Classic films in December-Week 4

[Universe Prince]

Still more films showing on TCM this month. This post covers the fourth week, Sunday through Saturday, December 21-27.

Sunday, December 21:

The Black Hole-12:00 Noon ET-Don’t watch this. I know what you’re thinking. It’s the first Disney movie to be rated PG. It’s got Robert Forster, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine and Maximilian Schell. It’s a grand sci-fi plot, with a small band of explorers finding a seemingly derelict ship at the edge of a black hole only to discover a lone scientist and a lot of mysterious robots. It’s got cool music, good special effects (relatively speaking--no pun intended) and great set design. But really, stay away. You’ll only be disappointed. The whole thing is undermined by a bad script. Really bad. You can watch it if you must, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Escape to Witch Mountain-2:00 PM ET-I don’t like this film as much as I used to, but it’s a good children’s movie. This is the 1975 original, by the way, not the 1995 remake. A pair of sibling orphans, played by Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann, have unexplained powers and end up on the run from a wealthy business man, played by Ray Milland, and his aide, played by Donald Pleasence. The orphans get help from an old loner played by Eddie Albert. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ-1:15 AM ET (Sunday night)-This is not the one with Charlton Heston. This is the 1925 silent version, starring Ramon Novarro. I know some folks can’t handle the silent movies, but this one is quite good. The chariot race in particular is well worth watching.

Monday, December 22:

To Have and Have Not-8:00 AM ET-This is one of my personal favorites. This film introduced Lauren Bacall to the movies and to Humphrey Bogart. The plot is a little involved. Basically, after meeting a lovely young lass, played by Bacall, a professional fisherman, played by Bogart, who has tried to stay out of political matters in Martinique of 1940, agrees to help some French resistance folks get transport. The film also has nice acting by Walter Brennan and Hoagy Carmichael. Bringing Up Baby-12:00 Noon ET-This film has Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn at the top of their comedic game. It’s a screwball comedy with Grant as a scientist trying to get funding from a wealthy investor, and Hepburn as a slightly nutty woman who seems to ruin everything. Naturally, they fall in love. A dinosaur bone, a leopard or two, a stolen car and a small dog all figure into the plot. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town-2:00 PM ET-I know, I know. You’re wondering why I keep mentioning Capra films. I might not always agree with his politics, but the man knew how to make a movie. Anyway, Gary Cooper plays the oddly named Longfellow Deeds of the title, a fellow who inherits a great deal of money. Taken to New York City, Deeds is confronted with a string of people who want his money. He also gets conned by a female reporter, played by Jean Arthur, who plays on his sympathy to be near him so she can write articles that mock him. He falls for her, and soon she begins to fall for him. This being a Capra film, you can guess how it all turns out. Exodus-8:00 PM ET-So many films today, yes, but all worth noting. So, “Exodus”, yes, it’s long, but it’s an interesting look at the struggle to create Israel after World War II. Paul Newman plays a Palestinian-born member of a group who wants to take a ship full of Jews to Palestine in time for the U.N. vote to create a new Israel. Eva Marie Saint plays a nurse who gets swept into the politics at a personal level. The film also stars Ralph Richardson, Peter Lawford, Lee J. Cobb, and Sal Mineo. Oh, and the screenplay is an adaptation by Dalton Trumbo of the Leon Uris book of the same name. Fiddler on the Roof-2:00 AM ET (Monday night)-One more film for Monday. “Fiddler on the Roof” is a brilliant film. Topol (you know, that guy who played Dr. Zarkov in the “Flash Gordon” movie…) plays a Jewish husband and father in a poor Russian village before the revolution. He has conversations with God as he tries to cling to tradition, to cope with his daughters falling in love and getting married, and to survive the social changes that are transforming Russia. The songs are great, as is the camera work and the acting.

Tuesday, December 23:

Bachelor Mother-7:45 AM ET-It starts with an odd plot premise. A young woman, played by Ginger Rogers, is mistaken as the mother of an infant not her own. While the woman initially wants to have nothing to do with raising a baby, it not only saves her job, it leads to romance with the son of the man who owns the department store where she works. David Niven, in his first romantic lead, plays the son, and Charles Coburn plays the owner of the department store. This one is, to be honest, a chick flick, but it’s pretty good. 3 Godfathers-4:00 PM ET-This is an interesting and unusual Western. There is a bank robbery, and a posse is formed to chase down the bank robbers, but there is no climactic shoot out or show down. John Wayne, Harry Carey, Jr., and Pedro Armendariz play the three bank robbers who, on their escape from the posse encounter a dying mother about to give birth. Not cold hearted villains, these bank robbers help the woman give birth, and she insists they are the child’s godfathers. They then attempt to take the child back to town.

Wednesday, December 24:

There are a number of good films on today, most of which I’ve mentioned already, and a couple I haven’t. A Christmas Carol at 6:15 AM ET. Christmas in Connecticut at 7:30 AM ET. Bundle of Joy (a remake of “Bachelor Mother”) at 11:00 AM ET. In the Good Old Summertime at 2:15 PM ET. The Man Who Came to Dinner at 4:00 PM ET. The Bishop’s Wife at 6:00 PM ET. Meet Me in St. Louis at 1:00 AM ET.

Thursday, December 25:

Ben-Hur-4:00 PM ET-This is the 1959 version with Charlton Heston in the title role. He plays a Jewish prince who ends up enemies with his best friend, suffers through slavery and meets Jesus Christ. Oh, and there is some sort of chariot race in this one too, I think. Casablanca-8:00 PM ET-I shouldn’t have to talk about this one. If you haven’t seen it, by golly, sit your ass down and watch this movie. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and S.Z. Sakall. Watch it. You won’t be sorry. The Big Sleep-10:00 PM ET-Have I mentioned yet that TCM has chosen to celebrate Humphrey Bogart’s birthday tonight? He was born on December 25, 1899. Anyway, “The Big Sleep” is the Bogart/Bacall team-up to follow “To Have and Have Not”. It’s a confusing but very entertaining mystery with Bogart as private detective Phillip Marlowe. Lauren Bacall plays the daughter of a wealthy man who hires Marlowe to take of a seemingly minor matter. Things are not what they seem at all, however. If the film’s plot seems confusing (why are you paying attention to that anyway), it’s because exposition was cut to give Bacall more time on film. And really, isn’t it worth it? The Maltese Falcon-12:00 Midnight-This was to be a B-movie, and John Huston turned it into an A-movie through brilliant directing. “Minor” actors like Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, and newcomer Sydney Greenstreet (this is his first film) all turned in wonderful performances under Huston (and it was his first film as a director). This is one of those rare films that could afford to be a bit daring because the studio wasn’t really paying attention to it, and somehow it all worked. Bogart plays private detective Sam Spade. After a missing person case goes bad, resulting in the murder of his partner, Spade gets drawn into the search for small, black statue of a bird that some not-so-nice people want very badly. The African Queen-2:00 AM ET (Thursday night)-1914 in an African village, a brother and sister team of Methodist missionaries are trying to help the locals. When German troops arrive to destroy everything, they also end up killing the brother. The sibling left alive, played by Katharine Hepburn, enlists the help of a gin-soaked boatman, played by Humphrey Bogart, to travel down river and sink a German ship. This is another film that really shouldn’t work, and yet it does, again thanks to direction from John Huston.

Friday, December 26:

Lawrence of Arabia-8:00 PM ET-The cinematography in this film is alone enough to make it noteworthy. It’s beautiful. Anyway, this is the epic film of T. E. Lawrence’s time in Arabia during World War I. He is tasked with evaluating the Arab rebellion against the Turkish-German alliance, and ends up enamored of the desert and the tribes he finds there. He begins not just evaluating but leading attacks and organizing the tribes into an army. Peter O’Toole plays the title role. The supporting cast includes Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy and Jack Hawkins. Poltergeist-3:45 AM ET (Friday night)-Craig T. Nelson plays the father of a family that moves into a house unfortunately built upon an Indian burial ground, and the dead are none too happy about it, though they like television apparently. This is a horror film produced (and rumored to be partially directed) by Stephen Spielberg. It’s a little less horror (as the term is usually used these days) and a little more creepy scariness, which, frankly, I prefer.

Saturday, December 27:

True Grit-3:00 PM ET-John Wayne finally won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in this film. A young woman, played by Kim Darby, seeks a tough man to accompany her on her self-appointed task of hunting down her father’s killer. The man she finds is an old, half-drunk U.S. Marshal, played by John Wayne. Also ending up along for the ride is a Texas Ranger, played by Glen Campbell. Turning in a nice bit of acting as one of the bad guys is Robert Duvall. And also in the film is a quite young looking Dennis Hopper. Woman of the Year-8:00 PM ET-This is the film that first paired Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. She plays a political columnist, and he plays a sports writer. After she suggests baseball should be suspended during the war (the film was made in 1942), they trade insults through their columns until their mutual editor has them meet to settle differences. Smitten with each other, they eventually marry. Their careers interfere with the marriage, and soon hers threatens to take over her life and ruin the marriage completely. Sabrina-12:00 Midnight-Again I say, ignore the remake, this is the good one. This is the 1954 version with Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. Hepburn plays the daughter of the chauffeur of a wealthy family. Bogart plays the all-business older brother in the wealthy family, the one who runs the family business. Holden plays the younger brother, the carefree playboy. Hepburn’s character gets a crush on the younger playboy, and the older brother seeks a way to stop their romance so the younger brother can take a wife for business purposes. He settles on a plan to romance the young woman, and ends up falling in love.

[fatman]

Thanks for posting these Prince.  I don't get TCM on my cable package and I'm not willing to shell out the extra $ for it, but these are some good ones to add to my netflix.

[Brassmask]

Just an arbitrary comment.

Casablanca has to be one of, if not the, most perfect movie ever made.

[Universe Prince]

Thanks for posting these Prince.  I don't get TCM on my cable package and I'm not willing to shell out the extra $ for it, but these are some good ones to add to my netflix.

No problem, Fatman. I'm glad I can help. Let me know which ones you get that you really like, and maybe we can chat about them sometime.

[Universe Prince]

Just an arbitrary comment.

Casablanca has to be one of, if not the, most perfect movie ever made.

I don't agree. Don't get me wrong, I like "Casablanca" much, but it's got certain flaws. One of which is the MacGuffin, the "letters of transit". It's complete nonsense that "letters of transit" would stop the Nazis from simply taking someone they wanted into custody, but this isn't something one thinks about when watching the film.

[Brassmask]

I don't agree. Don't get me wrong, I like "Casablanca" much, but it's got certain flaws. One of which is the MacGuffin, the "letters of transit". It's complete nonsense that "letters of transit" would stop the Nazis from simply taking someone they wanted into custody, but this isn't something one thinks about when watching the film.

You're right but like you said, I've never once thought about it.  I think that's the whole point of a MacGuffin.  It's just this thing that is needed.  In CASABLANCA, its the letters.  In OZ'S LION, it was the bag of money.