, a forgotten Krzysztof Kieslowski feature shot for Polish television. The film stars Jerzy Stuhr as Antek Gralek, a young man newly released from prison and eager to start life afresh in the construction trade. Unfortunately, his employer is a corrupt son of a gun who takes advantage of his union workers, who, in turn, are more than willing to go on strike. Antek tries to mediate, but his efforts at compromise earn him naught but disdain from one side and a good beating from the other. If you tune in expecting something on a par with the director’s Three Colors trilogy, you’ll be disappointed — if you tune in expecting something a bit more Ken Loach-y, you’ll be well pleased. Even if someone tries to sell you a car after the second reel.
11:05 PM The Movie Channel
Pig Hunt (2008 USA): Let’s be honest...who can resist a movie about a giant killer boar? The one in Pig Hunt makes the oinkers in 1972’s Pigs pale in comparison. Shot in beautiful Boonville, California (with a brief sojourn in San Francisco’s Haight district), Pig Hunt is a cut above the usual giant killer animal fare. A very tasty cut, best served with apple sauce. Also airs 3/20 at 2:05 AM.
Monday 3/21/11
12:45 PM Encore Mystery
Games (1967 USA): Here’s a film that used to air on television all the time, but hasn’t been seen much since the '80s. Directed by Curtis Harrington (Night Tide), Games stars James Caan and Katharine Ross as Paul and Jennifer Montgomery, a bored couple looking to spice up their marriage. Enter door-to-door salesperson Lisa Schindler (Simone Signoret), an older woman willing to supply them with the spice they crave: some dangerous and arguably kinky "games" that will entertain and delight Paul and Jennifer. And that they do — until one such game leads to the death of a delivery boy. Whoops. Co-starring Don Stroud, Estelle Winwood, and Ian Wolfe, Games is a first-rate thriller that will appeal to fans of Antony Shaffer’s Sleuth. Too bad it’s (probably) airing in pan and scan; let’s hope a TCM broadcast is forthcoming at some point.
7:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Caught (1949 USA): Robert Ryan plays a thinly disguised Howard Hughes in this excellent melodrama from French director Max Ophuls. Ryan is Smith Ohlrig (great name!), a multi-millionaire with an eye for beautiful model Leonora (Barbara Bel Geddes). Leonora is a nice girl, and she initially rebuffs him, but he wears her down and talks her into marriage. Big mistake: she soon discovers Smith prefers her as a trophy wife, and a pregnant one at that. Leonora leaves him and turns to Doctor Quinada (James Mason) for support, but Ohlrig is nothing if not persistent and is determined to get her back — no matter the cost. You can never go wrong with Ryan as a twitchy neurotic, and Bel Geddes isn’t bad either. Caught was a flop at the box office, which no doubt pleased Hughes no end.
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
