Classic Movie Picks: October 2015

by Lani

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.)

Spotlight on Women Filmmakers
This month TCM kicks off a three-year initiative to shine a spotlight on women in film while raising awareness of the lack of gender equality in the industry. October's festival focuses on directors from the early days of cinema through to the current generation of trailblazing women. 47 women directors will be profiled over 9 nights. There is a lot to choose from, so check out the full schedule online. Here are some of the films I'm looking forward to from the series: 

10/6, 8 PM - Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) dir. Dorothy Arzner
10/13, 8 PM - Crossing Delancey (1988) dir. Joan Micklin Silver
10/13, 11:45 PM - A Dry White Season (1989) dir. Euzhan Palcy
10/15, 11:30 PM - The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (1980) dir. Connie Field
10/22, 9:45 PM - Daughters of the Dust (1991) dir. Julie Dash
10/22, 1:30 AM - Middle of Nowhere (2012) dir. Ava Duvernay
10/27, 11:15 PM - Salaam Bombay! (1988) dir. Mira Nair
10/29, 10 PM - Walking and Talking (1996) dir. Nicole Holofcener


Decline of Western Civilization Parts I, II, and III
10/15, 2:45 AM - Part I (1981)
10/16, 2:30 AM - Part II, The Metal Years (1988)
10/24, 2:45 AM - Part III (1998)
This documentary trilogy directed by Penelope Spheeris chronicles music subcultures of Los Angeles in the 1980s and 90s. Part I, which looks at L.A.'s thriving punk scene circa 1980, airs on October 15 as part of a night devoted to women documentarians. Part II takes up seven years later as the punk scene is being overshadowed by glam metal and Part III looks at a group of homeless young gutter-punks. This year, for the first time, all three films were released as a DVD set; however, you can see them for free this month on TCM - set your DVR!


10/9 - Roving Hands
8 PM - Mad Love (1935)
9:30 PM - The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
11:15 PM - Hands of a Stranger (1967)
Mad Love and Hands of a Stranger were inspired by the same source material, the 1920 novel Les Mains d'Orlac. In fact, the novel has spawned at least five film adaptations including 1991's Body Parts which until now I knew only as a movie whose VHS cover I would try to avoid looking at when browsing my local video store. This category of VHS tapes included other 80s-90s horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street, Child's Play, and Monkey Shines -- and I haven't watched any of these films to this day. However, the films in tonight's line-up have just the level of horror that I can handle.
In Mad Love, Peter Lorre plays a mad doctor who gives a pianist a hand transplant. The hands happen to be from an executed murderer and they exert an evil influence over their new body. Hands of a Stranger, reverses the sympathies of the story, with the doctor having noble intentions and the pianist as the crazed maniac. Beast with Five Fingers has Lorre again, this time being stalked by the severed hands of his former employer, an ex-concert pianist. (Note: beware concert pianists who've undergone any type of hand surgery!) 

Bonus Pick: 10/31, 3 PM - The Tingler (1959)
This is one of my favorite low-budget horror films from a king of the genre, producer/director William Castle. The premise, which revolves around a lobster-esque monster which feeds on fear, is ridiculous enough to remove any terror. However, there are some moments of real tension and star Vincent Price is excellent, as usual. 

10/18: Silent Lost and Found
8 PM - The Grim Game (1919)
9:30 PM - Sherlock Holmes (1916)
11:45 PM - The Grim Game (1919)
1:15 AM - The Round-Up (1920)
2:30 AM - The Life of the Party (1920)
Tonight's line-up features four silent films once thought to be lost. The Grim Game stars escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini as a wrongly imprisoned man who must escape (surprise!) in order to save his fiancee. The two showings tonight feature alternate scores; at 8 PM, you'll hear music by Brane Zivkovic and the later version will have music by Steve Sterner. The other films tonight include a Sherlock Holmes story and two features from 1920 starring Fatty Arbuckle. Should be a treat for silent film enthusiasts.


10/28: Semi-Spooky Selections from the Disney Vault
8 PM - The Three Little Pigs (1933)
8:15 PM - The Big Bad Wolf (1934)
8:30 PM - Three Little Wolves (1936)
Three Silly Symphonies shorts featuring the Three Little Pigs and their wolfish nemesis.

8:45 PM - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
Animated adventures of characters from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Wind and the Willows, featuring the voices of Bing Crosby and Basil Rathbone. 

10 PM - The Old Mill (1937)
Oscar-winning animated short about a community of animals inhabiting an abandoned mill threatened by a severe storm.

10:15 PM - The Plausible Impossible (1956)
Episode of the Disneyland TV show in which Walt Disney explains how animation can make the impossible "real."

11:15 PM - Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
5 AM - Return From Witch Mountain (1978)
Popular live-action film about supernatural siblings on the run from an unscrupulous millionaire (Ray Milland) and the sequel in which the kids must escape the clutches of  maniacs out to rule the world (Christopher Lee & Bette Davis).

1 AM - Lonesome Ghosts (1937)
Mickey Mouse short which proves that Mickey was ghost hunting before it was cool.

1:15 AM - Frankenweenie (1984)
An early short film by Tim Burton about a boy scientist who brings his dog back to life.

2 AM - Mr. Boogedy (1986)
3 AM - The Ghosts of Buxley Hall (1980)
Two made-for-TV movies about hauntings at a family home and military academy, respectively.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Hound of the Baskervilles

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 2: "The Curse of the Hound is on you!" The Hound of the Baskervilles

There are many versions of what is likely Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous Sherlock Holmes story, The Hound of the Baskervilles, but none of the others have Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Throw in director Terence Fisher and you have they key ingredients for a top notch Hammer Film production. By 1959, when this film was released, Hammer Film Productions had already begun its cycle of horror films that would make the company infamous, especially for the films that paired Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. The best of these were directed by Terence Fisher.

Peter Cushing is excellent as Sherlock Holmes. Andre Morell plays Dr. John Watson and is very good playing the straight man to Cushing's wily portrayal of Holmes. The Hound of the Baskervilles is a story from which Holmes is absent for a long stretch so Watson carries the story, which means Morell keeps the film moving and lively even while the main character is absent. Christopher Lee plays Sir Henry Baskerville, the last of the Baskerville line who recently inherited the family estate after his uncle died, perhaps of the family curse involving a hell hound. Lee plays Sir Henry with the authority and seriousness of a Victorian aristocrat.

From London, the film moves to the Baskerville estate on the eerie and foggy moors of Devonshire. Like many of the Hammer horror films, The Hound of Baskervilles gets its mood and atmosphere from the period costumes and sets. Though it’s a Victorian mystery, the sets, the fog, and the Baskerville curse give the story a gothic feel. The Hound of the Baskervilles is at heart a mystery, not a horror story but there are still many spooky elements to the story: a family curse, mysterious deaths, a mysterious farmer and his daughter, a dark family past, foggy  and dangerous landscape, not to mention that hell hound. But this movie does rely on the performances and setting to engage the audience more than blood and special effects. There are still some good fright scenes, especially one involving a tarantula. The Hound of the Baskervilles is a good, fun, and not too spooky seemingly supernatural story. You'll have a great time watching Sherlock Holmes solve his most famous case.

Classic Movie Picks: October 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.)

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.

Classic Movie Picks: December

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.)

12/4: If you only know him as the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, then tonight's line-up is a lovely introduction to the wider filmography of Mike Newell. (My only complaint is that they aren't showing my favorite Newell film, Donnie Brasco, an excellent film about the mob, as told through the eyes of an undercover FBI agent. Bonus pick for December: rent Donnie Brasco!) Enchanted April (8:00 PM) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (10:00 PM) are charming glimpses of the British upper middle class during two very different time periods and Amazing Grace and Chuck (12:00 AM) is a somewhat forgotten movie from the end of the Cold War era with an intriguing premise - can a little league boycott serve as a catalyst for global nuclear disarmament?

12/6: All of Me (8:00 PM)
In January, I was repeatedly subjected to the trailer for The Pink Panther 2, starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. Each time I saw that trailer I had two reactions: "Wow, this movie looks stupid," followed by, "I wish I was watching All of Me."

12/25-26: "Holmes for Christmas" (12/15, 8:00 PM - 12/26, 6:30 PM)
To coincide with the Christmas Day release of Sherlock Holmes, TCM presents a marathon of 17 Sherlock Holmes films. The evening of the 25th will provide a variety of interpretations of the Holmes mysteries, including the first two films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson, respectively, Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, and the British Hammer Film Productions version of The Hound of the Baskervilles starring Peter Cushing as Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. The 26th offers a day of the definitive detecting duo of Rathbone and Bruce; their series of films from the 1940s will play in chronological order.

Throughout the month, TCM will be showing holiday-themed films. To find all scheduled showings, I suggest you go to TCM.com. Here are a few that I am looking forward to watching while sipping a mug of cocoa:
Fitzwilly - starring Dick Van Dyke as a butler who steals in order to keep his beloved, but clueless, mistress in the black. Also with Barbara Feldon and her hypnotically soothing voice.
Christmas in Connecticut - no, not the one directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is the original, with Barbara Stanwyck getting a lesson in how to flip pancakes and falling in love with the dreamy Dennis Morgan.
In the Good Old Summertime - I actually prefer this musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner, starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, to the excellent original. I suppose I am a sucker for all the singing, dancing, and beautiful costumes, which are unfortunately absent from the older film. And despite the name, it can be considered a Christmas movie.
Meet Me in St. Louis - another Judy Garland musical in glorious Technicolor which has key sequences set during Christmas. This is the film which gave us the classic carol "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."