A Flickchart Guide to TCM in August, Part 2
I hope you’ve been enjoying TCM’s Summer Under the Stars festival so far! Gear up for a couple more weeks of great stars, from the super well-known (Bogart and Davis) to the relatively obscure (if you already know James Edwards, you get to write this post next month instead of me). Take a look at what Flickchart recommends from the second half of Summer Under the Stars.
Tuesday, August 16 – Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter is mostly known today for her role as conniving Broadway actress-wannabe Eve Harrington in All About Eve, and she is magnificent in the role, every bit a match for powerhouse Bette Davis, but Baxter’s career began on stage and quickly moved to film in 1940 and continued until the mid-1980s. She actually tested for the role of Mrs. De Winter in Rebecca, but at 16, Alfred Hitchcock thought she was too young – she probably was, but she always displayed a maturity that belied her youth, even at 18 in Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons. Another piece of interesting trivia: Baxter’s maternal grandfather was famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
TOP RANKED: All About Eve (1950; ranked 124 by 4521 users) – It’s hard to beat this film on any scale you put it on; it’s one of the all-time great backstage films, with Bette Davis as aging star Margo Channing and Baxter as Eve, who insinuates herself into Margo’s life with the ultimate goal of usurping her career and life. A crackling script delivered by a fantastic ensemble. Fasten your seatbelts. Playing 8/16 at 8:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Five Graves to Cairo (1943; ranked 3182 by 162 users) – For some reason, this wartime espionage thriller is one of the hardest Billy Wilder films to find, so if you haven’t seen it, don’t miss this chance. It’s a solid cat-and-mouse story with a British soldier playing a dangerous double spy game with Rommel himself (a casting coup for the young Wilder: Erich von Stroheim), and Baxter putting on a credible French accent as an understandably jaded barmaid. Playing 8/17 at 2:45am
WILD CARD: The Razor’s Edge (1946; ranked 4871 by 92 users) – In terms of Baxter’s career, this isn’t much of a wild card – she won her only Oscar for this film, and if you’re among the few people who’ve seen it, you’ll know why. It’s a supporting role, but she steals every scene she’s in. She’s literally the only thing I remember about the movie at all, and it’s worth watching just for her performance. Playing 8/17 at 12:15am
Wednesday, August 17 – James Edwards
I have to admit, TCM stumped me on this one, but after looking up James Edwards, I’m so glad they’re featuring him. Most everyone has heard of Sidney Poitier and a maybe a couple of other African-American actors, but from his brief bio on TCM.com, sounds like James Edwards needs to be considered right along with them as a groundbreaking black actor, appearing in a lot of enduring classics from war films to noirs and romances, too. I’m definitely going to pay closer attention when I next watch (or rewatch) some of these films. He also spent a good bit of time on television, as both an actor and a writer.
TOP RANKED: The Caine Mutiny (1954; ranked 1165 by 484 users) – One of Humphrey Bogart’s best roles, as the potentially unhinged Captain Queeg, whose officers (which include Edwards) worry is going dangerously insane thanks to his increasingly disturbing actions and decisions. Playing 8/17 at 7:45am
DOUBLE FEATURE: The Phenix City Story (1955; ranked 8300 by 48 users) – Most noirs play out in metropolitan cities like New York or Los Angeles, but this one takes corruption in an Alabama town as its subject, with all the added racial tension that brings; Edwards plays a janitor helping out a lawyer trying to clean up the city, only to have his family dragged into the sordid mess. Playing 8/17 at 10:00am
WILD CARD: Home of the Brave (1949; ranked 22725 by 6 users) – This one is truly a hidden gem/wild card per Flickchart, with only 6 people ranking it. I haven’t seen it either, but when I looked up Edwards, this one was consistently considered among his best work, so I had to feature it. He is the lead here, a black soldier in WWII facing racism. Definitely sounds worth seeking out. Playing 8/17 at 8:00pm
Thursday, August 18 – Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson never quite made it to the top echelon of Hollywood stars, but she had a long, solid and very fun career indeed, with some off-screen escapades that rival her on-screen adventures. She actually started in television in the 1950s after winning a beauty contest, then had her first major film role in Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo. She was much younger and less experienced than John Wayne, her on again, off again love interest in the film, but her confidence made her every bit his match, and she continued a string of strong women roles in the ‘60s and ‘70s – including the very first female-led drama series, “Police Woman” from 1974-1978. Off-screen, she hung out with the Rat Pack, including rumored but unconfirmed affairs with Sinatra and John F. Kennedy.
TOP RANKED: Rio Bravo (1959; ranked 141 by 2407 users) – Rio Bravo is mostly a guys-hanging-out film, with John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Nelson getting the lions’ share of the screen time, but given these circumstances, Dickinson is extremely memorable as Wayne’s love interest, who strings him along just as much has he does her, if not more. Playing 8/18 at 10:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Point Blank (1967; ranked 710 by 691 users) – One of director John Boorman’s earliest films, and a pretty great one in the subgenre of slow-moving crime films. Lee Marvin plays a criminal left for dead by his partner; it turns out he’s not dead and he’d really like his cut of the last job they did, so with the help of his sister-in-law (Dickinson), he weeds through the rest of the syndicate. Playing 8/18 at 8:00pm
WILD CARD: Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971; ranked 8931 by 87 users) – Produced by Star Trek’s Gene Roddenberry and directed by French sexploitation pioneer Roger Vadim, this film sounds whacked out. Dickinson and Rock Hudson play faculty at a SoCal high school, both of them liaising with various students…until some of the students wind up dead. Sounds sordid enough, but I admit, I’m quite curious! Playing 8/19 at 2:15am
Friday, August 19 – Ruby Keeler
The epitome of the plucky girl next door who gets that lucky break on Broadway, Ruby Keeler played essentially that role several times for Warner Bros musicals in the 1930s, and though she may not have been the greatest singer or dancer (granted, her dance style was a percussive version of tap rather than the light-footed Fred Astaire effect, so let’s not judge her by improper standards), her fresh-faced enthusiasm was hard to top. She married showbiz superstar Al Jolson in 1928 and moved with him out to Hollywood for the early days of the talkies, not making her own debut until 1933’s 42nd Street, which was so popular that Warner paired her with male lead Dick Powell seven more times in the next few years.
TOP RANKED: 42nd Street (1933; ranked 1333 by 678 users) – The ultimate backstage musical, which almost single-handedly saved the musical. In the early days of sound (1928-1931 or so), musicals were such a hot commodity that everyone was making them, good or no, and the public sickened of genre quickly. We can thank choreographer Busby Berkeley and plucky performers like Keeler, Powell, Ginger Rogers, and more for keeping the movie musical from disappearing before it had a chance to get started. Playing 8/19 at 8:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933; ranked 1832 by 239 users) – This is hands down my favorite Depression-era musical, and I will hype it every chance I get. The story is fairly thin, a bit of will-they-or-won’t-they bit of faux gold digging, but the songs and musical numbers are unbeatable, with some of Berkeley’s absolute best kaleidoscopic effects paired with songs that plaintively bring the Depression right into the story, no flinching. “Remember My Forgotten Man” is a particular standout that will simply leave you breathless. Playing 8/19 at 6:00pm. I also want to mention Footlight Parade (1933; ranked 3307 by 133 users), which pairs Keeler with James Cagney (he’s usually remember as a gangster, but he was primarily and eternally a hoofer) and has proven to be a great intro to Pre-Code musicals for modern audiences. Playing 8/20 at 1:30am
WILD CARD: Go Into Your Dance (1935; ranked 14272 by 27 users) – Keeler was married to Jolson from 1928 to 1940, but they only made one film together – this one. I haven’t seen it myself, but aside from not having Busby Berkeley on board, it’s likely fairly similar to Keeler’s other WB outings, right down to the Broadway setting and Harry Warren/Al Dubin songs. Playing 8/19 at 9:45pm
Saturday, August 20 – Humphrey Bogart
As a young classic movie junkie, Humphrey Bogart was one of my first major movie star crushes. That’s never lessened over the years, as I’ve only gained a greater appreciation for him as I’ve seen some of his more challenging roles. His privileged East Coast upbringing was belied by his rugged features, and he spent his first several years in Hollywood playing two-bit gangsters and hoods before 1941’s one-two punch of High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon (playing on 8/21 at 2am) pulled him into the top echelon of leading men. He still played his share of criminals and troubled men, but films like Casablanca showed a surprisingly romantic side to him, a combination that’s hard to beat in the movies.
TOP RANKED: Casablanca (1942; ranked 14 by 41466 users) – Not much can beat Casablanca, even on Flickchart, where it ranks in the global Top Twenty. A great script that was literally being written during filming, an actor unused to playing romantic leads, and an actress who didn’t know throughout filming which corner of her love triangle she’d end up with….and somehow out of one of the most chaotic shoots in Hollywood history, we ended up with one of the greatest films of all time. Playing 8/20 at 2:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Key Largo (1948; ranked 331 by 1766 users) – Bogart made four films with his wife Lauren Bacall, and this last of the four is one of the best. Let’s just say that these two, plus Lionel Barrymore (as Bacall’s father), plus Edward G. Robinson (as a hostage-taking gangster), plus a hurricane in the Florida Keys make this one explosive feature. Playing 8/20 at 6:00pm
WILD CARD: Dark Passage (1947; ranked 1442 by 423 users) – This may be the least of the four Bogart-Bacall pairings, but that’s not much of a mark against it, as it’s still a very interesting noir thriller, kind of a precursor to The Fugitive. Bogart escapes from prison after being convicted for killing his wife, heading back to find out who really did. An unusual opening sequence is shot from Bogart’s POV to avoid showing his face, as an early plot point has him undergoing plastic surgery to disguise his face. Playing 8/20 at 4:00pm
Sunday, August 21 – Bette Davis
Sometimes dubbed the “Fifth Warner Brother,” Bette Davis was the studio’s most reliable and yet most volatile star for many years – for a decade in the ‘30s they didn’t quite know what to do with her particular talents, and she fought her contract for better parts. She ultimately lost the fight to break her contract (a fight Olivia de Havilland would win against Warner Bros. a few years later), but Warner did start giving her juicier parts and she was impervious in strong and complex roles throughout the 1940s and beyond. She was certainly a woman you didn’t want to tangle with, unless you were equally as stubborn as Jack Warner.
TOP RANKED: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962; ranked 470 by 1538 users) – Davis’ long-term feud with Joan Crawford is the stuff of legend, so it’s incredibly fitting to see them as embattled and manipulative aging sisters in Robert Aldrich’s pitch-black comedy/thriller. Davis plays Baby Jane’s cruelty and delusion with equal passion, both pitiable and terrifying. Playing 8/21 at 1:45pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: The Letter (1940; ranked 2912 by 191 users) – There may be no greater opening in cinema history than this one – a slow pan across slave quarters on a rubber plantation culminates in a gunshot, followed by several more, fired by an implacable Davis into the back of a man lying on the ground, just as the moon slides behind a murky cloud. The film gets a little talky as her husband and lawyer try to protect her, but Davis’ control over this character and her complex motivations hold it together. Playing 8/21 at 9:15am
WILD CARD: The Little Foxes (1941; ranked 3997 by 114 users) – A more nasty family you may never see on screen, with Davis a Southern matriarch constrained by women’s relative powerlessness and thwarted by her husband and brothers in her attempts to gain the financial position she feels is hers by right. Nasty but endlessly entertaining, based on a play and screenplay by Lillian Hellman. Playing 8/21 at 10:15pm
Monday, August 22 – Robert Montgomery
One of many actors who migrated from Broadway to Hollywood at the beginning of the talkie era, Robert Montgomery was an instant hit in both sophisticated comedy and serious drama. When WWII broke out, he enlisted in London before the US even entered the war, then joined the US Navy and was part of the D-Day invasion. Returning to movies after the war, he made a brief stint as a director with the Lady in the Lake, which used a rather gimmicky first-person POV. A staunch Republican and anti-Communist, Montgomery was a “friendly witness” during the McCarthy hearings, then spent several years in TV hosting his own TV show. His daughter Elizabeth Montgomery is well-known as Samantha in the TV show “Bewitched.”
TOP RANKED: They Were Expendable (1945; ranked 2721 by 283 users) – An almost casual but very effective war movie, focusing on the introduction of U-boats in the South Pacific. One of John Ford’s best war films. Playing 8/22 at 10:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941; ranked 3264 by 534 users) – A departure for Alfred Hitchcock, a screwball comedy with nary a murder in sight. Montgomery and Carole Lombard are totally suited for these roles, and carry off the battling couple quite well, but it still feels odd if you know it’s a Hitchcock film so…maybe just forget I mentioned that it is. Playing 8/23 at 2:00am
WILD CARD: Private Lives (1931; ranked 9881 by 16 users) – This film gets at the heart of why Montgomery was so popular in the early 1930s – he’s kind of a jerk here, but a really charming and attractive jerk. He and Norma Shearer play a couple who fight literally all the time, divorce, and then end up in adjoining honeymoon suites with their new respective spouses. They can’t quit each other. Una Merkel playing Montgomery’s new bride just ups the fun exponentially. Ridiculously hilarious. Playing 8/23 at 12:30am
Tuesday, August 23 – Brigitte Bardot
The words “Brigitte Bardot” are virtually synonymous with “sex kitten”, a term invented for her in 1958. She is in some ways the French Marilyn Monroe, in terms of public image anyway. That said, many of her films belie that image, with even the sensation And God Created Woman by her then-husband Roger Vadim being far more tame than you might expect – she’s more petulant than naughty. Her international popularity proved to be a major factor in creating a market for foreign films in America – which would be a major factor in the development of American (and foreign!) film in the 60s and beyond. She also enjoyed a solid career as a recording artist, recording many solos and duets with Serge Gainsbourg, and appearing in a number of Scopitone videos, a precursor to modern music videos. She retired from the screen in 1973 and has focused on animal rights activism in the years since.
TOP RANKED: Contempt (1963; ranked 520 by 651 users) – Bardot’s first film with Jean-Luc Godard opens with a famous shot of her bare backside, but aside from that opening tease, she spends most of the rest of the film arguing with Michel Piccoli rather than flirting with him (well, they are married in the film). He’s trying to make a great epic classical film, while she’s pretty vocally upset about his treatment of her. It may be her finest hour. Playing 8/24 at 4:00am
DOUBLE FEATURE: Masculin-Feminin (1966; ranked 1698 by 282 users) – This one’s kind of a cheat (come on, TCM), as Bardot plays herself in a cameo in this film, the only other time she worked with Godard at all. But a double-feature of Godard films is something I have to recommend, so even though Bardot’s barely in it, it’s still worth watching. Playing 8/24 at 2:00am
WILD CARD: And God Created Woman (1956; ranked 7545 by 132 users) – This is the one that started it all, although Bardot had been in some 16-17 films before it – this was the one that made her a star and brought her international attention. She plays an unconventionally earthy girl in a small French town pursued by several men. She’s in love with one who spurns her, so she marries his brother, and that causes inevitable havoc. Playing 8/23 at 6:15pm
Wednesday, August 24 – Constance Cummings
Discovered by Samuel Goldwyn on Broadway in the early 1930s, Constance Cummings’ work in Hollywood was almost completely confined to the Pre-Code era, as she made 21 films between 1931 and 1934 (eight of them in 1932 alone!). Dissatisfied in Hollywood, she moved to Britain in the mid-1930s and continued to act in films there for the next few decades, though at a much slower pace. With the exception of the top-ranked one, I must confess that I’m not familiar with much that TCM is showing, but if you need some Pre-Codes in your life about now, you’re covered.
TOP RANKED: American Madness (1932; ranked 7663 by 45 users) – Imagine the bank run scene from It’s a Wonderful Life playing out for an entire movie, and that’s basically what American Madness is – of course it’s fleshed out a bit, with a story of good-hearted bank exec Walter Huston being maybe a bit too nice for good business, but the centerpiece is the extended bank run. This is a really underseen and underrated Frank Capra film, and I strongly encourage you to check it out – it’s probably in my Top Five Capra films. Playing 8/24 at 11:15pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Movie Crazy (1932; ranked 8270 by 36 users) – All three of the great silent comedians made their way into sound films with varying success; this is one of Harold Lloyd’s sound films, about an accident-prone guy who wants to be in pictures, a fairly standard Hollywood type story, but I’m highly intrigued to see/hear Lloyd in sound. Playing 8/25 at 2:15am
WILD CARD: The Mind Reader (1933; ranked 17346 by 4 users) – Okay, so of the rest of the little known films playing for Constance Cummings today, I basically chose this one by title, but looking it up I think it’s a good pick. It’s about a con man creating a clairvoyant act for the carny circuit. Circus/carny pictures are usually fun, and Warren William is the lead, an actor you can always count on for a smarmy good Pre-Code time. Playing 8/24 at 9:00am
Thursday, August 25 – Van Johnson
One of the most reliable “boy next door” types of the classic era, Van Johnson was the kind of soldier or sailor you wanted your daughter to come home with. He started in movies during WWII, so believe me, he played a lot of soldiers and sailors, in both war movies and light-hearted musicals, though an injury kept him out of the service in real life. Johnson could also play cynical when he wanted to, as evidenced in his dryly hilarious (to me, anyway) supporting turn in Brigadoon (which already played this month on Cyd Charisse Day).
TOP RANKED: Battleground (1949; ranked 3494 by 170 users) – A psychologically-focused war film about the Battle of the Bulge, depicting the morale-busting conditions faced by American soldiers in the face of low supplies, German propaganda, and environmental difficulties. Playing 8/25 at 8:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: In the Good Old Summertime (1949; ranked 5456 by 86 users) – In this musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Johnson and Judy Garland play music store clerks who don’t get along but unbeknownst to each other are actually penpals falling in love. It’s one of the last movies Judy made before taking an extended break, and the strain is already showing a little. It is fun to see a young Liza Minnelli playing Judy’s daughter in the epilogue, though. Playing 8/25 at 12:00N
WILD CARD: Two Girls and a Sailor (1944; ranked 15768 by 6 users) – For how Johnson’s all-American soldier persona played out in musicals, look no further than this “let’s put on a show for the soldiers” confection. June Allyson and Gloria De Haven play sisters starting a canteen to entertain troops on leave, both fall for Johnson, jealousy ensues, it’s fairly typical. But the variety show at the end is a great look at popular wartime entertainers, including Gracie Allen (without George for once). Playing 8/26 at 12:15am
Friday, August 26 – Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff came from a well-off British family, an articulate and highly educated man who ironically became best-known for playing a semi-vocal monster created from deceased spare parts. His portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster was so iconic that it created an image of the character that has endured ever since, despite being quite different from Mary Shelley’s original creation. Karloff acted in many different genres, but horror was always his primary bread and butter, though he didn’t always play a monster or a villain. TCM unfortunately isn’t playing it, but I highly recommend seeking out Peter Bogdanovich’s debut feature Targets (1968), where Karloff plays an aging horror actor clearly based on himself.
TOP RANKED: Bride of Frankenstein (1935; ranked 183 by 2411 users) – Flickchart users prefer the more comedic Frankenstein sequel to the original, or maybe everyone just has a crush on Elsa Lanchester’s big-haired Bride. If you haven’t seen Frankenstein (1931; ranked 245 by 5339 users), though, catch that first at 8pm. Playing 8/26 at 9:30pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: The Mummy (1932; ranked 1342 by 1339 users) – Solidifying his dominance of Universal’s horror slate, Karloff jumped into the role of Imhotep, a mummy brought back to life by some careless archaeologists who escapes and tries to find the modern reincarnation of his beloved Ankh-es-en-Amon. Playing 8/26 at 11:00pm
WILD CARD: Isle of the Dead (1945; ranked 2813 by 235 users) – One of the most underrated of Val Lewton’s horror cycle, this one has Karloff in the heroes shoes, as a Greek general trying to deal with a rash of what he believes are vorvolaka, a Greek version of the vampire legend. Many consider this one of Lewton’s more uneven films, but I think it’s pretty enjoyable, and definitely worth checking out. Playing 8/27 at 3:15am
Saturday, August 27 – James Garner
James Garner’s career as an actor tended toward rugged man’s men, in war films, action films, and westerns. He came by that naturally, as he joined the United States Merchant Marines at the tail end of WWII, then enlisted in the National Guard and served in the Korean War, all before ever becoming an actor at all. When he started acting in the mid-50s, he brought a wealth of lived experience with him, and that showed through in his roles. In addition to over 50 feature roles, he also starred in many popular TV series, like “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files.”
TOP RANKED: The Great Escape (1963; ranked 145 by 16547 users) – Easily coming in top-ranked is this POW action film that qualifies as one of the most fun films ever made about a decidedly unfun situation. As the prisoners plot escape (and Steve McQueen does his own thing), Garner plays the scrounger, who manages to get all kinds of contraband stuff to help the escape plans. Playing 8/27 at 8:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Support Your Local Sheriff (1969; ranked 3150 by 233 users) – The comedy western is a genre combination that somehow works perfectly, and here Garner plays a highly effective sheriff in this send-up of the convention of the sheriff that comes in and cleans up the town. Playing 8/27 at 6:15pm
WILD CARD: Marlowe (1969; ranked 12927 by 35 users) – Though not nearly as acclaimed as studio era adaptations of Raymond Chandler’s famous private eye, I’m definitely curious to see what a neo-noir Marlowe would look like, so of the several Garner films I haven’t seen, this is the one I’d probably check out. Playing 8/28 at 4:15am
Sunday, August 28 – Jean Arthur
In the echelon of great comediennes, Jean Arthur’s name doesn’t come up nearly as often as it should – she should be right up there with Carole Lombard. Her quiet charm and quavery voice could deliver witticisms, perfectly timed barbs, breathless romance, or passionate encouragement, and she had some of the best comic timing in the business. It was honestly hard for me to just pick three films from today (not that I didn’t have trouble on some other days during this month!), but she’s an actress I really wish more people were familiar with, so I hope you check out more than just what’s listed here.
TOP RANKED: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939; ranked 132 by 5541 users) – Jean Arthur is in no fewer than three of Frank Capra’s greatest films from 1936 to 1939, and this is the greatest film, and also her greatest role/performance among the three (Mr Deeds Goes to Town and You Can’t Take It With You play at 11:45pm and 2am respectively). She’s a reporter hoping to get a good story out of this rube senator Mr. Smith (James Stewart), but instead she’s persuaded by his idealism and becomes one of his biggest supporters, both in print and off the record. Playing 8/28 at 4:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Only Angels Have Wings (1939; ranked 1076 by 362 users) – For whatever reason, I don’t love this film as much as I want to, but it’s pretty high on most people’s lists, with an adventurous plot focusing on mail plane pilots at a time when flying planes was still pretty fraught with danger. Arthur is the one woman in this male-dominated world, and she holds her own just fine. Playing 8/28 at 8:00am
WILD CARD: The More the Merrier (1943; ranked 4879 by 72 users) – During WWII housing shortages, Jean Arthur sublets her apartment to older gentleman Monty Woolley, who turns around and sublets half of his half to Joel McCrea, who is NOT older – Woolley then plays matchmaker for the two of them. A Code-skirting plot also skirts the Code on content, with a very long kissing scene that’s interrupted by conversation just often enough to slip past the Code’s three-second kiss rule. Charming and underseen, though loved by every classics fan I know. Playing 8/28 at 9:45pm
Monday, August 29 – Charles Boyer
A French actor, Charles Boyer nonetheless found his greatest success in American films in the 1930s, especially thanks to his deep and resonant voice, which was perfect for the emerging talkies. The epitome of continental romance, he starred in many of Hollywood’s greatest love stories, from Algiers to Love Affair to All this and Heaven Too. He did return to France in the mid-1950s for some major films, like Max Ophuls’ The Earrings of Madame de…, but largely transitioned into character roles in films and on TV.
TOP RANKED: Gaslight (1944; ranked 695 by 657 users) – Turning his romantic image askew, here Boyer plays a man convincing his wife she’s crazy so that he can claim her fortune – this story (previously filmed in England in 1940) was the origin of the term “gaslighting.” Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for the role, and she is pretty tremendous – the resolution is extremely satisfying. Playing 8/29 at 12:00M
DOUBLE FEATURE: The Earrings of Madame de… (1954; ranked 1100 by 287 users) – Max Ophuls’ famous circular camera movements were never used better than this story of a pair of earrings that makes the rounds in French aristocratic society, exposing affairs and deceptions that are just as circular as Ophuls’ camera. The ultimate in sophistication and decadence, with a surprisingly poignant flavor. Playing 8/29 at 12:00N
WILD CARD: Hold Back the Dawn (1941; ranked 12095 by 10 users) – Yes, I know I had this featured last month when it played for Olivia de Havilland’s Star of the Month tribute. It’s difficult to see, so I’m featuring it again in case anyone missed it. Don’t miss this second chance, as who knows when you may get another one. Playing 8/29 at 9:45pm
Tuesday, August 30 – Jean Simmons
British-born Jean Simmons started acting as a lark in the mid-1940s, figuring it was a way to bring in some extra money for her family, but decided to stick with it after working with David Lean on Great Expectations (1946). She became quite a well-known and beloved star in England, but after marrying Stewart Granger, who she costarred with several times, she transitioned to Hollywood, where she made several excellent films. She’s not terribly well-known today, but her combination of demure soft-spokenness and flashes of fiery temper are quite appealing, and she deserves more recognition than she often gets.
TOP RANKED: Spartacus (1960; ranked 510 by 10800 users) – Simmons is barely a presence in her top-ranked film, overshadowed by Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, and who knows who all else, but she is a softening and grounding force in the film nonetheless, just as she is for Douglas’ Spartacus. Playing 8/30 at 10:00pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Angel Face (1953; ranked 3722 by 138 users) – For her first film in the US, Simmons played a femme fatale in an Otto Preminger noir, a genre she didn’t delve into too much more, but she proved her mettle with this one alone. Playing 8/30 at 2:00pm
WILD CARD: Young Bess (1953; ranked 17387 by 7 users) – This is a personal favorite of mine that I tend to plug as often as possible, so you’ll forgive me for doing it again. Simmons plays a young Elizabeth Tudor in the years before her own ascendency to the throne. Plenty of time is given to Charles Laughton’s Henry VIII and to the romance between Stewart Granger’s dashing courtier and Henry’s surviving wife Catherine Parr (Deborah Kerr), but Simmons lets that fiery nature out to play as the future Elizabeth I, and it’s glorious fun to watch. Playing 8/30 at 8:00pm
Wednesday, August 31 – Dean Martin
In a career that spanned several decades, Dean Martin has been straight man to Jerry Lewis, a solo recording artist, a member of the Rat Pack, a romantic leading man, the host of a long-running TV variety show, and a successful Vegas entertainer. While his persona is somewhat that of a lounge lizard/womanizer, his variety of movie roles show he was a far deeper and more interesting actor than he’s often given credit for.
TOP RANKED: Ocean’s Eleven (1960; ranked 2886 by 944 users) – The ultimate hang-out movie starring most of the members of the Rat Pack, this original version of Ocean’s Eleven is far more interested in the guys playing off each other than in the actual heist, but it’s good fun anyway. Playing 8/31 at 10:15pm
DOUBLE FEATURE: Some Came Running (1960; ranked 3106 by 171 users) – Frank Sinatra is the lead in this Vincente Minnelli-directed drama, as an embittered veteran returning to his hometown, much to the annoyance of his upwardly-mobile brother (Arthur Kennedy). Instead of being upwardly mobile, Sinatra befriends “loose” woman Shirley MacLaine and drunken gambler Dean Martin, both of whom turn in show-stopping performances. This is a movie that ought to be way better known. Playing 8/31 at 3:30pm
WILD CARD: At War With the Army (1950; ranked 13130 by 47 users) – Martin & Lewis were one of the most successful comedy teams of all time, though most of their movies are not well-remembered now. This is one of the few TCM is playing today, so if you’re interested in seeing that part of Martin’s career, this is your best opportunity. Playing 9/1 at 2:30am
If You Like Pre-Codes…
Frankenstein (1931; ranked 245 by 5339 users) – Playing 8/26 at 8:00pm
42nd Street (1933; ranked 1333 by 678 users) – Playing 8/19 at 8:00pm
The Mummy (1932; ranked 1342 by 1339 users) – Playing 8/26 at 11:00pm
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933; ranked 1832 by 239 users) – Playing 8/19 at 6:00pm
Footlight Parade (1933; ranked 3307 by 133 users) – Playing 8/20 at 1:30am
The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932; ranked 6828 by 103 users) – Playing 8/26 at 10:15am
The Divorcee (1930; ranked 7517 by 72 users) – Playing 8/22 at 6;00am
American Madness (1932; ranked 7663 by 45 users) – Playing 8/24 at 11:15pm
Movie Crazy (1932; ranked 8270 by 36 users) – Playing 8/25 at 2:15am
Private Lives (1931; ranked 9881 by 16 users) – Playing 8/23 at 12:30am
The Criminal Code (1931; ranked 10818 by 25 users) – Playing 8/25 at 4:15am
Night After Night (1932; ranked 12490 by 15 users) – Playing 8/24 at 9:45pm
When Ladies Meet (1933; ranked 13285 by 5 users) – Playing 8/22 at 10:30am
Faithless (1932; ranked 15228 by 5 users) – Playing 8/22 at 9:00am
The Man in Possession (1931; ranked 15927 by 6 users) – Playing 8/22 at 7:30am
The Guilty Generation (1931; ranked 16059 by 6 users) – Playing 8/24 at 6:30pm
The Mind Reader (1933; ranked 17346 by 4 users) – Playing 8/24 at 9:00am
Broadway Thru a Keyhole (1933; ranked 17400 by 2 users) – Playing 8/24 at 8:00pm
Traveling Husbands (1931; unranked by 0 users) – Playing 8/24 at 6:00am
The Big Timer (1932; unranked by 0 users) – Playing 8/24 at 3:30pm
Attorney for the Defense (1932; unranked by 0 users) – Playing 8/24 at 5:00pm
If You Like Noir…
The Maltese Falcon (1941; ranked 97 by 14206 users) – Playing 8/21 at 2:00am
Key Largo (1948; ranked 331 by 1766 users) – Playing 8/20 at 6:00pm
Dark Passage (1947; ranked 1442 by 423 users) – Playing 8/20 at 4:00pm
The Set-Up (1949; ranked 1919 by 174 users) – Playing 8/17 at 9:45pm
Angel Face (1953; ranked 3722 by 138 users) – Playing 8/30 at 2:00pm
Dead Reckoning (1947; ranked 5000 by 118 users) – Playing 8/20 at 12M
Lady in the Lake (1947; ranked 5287 by 120 users) – Playing 8/22 at 8:00pm
Lured (1947; ranked 7240 by 66 users) – Playing 8/26 at 6:00am
The Phenix City Story (1955; ranked 8300 by 48 users) – Playing 8/17 at 10:00am
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947; ranked 8833 by 57 users) – Playing 8/20 at 10:00pm
The Blue Gardenia (1953; ranked 9827 by 51 users) – Playing 8/16 at 2:45pm
If You Like Foreign Film…
Contempt (1963; ranked 520 by 651 users) – Playing 8/24 at 4:00am
The Earrings of Madame De… (1954; ranked 1100 by 287 users) – Playing 8/29 at 12:00N
Masculin-Feminin (1966; ranked 1698 by 282 users) – Playing 8/24 at 2:00am
And God Created Woman (1956; ranked 7545 by 132 users) – Playing 8/23 at 6:15pm
Movies to See Before You Die
Casablanca (1942; ranked 14 by 41466 users) – Playing 8/20 at 2:00pm
The Maltese Falcon (1941; ranked 97 by 14206 users) – Playing 8/21 at 2:00am
All About Eve (1950; ranked 124 by 4521 users) – Playing 8/16 at 8:00pm
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939; ranked 132 by 5541 users) – Playing 8/28 at 4:00pm
Rio Bravo (1959; ranked 141 by 2407 users) – Playing 8/18 at 10:00pm
The Great Escape (1963; ranked 145 by 16547 users) – Playing 8/27 at 8:00pm
Bride of Frankenstein (1935; ranked 183 by 2411 users) – Playing 8/26 at 9:30pm
Frankenstein (1931; ranked 245 by 5339 users) – Playing 8/26 at 8:00pm
Key Largo (1948; ranked 331 by 1766 users) – Playing 8/20 at 6:00pm
Sabrina (1954; ranked 390 by 2396 users) – Playing 8/20 at 8:00pm
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962; ranked 470 by 1538 users) – Playing 8/21 at 1:45pm
Spartacus (1960; ranked 510 by 10800 users) – Playing 8/30 at 10:00pm
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936; ranked 546 by 975 users) – Playing 8/28 at 11:45pm
You Can’t Take It With You (1938; ranked 651 by 641 users) – Playing 8/29 at 2:00am
Shane (1953; ranked 659 by 1544 users) – Playing 8/28 at 2:00pm
Point Blank (1967; ranked 710 by 691 users) – Playing 8/18 at 8:00pm