Carter Stevens' Guide to TCM This Week (March 29-April 5)

March 29th

6 count them, Six! Marx Brothers movies in a row. Either heaven or hell depending how you feel about the Marx Brothers. To me it's a bit much of a good thing but I'll try to catch one or two at least.


March 30

Three Kurosawa film is a row including the Magnificent RAN. Just in case you missed his retrospective last week.

1:45am Ran(1985)
An aging lord's decision to retire brings out the worst in his sons.
Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu Dir: Akira Kurosawa C-163 mins

Kurosawa's version of King Lear. Not to be missed. And followed by...(See below)


March 31

4:30am King Lear (1971)
An aging king mistakenly exiles the one daughter who loves him and divides his kingdom between the other two.
Cast: Paul Scofield, Irene Worth, Cyril Cusack, Susan Engel Dir: Peter Brook BW-138 mins, TV-PG

Shakespeare and Scofield a match made in Heaven.


April 1

8:00pm Adam's Rib (1949)
Husband-and-wife lawyers argue opposite sides in a sensational women's rights case.
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell Dir: George Cukor BW-101 mins, TV-G

Tracy and Hepburn at their best. Throw in Judy Holliday and you have a film you can watch over and over.

2:15am To Have And Have Not(1944)
A skipper-for-hire's romance with a beautiful drifter is complicated by his growing involvement with the French resistance.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Moran Dir: Howard Hawks BW-100 mins, TV-G

Bogart and Bacall. Do I really have to say more? OK, have you ever been stung by a dead bee?

4:15am The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks(1973)
Film clips and an exclusive interview capture the career of Hollywood's most efficient director of Westerns and screwball comedies.
Cast: Cary Grant, John Wayne, Howard Hawks Dir: Richard Schickel BW-55 mins, TV-PG

I have no idea if this is any good or not but the subject is my hero and one of the greatest directors who ever worked in Hollywood. Screw the Tivo I'll be staying up just to see it.


April 2

Nothing I'm interested in...Hey, it happens.



April 3

12:00pm Little Big Man (1970)
An American pioneer raised by Indians ends up fighting alongside General Custer.
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, Richard Mulligan Dir: Arthur Penn C-140 mins, TV-14

"Sometime the magic works and sometimes it doesn't." In this case it does. If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about you need to watch this film. If you do you will want to watch it again.

10:00pm Point Blank(1967)
A gangster plots an elaborate revenge on the wife and partner who did him dirty.
Cast: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O'Connor Dir: John Boorman C-92 mins, TV-14

Stark (OK, Westlake) via Marvin and Boorman. I have never figured out why in all the versions of the Parker books they have never called him Parker in the movies. He's Walker in this outing but he's still bad assed Parker.

11:45pm Friends Of Eddie Coyle, The (1973)
An aging hood turns police informer, with deadly results.
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats, Peter Boyle Dir: Peter Yates C-102 mins, TV-MA

One of the great underrated gangster pictures. Don't see it often but when it pops up on TCM make sure you catch it.

1:30am Serpico (1973)
A rookie risks his life going undercover to ferret out police corruption.
Cast: Al Pacino, Tony Roberts, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe Dir: Sidney Lumet C-130 mins, TV-MA

Lumet takes on the New York Police Department. I must admit I like Prince of the City better but this runs a close second.


April 4

Easter specials all damn day..

8:00am Godspell (1973)
Contemporary hippies relive the story of Christ's ministry and crucifixion.
Cast: Victor Garber, David Haskell, Lynne Thigpen, Jerry Sroka Dir: David Greene C-102 mins, TV-G

The only one that even interests this New York Jew boy a little.


April 5

12:15pm Fury (1936)
An innocent man escapes a lynch mob then returns for revenge.
Cast: Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot Dir: Fritz Lang BW-93 mins, TV-G

One of the few great Hollywood productions by this master German film maker.

6:00pm Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family.
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger Dir: John Sturges C-82 mins, TV-PG

Spencer Tracy proves he can out act almost every actor in Hollywood with one arm tied behind his back.


1:30am Shane (1953)
A mysterious drifter helps farmers fight off a vicious gunman.
Cast: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon de Wilde Dir: George Stevens C-118 mins, TV-G

Is there anybody who doesn't know that this film didn't work when it was about the love between the mother and the stranger until they re-cut it as a love story between the stranger and little boy... Come back Shane, Come back.