Turner Classic Movies Vintage, little seen Gems, Cult Classics and more July 24th to 26 2009 Review

Classic, older vintage movies, 80's flicks, cult films and an under the radar gem that's perfect for a Christmas in July viewing.  It starts the afternoon of July 24th on TCM.

Right before cable TCM goes into Teenage movies of the 80s for prime time on Friday Night July 24th, 2009 they are showing a wonderfully warm almost forgotten Christmas romance comedy written by Preston Sturges (who would write and direct  The Great McGinty and Christmas in July later in the year and The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels in 1941.  

But right before Sturges became a director himself he wrote a heartwarming Christmas-time movie which skillfully blends touching drama with zany comedy, Remember the Night (1940) It stars Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray  together for the first time(they would later work with Billy Wilder on the classic Double Indemnity) and is produced and directed by Mitchell Leisen, who had previously made the memorable romantic comedy Midnight (1939).   The film also gets three songs in the mix including: "Easy Living,"  (which just to confuse you was the name of the other film Sturges wrote and Leisen directed).  This gem airs Friday at 3:15 p.m. in the afternoon   on the West Coast.   It's a keeper.

Barbara Stanwyck is caught shoplifting just before Christmas.  The assistant D.A., Fred MacMurray, takes a liking to her and feels sorry that she will have spend Christmas in jail waiting to go on jail so he bailes her out and drives her to her childhood home in Indianna.  But Barb's wife is mean and cold, so Fred takes her to his mom's home, also in Indiana so that Barbara will have a memorable Christmas.  And she does. She's received with much love and affection but of course they will soon have to come back to the big city and she'll be on trial for shop-lifting.  Will Fred do his best to prosecute her or purposefully blow the case.. will she let him do anything but his job?     Right after this film, Sturges begain directing his own screenplays and complained how other directors didn't always film what he wrote.   Sturges only owned two films he wrote and didn't direct, this and Easy Living were the films.  He must have approved (mostly) or what Leisen the director did with his screenplays on these films.   Leisen made many changes to the script to suit the stars.  MacMurray's character had much fewer lines than originally written and he was less the dashing hero type-which didn't fit his personality anyway.  Sturges was often on the set of the movie and spent a lot of time talking to Barbara Stanwyck.  He told her he was going to write a full-blown screw-ball comedy for her.  She didn't believe it, but about a year lady, Sturges made good on his promise when he directed her in one of the finest screwball comedies ever made;  The Lady Eve.

MacMurray and Stanwyck made 4 films togather  1940's Remember the Night,  Double Indemnity (1944), The Moonlighter (1953) and There's Always Tomorrow (1956).

And then TCM has a trio of films they call 80s Teen classics.  1984's Karate Kid (airs at 5 p.m.)  was a slickly made mixture of Rocky and a Jackie Chan film like Drunken Master (Chan was an international superstar but almost unknown in the U.S. at the time)..   Ralph Macchio plays the young boy who learns karate from an ornery old master (Pat Morita) so that he can hold his own against the school bullies.   It was a huge success spawning several sequels. It's an easy film to like and Macchio seems perfectly cast as the 15 year old new kid in town (even though he was 22 years old at the time).  Three sequels followed.

1983's War Games seems even more far-fetched today than when it was made and is already quite dated.  Matthew Broderick in search of a challenging computer game, hacks into the U.S. governments military computer and creates a huge incident.  If you pretend it's plausible, the fast pace and enjoyable supporting cast of  Ally Sheedy, DAdney Colemnan, John Wood and others make it enjoyable.

1986's Stand by Me  based on Stephen King's non-horror short story called The Body  is something you might actually calll a teen classic as it introduces us to four friends who create many memories during a long walk to view a dead body.   Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell are the boys. The acting, pacing and script are all top notch.  Very much worth seeing.  Directed by Rob Reiner. 

Then at 11 p.m. TCM's Friday night cult film treat is  Terror of Tiny Town.  This is the novelty midget Western made with a very low budget in 1938.  The script is terrible, and the novelty of seeing the little people walk UNDER bar-room doors, leap onto bar stools and ride around on miniature ponies is interesting and fun for a bout ten  minutes.  Then the dull cliché'd story takes over and it's snooze time.  It doesn't help that the sound quality on most prints is horrible.  The cast for the most part can't act and are either very wooden or over-act shamelessly.  Director Sam Newfield shows no flair. It's only an hour long but it feels like three unless you've got a big drunk crowd watching it with you.

However airing at 12:15 a.m. is a still creepy 1930 Lon Chaney film; The Unholy Three is the sound re-make of the 1925 Tod Browning directed 1925 classic of the same name.  It is Lon Chaney's only sound film as he tragically died seven weeks after the release of the film from Bronchial cancer.  The film a scene by scene duplication of the Browning film directed by Jack Conway features Chaney playing 4 roles and using his stage trained voice to speak four different ways too (Mrs. O'Grady, a parrot, a girl at a carnival show  and the ventriloquist's dummy, as well as Echo the ventriloquist.   The Unholy Three consist of a midget, a strongman and Echo who rob the homes of wealthy people. 

Immediately following is  1932's masterpiece Freaks  starring Wallace Ford and Leila Hyams, directed by Tod Browning.  It's one of the greatest horror films ever made.  It was so controversial in its day the film was banned and only shown at adult only road shows for several years.  It's a riveting, exciting, ultimately chilling film I strongly recommend.  It airs at 1:30 in the morning.

Saturday  July 25th during the day, TCM shows a grab bag of interesting films including the quirky John Huston film made in 1954 with  Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lloabrigida, Robert Morley and Peter Lorre  called  Beat the Devil  (airs at 8:30 in the morning)  and the cult almost classic from 1973  Soylent Green with Chuck Heston and Edward G. Robinson with Leigh Taylor Young and Chuck Connors.  You have to see the 1973 film at least once so you can quote with authority the well known twist towards the end of the movie.  DON'T EAT SOYLENT GREEN.....

At night TCM has a rare 4 film tribute to Alan Jones which kicks off with the classic Marx Brothers film;  A Night at the Opera (airing at 5 p.m. on the West Coast) .  Allan Jones has a supporting role as the star of the Opera.  He proves himself  a better straight man than Zeppo (who retired from the limelight prior to this picture) when he and Chico disguise themselfes as bearded aviator heroes to avoid the authorities. He also lends support to the Marx's in  A Day at the Races (which airs at 1:15 in the morning) .

Jones didn't quite become the big star that Nelson Eddy did even though he was a better actor and singer.  His best moments are singing the The Donkey Serenade in 1937's The Firefly airing at 7 p.m. P.S.T.) and his portrayal riverboat gambler Gaylord Ravenal  opposite Irene Dunne in James Whales classic adaptation of the stage classic Showboat released in 1936 (airing at 11:15 p.m.)   He had an important supporting role in the 1936 Jeanette McDonald, Nelson Eddy film:  Rose Marie (which airs at 9:15 p.m.).   Later in life he kept busy as a singer and in touring companies of Showboat and Guys and Dolls and Man of La Mancha in the 70s.  He's the father of singer Jack Jones.

The Prime Time TCM line up for Sunday  July 26th spotlights three films that are played in real time.   The best is 1949's The Set Up, a boxing crime drama with Robert Ryan as an aging fighter who is supposed to throw his last fight...but decides he is not going to do that.  The film has several shots of clocks and the action takes place in 73 minutes.  It's still very tense and exciting  minor classic directed by Robert Wise.   It airs at 6:30 p.m.    At 5 p.m. is the likeable Oscar winner; High Noon with Gary Cooper.  Worthwhile to be sure.

Airing at 7:45 is Alfred Hitchcock's Rope.  The film was shot in very long ten minute real time takes(without any editing) and tells the story of two wealthy young men who decide they can commit the perfect crime and get away with murdering a friend  with  James Stewart, John Dall and Farley Granger. It's a tense talky film and a fascinating experiment.     

The rarely seen 1923  silent cult classic  Souls for Sale screens at 9:15.  It's all about a young women doing everything she can to become a star with Eleanor Boardman, Mae Busch and Richard Dix.  Directed by Rupert Hughes from his screenplay based on his novel.  It's a light, almost poignant film rather than a daring expose.  It features several star and famous director cameos including one s by King Vidor and Charlie Chaplin (sans his Tramp moustache).