Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies schedule 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.)
Happy New Year!
1/2, 3 PM - Joy of Living (1938)
This screwball comedy sounds like the perfect bit of escapism to start the new year -- Irene Dunne stars as a glamorous Broadway actress who falls for eccentric millionaire Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Lucille Ball co-stars as Dunne's younger sister. As the story goes, the film was originally called Joy of Loving, but the title was changed due to concerns that promoting the "joy of loving" could lead to corruption of the young (and possibly a visit from the stork!).
Here's to the joys of living and loving in 2015!
8 PM - A Place in the Sun (1951)
10:15 PM - All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
From joy to tragedy - so much can change in a few weeks! This double feature is part of an evening lineup chosen by TCM host Robert Osborne. Though the setting for these two films are quite different -- 1950s Chicago in A Place in the Sun and 1840s France in All This, and Heaven Too -- the two films share several similarities. Both were based on popular novels and given the big-budget treatment by their studios; both touch on issues of class and social ambition; and both center upon love triangles which lead to tragedy. A Place in the Sun features Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor at the height of their beauty; see the accompanying photo for proof. (They look so good together, you sort of forgive Monty for dumping poor Shelley Winters.) All This, and Heaven Too stars Charles Boyer as a French duke who falls in love with his children's governess, played by the inimitable Bette Davis.
1/27: Star of the Month Robert Redford
8 PM - The Candidate (1972)
10 PM - All the President's Men (1976)
Tuesdays in January feature the films of Robert Redford, whose film career began in teh early 60s and continues today -- in fact, the man vs. sea drama All is Lost from 2013 may have one of his finest performances. Though I love 1967's Barefoot in the Park and 1992's Sneakers, I think the 1970s may have been Redford's most interesting decade. He was the top box office star, but that didn't stop him from taking on challenging films like tonight's politically-themed double feature. The Candidate offers prescient satire with Redford starring as a young idealist who becomes entrenched in the political machine. All the President's Men is a thrilling drama about the real-life journalists who uncovered the Watergate scandal and took down a president. Despite coming from an era when audiences were less media-savvy, both of these films feel relevant and exciting today.
1/28: Starring Lord Richard Attenborough
8 PM - The Sand Pebbles (1966)
11:15 PM - 10 Rillington Place (1971)
1:15 AM - The Angry Silence (1960)
3 AM - Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
5 AM - The League of Gentlemen (1961)
Actor and Oscar-winning producer and director Richard Attenborough died in 2014, after nearly 70 years in the film business. Many film fans will remember his grandfatherly image as John Hammond, the affable, if misguided, founder of Jurassic Park; or Kris Kringle in the 1994 version of The Miracle on 34th Street. My favorite Attenborough film might be 1963's The Great Escape, in which he portrayed British officer Bartlett, aka "Big X," who leads the titular escape from a WWII POW camp.
The five films selected for tonight's tribute show the range that Attenborough could play as an actor -- from decent, working class family man in The Angry Silence to cold serial killer in 10 Rillington Place. The lineup also includes some of the films he made under his production company, Allied Filmmakers -- The League of Gentlemen, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, and Angry Silence.
