Classic Film Picks: June 2016

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.)

6/3: Early Billy Wilder
10 PM - Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
12 AM - Double Indemnity (1944)
On Fridays this month, TCM is spotlighting one of my favorite filmmakers: Billy Wilder. Wilder made his Hollywood directing debut with 1942's The Major and the Minor (showing this evening at 8 PM). I'm not a huge fan of this comedy because the plot is just a bit icky -- basically grown-up woman Ginger Rogers pretends to be a child and grown-up man Ray Milland falls in love with her. However, it's not a bad movie and Paramount Studios was impressed enough to let Wilder and his writing partner Charles Brackett produce their next film, which ended up being Five Graves to Cairo. Wilder's second Hollywood film was a departure from his first, Cairo is a WWII spy adventure set in North Africa. Though Franchot Tone was the nominal star of the film, as you can see by the poster, Erich von Stroheim as Field Marshall Rommel came to dominate the film; however, Tone and the rest of the cast, including Anne Baxter and Akim Tamiroff, are all first-rate and make this a fun, engaging adventure. Wilder would soon follow these successes with a definitive film noir, and one of the best movies ever made, Double Indemnity. The story, about an insurance salesman who plots with a femme fatale to bump off her husband, is based on a novel by James M. Cain, but Wilder and Raymond Chandler, author of many a classic crime novel himself, are credited with the superb screenplay. Beautiful black and white cinematography contrasts the sunny California setting with the shadowy realms the characters inhabit. The banter, the look, plus excellent performances by Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson, all combine to make this a classic noir thriller.


Best of '73 or the Importance of Casting
6/14, 4:15 AM - The Last Detail (1973)
6/25, 8 PM - The Sting (1973)
In researching my picks for the month, I read that Jack Nicholson turned down the Robert Redford role in The Sting in order to make The Last Detail. It got me thinking about the importance of casting the right actor in the right role and how changes in casting can change the entire film. In The Last Detail, two Navy lifers, Buddusky (Nicholson) and Mulhall (Otis Young), transport a young sailor (Randy Quaid) to a military prison in another state and along the way befriend their prisoner and try to show him a good time before he gets locked up. Nicholson had originally envisioned that his good friend Rupert Crosse would play Mulhall; however, Crosse became ill and had to back out of the film. Crosse was a higher profile actor than Young, having received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for 1969's The Reivers. While Young does a fine job, I wonder if Nicholson and Crosse's real-life friendship would have brought a different sort of chemistry to their characters'  relationship and given the film more of a buddy-picture vibe. As it is, Nicholson dominates the film and he received his second Best Actor Oscar nomination. The film's profanity-laden script also brought notice for writer Robert Towne, who would collaborate with Nicholson again on 1974's Chinatown, which is considered a career-high for almost everyone involved.
 

The Sting is notable for the chemistry between the two stars, Robert Redford and Paul Newman. It was a re-teaming of the two actors with their Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid director George Roy Hill; and though the story of Depression-era con men bears little similarity to the former film, The Sting feels like an unofficial sequel to Butch. If Nicholson had been cast as Johnny Hooker, we can be certain that Paul Newman would not have taken the role of Henry Gondorff -- originally a much smaller part which was beefed up to capitalize on the Redford/Newman pairing. Yes, the script is excellent...but without Redford and Newman, would The Sting have been so well-received by critics and audiences? The film was named Best Picture at the Academy Awards and it garnered Redford his first, and only, Best Actor nomination. (Which, by the way, is crazy because he was amazing in All is Lost.)

Going further down the rabbit hole...I have to wonder if the success of The Sting influenced Nicholson's decision to make 1975's The Fortune, a now-forgotten film in which Nicholson and Warren Beatty play Jazz-age con men. Despite Nicholson and Beatty's star-power, The Fortune was a million-dollar flop.

One last thought on casting...while watching The Last Detail for the first time, I could not stop thinking that Sam Rockwell would be perfect for the Nicholson role if the film were ever remade. Are you listening, Hollywood? You can have that one for free because I just really want to see a remake of The Last Detail starring Sam Rockwell.


6/18: Adapting Jane Austen
8 PM - Pride and Prejudice (1940)
10:15 PM - Persuasion (1995)
I recently saw Love & Friendship, the latest film by writer-director Whit Stillman, which is adapted from the Jane Austen short story Lady Susan. It's delightful and very funny -- a wonderful confluence of one of my favorite contemporary filmmakers and one of my favorite classic authors -- and it has put me in the mood for more Austen adaptations. The 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice isn't strictly faithful to the novel; however, Greer Garson is lovely and spirited as Lizzie Bennet and Laurence Olivier is appropriately smoldering as Mr. Darcy. Though the novel is set in Regency England (late 1700s-early 1800s), the time period in the film has been moved forward to the Victorian 1830s, possibly so that the women could wear big, flouncy gowns rather than the nightgown-like Regency dresses. (I read one article which claimed that MGM didn't want to spend a lot of money on this film, so they repurposed costumes from Gone with the Wind for the background players.) Even more anachronistic (and barely accurate) is the film's promotional tagline: Bachelors Beware! Five Gorgeous Beauties are on a Madcap Manhunt!
Persuasion has not been adapted as frequently as Pride, so while I have read the novel I have not seen a screen version. The story centers on Anne Elliot, played by Amanda Root, who in age and character may be Austen's most mature heroine. Resigned to a life as an old maid in her late twenties, Anne gets a second chance at love when an old flame re-enters her life. The love interest is played by Ciaran Hinds who audiences may recognize for his more recent roles in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Game of Thrones, and Rome.

6/28: Disney Vault Treasures
8 PM - The Parent Trap (1961)
11 PM - Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009)
1:15 AM - An Adventure in Color/Donald in Mathmagic Land (1961)
This is the seventh installment of TCM's series "Treasures from the Disney Vault" including feature films, cartoons, and documentaries. I always enjoy these periodic dips into the extensive Disney library of films and TV shows, but this month feels especially like a trip back to my childhood. The Parent Trap was made twenty years before I was born, but it seemed ubiquitous when I was growing up and its continued popularity spawned two tv-movie sequels in the 80s. Of course I was surprised to learn that twins Sharon and Susan were both played by one actress (I was a kid, ok!). The trick camera work used to show both twins side by side holds up pretty well, and Hayley Mills does a great job of giving each girl a distinct personality. It's pretty hard not to be charmed by this film.
Waking Sleeping Beauty is a documentary about Disney's animation studio which went from the brink of shutting down in the early 80s to producing a string of hits over the decade between 1984 and 1994, now known as the "Disney Renaissance." I grew up on classics like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King, so it's fun for me to see the stories behind the scenes. If you are a fan of animation or like showbiz documentaries, this one is a must-see.
The real treasures of this bunch are the two cartoons Adventure in Color and Donald in Mathmagic Land, which were shown together on the first episode of the TV show Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. As the name of the show implies, these were the first Disney cartoons to be shown on television in color (of course you had to have a color television to appreciate it). New character Ludwig von Drake explains color then Donald Duck learns the ways that math affects everything from making music to playing pool. As the comments on its entry in the unofficial Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts reflect, this cartoon has been an essential educational tool for many a youngster. It should be required viewing in elementary school.

Best Pictures #19: 1928-29 (2nd) Academy Awards Outstanding Picture Nominee, Alibi (1929)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #19: 1928-29 (2^nd) Academy Awards Outstanding Picture Nominee

Alibi (1929)

I didn’t have a very difficult time finding a copy of Alibi on VHS, but the DVD seems to have gone out of print. However, Alibi is readily available on DVD as part of the collection of early Academy Award Best Picture nominees, The Envelope Please Vol. 1 (which also includes the rare silent Best Picture nominee, The Racket). The home video cover art for Alibi bears a quote from the New York Times declaring, “It is by far the best of the gangster films.” I’m not well acquainted with other gangster films of this time period, but I think it is safe to say that audiences at the time had not seen a crime film quite like this one.

Alibi stars Chester Morris as Chick, a criminal recently released from prison who uses his date with a policeman’s daughter as his alibi for the murder of a police officer. The policeman’s daughter, Joan, believes in giving people second chances and that the police will railroad people just to get a conviction. Her view of the police comes off as rebellious until the film proves her correct, which is what sets Alibi apart from the other gangster films of this era that I have seen. The Racket had corrupt cops and good cops. Nearly every cop in Alibi is a corrupt brute, and the criminals are portrayed just as negatively. The police suspect Chick instantly of the murder of the patrolman based on no evidence, just prejudice, and go about bullying people into naming Chick as the murderer. In one scene two policemen first threaten to frame a random ne'er-do-well for the murder if he doesn’t name Chick; then they threaten to kill him.

Just about every character in Alibi is one dimensional. Once the movie reveals whether or not Chick is the murderer, he, and the movie, become far less interesting. There is one wholly good police officer named Tommy, who is also a suitor of Joan. Though his character ultimately emerges as the hero of the movie, he is also a very bland character. The only continuously interesting character in this movie is Danny, a clichéd drunk played by Regis Toomey, who is friends both with gangsters and cops. He decides to be an informant for the police and is at the center of the most tension filled scene in the movie.

Alibi indulges the new spectacle of sound with as much enthusiasm as other early sound films. Though not a musical, there are more than a few song and dance numbers in the scenes at the nightclub hangout of the gangsters. The film’s opening scene is loaded with sounds: a prison guard twirling his nightstick, a chiming bell, and every step of marching prisoners lining up for roll call. The sound quality of the DVD is mostly good, but becomes spotty at times and even cuts out completely for a moment or two.

Alibi is a visually impressive film and received an unofficial nomination for Art Direction for its bold and stylish art deco sets. City streets rush toward us in a POV of a speeding car. In one scene a character attempts to leap from the roof of one skyscraper to the next only to fall to his death and the effect is pretty impressive. The camera even moves a little bit more than the other early sound movies I’ve seen. In one shot the camera pushes through a crowded nightclub to a line of singing and dancing chorus girls. Perhaps most notable and interesting of all is Alibi's use of light and shadow giving it a look that would become a staple of crime movies and become woven into the fabric of Film Noir.

Alibi certainly feels like an early sound film, as though it is still trying to figure out the best way to use dialogue, images, and sound effects to tell a story. It feels edgy due to the harsh and blatantly negative portrayal of the police, which I admit had me stunned. This is a Pre-Code film, so the strict and puritanical Hays Code censoring and restricting a film's content was not yet being enforced. That edgy portrayal of cops and criminals is Alibi’s defining trait but also its primary flaw. With both cops and criminals equally bad and despicable (except for the one good, bland cop) there is no one to root for. Some aspects of Alibi hold up more than others making it an interesting but uneven early Best Picture nominee.

Nominee: Feature Productions, United Artists

Producer: Roland West

Director: Roland West

Screenplay: Roland West and C. Gardner Sullivan, from the play by John Griffith Wray & J.C. Nugent and Elaine S. Carrington

Cast: Chester Morris, Harry Stubbs, Mae Busch, Eleanor Griffith

Release Date: April 20^th, 1929

Total Nominations: 3, including Outstanding Picture

Win(s): N/A

Other Nominations: Actor-Chester Morris, Art Direction-William Cameron Menzies

Summer Under the Radar Preview 2016

by A.J.

Summer doesn’t officially start until about a month from now, but it has been summer at the movies since the first weekend of May. Summer at the movies is synonymous with the big budget blockbuster movies (usually superhero movies) that you’ve known were premiering this summer whether you are interested in them or not (Captain America: Civil War, X-Men Apocalypse, Ghostbusters, Star Trek Beyond). There are also some smaller scale movies coming out this summer that not everyone may be aware of, but which I think will be a nice break from epic CGI action:

May 20^th

The Nice Guys

Ryan Gosling takes a break from his roles in more experimental films to star with Russell Crowe as a pair of mismatched detectives in this action-comedy film noir set in 1970s California. The Nice Guys is written and directed by Shane Black, who wrote the screenplays for Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout (to name a few) and has directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (another great noir comedy about a mismatched pair of detectives) and arguably the best Marvel movie, Iron Man 3. So far, his track record as writer/director has been very good and, hopefully, The Nice Guys will continue his streak of clever, quality cinema.

May 27^th

Love & Friendship

This is the movie I have been looking forward to the most this year. The films of writer-director Whit Stillman have been described as "comedies of manners” that follow privileged WASP types, but the way I describe his movies when recommending one to a customer at the video store is: it’s like mixing a Woody Allen movie and a Wes Anderson movie together. His latest film, an adaptation of a Jane Austen story, is the moment when critics and fans realized that Stillman has been making modern day Jane Austen stories this whole time. Kate Beckinsale stars as widow Lady Susan who, while staying with her in-laws, seeks to find a husband for her daughter, and one for herself, too. Love & Friendship has already been released in select cities and received many positive reviews. It opens in Austin, TX on May 27^th and I can’t wait.

June 24^th

The Neon Demon

This is the most hesitant I’ve been about seeing any movie for quite a while. Writer-director Nicolas Winding Refn made one of my favorite movies of this decade so far, Drive. He followed that up with one of the most boring and excruciating movie experiences I’ve ever had with Only God Forgives. I’ve watched some of his other films and it seems like Drive might be the fluke in his filmography. However, the casting of Mad Men's Christina Hendricks got me to watch the trailer for The Neon Demon and the trailer is pretty intriguing. Elle Fanning stars as an aspiring model that finds herself in potentially dangerous surroundings. IMDB.com classifies this movie as Horror/Thriller and if the coin flips one way, an intense, psychological thriller along the lines of Black Swan might be in store; if the coin flips the other way, this movie might just be very pretty and very frustrating. I’ll wait for reviews for The Neon Demon come in before I venture out the theater, or just stay home and watch Drive again. Here is the trailer, which, on its own, I highly recommend watching.

July 15^th

The Infiltrator

Bryan Cranston finds himself in the world of illegal drugs again in The Infiltrator. This time he is on the side of the authorities, U.S. Customs to be exact, in this movie based on the true story of a drug and money laundering sting aimed at apprehending Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Cranston is paired with John Leguizamo and they have to go undercover in the dangerous world of the drug trade. The trailer plays up the action, but I’m interested to see what Cranston does with this material.

August 5^th

The Founder

I’m surprised The Founder isn’t being released later in the year, during Oscar season, since this seems like a movie the Academy would look favorably upon. Michael Keaton plays Ray Kroc, the founder (but not creator) of McDonald’s. Kroc finds the small, but fast burger restaurant run by the McDonald brothers (played by Nick Offerman and John Carrol Lynch) and expands their business into a larger and larger franchise. It’s not exactly what the brothers thought they were getting into, but Kroc is determined to make the business as big and successful as possible, and he's not going to let anyone get in his way. The Founder has an interesting subject and a great cast, so I am on board.

August 12^th

Café Society

It’s the new Woody Allen movie, so this might as well be required viewing for me. Allen’s last two films, Irrational Man and Magic in Moonlight, were way under par in just about every aspect, but Allen just keeps churning out film after film and hopefully the odds are in our favor for Café Society. As always, this Woody Allen movie features a talented cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Steve Carell, Kristen Stewart, Cory Stoll, and Parker Posey. Eisenberg plays a young man from the Bronx who movies out to Hollywood to help his uncle, who is a powerful agent (Carell), and falls in love with his uncle’s secretary (Stewart). It’s a period film, set in 1930’s Hollywood, so even if this wasn’t a Woody Allen movie I would still be very excited to see it in theaters.

Best Pictures #18: 1928-29 (2nd) Academy Awards Outstanding Picture Nominee, In Old Arizona

by A.J.

1928-29 (2^nd) Academy Awards Outstanding Picture Nominee

In Old Arizona (1928)

Based on the O. Henry story “The Caballero’s Way,” In Old Arizona is about the charming Mexican bandit, the Cisco Kid, whose unfaithful lover, Tonia, plots to turn him in for reward money to the U.S. Army sergeant assigned to capture him. The plot is simple enough for entertaining western, but that film would have to be much shorter than this one. This movie somehow just doesn’t have enough plot or substantial characters to fill out its relatively short runtime of 95 minutes. So, the film drags and drags. Its main concern is the very new and exciting spectacle of sound. It is clear that this was the big draw for audiences in 1928. The poster art advertises the film as “100% ALL-TALKING” and has the tag line “You Hear What You See While Enjoying… In Old Arizona.”

In Old Arizona, available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and, YouTube.com (for the moment), has the distinction of being the first western nominated for Best Picture (unofficially, since there were no official nominations that year) and being the first sound film shot primarily outdoors. Raoul Walsh was originally set to both direct and star as the Cisco Kid and shot some scenes but had to be replaced after a jackrabbit jumped through the windshield of his car causing him to have an accident in which he lost his right eye. He was replaced by Irving Cumming as director and Warner Baxter as the smiling, lovable Cisco Kid, for which he won for Best Actor.

I’m sure audiences would have been transfixed and excited by seeing and hearing actors talk on screen. In Old Arizona gives the audience what it wants but an unintended side effect is some scenes go on for way too long. After dialogue concerning plot points has been delivered, any given scene will carry on with extraneous dialogue. I was pretty invested in the Cisco Kid’s breakfast of ham and eggs because so much was said of the meal. When the Cisco Kid meets the comically cocksure Sergeant Dunn, who doesn’t know that the Kid looks like, they exchange some friendly words at a barbershop. That scene moves a little slow but is funny and pretty entertaining. Then they go outside and talk some more. Though this is not a musical there is a fair amount of singing from the Cisco Kid and the soldiers of the nearby army battalion. The Cisco Kid is a sort of prototype of the singing cowboy archetype that would be perfected in later western/musicals.

There are many things that make In Old Arizona feel very, very dated and it does not quite have the charm necessary to overlook those aspects. The style of acting from every character is heightened and exaggerated like it would be in a silent film. There is very little camera movement and for some scenes I thought that it must surely be bolted to the ground. The sound quality for each scene depends on how close the actors are standing to the hidden microphone, and when they speak they are projecting like they would in the theatre. Baxter and Dorothy Burgess, as Tonia, speak with heavily accented broken English. This film is most interesting, and perhaps only interesting, as an example of a film from the early sound era when talking pictures where still finding their footing.

In Old Arizona could have been a better film, or at least more entertaining, if it was shorter. There are some funny moments with heavy innuendos. The thin story is stretched to breaking and only picks up at very end for the climatic confrontation between the Cisco Kid, Tonia, and Sergeant Dunn. I suppose I can’t blame this movie too much for being so preoccupied with sound and talking, but I know from the silent films of just the previous year that filmmakers were capable of turning out interesting stories with full-fledged characters and good, steady pacing. I wish that In Old Arizona found interesting dialogue for the characters to speak and audiences to hear.

Nominee: Fox 

Producer: Winfield Sheehan     

Director: Irving Cummings, Raoul Walsh

Screenplay: Tom Barry, based on the story “The Caballero’s Way” by O. Henry

Cast: Warner Baxter, Edmund Lowe, Dorothy Burgess

Release Date: December 25^th, 1928

Total Nominations: 5, including Outstanding Picture

Win: Best Actor-Warner Baxter

Other Nominations: Director-Irving Cummings, Writing-Tom Barry, Cinematography-Arthur Edeson

Classic Movie Picks: May 2016

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.)

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.

Classic Movie Picks: April 2016

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.)

4/2, 8 PM - Shane (1953)
This classic Western directed by George Stevens was an iconic film for a generation, but now as Westerns have faded from popularity, younger audiences no longer know Shane. I think it's worth rediscovering. Alan Ladd plays the title character, a "reformed" gunfighter, who befriends the Starret family, homesteaders in Wyoming, played by Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, and young Brandon De Wilde. When a rancher hires a gunslinger (Jack Palance) to scare the Starrets and other farmers off their land, tensions escalate until it seems inevitable that Shane must fall back on his old ways to come to their defense. The film was nominated for multiple Academy Awards - Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Palance), and Best Picture; however, its only win was for Best Cinematography. Though Ladd did not receive an Oscar nomination, this was a career-defining role for him. His Shane is complex - dignified and decent, yet clearly suppressing his natural impulses to violence. As he rides off into the sunset (with little Brandon De Wilde famously crying, "Shane, come back!"), you know he's destined to repeat this episode again.

Starring Mabel Normand
4/10, 12:30 AM - The Extra Girl (1923)
4/10, 1:45 AM - Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)
This pair of films showcases Mabel Normand, a popular actress and director of the silent era. Her famous partnership with filmmaker Mack Sennet made Normand the top comedienne of her day; however, their off screen partnership was less successful. The couple even inspired a Broadway musical in 1974, Mack and Mabel, which starred Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters. Unfortunately, Mabel's life in Hollywood was marked with tragedy -- drug addiction and the unsolved murder of her best friend, director William Desmond Taylor -- and she died of tuberculosis in 1930 at age 38. (Normand features prominently in Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann, an excellent true crime novel which posits a solution to Taylor's murder.)
In The Extra Girl, written and produced by Sennet, Normand stars as a small town girl who, through a series of mix-ups, lands a contract with a Hollywood studio. The story sounds familiar, but at this point in cinema history "movies about movies" were relatively uncommon and the film offers a rare glimpse at the early film industry.
Tillie's Punctured Romance stars Marie Dressler, in her first film role, and Charlie Chaplin with Normand playing a smaller role. Directed by Sennet, the film is notable as the first feature-length comedy ever produced.

German Cinema in the Weimar Era
This special programming series focuses on the German film industry during that country's transitional period between the World Wars, also known as the Weimar Republic, roughly 1919-1933. Though typically created for the mass market, these films pushed the development of film as an art form, reflecting movements in contemporary visual art and theatre. The series includes 16 feature films and a documentary. I would suggest checking out any of the scheduled films (I've recommended a few in the past), but here are the ones I'm hoping to catch this time around.

4/13, 9:30 PM - From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses (2014)
Based on a 1947 book by German film critic Siegfried Kracauer, this doc explores how societal changes in German culture affected the types of stories told on screen - from the Roaring Twenties to the rise of the Nazi party.

4/13 - Innovators 
8 PM - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) dir. by Robert Wiene
11:30 PM - Nosferatu (1922) dir. by F.W. Murnau
1:15 AM - Faust (1926) dir. by F.W. Murnau
3:15 AM - The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1927) dir. by Lotte Reiniger
4:30 AM - The Blue Angel (1930) dir. by Josef Von Sternberg
The films of this period are noted for being visually striking, light and shadow creating highly stylized, expressionistic images -- this style is at it's height in Caligari, a spooky tale of a sleepwalking murderer. Reiniger's Achmed is an animated film which uses an unusual technique of intricate shadow puppets. Also of note - the Blue Angel introduced the world to Marlene Dietrich.

4/20 - Films of Fritz Lang
8 PM - Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922)
12:45 AM - The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) 
Lang's films center on master criminal Mabuse and his plots to rule the Berlin underworld and create an empire of crime through fear and manipulation. In the second film, Mabuse's tactics deliberately references the rise of the Nazi party; Lang was one of the few German filmmakers who dared to comment on the Nazis (he soon emigrated and went on to a successful career in Hollywood.)

4/27 - Films of G.W. Pabst
8 PM - Pandora's Box (1929)
10:30 PM - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
1:45 AM - The Threepenny Opera (1931)
Director Pabst made two films with American actress Louise Brooks, but those two made her an icon of the flapper era. In both Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, Brooks plays a woman whose potent sexuality dooms her to a tragic fate at the hands of men. Threepenny Opera is an adaptation of a Bertolt Brecht play, with music by Kurt Weill, which tells the story of London criminal Mack the Knife (yes, the one from the song). In a bizarre bit of performance art, Brecht sued the filmmakers for violating his artistic intent, while they accused him of the exact same thing -- and the producers won. Regardless of who truly authored the film, it's still fun to watch.

Classic Movie Picks: March 2016

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.)

3/7, 8 PM - The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
This biopic of Renaissance artist Michelangelo kicks-off TCM's month-long spotlight of Art and Artists on film. The film focuses on the painting of the Sistine Chapel and the frequent clashes between the artist (Charlton Heston) and his patron, Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison). An impressive replica of the Sistine Chapel was constructed at Cinecitta film studios in Rome. Large photographs of the real painting were attached to the ceiling, then painted over, to create the simulation of a freshly completed work. Ironically, Michelangelo was primarily a sculptor, a fact which inspired a short documentary "prologue" titled The Artist Who Did Not Want to Paint. Tune in at 7:47 PM to catch the short before the feature!

3/9: Selections from the Disney Vault
I've really enjoyed TCM's ongoing installments of "Treasures from the Disney Vault" hosted by Leonard Maltin. Martin is an enthusiastic fan and his host segments offer interesting insights into the animated shorts, features, and documentaries, many of which are TCM premieres and can't be seen anywhere else. This month's line-up has a watery theme, with many of the films taking place at sea or near the water. (Hmm, any coincidence that Finding Dory is coming to theaters soon?) 

8 PM - The Whalers (1938) / Sea Scouts (1939) 
Two cartoons featuring Donald Duck

8:30 PM - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Originally planned as an animated feature, this adaptation of Jules Verne's classic adventure novel was the first live-action film shot at Disney's Burbank studios. It stars James Mason, Paul Lukas, Peter Lorre, and Kirk Douglas (as singing sailor Ned Land), as well as a giant squid. It was also the biggest budget film of the time; in fact, it was too expensive to turn a profit. However, Disney was able to parlay the film into a popular TV special (advertising for his new Disneyland theme park) and the movie lived on for decades as a Disneyland attraction. 

10:45 PM - Operation Undersea (1954)
The aforementioned popular TV special about the making of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

11:45 PM - Merbabies (1938)
Silly Symphonies short about baby mermaids (what else?)

12 AM - Secrets of Life (1956)
1:30 AM - Nikki, Wild Dog of the North (1961)
Nikki, "the Malamute Wonder Dog," is separated from his master when their canoe capsizes and must find his way home through the harsh Canadian wilderness.

3 AM - Return to Snowy River (1988)
This sequel to The Man from Snowy River is a romantic adventure set among ranchers in the Australian high country, with star-crossed lovers and plenty of wild horses. 

4:45 AM - Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966)
This updated version of Robinson Crusoe stars Dick Van Dyke as a Navy pilot stranded on a seemingly deserted Pacific island. Of course, he soon encounters an "astrochimp" and a comely Polynesian lady...and hijinks ensue (this will surely sound familiar to fans of Daniel Defoe's classic novel).


3/19, 11 PM - A Man Escaped (1956)
This suspenseful film by director Robert Bresson follows a WWII French Resistance fighter, imprisoned by the Gestapo and condemned to die, who devotes every moment to planning his escape. Bresson is known for his harsh realism (some might even call it punishing). His films are pared down to the very essentials; for example, in A Man Escaped we see and hear only what the prisoner can. For anyone who enjoys prison break stories and their combination of methodical procedure with nail-biting suspense, this film is an essential.


3/26: Classic Stunts
8 PM - The General (1927)
9:30 PM - The Driver (1978)
11:15 PM - Stagecoach (1939)
1 AM - Safety Last! (1923)
Tonight's line-up showcases classic movie stunts from the Silent era to the Seventies.
The General stars Buster Keaton as a confederate engineer racing to save his train from Union spies. One famous scene depicts the train on a collapsing burning bridge; a train was purchased just to destroy, bringing the cost of the stunt to $42,000 (almost $2 million today) and making it the most expensive shot in silent film history.
From trains we go to automobiles with The Driver, famous for its car chases. Ryan O'Neal stars as the title character, who steals cars and acts as a getaway driver for hire, and Bruce Dern is the detective obsessed with catching him. 
Stagecoach stars John Wayne in his breakout role as the Ringo Kid, one of a diverse group of passengers who must race through treacherous Apache country in the title stage. It's like Speed in the wild West! The film contains many impressive stunts by Yakima Canutt, including a scene in which he is dragged beneath galloping horses.
Last, but not least, is Safety Last! the classic silent which features Harold Lloyd's famous stunt in which he dangles from the hands of an enormous clock.