3:10am Encore Action
The Bandit of Zhobe (1959 GB): Welcome to another edition of Low Expectations Theater, where we pay homage to the cinematic rarities of the past that probably earned their obscurity the old-fashioned way: they simply aren’t very good. Here’s a sword-and-sandals story starring Victor Mature as an Arabian bandit thirsting for revenge against the British colonial masters responsible for the death of his family. Crooner Anthony Newley co-stars as a redcoat non-com, and Walter Gotell, who appeared as the Soviet General Gogol in four mid-period James Bond features, appears as Mature’s sidekick. Originally shot in wide-screen, this will be a pan-and-scan print, so prepare yourself for the sight of some very tall and narrow camels.
10:30pm HBO
Barfly (1987 USA): Barfly is a rarity in recent American cinema: a character study that doesn't worry about telling a story with a beginning, middle, and explosive end. Mickey Rourke is excellent as Henry Chinaski, a writer and habitué of skid row who isn't so much slumming as soaking in it. The real surprise here is Faye Dunaway as his love interest; it's easily her best performance since Chinatown (1974 USA) and proves she hadn’t completely lost the plot after embarrassments like The Champ (1979 USA) and Supergirl (1984 GB). Also of note is Frank “brother of Sly” Stallone as Eddie, the barman who keeps getting into one-sided fistfights with Henry. A triumph and one of the best American films of the ‘80s, Barfly was a very uncharacteristic product of Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus’ Cannon Films, home of the American Ninja and Missing in Action franchises.
10:30pm Flix
Born to Win (1971 USA): Ivan Passer’s overlooked drug-addiction drama is a near-classic look at the desperation and debilitation of the junkie, here played with surprising conviction by George Segal, a man generally associated with light comedy. He plays J, a smack addict formerly employed as a hairdresser, and now fighting a losing battle against the monkey on his back. He meets Karen Black as he attempts to steal her car and the two fall in love, with Black serving as Segal’s enabler as he hatches further ridiculous schemes to get his next fix. With the police in hot pursuit (including a young and lean Robert De Niro) and a dope dealer (the excellent Hector Elizondo) in search of his money, the noose begins to tighten around the hapless couple. Complete with a typically downbeat ‘70s ending, Born to Win deserves the attention of anyone interested in the films of the Decade Under the Influence.
11:30am Encore Mystery
With A Friend Like Harry (2001 FRA): Continuing today’s theme of smarmy intruders, With A Friend Like Harry is a superior Hitchcockian thriller starring Sergi Lopez (currently on American screens in Stephen Frears’ Dirty Pretty Things) as the unctuous high-school chum of Michel (Laurent Lucas), a happily married man living an idyllic existence in the French countryside. The two are reunited by happenstance, and Michel invites Harry home, where his old chum recites one of Michel’s old school poems and starts obsessing about his friend’s need for more creative downtime. Michel doesn’t have any interest in verse anymore, but Harry insistently starts to remove all the societal and familial barriers on behalf of his friend, resulting in some bloody deaths and a very unhappy ex-poet. Also airs at 8:30pm, 8/9 at 12:40pm, and 8/10 at 12:45am.
8:30am Flix
Attack of the Puppet People (1958 USA): Screenwriter-director Bert I. Gordon - known to genre fans as “Mr. BIG” - has had a long career producing films featuring characters or creatures of unfeasible size, both large and small. 1957 saw Gordon release the successful drive-in classic The Amazing Colossal Man, followed a year later by both its sequel, War of the Colossal Beast, and this fan favorite about a mad scientist (John Hoyt) who has developed a machine to shrink people, purportedly to keep him company in his old age. Leading man and genre star John Agar is one of Hoyt’s victims, and the film also marked the first film appearance of Gordon’s daughter, Susan, who became a staple of her father’s output throughout the ‘60s. Attack of the Puppet People is a minor pleasure at best, unable to match either the story or effects of 1957’s Incredible Shrinking Man, but good clean fun for the whole family. Also airs 8/11 at 5:15am.
9:30am Fox Movies
Black Sheep (1935 USA): This forgotten Fox B feature was directed by the great silent filmmaker, Allan Dwan, and features Edmund Lowe as a high-seas gambler who unexpectedly meets his estranged son whilst plying his trade on a cruise ship. Claire Trevor co-stars as Lowe’s gal pal, and there are smaller roles for TiVoPlex favorite Eugene Pallette and Mack Sennett regular Billy Bevan.
12:30pm HBO Signature
American Hollow (1999 USA): HBO producer Rory Kennedy, responsible for the excellent 2002 documentary The Execution of Wanda Jean, directed this look at life in the backwaters of Kentucky. Americans briefly discovered the plight of the rural poor during the Great Society days of the mid-1960s, but have since forgotten them, moving on to more pressing issues like the plight of the nation’s over-taxed rich folks. They’re still with us today; under-educated, under-employed, and all but forgotten by both political parties. With bluntness but no condescension, American Hollow reminds us that a lot of folks got left behind during and after the go-go ‘90s.
10:45pm HBO Family
The Double McGuffin (1979 USA): I don’t think I’ve ever recommended anything on this channel before, but in between episodes of Babar and Curious George comes this PG-rated “thriller” about a group of kids who stumble across a suitcase full of money, a body, and an assassination plot. All things considered, The Double McGuffin is enjoyable if predictable stuff, but features a fun cast, including Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Elke Sommer, and steroids victim Lyle Alzado, not to mention narration by the ubiquitous Orson Welles! Producer-director Joe Camp was the man behind the Benji franchise (not to mention the bizarre camel comedy Hawmps! in 1976), so don’t expect much in the way of bloodshed, profanity, or car crashes. Also airs 8/10 at 1:45am.
6:45pm Flix
Pressure Point (1962 USA): One of Sidney Poitier’s least-known films, Pressure Point features him as a prison psychiatrist trying to treat a racist inmate (Bobby Darin) for insomnia. Though the film was somewhat controversial in its time, it looks much too polite today, but remains another fine showcase for Poitier’s tremendous talent. Also featured are Peter Falk as Poitier’s young (!) associate, Dick Bakalyan, Yvette Vickers, and little Butch Patrick a few years before Eddie Munster made him famous.
9:30am Showtime 3
What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971 USA): Not to be confused with 1962’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, 1969’s Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?, or 1971’s Who Slew Auntie Roo?, this is another psychological thriller written by Henry Farrell, the novelist who earlier created the character of Baby Jane Hudson. This time the title character is a 1930s-era dance teacher (Shelley Winters) whose son’s murder conviction spurs her to relocate to Hollywood, where she opens a dance studio with her sister (Debbie Reynolds), whose son is, defying all the odds, ALSO a convicted murderer. Can madness, mayhem, and tap-dancing be far behind? Also featuring Dennis Weaver and Agnes Moorehead, as well as perpetual scene-stealer Timothy Carey, Helen has a definite Movie-of-the-Week feel, perhaps not surprising considering director Curtis Harrington was also responsible for small-screen fare like Killer Bees (1974 USA) and The Dead Don’t Die (1975 USA), as well as the aforementioned Who Slew Auntie Roo?, which also featured Ms. Winters as another deeply-disturbed woman.
3:30pm Black Starz!!
Abouna (2001 CHA-FRA): This week’s previously unheard of (by me at least) African film comes from Chad, a former French colony in west Africa, and a neighbor of other film hot beds such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal. It’s interesting that the French-speaking nations of the continent consistently produce quality cinema, whilst the English-language countries - most notably, Nigeria - produce next to nothing. Abouna deals with two brothers in search of their missing father, who seems to have gone abroad in search of work. That’s about all I can tell you about this film, but adventurous viewers and foreign-film fans shouldn’t hesitate to make time for this one.