Box Office Prophets: TiVoPlex

TiVoPlex

By John Seal

June 17-23, 2003

From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or under-appreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PDT.

Tuesday 06/17/03

3am Turner Classic Movies
Are These Our Children? (1931 USA): Or to be more precise, Are These Our Teenagers? Of course, the social scientists had yet to discover that sub-species by the early 1930s, so for the purposes of this film juvenile delinquents were still considered children. It’s a forgotten RKO drama starring 22-year old Eric Linden in his film debut as a young man - sorry; child - who strays from the path of righteousness and ends up on Death Row. There’s plenty of pre-Code naughtiness for those who appreciate frisky dialogue and hemlines that are slightly too high for nice girls. Surprisingly, two of the film’s cast are still with us over 70 years after the fact: child actor Billie Butts and the Pittsburgh-born Roberta Gale. Perhaps they’d be up for a sequel called Are These Our Grandparents?

7:05am Showtime 3
The Swindle (1997 FRA-SUI): This deliberately paced caper film from director Claude Chabrol is a little thin in the story department but benefits from two terrific performances by stars Isabelle Huppert (still radiant at 42) and dapper leading man Michel Serrault. Too bad the film was released in the US with such a mundane moniker, as the original French title, Rien ne va Plus, is much more evocative of the high stakes atmosphere surrounding two all-star grifters trying to weasel their way out of a particularly tricky situation.

9:30pm Turner Classic Movies
The McKenzie Break (1970 GB-IRE): If you enjoyed The Great Escape but feel the need for another World War II prison break film, look no further. Whilst not up to the standards set by the aforementioned Steve McQueen epic, this is a perfectly serviceable and quite enjoyable film starring Brian Keith as an Irish officer sent to a British POW camp to suss out the escape plans of a German officer (Helmut Griem). Ian Hendry co-stars as the commander of the camp, there’s a decent Riz Ortolani score, and very attractive location photography in Ireland and Turkey.

Wednesday 06/18/03

1:15am IFC
The Perfect Murder (1988 IND): Not sure what to expect here; yes, this is the speculative pick of the week; but the film sounds like the Indian equivalent of a Lethal Weapon-style buddy movie, with Stellan Skarsgård as a visiting Swedish policeman assisting Naseerrudin Shah (Captain Nemo in the forthcoming League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) on a Bombay murder case. For real conspiracy theorists, please note that Skarsgård plays a character named Axel; perhaps they should have called this Malabar Hill Cop instead. Merchant-Ivory favorite Maddhur Jaffrey co-stars with her daughter Sakina, but there’s no truth to the rumor of a Bronson Pinchot cameo appearance as a gay sari salesman.

1:40am Encore Mystery
Shadow on the Window (1958 USA): Starring Jerry Mathers as the Beaver...sorry; as a shell-shocked child who witnesses an assault on his mother, Shadow on the Window is a decent B film with a solid cast and a good script. Jerry's dad, played stoically by Phil Carey, happens to be a police officer, and mom is Betty Garrett, well-cast as a woman under constant threat from three stereotypical teen bad boys. One of the miscreants is played by Corey Allen, who revisited the archetype in the similarly themed Key Witness (1960 USA), and the others are John Drew Barrymore; apparently channeling the spirit of an evil Dobie Gillis, and lovable lunk Gerald Sarracini. Beach Party director William Asher displayed his serious side here, and cinematographer Kit Carson got some nice set-ups across roof tops and through subway tunnels during the climactic chase scene. The film appears to have been shot in or around California’s Imperial Valley; if any readers can confirm that, I’d be much obliged.

Thursday 06/19/03

5pm Turner Classic Movies
Pakeezah (1971 IND): So far, TCM’s Bollywood festival has been a decidedly mixed bag. For every moving and dramatic - not to mention song-filled - film such as Mani Rathnam’s politically charged Bombay (1995), there’s been a turgid, unamusing (and much too long) romantic comedy like Dilwale Dulhania le Jayenge (also 1995). So approach with caution, but by all means, approach; you don’t want to miss the real goodies when they show up. As for this week’s offerings, I’m as much in the dark as I have been the two previous weeks. Up first tonight is Pakeezah, a drama about a woman (Meena Kumari) who dreams of true love whilst engaged in the down-at-heel occupation of dancing girl. The film has an outstanding reputation and was shot by expatriate German cinematographer Josef Wirsching. It’s followed at 7:30pm by 1961’s Junglee, one of the earliest Indian films to tackle the social problem of caste discrimination, and stars Shammi Kapoor and Shaira Banu as lovers from distinctly different class backgrounds. Finally, 1951’s Awaara airs at 10pm, directed by former Indian matinee idol Raj Kapoor, the brother of Shammi Kapoor. This one sounds a bit like a sub-continental film noir, with estrangement, familial missteps and revenge taking center stage. Awaara was a family affair all around, with Kapoor’s father Prithviraj appearing (as the father of his son’s character!) along with Raj’s son Shashi (appearing as Raj’s character as a child!).

11:30pm Encore Action
The Last Blitzkrieg (1958 USA) : This slightly off-kilter Columbia programmer stars Van Johnson as a Nazi double-agent who first wins the confidence of the American POWs he’s housed with and is then sent on a secret mission to infiltrate US forces during late 1944’s Ardennes offensive (more commonly known as The Battle of the Bulge). Johnson does his best as a bad guy, though the film makes an unreasonable stretch to make him sympathetic towards the end, and Dick York is quite good as an army sergeant thrust into a command position by the iniquitous actions of the German infiltrators. As always with a Sam Katzman production, the film tries to mask its low budget with plenty of stock footage, but it also benefits from location footage in The Netherlands. It’s no classic, but is a pleasant enough diversion that also features Kerwin Mathews in a rare performance as a really, really bad guy.

Friday 06/20/03

12:30am Showtime
Scrubbers (1982 GB): This brutal and unrelenting take on life in a women’s borstal is basically a female remake of 1979’s equally grim Scum, but it’s still worth a look for prison-movie fans. Chrissie Cotterill stars as a prisoner who escapes in order to visit her infant daughter, only to be caught and returned to the insalubrious surroundings of girls’ prison. The entire cast of young women is outstanding, including Fatal Microbes singer Holly Bane, Amanda York, and Kathy Burke. Hagrid fans should look for Robbie Coltrane in a non-speaking role as a prison employee. If you are a fan of the Ken Loach school of social realist filmmaking, this Mai Zetterling-directed movie will be right up your alley. Also airs at 3:30am.

5am More Max
Corvette Summer (1978 USA): Mark Hamill’s first film after starring as Luke Skywalker in 1977’s Star Wars, this PG-rated car flick features the Oakland-born thespian as a high-school auto enthusiast who hits to road to recover a stolen Corvette Stingray. Along the way he runs into woman-of-the-evening Annie Potts (her big-screen debut) in Las Vegas, and the two team up to find the missing motor. Also appearing is former Partridge Family member Danny Bonaduce, and keep your eyes peeled for movie bad guys Brion James and Dick Miller in small roles.

9pm IFC
The Honeymoon Killers (1969 USA): Based on the true story of a misfit couple who took advantage of elderly (and generally well-off) widows, The Honeymoon Killers is finally due for a decent DVD restoration courtesy of The Criterion Collection. It’s being released in late July, but if you can’t wait till then, here it is on IFC. Tony Lo Bianco and Shirley Stoler play unlikely lovers masquerading as a brother and sister. Lo Bianco preys on recently bereaved older women, ultimately marrying them and then moving his “sister” into the household where, after a brief period of marital bliss, she murders the new brides. Starkly shot in black-and-white by Oliver Wood, who has since, erm, distinguished himself with films such as The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990 USA) and The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002 USA), this is a noir classic. Also airs 6/21 at 3am.

Saturday 06/21/03

1:30am Turner Classic Movies
A Bullet for Joey (1955 USA): The Cold War meets the Mafia in this noir-thriller about an exiled tough guy (George Raft) smuggled back to the States in an effort to kidnap a nuclear scientist (George “father of Micky” Dolenz) and transport him behind the Iron Curtain. The film was co-written by Oakland-born Daniel Mainwaring, who went on to write The George Raft Story (1961 USA), and A.I. Bezzerides, whose next film was the brilliant Kiss Me Deadly (1955 USA). A Bullet for Joey can’t come close to matching that Robert Aldrich classic, but it’s a decent indie with a great cast, including Edward G. Robinson, Audrey Totter, and Peter Van Eyck.

2:30am Sundance
An Act of Conscience (1997 USA): This documentary about tax protesters isn’t about the back-to-the-land Posse Comitatus types who hunt bear and print their own currency. Instead, the film focuses on a Massachusetts couple who, beginning in 1979, chose to withhold tax payments to protest military funding. Twelve years later, the ever-vigilant IRS finally cracked down on them, seizing their home and selling it to another family. An Act of Conscience investigates the ethical and legal quandaries we all face when we realize that some of our tax dollars are funding things we can’t square with our own moral compass.

4am Sundance
Won’t Anybody Listen (2001 USA): The rock band NC-17 (dreadful name, lads) are featured in this documentary about the brutal realities of the music business. Fronted by a pair of Michigan brothers who relocated to Southern California in search of fame, glory, and money, NC-17 soon found themselves being scammed by their record company, pursued by the IRS (hello!), and generally living a life bereft of the glamour they anticipated. Gang of Four member Hugo Burnham inexplicably shows up as one of the interviewees. If you’ve ever dreamed of fronting your own rock band, this film will swiftly disabuse you of the notion.

Sunday 06/22/03

12:55pm Sundance
East Palace West Palace (1996 CHI): The plight of homosexuals in modern China is investigated by this film about a man under arrest for cruising Tiananmen Square. The man (A Lan) falls for his arresting officer (Jun Hu), and through the course of a lengthy overnight interrogation, ultimately makes his feelings known. Director Yuen Zhang was placed under house arrest for making this film, which not too surprisingly was suppressed by the Chinese government. This being a Chinese film, don’t expect anything too spicy (or too exciting), but this is a bold attempt to address the repression of gays in a country willing to liberalize the economy but unwilling to extend that liberalization to the everyday lives of its citizens.

11pm Turner Classic Movies
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973 USA): Okay, I have to admit I’m including this simply for its title, which has puzzled and fascinated me since the film’s initial release when I was a pre-teen. I never got around to seeing it then, but I’m finally going to find out what cat dancing is, and whether or not the dreadful animated film Cats Don’t Dance (1997 USA) had it wrong all along. Starring Burt Reynolds, Lee J. Cobb, Sarah Miles, and George Hamilton, this western directed by Richard Sarafian (responsible for 1971’s terrific road movie Vanishing Point) also features Jay Silverheels in a small role. Not yet available on DVD, the film’s 2.35:1 aspect ratio will be widely seen for the first time since its initial theatrical run.

Monday 06/23/03

12:35am Showtime Extreme
The Assassin (1993 HK): This extremely violent martial arts film stars Max Mok as a farmer whose love for Rosamund Kwan causes problems in a small Chinese village. Mok, after some rather nasty on-screen torture, is banished by the locals but becomes a mercenary at the behest of the emperor. After a lengthy spate of murder committed on behalf of his new benefactor, Mok meets up again with his beloved and begins to question the morality of his role as a hired assassin. This film is several notches above your average wire-fu epic, but if your exposure to Hong Kong film is limited to Jackie Chan movies, be warned that the violence in this film is graphic and unrelenting.

6am The Movie Channel
The Apple (1980 BRD): Also airs at 9am.

I try not to subscribe to the so-bad-it's good camp, but The Apple is truly one of the most bizarre movies you will ever see, an ineptly-made musical with unlikable stars and positively dreadful songs, set design, and costuming. A cross betweenFame and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it's Showgirls-bad, and just as entertaining. It's one of the short-lived "New Wave musical" genre that began with Times Square (1980 USA) and died with Breaking Glass (1983 GB). The story takes place in the far-flung future...er, 1994, where two young Canadians are competing in the Worldvision Song Contest. Take THAT, Eurovision! They cross paths with an unscrupulous music-industry bigwig, a man with the astonishingly clever name Mr. Boogalew, played by all-purpose bad guy Vladek Sheybal, a Polish actor who had started his career in high-quality films like Kanal (1957 POL) and Return from the Ashes(1965 GB). There are also embarrassing career moments for Joss Ackland, Miriam Margolyes, and '50s torch singer Yma Sumac(!). If you couldn’t keep your eyes off 1987’s Garbage Pail Kids Movie, you’ll fall in love with The Apple.