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Monday, June 14, 2010

Carter Stevens' Guide to TCM This Week (June 15-22)


JUNE 15 (actually June 16 but who's counting)

12:00am  Ride The High Country (1962)   
Two aging gunslingers sign on to transport gold from a remote mining town.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley, Ron Starr Dir: Sam Peckinpah C-94 mins, TV-PG


Sam Peckenpah in a mellow mood. Nowhere near The Wild Bunch but every inch a classic western.

2:00am  Shootist, The (1976)  
A dying gunfighter tries to set his affairs in order.
Cast: John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart Dir: Don Siegel C-99 mins, TV-14


John Wayne's last and to my mind greatest role. (ok it's a toss up between this and True Grit)


JUNE 16

8:00am  Night And Day (1946)   
Fanciful biography of songwriter Cole Porter, who rose from high society to find success on Tin Pan Alley.
Cast: Cary Grant, Alexis Smith, Monty Woolley, Ginny Simms Dir: Michael Curtiz C-128 mins, TV-G

OK let's be honest this film is more like a fictional tale about some guy with the same name but it still is chuck full of the real Cole Porter's music.

8:00pm   In Cold Blood(1967)  Two vagrants try to outrun the police after committing a savage crime in this real-life shocker.
Cast: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, Paul Stewart Dir: Richard Brooks BW-134 mins, TV-14

   
10:30pm  10 Rillington Place (1971)  A serial killer frames a mentally challenged man.
Cast: Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt, Pat Heywood Dir: Richard Fleischer C-111 mins, TV-14

  
12:30am   He Walked By Night(1948)   After killing a cop, a burglar fights to evade the police.
Cast: Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell Dir: Alfred Werker BW-79 mins, TV-14

 
2:00am  Onion Field, The (1979)  When his partner is killed by a disturbed ex-con, a policeman struggles to regain his confidence.
Cast: John Savage, James Woods, Franklyn Seales, Ted Danson Dir: Harold Becker C-126 mins, TV-MA


A FULL  night of true crime dramas, each one better than the other. Don't miss any of them


JUNE 17

11:30pm  Picture Snatcher (1933)   
An ex-con brings his crooked ways to a job as a news photographer.
Cast: James Cagney, Ralph Bellamy, Patricia Ellis, Alice White Dir: Lloyd Bacon BW-77 mins, TV-PG  


Don't know it, never seen it but it's James Cagney and it sounds interesting.

1:00am  Sunrise At Campobello (1960)   
After a bout with polio, future president Franklin Roosevelt fights to save his political career.
Cast: Zina Bethune, Tim Considine, Alan Bunce, Ann Shoemaker Dir: Vincent J. Donehue C-144 mins, TV-G


I saw this on Broadway and I'll watch it again and again. My only question is how can you leave  Ralph Bellamy's name off the credit listing when the entire film is his tour de force as FDR??  


JUNE 18

3:45am  Watermelon Man (1970)  
A bigoted man comes to see the many sides of racism.
Cast: Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, Howard Caine, D'Urville Martin Dir: Melvin Van Peebles C-100 mins, TV-MA


Why didn't Godfrey Cambridge become as big as Bill Cosby??  His films were a lot better.


JUNE 19

3:00pm  Ice Station Zebra (1968)   
A sub commander on a perilous mission must ferret out a Soviet agent on his ship.
Cast: Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown Dir: John Sturges C-152 mins, TV-PG  
 

OK it was  better in the  theaters in Cinerama but still it's got THE secret agent man, Patrick McGoohan.

5:45pm  Wind And The Lion, The (1975)   
An Arab chief triggers an international incident when he kidnaps an American widow and her children.
Cast: Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith, John Huston Dir: John Milius C-119 mins, TV-MA


Based on a real life incident, only problem is that the kidnapped American in real life was a man. Kind of changes things doesn't. But who can resist an Arab chieftain with a Scottish  accent.   


JUNE 20

8:00pm  To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)   
A young girl grows up fast when her lawyer father defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Cast: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy Dir: Robert Mulligan BW-129 mins, TV-PG


Stand up Scout, your daddy is passing.  OK, be honest, who didn't secretly wish Gregory Peck was their father. There are those who say the book is better but I disagree, nothing is better than this movie.


JUNE 21

8:00pm  West Side Story (1961) 
A young couple from dueling street gangs falls in love.
Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno Dir: Jerome Robbins C-152 mins, TV-PG


What can you say besides  the Music of  Leonard Bernstein and the greatest dance numbers ever put on film.


JUNE 22

5:30pm   Mister Roberts(1955) 
A naval officer longing for active duty clashes with his vainglorious captain.
Cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon Dir: John Ford C-121 mins, TV-PG

Top notch comedy with just enough pathos thrown in to make it a timeless classic. Cagney plays it so broad chewing the scenery isn't enough of a description, more like chews up the whole damn boat, but it fits, it fits.


10:15pm  Buck Privates (1941)   
Two small-time con artists enlist in the Army to avoid the police.
Cast: Lee Bowman, Alan Curtis, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello Dir: Arthur Lubin BW-84 mins, TV-G


Abbot and Costello plus Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne doing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.  What more could you want??
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