April 2008
Tuesday April 1
6:15 AM Men Are Such Fools (Berkeley, 1938) - BW-69 mins. - All you really need to know is that this movie stars Humphrey Bogart and was directed by Busby Berkeley, whose elaborate musical numbers are synonymous with a certain kind of cinematic spectacle. The TCM plot description says, “ambitious secretary uses the men in her life to turn herself into a radio star.” The secretary is played by Priscilla Lane. A Warner Bros. picture that’s unreleased on DVD.
10:30 AM Fools for Scandal (LeRoy, 1938) - BW-80 mins. - The morning is full of films with the word “fool” somehow incorporated into the title because of it being April Fool’s Day, quite possibly the stupidest “holiday” man has invented thus far. My crankiness aside, anything that gets more Carole Lombard on television has at least some degree of upside. Co-starring Fernand Gravet and Ralph Bellamy, the movie is about American actress Lombard going to Europe and a scandal erupting over a romance. Another Warner Bros. title not on DVD.
12:00 PM Fools’ Parade (McLaglen, 1971) - C-97 mins. - You have to pay attention to TCM sometimes because they throw you a curve ball and serve up something like this little early seventies James Stewart-starrer. Stewart didn’t really make a “great” film again after The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in 1962, and he came to rely on his folksiness as a way to combat the increasingly violent direction Hollywood was going. Still, I like what I’ve seen of Stewart’s later period solely because of the actor’s presence, even if I wouldn’t consider the movies to be particularly good or interesting. This one brings together George Kennedy, Anne Baxter, Strother Martin and, believe it or not, Kurt Russell for a story about a trio of recently released ex-cons in mid-1930s West Virginia who want to open a general store but are met with resistance from the town. Topping things off, this looks to be a Columbia film and I really wouldn’t expect Sony to put it on DVD anytime soon.
Wednesday April 2
5:00 PM Merrily We Live (McLeod, 1938) - BW-95 mins. - And this sounds a lot like My Man Godfrey. Constance Bennett plays a society matron who likes to hire ex-cons and hobos as servants. Brian Aherne is a writer who dresses up like a tramp to get in on the rich people action. It seems promising. The film was originally released by MGM, meaning Warner Bros. should control DVD rights. The strange thing is IMDb lists Janus Films, the theatrical distributor closely tied to Criterion, as a distributor. I definitely question the accuracy of this, but one can never be sure. EDIT: Indeed, the Janus logo (the older blue one) preceded the MGM opening so it seems they do have some form of rights.
12:00 AM Colorado Territory (Walsh, 1949) - BW-94 mins. - Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, and Dorothy Malone star in a remake of High Sierra, with director Raoul Walsh returning behind the camera. Though it’s probably not the conventional choice, High Sierra is my favorite Walsh picture by a good margin so I’m excited to catch this one. The term “western noir” has been bandied about a few times in describing the film, so there’s another positive. Warner Bros. again, not on DVD.
Thursday April 3
1:45 AM Algiers - (Cromwell, 1938) - BW-98 mins. - I believe this was a full-on remake of Julien Duvivier’s French film Pepe le Moko starring Jean Gabin and released the year before. The source material, a novel by Henri La Barthe, is the same, but I’m not sure of the exact connection between the French and American versions. Regardless, I have to admit to never seeing this and, despite not particularly caring for Charles Boyer, I do want to watch it. Hedy Lamarr co-stars here and her notorious nude bathing scene in Ecstasy can be seen right afterwards at 3:30 AM. There’s actually a DVD in R1 for Algiers, but it’s from Alpha so I’m skeptical on the quality.
5:00 AM Complicated Women (2003) - BW&C-56 mins. - An original documentary narrated by Jane Fonda that looks at Hollywood actresses during the pre-Code era of 1929-1934. This hasn’t made it to DVD despite conventional wisdom leading one to believe that it might have been on the first Forbidden Hollywood set. I believe there was a rights issue preventing the documentary’s inclusion, but I don’t know the specifics. I assume the problem might be something like TCM licensed clips for television broadcast, but not for use on DVD.
Friday April 4
I was originally going to mention Gregory La Cava’s Primrose Path, which was scheduled to air this evening, but removed to make room for a tribute to Richard Widmark, who passed away last week at the age of 93. Starting at 8:00 EST, TCM will show Alvarez Kelly, Take the High Ground!, and The Tunnel of Love, the latter two not available on DVD. Here’s the thing though: Despite Widmark being contracted to Fox for the first, and arguably most fruitful, years of his career, TCM is really slighting one of the absolute best and most interesting actors of the studio era by dedicating only three films and choosing some odd selections to boot. I’m sure TCM is reluctant to disrupt their schedule and the Fox films may be difficult to show because the channel only rarely pulls out anything by that studio. Taking those things into consideration, Widmark still deserves much, much more, perhaps even something like a full day or a weekend. The number of true stars still alive who frequently have their films shown on TCM has diminished considerably since the channel’s inception, and only a small handful still remain with us. A more extensive way of honoring Widmark’s work would have been the right way to go and I’m disappointed in TCM for not paying their respects in a more generous manner.
Saturday April 5
2:30 AM Dangerous (Green, 1935) - BW-79 mins. - The entire day is dedicated by Bette Davis, whose 100th birthday this would have been. My favorites are The Letter, airing at 12:45 PM, and All About Eve, on 8:00 PM. Dangerous, however, was the film where she earned her first Oscar (also winning three years later for Jezebel). She plays an alcoholic actress whose career is in shambles and Franchot Tone tries to rehabilitate her. It’s surprisingly not on DVD, despite three full box sets already released by Warner Bros.
Sunday April 6
2:00 PM The Rat Race (Mulligan, 1960) - C-105 mins. - I was excited to spread the word of TCM scheduling Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy this month, with Pather Panchali showing this evening at 2:00 AM. Then when I cross-checked their website with my schedule I found out the three Ray films were pulled. Argh. Airing tonight instead is Godard’s Contempt, which, incidentally, is showing at Film Forum in New York City in what is supposedly an excellent print. The daylight consolation prize is a Tony Curtis-Debbie Reynolds film about a musician (Curtis) who comes to NYC and ends up sharing an apartment with a dance hall girl (Reynolds). Produced by William Perlberg and George Seaton’s Perlsea Company, The Rat Race was made for Paramount and isn’t on DVD.
Monday April 7
6:00 PM Only Two Can Play (Gilliat, 1962) - BW-106 mins. - Based on the novel by Kingsley Amis and with a script from Bryan Forbes, the film stars Peter Sellers as a small town librarian looking to spice up his life by having an affair with Mai Zetterling. Also with Richard Attenborough, this very British British/Welsh outing was directed by Sidney Gilliat, who frequently worked with Frank Launder on screenplays like The Lady Vanishes and other films including Green for Danger. It looks like Columbia released the movie on VHS here in the United States, so I’m assuming Sony controls the DVD rights. It’s unavailable in R1, but can be found in Optimum’s R2 Peter Sellers Collection.
Tuesday April 8
6:30 PM Merton of the Movies (Alton, 1947) - BW-83 mins. - Red Skelton stars as a theater usher in Kansas during the silent film era. He goes out to Hollywood thinking he’ll be a big star, but ends up being let down (though I’m sure it’ll work out in the end). Director Robert Alton only helmed two films, and is better known as a choreographer on Broadway and in the movies. More importantly, to me anyway, Gloria Grahame is along for support. Gloria made a quartet of films released in 1947 (Crossfire, Song of the Thin Man, It Happened in Brooklyn, and Merton), and this is soon to be the only one not on DVD (It Happened in Brooklyn is out in May both as an individual release and in the Frank Sinatra - The Early Years box set). Merton of the Movies was made for MGM, and the rights now reside with Warner Bros.
Wednesday April 9
6:15 AM Outrage (Lupino, 1950) - BW-75 mins. - Ida Lupino’s second credited outing as director is inferior to her next two (Hard, Fast and Beautiful and The Hitch-Hiker), but it has one of the most harrowing scenes of pre-rape stalking, from the female’s perspective, that I’ve seen in a classic film. The movie does concern the ostracizing of a young rape victim and, despite a brave effort, it loses something along the way, but the initial lead-up to the attack is absolutely frightening. The recently deceased Malvin Wald, who earned a Best Motion Picture Story Oscar nomination for The Naked City, co-wrote the screenplay. The film was made for The Filmakers, the production company of Lupino and her husband Collier Young, and distributed by RKO. Judging from the other Filmakers’ titles, I’m afraid it might be in the public domain. Continuing on TCM’s odd rape theme this morning, Lewis Gilbert’s Loss of Innocence (aka The Greengage Summer), starring Danielle Darrieux and Kenneth More, follows at 7:45 AM.
9:30 AM Something Wild (Garfein, 1961) - BW-113 mins. - Jack Garfein made, I think, only two movies (some sources mention a third, but fail to name it and I couldn’t turn anything up) despite directing his then-wife Carroll Baker in this rape-themed oddity when he was just entering his thirties. Filmed on location in New York City, with no less than Eugen Schüfftan as cinematographer, the film centers around Baker as a young rape victim who takes refuge with Ralph Meeker. The critical consensus is mixed, though it seems to be popular in Europe, but Something Wild is difficult to find and definitely worth checking out. Saul Bass even did the opening titles and the score is by Aaron Copland. Never on VHS or DVD, the film seems to have been released initially by United Artists. If that still holds, MGM would control home video rights.
Thursday April 10
8:00 PM Come Live with Me (Brown, 1941) - BW-87 mins. - More Hedy is always welcomed. Both Come Live with Me and Ziegfeld Girl, which follows at 9:30 PM, co-star James Stewart. This one, a comedy directed by Clarence Brown, lets immigrant Lamarr sidestep deportation by wedding Stewart in name only. It was made for MGM, and sits unreleased in the WB vaults.
11:45 PM H.M. Pulham, Esq. (Vidor, 1941) - BW-120 mins. - Hedy gets more dramatic as businessman Robert Young’s mistress. A good supporting cast is filled out by Ruth Hussey, Charles Coburn, and Van Heflin. Of passing interest, John P. Marquand, who wrote the novel the film is based on, also penned the Mr. Moto books, which inspired a series of movies starring Peter Lorre as the Japanese detective. This film, directed by King Vidor, isn’t on DVD and was originally put out by MGM. Hedy teams with William Powell for Crossroads, a suspense thriller, at 2:15 AM.
Friday April 11
7:15 AM Day of the Outlaw (De Toth, 1959) - BW-93 mins. - Out on DVD in May from MGM, Andre De Toth’s western stars Robert Ryan and Burl Ives. The story concerns competing cattlemen who join up to combat a gang of outlaws. Tina Louise (aka Ginger from Gilligan’s Island) is the female lead. Philip Yordan, whose credits include Johnny Guitar and The Man from Laramie, wrote the screenplay.
12:15 AM Enter Laughing (Reiner, 1967) - C-112 mins. - Tonight’s theme is Jose Ferrer, but the inspired choice was in airing this little-known comedy about an aspiring actor written and directed by Carl Reiner. Ferrer stars, and Shelley Winters gets second billing. The supporting cast is decidedly eclectic, lead by Elaine May, Jack Gilford, Michael J. Pollard, Don Rickles, and Richard Deacon. It was Reiner’s first directorial effort outside of some episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Made for Columbia, it’s not on DVD. EDIT: This airing is now off the schedule, to make room for the better part of a day’s worth of Charlton Heston films.
Saturday April 12
4:00 AM Let No Man Write My Epitaph (Leacock, 1960) - BW-106 mins. - I was surprised to find out this movie is a sequel to Nicholas Ray’s Knock on Any Door, or, more accurately, it’s based on a novel that was a sequel to the source of Ray’s film. Regardless of the seeming limitations in making a follow-up eleven years later and from a film that wasn’t particularly successful, Columbia fired up the idea of how young street thug Nick Romano’s child would adjust to life without a father. The cast is pretty interesting, headed by Burl Ives and with Shelley Winters as the mother and James Darren the younger Romano. Even more intriguing, Jean Seberg appears the same year Breathless was released, Ricardo Montalban plays a drug dealer and Ella Fitzgerald portrays an addict singer. With no DVD released or really foreseeable, this looks like a definite watch.
Monday April 14
12:15 AM Lonely Are the Brave (Miller, 1962) - BW-107 mins. - Kirk Douglas cites this as his favorite role and it’s a very good one. An atypical contemporary western, the film finds Douglas as a cowboy in the era of paved roads and cars. He has difficulty adjusting, to say the least. Gena Rowlands and Walter Matthau co-star. There was a movie a couple of years ago starring Edward Norton called Down in the Valley that drew obvious inspiration, though it took a darker path. I enjoyed both films quite a bit, and it’s disappointing that Lonely Are the Brave hasn’t yet received a DVD release in R1. Universal has the rights. As a complete aside, TCM is airing an odd marathon of exceptional films throughout the day, beginning with Singin’ in the Rain at 6:00 AM, followed by North by Northwest, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Philadelphia Story, Citizen Kane, and The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Tuesday April 15
4:45 PM It’s Trad, Dad! (Lester, 1961) - BW-78 mins. - Something about “trad” jazz in a small English town. It was Richard Lester’s feature directing debut, which he then segued into The Mouse on the Moon and, of course, A Hard’s Day Night. I’ve always liked Lester’s work, but his post-Petulia output depresses me for the near-total waste of his considerable talent. On the slightly bright side, he’s probably the only man to ever have directed the Three Musketeers, Butch and Sundance, Robin Hood, Superman, and the Beatles. It’s Trad, Dad! is not on DVD, and Columbia released it in theaters originally.
8:00 PM Role Model: Gene Wilder (2008) - C-59 mins. - This is a new series on TCM and hopefully it leads to future episodes without bringing the channel down into TV Land/Bravo/AMC territory. Gene Wilder, whose new book I’m sure just coincidentally happens to be on the shelves, is interviewed in a conversation with Alec Baldwin. The TCM website and monthly guide indicate the program will be in black and white, but I’m pretty confident this is inaccurate. TCM will also be showing a selection of Gene Wilder films, including The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Start the Revolution without Me, all of which are available on DVD. The “Role Model” episode will be repeated at 1:00 AM.
Wednesday April 16
2:00 PM A King in New York (Chaplin, 1957) - BW-101 mins. - Without sounding terribly hyperbolic, I think Chaplin is film’s ultimate genius, someone whose contribution to the medium will never be paralleled. This is the anniversary of his birth and TCM is rightly recognizing his work by devoting the entire morning and afternoon to him. Everything airing is on DVD, but A King in New York gets little respect and I wanted to mention it. There are some really brilliant swipes in the film, especially at the sadly devolving state of television (then and now!), and a few extremely funny bits. It’s a little awkward overall, and probably the least of his feature films, but still brimming with genius.
Thursday April 17
6:00 AM Rachel and the Stranger (Foster, 1948) -BW-80 mins. - William Holden and Robert Mitchum in the same film? Loretta Young actually gets top billing in this western about widower Holden purchasing/marrying Young. Things get complicated when drifter Mitchum rides into town. Waldo Salt wrote the screenplay before getting blacklisted. The film was made for RKO, with rights held by Warner Bros. in R1, and is not on DVD here. A French Editions Montparnasse release is available in R2. A Holden marathon follows on what would have been his 90th birthday. A selection from a couple of weeks back, The Dark Past, airs at 1:00 PM.
11:30 PM The Heavenly Body (Hall, 1943) - BW-95 mins. - With their Star of the Month tribute to Hedy Lamarr, TCM appear to be going in chronological order. This comedy co-stars William Powell and the plot concerns an astronomer’s wife who takes up astrology (and an astrologer, apparently). Alexander Hall directs, but Vincente Minnelli filled in the last three weeks of the shoot. It was made for MGM, and remains unavailable on DVD from Warner Bros., who seem less than eager to put out these Lamarr films.
3:00 AM Experiment Perilous (Tourneur, 1944) - BW-91 mins. - What a great title. Sounds like a Bond film, or a British invasion band name. The TCM guide says it’s about a small-town doctor (George Brent) who tries to help a beautiful woman (Hedy Lamarr) with a deranged husband (Paul Lukas). For awhile there was a different not-on-DVD Anthony Mann film every month on TCM, but it seems like they’ve moved on to Jacques Tourneur. This is RKO so Warner Bros. should have the rights. An Editions Montparnasse release is out in France.
Friday April 18
6:00 AM Coquette (Taylor, 1929) - BW-76 mins. - Mary Pickford remains one of the most famous actresses of early Hollywood, but I dare say few have seen any of her films. IMDb lists 248 acting credits(!), but she didn’t appear in films after 1933, despite living until 1979. Coquette was her first sound picture, and the one she got an Oscar for. I try to stay away from IMDb reviewer opinions, but I was struck by someone calling Coquette “absolutely miserable.” Expectations lowered. It’s not on DVD, though, and that’s one of the main points of emphasis in figuring out what to pick here. Appropriately, United Artists distributed the film, so MGM should control home video rights.
11:15 AM Heat Lightning (LeRoy, 1934) - BW-64 mins. - “A lady gas station attendant gets mixed up with escaped murderers.” A little crime drama based on a play, starring Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, and Preston Foster. It was remade just a few years later as Highway West, which TCM has scheduled for 6:30 PM this evening. Neither is on DVD and both were made for Warner Bros.
Saturday April 19
12:00 PM Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (Lubitsch, 1938) - BW- mins. - TCM’s gift of the month because the new-to-DVD She Done Him Wrong was scheduled to play here, but it was replaced by the Wilder-Brackett comedy starring Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert. Lubitsch’s film has the famous “meet-cute” scene where Cooper wants to buy just a pair of men’s pajama pants and Colbert wants just the shirt. A great week for fans of Billy Wilder’s early writing and this is a real treat because it’s not on DVD and hasn’t been shown on the network in a very long time. Universal own the rights.
Sunday April 20
12:00 AM Michael (Dreyer, 1924) - BW-86 mins. - Available from Masters of Cinema in R2, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent film can be had in R1 from Kino. Benjamin Christensen and Walter Slezak star in the story of an artist’s relationship with his former model. Thanks to TCM for showing it in their Silent Sunday time slot. Criterion’s just-announced edition of Vampyr, followed soon after by MoC’s own version, will hopefully be a worthy, if altogether different, companion.
Monday April 21
6:30 AM In Person (Seiter, 1935) - BW-87 mins. - Ginger Rogers gets the apple this week for having a trio of films mentioned. She’s a troubled movie star who ventures into the mountains and meets George Brent. Will it cure her agoraphobia? Do comedies from the 1930s ever end on a sour note? I think I’d watch Ginger in most anything this decade, and it’s not yet on DVD. Made for RKO, Warner Bros. has the rights.
3:30 AM Age of Consent (Powell, 1969) - C-107 mins. - Featuring James Mason and a very young Helen Mirren, this was Michael Powell’s late-career film about a painter who goes to the Australian coast and finds a nubile young woman willing to model for him. TCM showed this back in November, but a running time discrepancy caused several would-be viewers to miss the ending. Here’s another chance, and it’s also scheduled to air in May. This is a crisp new print from Sony that’s been restored to Powell’s original cut, but no word on a possible DVD. One can only throw salt over his shoulder and hope for the best when Sony’s involved.
Tuesday April 22
8:00 PM Easy Living (Leisen, 1937) - BW-88 mins. - Universal has shined its golden light upon classic film enthusiasts on this day by releasing a quartet of comedies, including this Preston Sturges-scripted gem. Of course, when it wasn’t on DVD the channel couldn’t find time to air the film, but now that it gets a release a showing also pops up. Regardless, soak in Jean Arthur and company. Midnight, also directed by Mitchell Leisen and written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, follows. It’s the superior film of these four, in my opinion.
11:30 PM The Major and the Minor (Wilder, 1942) - BW-100 mins. - Again, TCM peels off Billy Wilder’s first film as a Hollywood director just when it gets a DVD release in R1. Ginger Rogers stars as a woman who doesn’t have the money for an adult train ticket so she pretends to be a child for the reduced fare. Ray Milland is the military major who happens to pass through the same train at the same time, causing Rogers to continue the ruse far longer than she’d intended. Ginger’s adorable as always and Milland is pretty good, as well. It’s an excellent rebirth for Wilder, who was quite the smart cookie to pick a very commercial picture when Paramount finally gave him the chance to direct. In many ways, this is perhaps the most quaint film Wilder ever directed, but you still can’t ignore the fact that it involves a woman pretending to be underage who develops a relationship with an older man in the military. Borderline pedophilia never felt so funny!
Wednesday April 23
9:00 AM Rogue Cop (Rowland, 1954) -BW-93 mins - Robert Taylor and Janet Leigh, with Steve Forrest, Anne Francis and George Raft, in a little MGM noir about a policeman whose brother gets mixed up in witnessing a murder and faces gangster consequences. This was nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar, which I’m assuming means something since it’s a relatively small film. John Seitz was responsible for that nomination. His other nods include the Billy Wilder films Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Five Graves to Cairo, and Sunset Blvd. (He lost every time!) Rogue Cop isn’t on DVD, presumably with rights held by Warner Bros.
11:00 AM Tight Spot (Karlson, 1955) - BW-96 mins. - Available in R2 from Sony/Columbia in Japan (and the UK), another Ginger Rogers movie, but this time a film noir where she moves from gangster to cop. Ginger’s past her prime, as is Edward G. Robinson who co-stars, but director Phil Karlson was hitting all the marks. Brian Keith picks up the slack. I’m planning on seeing 99 River Street this next weekend, but I’m really warming up to Karlson, who may have been one of the unsung noir directors. No DVD in R1 yet, with Sony controlling here also.
1:00 PM Pushover (Quine, 1954) - BW-88 mins. - Fred MacMurray alert! Richard Quine, noted director of Kim Novak films including this one, gets the reins in the story of a bank heist where Novak cozies up next to MacMurray’s cop. TCM is really bringing the noir this Friday. Dorothy Malone is along for the ride. Roy Huggins, who was behind The Fugitive television series, wrote the screenplay. Columbia released the film in theaters. Sony would be the one to badger for a DVD, but likely to no avail.
Thursday April 24
12:00 AM A Lady Without Passport (Lewis, 1950) - BW-74 mins. - Hedy in a Joseph H. Lewis film. With John Hodiak, Lamarr stars as an illegal immigrant who makes friends with his secret service agent. MGM released the film so Warner Bros. keeps it cool in their vaults. I’m thinking we need a Hedy Lamarr set from the WB.
Saturday April 26
6:00 AM The Search (Zinnemann, 1948) - BW-104 mins. - Seemingly a good candidate for a DVD release, but not yet available, Montgomery Clift stars as an American soldier who helps a Czech boy in postwar Europe. The film picked up a handful of Oscar nominations (Director, Actor, Screenplay) and won Best Story. Young Ivan Jandl, in his only film, also received the juvenile award. It was made for MGM, and rights currently sit with Warner Bros.
Sunday April 27
7:00 PM Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite (Brownlow, 1968) - BW-50 mins. - Silent film guru Kevin Brownlow made this documentary about the legendary French director and it kicks off TCM’s nightlong focus on Abel Gance. Lindsay Anderson, noted filmmaker of This Sporting Life and if…., narrates. I don’t think the documentary is on DVD, but it could be hidden in plain sight somewhere I overlooked.
8:00 PM J’Accuse (Gance, 1919) - BW-166 mins. - Antiwar film about a woman’s husband and her lover entrenched together in World War I. Whether you’re interested in silents, foreign language movies, or depictions of war, this is a rare chance to see something highly lauded and otherwise unavailable. I’ll be learning with everyone else. J’accuse! (I Accuse!, in English) repeats at 3:30 AM and is not on DVD yet. The excellent silent film boutique label Flicker Alley has a 2-disc release listed as “coming soon” on their website.
11:00 PM La Roue (Gance, 1922) - BW-263 mins. - La Roue was Gance’s massive follow-up to J’accuse! and is similarly well-regarded. In simple terms, the plot concerns a rail worker and his son falling for the same woman. At over 4 1/3 hours, surely things get a little more complex than that. The silent film is on its way to DVD, and will be released by Flicker Alley on May 6 in R1.
Monday April 28
12:15 PM The Delinquents (Altman, 1957) - BW-72 mins. - Rather improbably given what he’d accomplish over the next half century, but this little juvenile delinquent cheapie was Robert Altman’s feature film debut, serving as both writer and director. Even crazier is that it stars Tom Laughlin, who’d go on to low-budget fame as Billy Jack in Born Losers and a series of films afterwards. TCM is devoting the daylight hours to several of these delinquent-themed films, including Basil Dearden’s Violent Playground at 8:45 AM and Alfred Werker’s The Young Don’t Cry, starring Sal Mineo, at 10:45 AM. The Delinquents is not on R1 DVD and is listed at IMDb as being released by United Artists theatrically. Depending on the rights situation now, MGM might control. There is a release in R4, from Australia.
Tuesday April 29
7:30 AM The Seventh Cross (Zinnemann, 1944) - BW-112 mins. - I’m far from an expert on Fred Zinnemann, but I believe this was somewhat of a breakthrough for him, and it earned Hume Cronyn an Oscar nomination. Cronyn was already married to Jessica Tandy, who also plays his wife in the film. Spencer Tracy is the lead and plays one of seven men who escape from a concentration camp. Having only read about the movie, the title itself seems like something of a spoiler, but who knows. The Zinnemann momentum continues throughout the day, with four more of his movies airing after The Seventh Cross. It’s not on DVD, and, like The Search, was an MGM picture. Warner Bros. now has the rights.
Wednesday April 30
9:15 PM Union Station (Maté, 1950) - BW-81 mins. - Reunited with his director on The Dark Past, William Holden was also teamed with Nancy Olson for this noirish film, the same year they co-starred in Sunset Blvd. Supported by Barry Fitzgerald and Jan Sterling, Olson is a secretary who thinks she sees some suspicious train activity and contacts a skeptical railroad detective played by Holden. Union Station is part of the last night in TCM’s rail-themed series this month. It isn’t on DVD and was made for Paramount.
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