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.)
October always puts me in the mood for spooky movies. I'm not a fan of "hardcore" horror--the super gory, super gross, or super violent--but I can appreciate a good (i.e. not too scary) chiller-thriller, especially in the season of ghosts and goblins. Stephen King's stories tend to be too much for my innocent psyche, but I can't deny that he is an accomplished storyteller and a pretty knowledgeable guy when it comes to the horror genre. In tonight's TCM original documentary, King is our guide on a tour of the history of horror movies. It kicks off a month-long line-up of classic horror films on Monday nights, culminating in an all-day marathon on Halloween. The films are arranged in a basic chronology, beginning with silents from the 20s on October 3rd and ending with films from the 60s in primetime on October 31st. Get the complete schedule on the TCM website to pick out your "must-sees."
BONUS PICK: 10/1, 7 PM - A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics
Two more TCM originals exploring a particular genre through interviews and film clips.
DOUBLE BONUS PICK: 10/29 - Films of Val Lewton
As a Halloween appetizer watch some of Lewton's exotic, psychological thrillers, starting with Cat People (1942) at 8 PM followed by Martin Scorsese's documentary on the revered producer, Val Lewton - The Man in the Shadows (2007).
10/9, 8 PM - Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
As "Star of the Month" for October, Buster Keaton is taking over primetime on Sundays. I haven't seen many of his films, especially the silents, so this is a great time for me to catch up. In Sherlock, Jr., Keaton plays a theater projectionist who dreams that he has entered the movie screen as a master detective. This is one of Keaton's best-loved films, filled with his signature gags and stunts. Of course, he does all his own stunts and while some of the visual effects are achieved through camerawork, many were done with clever visual tricks Keaton brought from vaudeville.
10/20: Featuring Zachary Scott
8 PM - The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
9:45 PM - The Southerner (1945)
11:30 PM - Colt .45 (1950)
1 AM - Danger Signal (1945)
2:30 AM - Flamingo Road (1949)
4:15 AM - Bandido (1956)
In 1968, the Austin Civic Theatre was renamed The Zachary Scott Theatre Center in honor of the recently deceased Academy Award-nominated actor and Austin native Zachary Scott. Though Austinites today know the theater as simply "The ZACH," the theater staff endeavor to keep the memory of Austin's first big film star alive with Scott memorabilia throughout the building. (I confess I wasn't familiar with Scott when I moved to Austin, and apparently I wasn't alone according to this article from the local paper: "Who was Zachary Scott?") Scott's best-known movie role is as Joan Crawford's untrustworthy second husband in Mildred Pierce. He was often typecast as caddish characters, but tonight's line-up shows Scott playing a variety of roles: a notorious criminal, a hard-working cotton farmer, an escaped convict on a spree, a womanizing cad (there had to be one!), a weak-willed politician, and a corrupt arms dealer. If you wondered "who's Zachary Scott" before, you'll definitely know after tonight!
10/22, 11:45 PM - My Name is Julia Ross (1945)
I said I was in the mood for spooky films and I think this one starring a young Nina Foch fits the bill. Director Joseph H. Lewis brings the noir-ish touches of his later films to this suspense thriller in the vein of Gaslight. Young Julia Ross is a maid to a wealthy widow in London...or is she Marion, a lady of the manor in Cornwall suffering from a nervous breakdown? And why does Ralph keep playing with that knife? This film seems perfect for watching on a chilly October night.
10/27: 1970s Musicals
8 PM - Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
11:15 PM - The Boy Friend (1971)
1:45 AM - Hair (1979)
4 AM - Man of La Mancha (1972)
The 1970s were an interesting decade for the movie musical; some books about film history will tell you that at this point the musical was dead, having gone out of favor with audiences in the 60s, despite the success of Oscar-winning The Sound of Music (others will say it was dead even before that having become unpopular in the late 50s, despite the success of Oscar-winning Gigi). Young directors, usually with no experience filming musicals, began taking chances with movie musical conventions, often focusing on injecting their films with realism--a seemingly contradictory idea for this most unreal of movie genres. While not all these films were successful with audiences or critics, their influence can be seen in the newest influx of movie musicals. For example, director Milos Forman shot Hair on the real streets of New York, a stark contrast the soundstages representing the city in 1949's On the Town. 2005's Rent did a similar thing by opening up the static settings of the stage musical; and, also like Hair, it was unfortunately made about 10 years too late to be truly relevant. Ken Russell's The Boy Friend sets its most lavish production numbers within dream sequences, grounding the rest of the film in a decidedly unglamorous suburban theater. This device was later used by director Rob Marshall in his 2003 adaptation of Chicago. Chicago won the Oscar for best picture, so perhaps the musical isn't so dead after all.
BONUS: Teresa Wright Day, 10/27
Before tonight's line-up of musicals, TCM will fill the day with the films of Teresa Wright. She's one of my favorite classic movie stars, so I always like to give her films a recommendation when they're scheduled.
Here's to a chill-filled October, and a happy Halloween!
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