Turner Classic Movies Vintage Movies Top Picks Great Directors June 10 - 11 2009 Review

Classic Old Vintage Movies by Great Directors are featured on cable channel TCM this month. 

During the day on Tuesday they present films directed by George Sydney such as:  Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas (yes the Elvis, Ann Margaret kitsch classic) the rousing 1948 version of The Three Musketeers   with Gene Kelly,  and one of Sinatra's best from 1957; Pal Joey.

In the evening we are given a treasure of brilliant comedy classics directed by Preston Sturges.  It kicks off with one of my all-time favorite movies  1941's The Lady Eve starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda.  She plays part of a con-artist team and they target a scientist nerd (Fonda) while on a cruise.  Then she winds up falling for the naïve but very smart man.  One of the funnies 91 minutes you'll ever enjoy.  It's starts June 10th at 5 p.m (on the west coast)

At 7 p.m. it's another comic masterpiece; 1941's Sullivan's Travels in which Joel McCrea plays a big time Hollywood filmmaker who decides he needs to eat a slice of humble pie and get back in touch with the 'little people'.  So he pretends to be a hobo on the road.  With Veronica Lake and William Demarest.

This is followed at 9 p.m. (PST) by another comic masterpiece and one of the wildest screwball comedies ever made,  1942's  The Palm Beach Story in which married couple Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea  decide they simply have to get a divorce for financial reasons, but a kindly old gent sets some gears in motion and Claudette decides to go after an eccentric millionaire while Joel goes after a lady from a rich family.  Lots of laughs.   This is followed by two more Sturges films,  Miracle at Morgan's Creek, a amazing film that somehow defied the film censors of its time (but no one can figure out how to this day) to tell a story about a nice guy who helps a young woman cover up a pregnancy (because she's not sure who the father is!!!).  Wild funny Sturgess Comedy.   And the last film Harold Lloyd did was the 1950 Sturgess comedy  The Sin of Harold Diddlebock.  Not one of Sturges' best, but a solid funny film.

On Thursday June 11th during the day  the films of director  John Huston  are showcased and they include:

A great double feature would be one of the best caper/heist movies ever made   The Asphalt Jungle  with Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen and James Whitmore (and Marilyn Monroe in a pre-big star supporting role)  and The Maltese Falcon   if film were compared to fine wine, this would be one of the best smoothest glasses you'd ever taste, take a sip with Bogart, Greenstreet, Lorre, Astor

Other good Huston films showing include:  Treasure of the Sierra  Madre, Moulin Rouge and African Queen.  (One of my least favorite Huston films is the musical Annie-also screening...but some like it).

In the evening 3 superb films by Akira Kurosawa including the masterpiece 1956's  Seven Samurai.  It's a film not to be missed and if you've been resisting watching it because of subtitles or it's in black and white.. time to commit.  There's a reason this is considered by film buffs and critics to be one of the top 5 films ever made.  It's an interesting involving suspenseful film with some really exciting action packed scenes.    It begins at  5 p.m. (PST)  set the DVR and enjoy.   The other Kurosawa gems are 19080's Kagemusha  and  the lesser  known  Red Beard from 1965.    All indispensible films very much worth watching