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Saturday 12/10/11

1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Slams (1973 USA): Here’s a real find: a forgotten black action semi-classic, long unaired on television and never available on home video. Ex-football star Jim Brown stars as Curtis Hook, a con doing time in the big house for robbery. His fellow inmates are eager to help Curtis escape, but there’s a catch: he must reveal where the proceeds of his last job - a cool $1.5 million - are stashed, and to complicate matters further the hiding place is scheduled for imminent demolition (shades of Thuderbolt and Lightfoot). Amongst the supporting cast is Ted ‘Lurch’ Cassidy as cellmate Glover, Judy Pace as Curtis’s long-suffering gal pal Iris, and Dick Miller as a taxi driver. Well, it was either that or a bit part as a prison guard, I suppose! Sadly, The Slams seems likely to air in pan and scan tonight, but this is a case where beggars definitely can’t be choosers.

9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Bomba and the Hidden City (1950 USA): Bomba number four sees our hero (as always, Johnny Sheffield) try to restore lovely Princess Leah (Carrie Fisher - er, sorry, Sue England) to the throne stolen from her by dastardly usurper Hassan (Paul Guilfoyle). It’s everything you expect from a Monogram bill-filler, and less.

Monday 12/12/11

5:15 AM HBO Signature
Que Pena tu Vida (2009 CHI): I haven’t seen this Chilean comedy yet, but according to IMDb it was released on the US festival circuit as Fuck My Life. I’m having a hard time believing this. Is it legal to release a film in the United States with the ‘F’ word in the title? And no, SWF doesn’t count.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
A Christmas Carol (1951 GB): Well, that took long enough. I’ve waited ten years for TCM to re-air this version of Charles Dickens’ Yuletide classic, and now, thankfully, the long wait is over. This is the definitive version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with Alastair Sim perfectly cast as Scrooge, Michael Hordern as Marley’s Ghost, Mervyn Johns and Hermione Baddeley as the Cratchits, and Hattie Jacques as Mrs. Fezziwig. You know the story, so no precis is necessary - just take my word that this is better than that horrible version with Kelsey Grammer.

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