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.)
5/9, 10 PM - Two Guys from Milwaukee (1946)
Blustery comic Jack Carson and handsome crooner Dennis Morgan were Warner Brothers' version of Paramount's popular screen duo Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Carson and Morgan made 11 films together, though not all were starring vehicles for them as a team. Reportedly friends in real life, the two have an easy chemistry which makes their films fun to watch.
In Milwaukee, Morgan is a Balkan prince who slips away from his security detail while in New York City in order to see how the common folk live (and possibly meet his favorite starlet, Lauren Bacall). Carson is the streetwise cabbie who takes the prince under his wing after Morgan claims to be from Carson's hometown of Milwaukee. The rest of the cast is full of solid Warners contract players like Joan Leslie and Janis Paige providing romantic intrigue and S.Z. Sakall bringing his inimitable brand of comic relief. Luckily Lauren Bacall was also under contract at Warners, so she shows up for a cameo, too, alongside new husband Humphrey Bogart.
5/23: Peabody Award Winners
8 PM - Green Eyes (1977)
10 PM - Hoop Dreams (1994)
1 AM - Promise (1986)
3 AM - George Wallace (1997)
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Peabody Awards, which honor outstanding achievement in media. TCM is showing four Peabody-winning films, three of which were originally made for TV. Green Eyes stars the great Paul Winfield as a Vietnam vet who returns to southeast Asia to find the son he left behind. Made in 1977, this film was one of the first to show the effects of the Vietnam war on veterans. In Promise, James Garner stars as a man who must assume custody of his schizophrenic younger brother, played by James Woods, after the death of their mother. Woods received an Emmy and Golden Globe for his performance. George Wallace is a biopic about the four term governor of Alabama who was a proponent of racial segregation, then changed his views late in life. In award-winning performances all around, Gary Sinise stars as Wallace and Mare Winningham and Angelina Jolie play his first and second wives Lurleen and Cornelia.
The fourth film of the night is the watershed documentary Hoop Dreams. The film by noted documentarian Steve James follows two Chicago teens with dreams of playing in the NBA. Their lives don't follow the predictable path of a Hollywood plot; watching these two families confront numerous obstacles and how it affects their pursuit of the American dream will keep you riveted. Despite winning a Peabody, and being one of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, Hoop Dreams was not even nominated for an Academy Award. The public outcry at the time resulted in the Academy changing its nomination process for documentaries, making it impossible for a small group of voters to skew the results in favor of their favorites, as had been the case before.
5/26, 8 PM - The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
On Thursdays this month, TCM is spotlighting the movies of American International Pictures. AIP was an independent production company in the 50s, 60s, and 70s known for low budget movies aimed at teenagers, ranging from the kooky antics of Beach Party antics to biker gang delinquents to goofy horror movies starring Vincent Price, like tonight's feature in which Price plays the titular Dr. Phibes.
The mysterious Phibes is killing off a string of doctors whom he blames for the untimely death of Mrs. Phibes. The deaths, arbitrarily based the Old Testament plagues, just get more and more gruesome and improbable. However, the film is self-aware enough to have fun with the over-the-top story and sprinkles in moments of black comedy, such when a detective arriving at a murder scene remarks, "A brass unicorn has been catapulted across a London street and impaled an eminent surgeon...words fail me, gentlemen."
It is no surprise that director Robert Fuest was also an art director; the "Edwardian England meets Swinging London" sets are a feast for the eyes, particularly Phibes' bizarre lair where he lives and with his equally enigmatic female assistant Vulnavia. (Yes, Vulnavia.) The plot is almost secondary to the unexpected and creative visuals - I would describe them in more detail, but don't want to ruin the surprise of seeing everything for the first time.
This is a thoroughly weird little movie and probably not for everyone, but if you have an appreciation for camp and creativity, you'll find plenty to like about Phibes.
5/27, 7:15 AM - Chang (1927)
Chang is a silent pseudo-documentary from filmmaker-adventurers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack made six years before their best-known creation, King Kong. The film follows a family of Lao tribesman living in the jungles of northern Siam. The film sought to portray the day-to-day life of the Lao and the dangers they faced in the untamed jungle. Though the people are not actors, most of the scenes were staged reenactments -- a common practice of "documentary" film of the time, but one which makes the film seem less than authentic today. Much of the film concerns the wild animals encountered by the tribe -- including tigers, leopards, and elephants -- and these scenes are all extremely exciting. While the situation may have been staged for the benefit of the film, the tiger charging at the cameraman is still very real and very dangerous. These scenes give the film the feeling of a rip-roaring adventure tale.
Chang was nominated in the first Academy Awards in the category of "Unique and Artistic Picture," a separate category from Best Picture, but one which was considered of equal prestige. It is a truly unique film and if you're interested in learning more about it, my co-blogger A.J. reviewed Chang for his best pictures series.
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