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

What's On Tonight: TCM SPOTLIGHT: THE HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD

8:00pm Moguls & Movie Stars, A History of Hollywood: Peepshow Pioneers (2010)
[Letterbox] [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

9:00pm Films of Thomas Edison, The (1893)
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11:00pm Moguls & Movie Stars, A History of Hollywood: Peepshow Pioneers (2010)
[Letterbox] [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]
12:05am D.W. Griffith with Biograph (1909)
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2:10am Films of Georges Melies, The (1896)
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4:00am [Silent] Silent Shakespeare (1908)
A collection of seven silent shorts based on the plays of William Shakespeare, including King John (1899), King Lear (1910) and Richard III (1911).
BW-88 mins, TV-G

Tonight on TCM:

10:00 PM Local Hero (1983)
An American executive gets involved with the inhabitants of a Scottish village he's scouting for a new refinery. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Denis Lawson. Dir: Bill Forsyth. C-111 mins, TV-MA, Letterbox Format

2:00 AM Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
An ambitious young man sets out to kill everyone who stands between him and a fortune. Cast: Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood. Dir: Robert Hamer. BW-106 mins, TV-PG

Michael J. Fox has good taste. Those are all interesting films, and I particularly like Local Hero since it was partially filmed in Houston.

Kind Hearts and Coronets starts in ten minutes....from....Mark!

Yes, it's a marvelous film. As is "Kind Hearts". I was curious about the director of the latter, Robert Hamer, of whom I've heard very little. Apparently, he was a alcoholic, and gay, and died very young. A shame, because "Kind Hearts" is deadpan funny.

A friend lent me Local Hero last year to watch. The first 15-20 mins had me stumped on how to react to the film (was it meant to be a comedy? Played straight? Satire?).

It was only when the main characters are on the way to Scotland and run over the rabbit that I finally tuned into the wavelength the film was operating at. After that, I found it a lot of fun - it's a great film.

It is the weirdest film in some ways, but very seductive.

1:00pm [Adventure] Jungle Book, The (1942)
A boy raised by wolves adjusts to life among humans.
Cast: Sabu, Joseph Calleia, John Qualen, Frank Puglia Dir: Zoltan Korda C-102 mins, TV-G

3:00pm [Horror/Science-Fiction] Blob, The (1958)
A misunderstood teen fights to save his town from a gelatinous monster from outer space.
Cast: Steven McQueen, Aneta Corseaut, Earl Rowe, Olin Howlin Dir: Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. C-82 mins, TV-PG

2:30 AM Flesh And The Devil (1926)

In this silent film, a femme fatale comes between childhood friends. Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lars Hanson. Dir: Clarence Brown. BW-113 mins, TV-PG

4:30 AM Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

In this silent film, a young Argentine fights for France, his father's country, in World War I. Cast: Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry, Nigel De Brulier. Dir: Rex Ingram. BW-133 mins, TV-G

4:00 PM Jason And The Argonauts (1963)
The legendary hero enlists the help of the gods to steal the golden fleece. Cast: Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman. Dir: Don Chaffey. C-104 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
6:00 PM Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger (1977)
When a witch turns a young prince into a baboon, Sinbad fights to save him. Cast: Patrick Wayne, Taryn Power, Jane Seymour. Dir: Sam Wanamaker. C-113 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

8:00 PM Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The (1966)
To win a reporting job, a young man must spend the night in a haunted house. Cast: Don Knotts, Joan Staley, Liam Redmond. Dir: Alan Rafkin. C-90 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

10:00 PM Apple Dumpling Gang, The (1975)
Two bumbling outlaws try to help a trio of orphans protect their gold strike. Cast: Bill Bixby, Susan Clark, Don Knotts. Dir: Norman Tokar. C-100 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

12:00 AM Incredible Mr. Limpet, The (1964)
A World War II 4-F saves the U.S. Navy when he's transformed into a dolphin. Cast: Don Knotts, Andrew Duggan, Jack Weston. Dir: Arthur Lubin. C-99 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format

2:00 AM No Time For Sergeants (1958)
A hillbilly draftee turns the Air Force upside down. Cast: Andy Griffith, Nick Adams, Myron McCormick. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. BW-119 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format

4:15 AM Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo (1977)
Thieves plant stolen diamonds under the hood of a magical Volkswagen. Cast: Dean Jones, Don Knotts, Julie Sommars. Dir: Vincent McEveety. C-105 mins, TV-G, CC

Sunday November 21:

2:00 AM Fires on the Plain (1959)
Japanese soldiers abandoned by their command fight to survive the last days of World War II. Cast: Eiji Funakoshi, Osamu Takizawa, Mickey Curtis. Dir: Kon Ichikawa. BW-104 mins, TV-MA, Letterbox Format

Now beginning on TCM, the Marx Brothers...and DUCK SOUP.

And yeah, LOCAL HERO is a wonderful, quirky film.

9:30pm [Comedy] Prince And The Showgirl, The (1957)

"An American showgirl in London creates an international incident when she falls for a European prince."

Cast: Richard Wattis, David Thorne, Jeremy Spenser, Sybil Thorndike Dir: Laurence Olivier C-117 mins, TV-G

This is Laurence Olivier's sole non-Shakespearean directing job. He does a fair job, though this too is adapted from a play, and shows it. Monroe shows that the camera loves her; Olivier has technique to burn, but still can't compete.

Actually, his first of two: his experiences with Monroe turned him off directing for 13 years, until he came back to do Three Sisters. Either way, kinda a lame substitute for the Macbeth film he wanted to do.

Olivier did the play with Vivien Leigh, and it was a rousing success - Monroe steals the film completely though. Not that it's much of a film to steal.

12:30am [Suspense/Mystery] House on 92nd Street, The (1945)
An FBI agent infiltrates a Nazi spy ring.
Cast: William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, Signe Hasso, Gene Lockhart Dir: Henry Hathaway BW-88 mins

The docu-drama style was very popular just after WWII

6:15am [Drama] None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
A young ne'er-do-well tries to get his life on track to help his ailing mother.
Cast: Cary Grant, Ethel Barrymore, Miss Ethel Barrymore, Barry Fitzgerald Dir: Clifford Odets BW-113 mins, TV-PG [Close Captioned] [Email Remind Me]

You don't see Grant in a drama too often---he's rather good, too, as is Ethel Barrymore as his mother.

3:45am [Comedy] Pygmalion (1938)

"A linguistics professor bets he can turn a flower girl into a lady by teaching her to speak properly."

Cast: Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller, Wilfrid Lawson, Marie Lohr Dir: Anthony Asquith BW-96 mins, TV-G


Late in the morning on March 9th. Set the VCR; it works as a non-musical comedy, too.

Tonight on TCM: Buster Keaton's Civil War comedy: "The General" (1927)

8:00 PM
horror
Wolf Man, The (1941)

9:15 PM
horror
Uninvited, The (1944)

11:00 PM
horror
Dead of Night (1945)

1:00 AM
horror
I Walked With A Zombie (1943)

2:15 AM
suspense
Cat People (1942)

3:30 AM
short
One Reel Wonder: Black Cats And Broomsticks (1955)

3:45 AM
suspense
Curse of the Cat People, The (1944)

5:00 AM
horror
Devil Bat, The (1940)

Some very iconic movies in this list.

I Walked with a Zombie, now starting on TCM.