Two things stick out this week. First, it’s the 100th anniversary of Jimmy Stewart’s birth. You can never see Rear Window too many times. Second, Tim Roth is guest programmer and seems to fancy the British films. He has two selections not easily seen in the U.S. that I’ve mentioned. I doubt I’ll get to watch anything on the schedule this week because I’m in the process of feverishly watching and re-watching films from the ’70s in anticipation of my Top 50 list planned for the end of the month. Waiting this long to watch Scenes from a Marriage now seems like an ill-advised idea. As always, all times are EST and program days begin at 6:00 AM.
Sunday May 18
2:00 AM The Joker Is Wild (Vidor, 1957) - BW-127 mins. - Frank Sinatra plays real-life comedian Joe E. Lewis, whose vocal cords were cut by mobsters, leading him to a life of alcoholism and gambling. Mitzi Gaynor and Jeanne Crain are among Sinatra’s co-stars. With all this (manufactured) Sinatra hoopla from TCM and Warner Bros., one would think Paramount (rights holders on this film) might have seen such a time as a golden opportunity to put the movie on DVD. Ha! Not Paramount, not the studio who’d rather license out their titles to Criterion and crayon-crazy Legend Films than release anything from their back catalog.
Monday May 19
2:45 PM There Goes Kelly (Karlson, 1945) - BW-61 mins. - Not even having the required 5 votes for a rating on IMDb, Phil Karlson’s second film as director seems to be largely unseen. The TCM guide gives the plot as a “radio station page tries to solve a singer’s murder.” This was a cheapie made for Monogram Pictures and its lead actors Jackie Moran and Wanda McKay are not very well known. Karlson’s involvement is the only reason I’m including the movie here, but fans of the director who’s largely associated with low-budget film noir might want to check it out. I don’t think it’s on DVD anywhere.
8:00 PM Hobson’s Choice (Lean, 1954) - BW-108 mins. - Actor Tim Roth is guest programmer this month and chose some noticeably English-centric movies. His first choice is David Lean’s excellent film starring Charles Laughton as a widower who clings to his three daughters. The film won a BAFTA award for Best British film of 1955, but John Mills, instead of Laughton, received a Best Actor nomination. Strange omission there. With a release in R1 not yet on the table, it can be found in R2’s 9-disc David Lean Collection. Unless there’s a rights issue, MGM controls in the U.S., though Criterion released it on laserdisc.
1:30 AM Cathy Come Home (Loach, 1966) - BW-77 mins. - Roth also chose this even harder to find movie, a downbeat welfare drama from Ken Loach. Made as part of BBC’s “The Wednesday Play” television program, it’s not on DVD in R1, but the BFI did release it in R2. However, that DVD is out of print and very expensive on Amazon UK. Since it is a BBC property, any DVD in R1 would likely be distributed by Warner Bros. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that and anyone interested should probably make a point to catch this airing.
Tuesday May 20
8:00 AM The Mortal Storm (Borzage, 1940) - BW-100 mins. - 100 years ago on this date, little James Stewart was born. Disappointingly, not much has been made of Stewart’s centennial that I’ve seen. Universal is re-releasing six of his westerns in a box set, some with improved transfers and The Far Country with a widescreen aspect ratio. TCM is smart to devote the entire day to him, but every film in their tribute is already on R1 DVD except this one. Frank Borzage’s The Mortal Storm is almost a little secret among Stewart (and, presumably, Borzage) fans because it’s not terribly well known but is an excellent film. As with the same year’s The Shop Around the Corner, Margaret Sullavan gets top billing. The plot concerns a German family torn apart when the Third Reich comes to power in the early ’30s. MGM released the picture, and Warner Bros. control the DVD rights.
Wednesday May 21
9:45 AM The Easiest Way (Conway, 1931) - BW-74 mins. - A slew of early Robert Montgomery movies from the 1930’s are on tap today, which would have been his 104th birthday, and I don’t believe any are on DVD, at least in R1. In fact, that’s the entire daytime schedule, nine films in total. I liked the cast here and Jack Conway also directed Libeled Lady, probably not a bad rationale in singling this one out. Constance Bennett is the star of this romantic drama. She accepts the advances of Adolphe Menjou despite really loving Montgomery. Clark Gable also shows up in a supporting role. An MGM production, rights now held by Warner Bros.
Thursday May 22
5:30 PM The Big Sky (Hawks, 1952) - BW-138 mins. - I’m afraid I’ve never seen this one, directed by Howard Hawks and starring Kirk Douglas, but it surely seems ripe for a DVD release. The story looks to be set in the world of trappers and frontiersmen, but the title alone conjures up a vivid enough idea of what the film is probably about. Co-starring Dewey Martin and Arthur Hunnicutt, Oscar-nominated here, The Big Sky is available from France in an Editions Montparnasse release. TCM will apparently be showing the full version and not the edited one that was missing 20 minutes.
Friday May 23
4:30 PM He Laughed Last (Edwards, 1956) - C-77 mins. - Putting my trust in the capable hands of Blake Edwards, who wrote and directed this movie, I’m including this here despite the star being Frankie Laine, who I have nothing against personally other than the fact that I can’t imagine voluntarily watching a movie he was the lead in. I do love the mixing of comedy and gangster genres, but this was only Edwards’ second film (his first was Laine’s other lead film role) so my confidence is shaky. This was a Columbia title, isn’t on DVD, and is controlled by the sniveling region-coded monkeys at Sony.
8:00 PM How to Murder Your Wife (Quine, 1965) - C-118 mins. - Readily available on DVD from MGM, but worth mentioning all the same. Jack Lemmon certainly was the closest heir apparent to Jimmy Stewart that Hollywood ever had. He started out in comedies, showed a flair for more serious parts and then developed a somewhat bitter screen facade in the ’70s and beyond. Here he’s still funny, but with a hint of the pathos he handled so well. Playing a happily single cartoonist who marries Virna Lisi while he’s intoxicated (what a very welcome mistake), Lemmon excels as a guy who inadvertently comes under suspicion for killing his wife due to his comic strip fantasies. The screenplay was by George Axelrod, who also wrote the adaptation of The Manchurian Candidate and the original Broadway plays The Seven Year Itch and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
2:00 AM Sugar Hill (Maslansky, 1974) - C-91 mins. - A blaxploitation zombie flick. Made for American International, it’s not on DVD. I normally wouldn’t have a bit of interest, but the film stars Marki Bey, who was in Hal Ashby’s The Landlord. She only made five movies and none after 1974, though Hangup (inexplicably, directed by Henry Hathaway) also is listed for the same year. Also of interest, the guy who directed Sugar Hill, Paul Maslansky, doesn’t have any other directing credits, but did work as a producer on the “Police Academy” movies and television show. Lots of tangents running around there.
