Amph Turner Classic Movies: RARE FILM ALERT: "Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages" (1922) on TCM Tonight

Tonight on TCM:

5:00pm [Drama] Abe Lincoln In Illinois (1940)
An exploration into the domestic and political life of this past president.
Cast: Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon, Mary Howard Dir: John Cromwell BW-110 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

7:00pm [Drama] Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
The future president considers a political career while practicing law.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan Dir: John Ford BW-100 mins, TV-G [Email Remind Me]

8:44pm [Short Film] Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Man In The Barn, The (1937)
BW-10 mins [Email Remind Me]

9:00pm [Drama] Abraham Lincoln (1930)
In this biography the simple backwoods boy rises to become one of America's most beloved presidents.
Cast: Lucille La Verne, W. L. Thorne, Helen Freeman, Otto Hoffman Dir: D. W. Griffith BW-90 mins, TV-G [Email Remind Me]

10:34pm [Short Film] Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Lincoln In The White House (1939)
C-21 mins


I haven't seen any of these movies. The Griffith one is one of his few talkies, and had poor reviews. It covers his whole life.

The other two cover his youth only. The Ford one has a good reputation, I really don't much about the other. The casting of Lincoln--Walter Huston, Henry Fonda and Raymond Massey--show an attempt to get it right in all three of them.

 

9:00pm [Drama] Abraham Lincoln (1930)
In this biography the simple backwoods boy rises to become one of America's most beloved presidents.
Cast: Lucille La Verne, W. L. Thorne, Helen Freeman, Otto Hoffman Dir: D. W. Griffith BW-90 mins

I watched a lot of this one, and while I think it was an earnest attempt to get it "right", they were almost too reverent of this iconic President. I did think the assasination at Ford's Theatre was handled well, both direction and acting. Robert Osborne said this film was a box office failure and D.W. Griffith only directed one more film after this one, and also was a box office failure.

I love Lincoln, but I think people forget he had a great sense of humor, and therefore miss his greatness wasn't just in his vision, determination and sense of history but also his down to earth qualities. When one of his general's refused to be aggressive and press his troops into battle, Lincoln reportedly said, "if you aren't going to be using the United States Army for awhile, would you mind if I borrowed it?"

I missed the Ford/Fonda film and wish I hadn't.

 

It was pretty good.

I liked Lincoln's description of the Army of the Potomac as 'General McClelland's bodyguard'

 

Today at

3:15pm [Horror/Science-Fiction] Five Million Years To Earth (1968)

Subway excavations unearth a deadly force from beyond space and time.
Cast: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover Dir: Roy Ward Baker C-98 mins, TV-PG

This summary doesn't tell you two important things:

a. This is a Hammer Science Fiction film;

b. And it's more commonly known under the title: "Quartermass and the Pit"

It has bare-bones production, and lots of imagination.

 

5:00pm [Silent] Speedy (1928)
In this silent film, a young man helps his girlfriend save the family trolley business.
Cast: Harold Lloyd, Ann Christy, Bert Woodruff, Brooks Benedict Dir: Ted Wilde BW-86 mins, TV-G [Email Remind Me]

6:45pm [Silent] Coney Island (1917)
In this silent short, a vacationing man tries to evade his wife until another man goes after her.
Cast: Buster Keaton Dir: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle BW-26 mins, TV-G [Email Remind Me]


The only Lloyd film I've seen, "The Kid Brother" was excellent.

 

1:00am [Comedy] Man With A Million (1954)
On a bet, a man tries to see how much he can get without breaking a million-pound bank note.
Cast: Gregory Peck, Ronald Squire, Joyce Grenfell, A. E. Matthews Dir: Ronald Neame C-89 mins, TV-G

Neame died just recently. Haven't seen this, but it's supposed to be quite good.

 

Ugh. It's a pretty stodgy film. Peck is OK, but basically the whole thing comes across as some sort of poor man's Capra effort. Unsworth's cinematography is also surprisingly bad.

 

Tomorrow on TCM (July 14)

Films about the French Revolution:

4:00am [Drama] Voltaire (1933)
The famed French writer becomes the conscience of his country during the French Revolution.
Cast: George Arliss, Doris Kenyon, Margaret Lindsay, Alan Mowbray Dir: John G. Adolfi BW-72 mins, TV-G [Email Remind Me]

5:30am [Adventure] Fighting Guardsman, The (1945)
A French nobleman robs from his fellow aristocrats to help the poor.
Cast: Willard Parker, Anita Louise, Janis Carter, John Loder Dir: Henry Levin BW-83 mins, TV-G [Email Remind Me]

7:00am [Adventure] Dangerous Exile (1958)
A nobleman rescues King Louis XVI's son from the French Revolution.
Cast: Louis Jourdan, Belinda Lee, Keith Michell, Richard O'Sullivan Dir: Brian Desmond-Hurst BW-92 mins, TV-PG [Email Remind Me]

8:30am [Drama] Black Book, The (1949)
Opponents plot to bring down Robespierre during the French Revolution.
Cast: Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart, Richard Hart, Arlene Dahl Dir: Anthony Mann BW-90 mins, TV-PG [Email Remind Me]

10:00am [Epic] Marie Antoinette (1938)
Lavish biography of the French queen who "let them eat cake."
Cast: Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, John Barrymore, Robert Morley Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II BW-157 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

12:45pm [Drama] Tale Of Two Cities, A (1935)
Charles Dickens' classic story of two men in love with the same woman during the French Revolution.
Cast: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allen, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen Dir: Jack Conway BW-126 mins, TV-PG [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

3:00pm [Adventure] Scarlet Pimpernel, The (1935)
A British aristocrat's effete facade masks a swashbuckling hero rescuing victims of the French revolution.
Cast: Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey, Nigel Bruce Dir: Harold Young BW-98 mins, TV-G


I have to say that I have not seen any of these, and I don't recognize the directors, with the exception of Anthony Mann, Woody Van Dyke and Jack Conway (an MGM studio hack). I did catch a bit of "Marie Antoinette" the last time they showed it--just one scene where the Queen is trying to escape and was surprised at how not-bad it seemed. Norma Shearer is, IMO, generally awful, but she was pretty good in this. Van Dyke is a reliable director, most of the time.

Re: "A Tale of Two Cities" given the excellent cast and the fact it was produced by Selznick (who liked literary adaptations to be faithful & was willing to spend money), it should be pretty good.

 

Tomorrow TCM is showing the films of William Dieterle:

3:00am [Epic] Juarez (1939)
True story of Mexico's Abraham Lincoln and his fight against Napoleon's empire.
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Muni, Brian Aherne, Claude Rains Dir: William Dieterle BW-121 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

5:15am [Drama] Life Of Emile Zola, The (1937)
The famed writer risks his reputation to defend a Jewish army officer accused of treason.
Cast: Paul Muni, Joseph Schildkraut, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp Dir: William Dieterle BW-116 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

7:15am [Drama] Story of Louis Pasteur, The (1935)
True story of the French scientist's battle to establish modern medical methods.
Cast: Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise, Donald Woods Dir: William Dieterle BW-86 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

8:45am [Drama] Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)
True story of the German scientist who devoted his life to curing syphilis.
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp Dir: William Dieterle BW-103 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

10:30am [Drama] Devil and Daniel Webster, The (1941)
A farmer sells his soul for seven years of good crops.
Cast: Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon Dir: William Dieterle BW-106 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

12:30pm [Comedy] Midsummer Night's Dream, A (1935)
Shakespeare's classic about two pairs of lovers and an amateur actor who get mixed up with fairies.
Cast: Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Hobart Cavanaugh, Dick Powell Dir: Max Reinhardt BW-143 mins, TV-PG [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

3:00pm [Horror/Science-Fiction] Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939)
A deformed bell ringer rescues a gypsy girl falsely accused of witchcraft and murder.
Cast: Charles Laughton, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Maureen O'Hara Dir: William Dieterle BW-117 mins, TV-PG [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]


Dierterle used to direct the prestige pictures at Warners, such as they were. Of these, I've seen only "The Devil and Daniel Webster" which I thought was slowwwwwwwwwwwwwww and dullllllllll.

Of the rest, "Juarez" which has the advantage of Bette Davis in full madwoman mode (as Empress Carlotta) and a reportedly good performance by Brian Aherne as the Emperor Maximilian, would possibly be worthwhile; and the famous "Hunchback of Notre Dame" with Charles Laughton.

 

Friday 5:00pm [Horror/Science-Fiction] Freaks (1932)

A lady trapeze artist violates the code of the side show when she plots to murder her midget husband.

Cast: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Rosco Ates Dir: Tod Browning BW-62 mins, TV-PG

Extremely weird. You are warned.

 

The story goes that the studio exec told Browning to make a movie that was as 'horrible' as Frankenstein. After he saw the rough cut, he is reported to have placed his head in his hands and said, "Well, it's horrible."

It's actually pretty brilliant, if very strange.

 

What's On Tonight: ESSENTIALS, JR. : BEAUTIES AND BEASTS

5:00pm [Romance] Beauty And The Beast (1946)
A mysterious monster forces a young innocent to share his life in an enchanted castle.
Cast: Jean Marais, Josette Day, Marcel Andre, Mila Parely Dir: Jean Cocteau BW-94 mins, TV-G [Email Remind Me]

 

Oooh, good movie. The mise-en-scene (ya know, costumes and set design and such) is delicious. Cocteau's film is a notable and more serious precursor to the (superb, but musical and sometimes too light-hearted) Disney version. The castle design and overall aesthetic heavily influenced Coppola's Dracula (1992), as well.

 

On July 22

5:00pm [Drama] 12 Angry Men (1957)
A jury holdout tries to convince his colleagues to vote not guilty.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E. G. Marshall Dir: Sidney Lumet BW-96 mins, TV-PG

If you haven't seen this, it is well worth watching. Lots of great acting; tight direction.

 

This movie amazes me every time I see it.

 

Greatest directorial debut ever? For my money, yes.

 

8:45pm [Comedy] Gregory's Girl (1981)
A schoolboy falls for a girl who wins a place on his school's soccer team.
Cast: Gordon John Sinclair, Dee Hepburn, Jake D'Arcy, Clare Grogan Dir: Bill Forsyth C-91 mins, TV-14

 

5:00pm [Musical] Poor Little Rich Girl, The (1936)
A lost rich girl takes up with a pair of musical performers.
Cast: Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Gloria Stuart, Jack Haley Dir: Irving Cummings BW-79 mins, TV-G [Email Remind Me]

6:30pm [Drama] Heidi (1937)
An orphaned girl tends goats for her grandfather until she's sold to serve as a disabled girl's companion.
Cast: Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Helen Westley Dir: Allan Dwan BW-88 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

8:00pm [Musical] Little Princess, The (1939)
When her father is reported dead in war, his daughter fights harsh conditions at her boarding school.
Cast: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter Dir: Walter Lang C-93 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

9:45pm [Comedy] Honeymoon (1947)
A teen bride eloping to Mexico suddenly falls for an older man.
Cast: Shirley Temple, Franchot Tone, Guy Madison, Lina Romay Dir: William Keighley BW-74 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

11:15pm [Crime] Big Bad Mama (1974)
Bad luck forces a woman and her daughters into crime.
Cast: Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, Tom Skerritt, Susan Sennett Dir: Steve Carver C-84 mins, TV-MA [Email Remind Me]

12:45am [Crime] Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The legendary bank robbers run riot in the South of the 1930s.
Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman Dir: Arthur Penn C-111 mins, TV-14

A mixed bag tonight: if you've ever wondered about Shirley Temple, these are some of her movies. It doesn't include the best of her child-star movies "Wee Willie Winkie", which was directed by John Ford, nor her best adult movie, "Fort Apache", ditto.

"Big Bad Mamma" looks like a cult film, and "Bonnie and Clyde" is, of course, famous.

 

At first that title completely confused me and led to some very weird ideas.

 

5:30am [Documentary] Relaxed Wife, The (1957)
The modern miracle of tranquilizers helps working men and their wives deal with life's little problems.
C-13 mins, TV-G

Oh.My.God.

 

Mother's little helper. That sounds like a hoot.

 

In the month of August, each day will be devoted to separate actors. August 1st is BASIL RATHBONE.

3:00am [Romance] Anna Karenina (1935)
Adaptation of Tolstoy's classic tale of a woman who deserts her family for an illicit love.
Cast: Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Maureen O'Sullivan Dir: Clarence Brown BW-94 mins, TV-14 [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

He makes an excellent Karenin.

5:00am [Suspense/Mystery] Crossroads (1942)
A French diplomat who's recovered from amnesia is blackmailed over crimes he can't remember.
Cast: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor, Basil Rathbone Dir: Jack Conway BW-83 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

6:30am [Epic] Last Days Of Pompeii, The (1935)
A blacksmith's rise to wealth and power is jeopardized by his son's Christianity and the eruption of Vesuvius.
Cast: Preston Foster, Alan Hale, Basil Rathbone, John Wood Dir: Ernest B. Schoedsack BW-96 mins, TV-PG [Email Remind Me]

8:15am [Suspense/Mystery] Bishop Murder Case, The (1930)
Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a series of murders inspired by Mother Goose rhymes.
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams, Roland Young, Alec B. Francis Dir: Nick Grinde. BW-87 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

10:00am [Drama] Tale Of Two Cities, A (1935)
Charles Dickens' classic story of two men in love with the same woman during the French Revolution.
Cast: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allen, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen Dir: Jack Conway BW-126 mins, TV-PG [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

12:15pm [Musical] Bathing Beauty (1944)
A songwriter enrolls in an all-girl school to court a pretty gym teacher.
Cast: Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone, Bill Goodwin Dir: George Sidney C-101 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

2:00pm [Suspense/Mystery] Fingers At The Window (1942)
A magician uses hypnosis to create an army of murderers.
Cast: Lew Ayres, Laraine Day, Basil Rathbone, Walter Kingsford Dir: Charles Lederer BW-81 mins, TV-PG [Email Remind Me]

3:30pm [Suspense/Mystery] Hound of the Baskervilles, The (1939)
Sherlock Holmes uncovers a plot to murder the heir to a country estate.
Cast: Richard Greene, Basil Rathbone, Wendy Barrie, Nigel Bruce Dir: Sidney Lanfield BW-80 mins, TV-PG [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

He makes an even better Sherlock Holmes.

What's On Tonight: ESSENTIALS, JR. : BASIL RATHBONE

5:00pm [Suspense/Mystery] Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The (1939)
The famed sleuth tries to stop Professor Moriarty from stealing the Crown Jewels.
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Ida Lupino, Alan Marshal Dir: Alfred Werker BW-82 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

6:45pm [Drama] Confession (1937)
A glamorous singer commits murder to protect her daughter's virtue.
Cast: Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, Basil Rathbone, Jane Bryan Dir: Joe May BW-87 mins, TV-PG [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

8:30pm [Drama] David Copperfield (1935)
Charles Dickens' classic tale of an orphaned boy's fight for happiness and the colorful characters who help and hinder him.
Cast: W. C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Madge Evans Dir: George Cukor BW-130 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

He is also a tremendous Mr. Murdstone; the iconic nasty stepfather.

11:00pm [Adventure] Captain Blood (1935)
After being unjustly sentenced to prison, a doctor escapes and becomes a notorious pirate.
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone Dir: Michael Curtiz BW-119 mins, TV-G [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

1:15am [Horror/Science-Fiction] Tales Of Terror (1962)
Three Edgar Allen Poe stories feature murder, hauntings and a fiendish hypnotist.
Cast: Vincent Price, Maggie Pierce, Leona Gage, Edmund Cobb Dir: Roger Corman BW-89 mins, TV-PG

He's in "The Case of M. Valemar" segment.

 

Goddamn, Rathbone's one of my favourite actors, and we don't have the US TCM down here.

 

What's On Tonight: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: JULIE CHRISTIE

6:00am [Comedy] Fast Lady, The (1962)
A civil servant hopes a car will impress the heiress he hopes to romance.
Cast: James Robertson-Justice, Stanley Baxter, Leslie Phillips, Kathleen Harrison Dir: Ken Annakin C-95 mins, TV-PG [Letterbox] [Email Remind Me]

7:45am [Romance] Young Cassidy (1965)
True story of playwright Sean O'Casey's involvement with the Irish rebellion of 1910.
Cast: Rod Taylor, Flora Robson, Jack MacGowran, Sian Phillips Dir: Jack Cardiff C-110 mins, TV-14 [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

Pretty bad...

9:45am [Romance] In Search of Gregory (1970)
An heiress becomes obsessed with a mystery man she meets at her father's wedding.
Cast: Julie Christie, Michael Sarrazin, John Hurt, Paola Pitagora Dir: Peter Wood C-96 mins, TV-PG [Email Remind Me]

11:30am [Drama] Go-Between, The (1971)
A young man carries letters between an aristocratic young woman and the groundskeeper he idolizes.
Cast: Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Dominic Guard, Margaret Leighton Dir: Joseph Losey C-115 mins, TV-PG [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

Better...

1:30pm [Epic] Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Illicit lovers fight to stay together during the turbulent years of the Russian Revolution.
Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Julie Christie, Tom Courtenay, Alec Guinness Dir: David Lean C-200 mins, TV-PG [Letterbox] [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

Bland.

5:00pm [Romance] Far From The Madding Crowd (1967)
A romantic English lass can't choose among three very different suitors.
Cast: Julie Christie, Terence Stamp, Peter Finch, Alan Bates Dir: John Schlesinger C-171 mins, TV-14 [Letterbox] [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

The tormented men...Stamp, Finch, and Bates...are all terrific. Christie's bland again.

8:00pm [Comedy] Billy Liar (1963)
An emotionally stunted clerk retreats into his fantasies.
Cast: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne Dir: John Schlesinger BW-99 mins, TV-PG [Letterbox] [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

Charming

9:45pm [Drama] Darling (1965)
A young beauty sacrifices love and happiness to become an international celebrity.
Cast: Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, Laurence Harvey, Roland Curram Dir: John Schlesinger BW-126 mins, TV-MA [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

One of the least viewed Oscar-winning movies ever, I suspect.

12:00am [Romance] Petulia (1968)
A married doctor falls for the young wife of an abusive rich man.
Cast: Julie Christie, George C. Scott, Richard Chamberlain, Arthur Hill Dir: Richard Lester C-105 mins, TV-MA [Letterbox] [Email Remind Me]

Tiresome.

2:00am [Comedy] Shampoo (1975)
A hairdresser expresses his fear of commitment by seducing his female clients.
Cast: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Lee Grant, Goldie Hawn Dir: Hal Ashby C-110 mins, TV-MA [Letterbox] [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

Warren Beatty was not the best thing that ever happened to her.

4:00am [Horror/Science-Fiction] Demon Seed (1977)
A sophisticated computer falls in love with its creator's wife and terrorizes her.
Cast: Julie Christie, Fritz Weaver, Gerritt Graham, Berry Kroeger Dir: Donald Cammell C-95 mins, TV-MA [Letterbox] [Email Remind Me]

 

Demon Seed sounds like high camp. Actually, I enjoyed Shampoo; Beatty was pretty great in it.