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Wednesday 04/20/11

12:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Uninvited (1944 USA): It’s often hard to pin down the particular moment when you tumbled head over heels for something, but I blame The Uninvited for inculcating my deep and abiding love of horror films. I was introduced to the film by my mother, a huge movie buff who also enjoyed a good ghost story now and then (as long as it was atmospheric and not bloody). The Uninvited stars Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey as siblings who discover that, though they got a pretty good deal on their new home — a remote seaside mansion on the Dorsetshire coast — they also got something they didn’t expect: the ghost of a young woman who jumped off a nearby cliffside. The wrinkle, though, is that there’s a second ghost stalking the premises...and its intentions are less than honorable. Directed by Lewis Allen (who would work again with Milland on 1948’s So Evil My Love, which aired on TCM last week), The Uninvited may be very old-fashioned and not as frightening as it was when I was eight, but remains a must-see for any fan of supernatural cinema.

2:45 PM Flix
Jennifer Eight (1992 USA): You won’t find me recommending many films starring Oprah - oops, Uma - Thurman, and she isn’t much good in this one either. Nonetheless, this is a surprisingly good suspense film, well written and directed by Bruce Robinson, the man behind How to Get Ahead In Advertising and Withnail and I, two of the best British films of the ‘80s. Dare I suggest this film would have been even better in a British setting? Suppositions aside, Andy Garcia is decent enough as the fish out of water L.A. cop thrust into a murder investigation in a backwater town. He’s ably supported by local policeman Lance Henriksen, who delivers his usual fine performance in a role somewhat larger and more prestigious than the ones he’s used to getting. Atmospherically shot by Conrad Hall, Jennifer Eight is strongly recommended to suspense fans who can cope with Ms. Thurman playing a blind girl. It’s screening this afternoon in its correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

Thursday 04/21/11

2:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Devil’s Doorway (1950 USA): An unusual Anthony Mann-helmed western, Devil’s Doorway stars one of Hollywood’s most boring leading men — white bread Robert Taylor — as a Native American Civil War veteran with paleface problems. Taylor is Vance Poole, a Billy Yank who returns to the old homestead after the end of hostilities with dreams of living a quiet, peaceful life. No such luck, of course: the local Caucasians are eager to claim Vance’s verdant farmland for themselves and don’t seem to understand why that might present a problem. Complications and hints of interracial romance ensue. In all fairness to Taylor, he’s actually pretty good here, and Mann brings a level of social commentary to the film unusual for oaters of the time (though, thanks in large part to Mann’s efforts, this was about to change). A solid supporting cast, including Rhys Williams, Louis Calhern, and Dabbs Greer, provides extra viewer value.

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