by Lani
Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)
Classic Horror for Halloween
I can't let this month go by without picking some movies from TCM's line-up of classic horror showing Wednesday nights (and throughout the week during the day) and culminating on Halloween with the Universal horror films from the 30s and 40s. You've got your pick of all the great spooky movie subjects - vampires, zombies, mummies, monsters, hauntings, and, of course, mad scientists who train animals for evil purposes. If you've seen the iconic versions of Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. why not try some of these variations on the theme?
10/3, 12:15 AM - House of Dracula (1945)
10/3, 1:30 AM - Zombies of Mora Tau (1957)
10/20, 10:15 AM - The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
10/27, 6:30 PM - The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
10/31, 4 PM - The Devil Bat (1940)
10/31, 2 AM - The Mummy's Hand (1940)
Hollywood Goes to Washington
10/5, 8 PM & 11:15 PM - A Night at the Movies: Hollywood Goes to Washington (2012)
10/12, 11 PM - The Great McGinty (1940)
10/26, 8 PM - Advise and Consent (1962)
10/26, 10:30 PM - All the President's Men (1976)
As this election year goes into the home stretch, TCM premieres it's newest original documentary about the history of politics on film. They'll also be showing political films each Friday in primetime and I've picked out three that I'm looking forward to. After looking over the schedule, it seems that these movies almost always deal with the corrupting influence brought on by political power. Even the morally upright Mr. Jefferson Smith is shown in contrast to crooked Washington "insiders" such as fellow senator Joseph Paine. However, in the movies at least there are Mr. Smiths and in real life politics there are more often Senator Paines. (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington will show immediately after the premiere of the documentary special at 9 PM on 10/5.)
Star of the Month: Spencer Tracy
So, this month Wednesdays are for spooky chillers and Fridays are for political intrigues; however, Mondays belong to Spencer Tracy. During his time as a top star, Tracy was not only popular with audiences, but he was revered by his peers in the film industry as evidenced by his 9 Best Actor Academy Award nominations and 2 wins. If you're not sure where to jump in with the Tracy filmography, you could do worse than TCM's line-up of Oscar-nominated performances on 10/15.
8 PM - Boys' Town (1938)
9:45 PM - Father of the Bride (1950)
11:30 PM - Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
1 AM - The Old Man and the Sea (1958)
2:30 AM - Captains Courageous (1937)
4:30 AM - San Francisco (1936)
10/18: Cinerama!
8 PM - Cinerama Adventure (2002)
10 PM - This is Cinerama (1952)
I love classic movies for their pure entertainment value, but I'm also bit of a filmmaking geek who enjoys learning about the technical processes and history behind the spectacle. So, I'm really looking forward to tonight's documentary about Cinerama and the legendary This is Cinerama, a travelogue-of-sorts designed to showcase the newly developed widescreen process. When you think about how far we've come with film technology, it's hard to imagine what a revelation Cinerama was at the time (at least for youngsters like me). The premiere of This is Cinerama sparked the first-ever front page movie article, written by film critic Bosley Crowther for the New York Times, and audiences were thrilled. This is Cinerama went on to be the 5th highest grossing movie of 1952!
I can appreciate the irony that the Cinerama process was developed specifically for showing films on big screens in theaters - getting audiences away from their boxy 1950s TV sets - and now, 60 years later, I'm watching it at home on my widescreen TV. I know it's not quite the original Cinerama experience, but it'll have to do for now.
10/21: Rare Animation
8 PM - Gulliver's Travels (1939)
9:39 PM - Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941)
11:00 PM - UPA Cartoons (1949-51)
12 AM - Silent Animation from NY Studios (1907-32)
1 AM - The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1927)
Tonight looks like a fun evening for kids or adults with 3 features and 18 shorts of rarely seen animations. Gulliver's Travels and Mr. Bug were both early efforts by Paramount to compete with Disney's animated films (Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves had come out in 1937). We'll also get some of the best shorts by UPA and NY Studios, both groundbreaking animation studios whose work has fallen out of circulation. However, Prince Achmed is perhaps the most unique film in tonight's line-up as it uses paper silhouette puppets against ornate backgrounds, rather than the familiar cel animation of the other features.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Classic Movie Picks: September 2012
by Lani
Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)
First things first, as of this week the delightfully dark romantic comedy A New Leaf is finally available on DVD! It stars Walter Matthau as a spoiled Manhattanite who can't accept the fact that he's broke. A solution to his money troubles appears in the form of a mousy, but rich, botanist played by Elaine May, who also wrote and directed the film. Their romance is a bit awkward, since Matthau plans to follow marriage with murder; however, the film overall is funny, sweet, and completely unique. If you haven't seen this film, and don't mind taking a risk, buy this now (or at least rent it)!
9/2: Give 'em a hand
8 PM - Hands of a Stranger (1962)
9:45 PM - The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
11:30 PM - Mad Love (1935)
12:45 AM - The Hands of Orlac (1925)
In an interesting bit of programming, tonight the TCM elves have given us 3 versions of the same tale - The Hands of Orlac, Mad Love, and Hands of a Stranger - in which an experimental operation gives a concert pianist the hands of a murderer, hands which are not necessarily under his control. Then, in a twist, the elves have thrown in a film with an almost opposite story: In The Beast with Five Fingers a concert pianist's hand is severed, and the hand goes on to become a murderer itself!
9/3, 10:45 AM - The Dot and the Line (1965)
This Academy Award-winning animated short by Chuck Jones is simply delightful. Simple - in that the characters are a dot and a line; delightful - because it succeeds in giving these shapes personalities. A romance for the ages alongside Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Scarlet and Rhett, or Harry and Sally.
9/10: Choreo by Jack Cole
8 PM - Tonight and Every Night (1945)
10 PM - On the Riviera (1951)
11:45 PM - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
1:30 AM - Les Girls (1957)
3:30 AM - River of No Return (1954)
As a huge fan of movie musicals, I've certainly seen the work of Jack Cole; however, I was completely unaware of it. So I'm grateful for TCM's tribute to Cole this month and looking forward to learning more about this extremely influential, but little known choreographer. Plus, tonight's line-up gives me a chance to see some of my favorite musical stars - Rita Hayworth, Danny Kaye, and Gene Kelly - in films that aren't shown very often on TCM.
9/16: Around the World with Maggie Smith!
8 PM - Travels with My Aunt (1972)
10 PM - Love, and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973)
It may come as a surprise to some younger viewers, but Dame Maggie Smith, recognizable today as proper schoolmarm Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series and Downtown Abbey's Dowager Countess (the Edwardian version of the sassy grandma), was young once. But even as a young woman, like Angela Lansbury before her, Smith often played above her age. Never so much as in Travels with My Aunt, which casts the not-yet-forty Smith as a septuagenarian. The role was originally meant for Katharine Hepburn, but Smith was able to make it her own, earning a Best Actress nomination. In Love... Maggie is once again cast as the older woman opposite a younger leading man. However, she's playing much closer to her own age as a 40 year old "spinster" who has a love affair with an 18 year old college dropout (Timothy Bottoms) on a bus trip through Spain.
By Agatha Christie
9/23, 8 PM - Ten Little Indians (1966)
9/26, 2:15 AM - Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
I love mysteries and I'm on a bit of a Christie kick lately, so I'm looking forward to these adaptations of two of her most popular stories. Ten Little Indians diverges a bit from the original story, but retains the main plot of 10 strangers trapped in a remote location and bumped off one-by-one. Murder on the Orient Express hews much closer to Christie's book and features a formidable cast of stars including Albert Finney as detective Hercule Poirot. This film along with two other all-star adaptations of Poirot stories, Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982), offer a great introduction to Christie's work.
Thursdays in September: Mack Sennett
Producer and director Mack Sennett was a comedy pioneer who worked with many of the great talents of the silent era including Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, the Keystone Cops, and Mabel Normand. TCM is showing 83 shorts and 4 feature-length films by Sennett every Thursday this month in primetime.
Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)
First things first, as of this week the delightfully dark romantic comedy A New Leaf is finally available on DVD! It stars Walter Matthau as a spoiled Manhattanite who can't accept the fact that he's broke. A solution to his money troubles appears in the form of a mousy, but rich, botanist played by Elaine May, who also wrote and directed the film. Their romance is a bit awkward, since Matthau plans to follow marriage with murder; however, the film overall is funny, sweet, and completely unique. If you haven't seen this film, and don't mind taking a risk, buy this now (or at least rent it)!
9/2: Give 'em a hand
8 PM - Hands of a Stranger (1962)
9:45 PM - The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
11:30 PM - Mad Love (1935)
12:45 AM - The Hands of Orlac (1925)
In an interesting bit of programming, tonight the TCM elves have given us 3 versions of the same tale - The Hands of Orlac, Mad Love, and Hands of a Stranger - in which an experimental operation gives a concert pianist the hands of a murderer, hands which are not necessarily under his control. Then, in a twist, the elves have thrown in a film with an almost opposite story: In The Beast with Five Fingers a concert pianist's hand is severed, and the hand goes on to become a murderer itself!
9/3, 10:45 AM - The Dot and the Line (1965)
This Academy Award-winning animated short by Chuck Jones is simply delightful. Simple - in that the characters are a dot and a line; delightful - because it succeeds in giving these shapes personalities. A romance for the ages alongside Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Scarlet and Rhett, or Harry and Sally.
9/10: Choreo by Jack Cole
8 PM - Tonight and Every Night (1945)
10 PM - On the Riviera (1951)
11:45 PM - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
1:30 AM - Les Girls (1957)
3:30 AM - River of No Return (1954)
As a huge fan of movie musicals, I've certainly seen the work of Jack Cole; however, I was completely unaware of it. So I'm grateful for TCM's tribute to Cole this month and looking forward to learning more about this extremely influential, but little known choreographer. Plus, tonight's line-up gives me a chance to see some of my favorite musical stars - Rita Hayworth, Danny Kaye, and Gene Kelly - in films that aren't shown very often on TCM.
9/16: Around the World with Maggie Smith!
8 PM - Travels with My Aunt (1972)
10 PM - Love, and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973)
It may come as a surprise to some younger viewers, but Dame Maggie Smith, recognizable today as proper schoolmarm Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series and Downtown Abbey's Dowager Countess (the Edwardian version of the sassy grandma), was young once. But even as a young woman, like Angela Lansbury before her, Smith often played above her age. Never so much as in Travels with My Aunt, which casts the not-yet-forty Smith as a septuagenarian. The role was originally meant for Katharine Hepburn, but Smith was able to make it her own, earning a Best Actress nomination. In Love... Maggie is once again cast as the older woman opposite a younger leading man. However, she's playing much closer to her own age as a 40 year old "spinster" who has a love affair with an 18 year old college dropout (Timothy Bottoms) on a bus trip through Spain.
By Agatha Christie
9/23, 8 PM - Ten Little Indians (1966)
9/26, 2:15 AM - Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
I love mysteries and I'm on a bit of a Christie kick lately, so I'm looking forward to these adaptations of two of her most popular stories. Ten Little Indians diverges a bit from the original story, but retains the main plot of 10 strangers trapped in a remote location and bumped off one-by-one. Murder on the Orient Express hews much closer to Christie's book and features a formidable cast of stars including Albert Finney as detective Hercule Poirot. This film along with two other all-star adaptations of Poirot stories, Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982), offer a great introduction to Christie's work.
Thursdays in September: Mack Sennett
Producer and director Mack Sennett was a comedy pioneer who worked with many of the great talents of the silent era including Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, the Keystone Cops, and Mabel Normand. TCM is showing 83 shorts and 4 feature-length films by Sennett every Thursday this month in primetime.
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