June 2008
Sunday June 1
2:00 AM Cruel Story of Youth (Oshima, 1960) - C-97 mins. - I wasn’t terribly impressed with this when it aired on TCM last year sometime. Despite Oshima’s reputation as a daring Japanese New Wave director, this one plays like a Rebel Without a Cause knock-off. Still, Oshima’s early work is so hard to find that anyone interested will probably want to make an effort to catch this and I would recommend seeing it. Janus Films controls U.S. DVD rights so expect a Criterion or, more likely, Eclipse release at some point, but the question would be how far off that happens. In the UK, Yume Pictures has promised their own DVD release for this year.
Tuesday June 3
4:30 PM The Big Boodle (Wilson, 1957) - BW-84 mins. - What an interesting title. Errol Flynn, well past his glory days, stars as a casino dealer in Havana. From reading the plot description without having seen the film, it sounds like Flynn is pursued by police who believe he’s counterfeiting and counterfeiters who believe he’s stolen something. Sounds like a classic film noir set-up, but I don’t think this is usually classified as such despite a screenplay from Jo Eisinger, who worked on Night and the City, Gilda, and The Sleeping City. Pedro Armendariz co-stars. Made for United Artists, MGM should control DVD rights, but it’s unreleased.
1:45 AM The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Capra, 1933) - BW-87 mins. - Ah, finally a Capra-Stanwyck picture. She’s an American missionary dispatched to Shanghai who encounters the powerful General Yen (played by Nils Asther). This was the last of the collaborations between director and star. Capra would make It Happened One Night the following year. Wake up and release these things on R1 DVD Sony!
Wednesday June 4
8:00 PM Too Bad She’s Bad (Biasetti, 1954) - BW-95 mins. - Sophia Loren is star of the month for June. The selections this evening are especially interesting. Here she’s paired with Vittorio De Sica and a young Marcello Mastroianni (De Sica would direct her and Mastroianni together in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow which airs immediately afterwards). Mastroianni is a cab driver who falls for Loren despite her trying to steal his taxi. De Sica is her father, who’s also a thief. The story comes in part from Alberto Moravia. An outfit called Ivy Video released the film on DVD in R1, but I have no idea what the quality is like.
12:00 AM The Millionairess (Asquith, 1961) - C-90 mins. - Who can resist Sophia Loren with Peter Sellers? De Sica shows up here, as well, along with Alastair Sim and Dennis Price. She’s the world’s richest woman and he’s an Indian doctor. He’s impervious to her physical charms, but she improbably falls in love with him. It’s based on a play by Shaw. Fox Lorber released a DVD in R1 that’s now out of print. It can be found in the UK alongside Trial and Error in a Sellers double feature from Arrow films.
5:30 AM C’era una Volta (Rosi, 1967) - C-103 mins. - Strange to see that Francesco Rosi followed up Salvatore Giuliano, Hands Over the City, and The Moment of Truth with this romantic comedy-fantasy. Omar Sharif is a prince and Sophia Loren is the peasant girl he falls in love with. Dolores del Rio appears as the queen mother. The English title is More Than a Miracle. Because of Rosi, I’m very intrigued to see this one. It’s not on DVD, at least in an English-friendly edition. Looking at IMDb, it seems that MGM originally released the film theatrically so Warner Bros. may control the rights.
Thursday June 5
7:00 PM Anna May Wong - Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times and Legend (2008) - C-50 mins. - A new documentary on the Chinese-American actress who has a bit of a cult following and starred in films like The Toll of the Sea, Old San Francisco, Piccadilly and Daughter of the Dragon (all of which follow in that order).
2:00 AM Shanghai Express (von Sternberg, 1932) - BW-82 mins. - One of the most frustratingly absent films in R1 DVD is Josef von Sternberg’s highly regarded work. It was at one point destined for a Criterion release, but Universal’s film elements were apparently not up to their liking. Marlene Dietrich fans have suffered the consequences, even seeing Universal release a Glamour Collection absent the movie. Hopefully the print TCM shows will look relatively good. The film can be found on DVD in a Dietrich set in R2, though it isn’t available individually.
Saturday June 7
12:30 AM The L-Shaped Room (Forbes, 1962) - BW-126 mins. - With direction and screenplay from Bryan Forbes, this is a fairly well-known film still absent in R1 DVD. Leslie Caron was Oscar-nominated for her role as a young woman who’s pregnant and unmarried and takes up in a London apartment house. She also won the BAFTA award, and the film was nominated in the Best British Film category. Optimum released a DVD in R2 last year. Sony should have the rights here.
Sunday June 8
12:00 AM The Goddess (Wu, 1934) - BW-77 mins. - I’m not going to pretend to know anything at all about this one, a silent film from China about a woman who supports her child through prostitution. It’s airing as part of TCM’s monthlong look at Asian cinema. Amazon does have a DVD listed (here), but I’ve never even heard of the distributor and the fine print mentions the disc is manufactured on demand using a DVD-R. I’ll stick with TCM for now.
Monday June 9
7:30 AM They Won’t Believe Me (Pichel, 1947) - BW-80 mins. - Robert Young stands trial for murder after both his mistress and his wife end up dead. Film noir territory here. Susan Hayward and Jane Greer co-star. It was made for RKO, most likely giving Warner Bros. R1 rights, and isn’t on DVD (anywhere, I don’t think). A possible candidate to show up in a WB film noir box somewhere down the line, I’d think. Four more films that I’ve picked in the past air later in the afternoon, beginning with the wacky Deadline at Dawn at 10:30 AM and continuing through Ada (12:00 PM), Rafter Romance (2:00 PM), and A Lady without Passport at 5:00 PM.
12:30 AM Seventh Cavalry (Lewis, 1956) - C-75 mins. - The idea of Joseph H. Lewis, a stylish director often associated with film noir for his movies like Gun Crazy and The Big Combo, making a Randolph Scott western is a little too much. I might have to make a point to watch this. If you’re not sold yet, the plot concerns General Custer’s body. Another Columbia film and Sony property not on DVD.
Tuesday June 10
1:15 AM Daughter of Shanghai (Florey, 1937) - BW-63 mins. - Sandwiched between a bunch of Mr. Moto and Mr. Wong films is this little curiosity starring Anna May Wong. She plays a woman looking for the men who killed her father. The supporting cast includes J. Carrol Naish, Charles Bickford, Buster Crabbe, and a young Anthony Quinn. It was made for Paramount, but Universal controls the rights. I don’t believe the film is available on DVD.
Wednesday June 11
6:15 AM Don’t Worry, We’ll Think of a Title (Jones, 1966) - BW-84 mins. - Mostly for fans of The Dick Van Dyke Show, as this stars Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie, and Richard Deacon. Something about mistaken identity and foreign spies. I wouldn’t worry too much about the plot. Tons of great cameos, though, with everyone from Carl Reiner and Milton Berle to Moe Howard and Steve Allen dropping in for a scene. It’s not on DVD and you sort of get the feeling it won’t be anytime soon. United Artists released the film theatrically, putting MGM with the rights now.
8:00 PM The Key (Reed, 1958) - BW-126 mins. - Just before this airs, Billy Wilder Speaks comes on at 6:45 PM. Definitely watch that if you’ve not seen it or don’t have the Kino DVD release. Then stay for The Key, a William Holden-Sophia Loren movie directed by Carol Reed. The plot sounds fascinating. Holden is a tugboat commander in WWII alongside Trevor Howard, who gives the American a key to an apartment where Loren is waiting. The key has passed from man to man, however, and been a source of grave bad luck. Sony/Columbia again, with no DVD and probably none planned.
10:15 PM That Kind of Woman (Lumet, 1959) - BW-92 mins. - What was Sidney Lumet doing directing this? I don’t know and I intend to watch in hopes of maybe getting some idea. TCM lists the plot as a “kept woman falls in love with a young paratrooper during the final days of WWII.” Released and controlled by Paramount, but not on DVD. TCM will be showing Loren’s Oscar-winning Two Women right after this and, later, Brass Target where she co-stars with John Cassavetes, at 3:45 AM.
Friday June 13
9:30 AM George Washington Slept Here (Keighley, 1942) - BW-91 mins. - Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan are a married couple who move from New York to a Pennsylvania country house where the nation’s first president supposedly slept during the Revolutionary War. They struggle to adapt to their new (rundown) home. The two leads really interest me here. It’s based on a play by Kaufman and Hart. A Warner Bros. picture, not on DVD.
2:00 AM Machine Gun McCain (Montaldo, 1970) - C-94 mins. - 1.) I couldn’t resist the title and its political implications (is that imperative or descriptive). 2.) The film stars John Cassavetes and Peter Falk. Also with Britt Ekland, the plot involves a gangster defying the mob by robbing a casino. Looking at IMDb, it seems this was released theatrically by Columbia (though it’s Italian-made) and is not on DVD.
Saturday June 21
7:30 AM Caesar and Cleopatra (Pascal, 1945) - C-128 mins. - A little difficult to top Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra (in Technicolor). Starring Claude Rains as Caesar, the film was adapted by George Bernard Shaw from his own play. I’m not much for epic type films, but it’s still surprising to discover there’s no R1 DVD for this. ITV did release it in the UK for R2, but MGM, likely rights holders since the film was originally made for United Artists, haven’t put it out.
12:30 PM Tulsa (Heisler, 1949) - C-88 mins. - This Susan Hayward western is out on DVD in R1, but seems to be in the public domain. The release DVD Beaver reviewed looks like smeared watercolors. (Is the R2 in the same shape?) TCM’s print may not be any better, but I doubt it’ll be worse. I also enjoy Hayward’s performances and am sometimes surprised her star status hasn’t aged very well. She was obviously a well-respected actress, accumulating five Oscar nominations in just eleven years, but I’m not sure how appreciated she is today. Regardless, Hayward here plays the daughter of a killed rancher who vows to seek revenge by building her own oil business, only to become corrupted in the process. It was a cheap Eagle-Lion film, accounting for its mishandling on DVD.
Sunday June 22
10:30 PM The Hurricane (Ford, 1937) - BW-104 mins. - John Ford goes to the South Pacific. Thomas Mitchell picks up an Oscar. The movie is about a man wrongly imprisoned who eventually escapes only to have a dangerous storm rise up. Dorothy Lamour, Mary Astor, John Carradine, and Raymond Massey all co-star. The Samuel Goldwyn Company was the original studio of production, and HBO released a DVD in R1 a decade ago, which has since gone out of print. If I understand the Goldwyn library accurately, MGM should now have the film’s DVD rights.
12:30 AM Love (Goulding, 1927) - BW-83 mins. - A Garbo silent that’s an adaptation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. John Gilbert co-stars as Vronsky, and IMDb lists him as an uncredited director alongside Edmund Goulding. Garbo returned to the same material eight years later, with Fredric March (and sound). That version was released in WB’s Garbo Signature Collection back in 2005, but Love remains unavailable. Warner Bros. has not only neglected their silents to an unfortunate degree, but their remaining Garbo films have also been ignored.
2:00 AM Roma (Fellini, 1972) - C-119 mins. - On letterboxed DVD from MGM in R1 and R2 (with different color schemes), but worth mentioning anyway. It’s probably one of Fellini’s most Felliniesque films. There’s no real plot as various Rome-inspired episodes unfold with different actors playing the director. The next year, Fellini would slightly straighten his narrative for the superior Amarcord. Certainly not an ideal first film for those uninitiated in Fellini (look at his ’50s work instead), but still an important part of the director’s monumental career.
Monday June 23
6:45 AM Two-Gun Man from Harlem (Kahn, 1938) - BW-65 mins. - This is a very low-budget Gene Autry-type movie, but built around black actors and starring Herb Jeffries. I mostly just like the title and the plot. (”When a cowboy is framed for murder, he travels to Harlem and masquerades as a gangster.”) The film itself will probably creak, though I’ve no doubt it’ll be interesting. There appear to be seem cheap DVD releases out there. I’d guess their quality is probably suspect.
Tuesday June 24
8:00 PM The Crimson Kimono (Fuller, 1959) - BW-82 mins. - The jewel of the month, I’d say. Victoria Shaw is a witness in a stripper’s murder and cops Glenn Corbett and James Shigeta both become romantically interested in her. TCM is airing the film primarily because of Japanese American actor Shigeta and Fuller’s unflinching portrayal of a love story between him and Shaw, as part of their Race & Hollywood focus this month. This is a Sam Fuller film that’s long been difficult to see, and I believe the airing is TCM’s premiere. Sony controls the movie, but hasn’t released it on DVD. I’ve always loved the title, even before I was a Fuller fan.
9:30 PM The Mountain Road (Mann, 1960) - BW-102 mins. - That’s Daniel Mann behind the camera, not Anthony. James Stewart starring could easily throw some people off. In a rare military role, Stewart plays an American who helps Chinese villagers stave off the Japanese advance during WWII. The film is hardly known at all and not on DVD. Rights rest with Sony.
Wednesday June 25
6:15 PM The Naked Spur (Mann, 1953) - C-92 mins. - Though Warner Bros. released the film on DVD a couple of years ago, many people complained that the print shown on TCM actually had better image quality. Regardless, it’s a superb film that draws out tension like few others, westerns especially. The five principal cast members (James Stewart, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Janet Leigh, and Millard Mitchell) are all excellent and Anthony Mann’s direction is accomplished as ever. I recently revisited the Mann-Stewart westerns made for Universal and it’s a complete struggle in trying to rank the four after Winchester ‘73. They really all demand attention.
Friday June 27
11:15 AM The Last Challenge (Thorpe, 1967) - C-96 mins. - Western with Glenn Ford as town marshal and Chad Everett a young gun who rides into town, eying the marshal’s lady (Angie Dickinson). This was near the end both of Ford’s leading man days and of the many westerns he made. I’ve always found Ford to be a comforting presence in film, a star who never made it huge, never received a lot of acclaim or even a single Oscar nod. Director Richard Thorpe had a long, steady career, beginning all the way back in 1923 and ending with this picture. I’m not sure he ever made anything exceptional, though who doesn’t like Jailhouse Rock, but there are a few solid ones in the pile. He directed Carbine Williams, which I’d like to see Warner Bros. release. The Last Challenge is also controlled by WB, as it was made for MGM. It’s not on DVD.
Saturday June 28
8:00 PM The Spiral Staircase (Siodmak, 1945) - BW-84 mins. - It’s on DVD in R1, but Siodmak is a favorite and his films during this period were excellent. Dorothy McGuire plays a mute girl who’s threatened by a serial killer targeting the handicapped. Ethel Barrymore picked up an Oscar nomination, as she also did for Hitchcock’s The Paradine Case which follows.
Sunday June 29
10:00 AM Force of Evil (Polonsky, 1948) - BW-79 mins. - Great little film noir starring John Garfield as a lawyer whose brother (Thomas Gomez) is part of the numbers racket he wants to end. A tough, dynamic movie and it was Abraham Polonsky’s first as director. Polonsky would soon be blacklisted and unable to really direct again until 1969’s Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here. The R1 DVD was put out by Republic and could use an upgrade. It’s cheap, at least. The film’s rights must be in some sort of odd situation become MGM is listed as the original distributor, but Republic put out both VHS and DVD editions.
12:00 AM Phantom (Murnau, 1922) - BW-117 mins. - Already out in R1 from Flicker Alley and soon to come from Eureka’s Masters of Cinema label (apparently later this year), F.W. Murnau’s silent classic nevertheless gets a rare television showing. Probably not the ideal starting point in diving into the director’s work, but not a terrible one either.
2:00 AM The Fifth Horseman is Fear (Brynych, 1968) - BW-99 mins. - I’m shocked TCM is showing this at all because it’s more obscure than their usual “TCM Imports” selections. The Czech film replaces the originally scheduled showing of Fellini’s Satyricon. Facets released an edition in R1 and I’ve read that it’s a surprisingly competent transfer. Someone at Amazon commented that a scene was cut, though, and I’m not sure whether TCM will be airing the same print. Regardless, the film sounds enormously interesting, with a plot set during WWII and concerning a Jewish doctor in Czechoslovakia who helps an injured political fugitive. The channel’s schedule doesn’t indicate it’s letterboxed, which would be a problem especially since the aspect ratio is 2.35:1, but hopefully it will be.
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