Classic Film Guide

August, 2005 - Summer Under the Stars

Monday, August 1 - Lauren Bacall

8:30 AM Confidential Agent (1945) - not very good, but read my full review!

10:30 AM Dark Passage (1947) - one of the four great Bogie & Bacall pairings. This film noir has Bogart as a man falsely accused of murdering his wife, he escapes and searches for the real killer with help from Bacall and trouble from Agnes Moorehead.

2:00 PM The Big Sleep (1946)

4:00 PM Designing Woman (1957) - full review!

8:00 PM & 11:00 PM Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall (2005) - a TCM premiere!

9:00 PM Key Largo (1948)

12:00 AM To Have And Have Not (1944)

Tuesday, August 2 - James Cagney

6:00 AM Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) - newly updated review!

8:15 AM Something to Sing About (1936) - a TCM premiere!

10:00 AM The Oklahoma Kid (1939) - average, really, but a comedic Western with several great Warner Bros. stars!

11:30 AM The Fighting 69th (1940) - only average, but it does feature an outstanding cast (of cameos)!

1:00 PM Captains Of The Clouds (1942) - not great, but worth seeing for several reasons; read my full review!

6:15 PM Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) - an all new essential, capsule review!

8:00 PM The Roaring Twenties (1939)

10:00 PM White Heat (1949)

12:00 AM Blood on the Sun (1945) - O.K., especially if you're a James Cagney fan; an all new capsule review!

3:45 AM Man Of A Thousand Faces (1957) - Cagney plays Lon Chaney, interesting insight into Irving Thalberg (Robert Evans) and his relationship with Chaney (whether it's a true biographical piece or not;- ) Early scenes of Cagney becoming the "title" are the best, I think. Also in the cast are Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer, Marjorie Rambeau, Jim Backus, and Jack Albertson.

Wednesday, August 3 - Joel McCrea

10:15 AM These Three (1936)

3:00 PM Stars In My Crown (1950) - an all new capsule review!

8:00 PM Ride The High Country (1962)

10:00 PM The Palm Beach Story (1942)

11:30 PM Sullivan's Travels (1941)

1:15 AM Dead End (1937)

Thursday, August 4 - Alec Guinness

7:45 AM The Swan (1956) - only fair, but read my full review!

12:30 PM Doctor Zhivago (1965)

4:00 PM Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

8:00 PM Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

10:00 PM The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

11:30 PM The Ladykillers (1955)

1:15 AM Murder by Death (1976) - Directed by Robert Moore, and written by Neil Simon (The Goodbye Girl (1977)), this hilarious comedy mystery spoof boasts an all star cast that includes: Eileen Brennan and Truman Capote; James Coco playing a Hercules Poirot-like detective; Peter Falk playing a Sam Spade (Bogart)-like detective; Alec Guinness playing a blind butler opposite Nancy Walker's deaf & dumb cook; Elsa Lanchester as a Miss Marples-like detective attended by her elderly nurse (Estelle Winwood); David Niven & Maggie Smith as a Nick & Nora Charles (The Thin Man series) duo; Peter Sellers as a Charlie Chan clone with #1 son Richard Narita; and James Cromwell plays another character I can't quite recall. Brennan appears as one of Sam's blondes. Capote's character invites the confident detectives to his home on a stormy night to solve a murder, his own! Each and every character has a motive for the killing, which are revealed in so many amusing ways. Twist upon twist until you get whiplash!

Friday, August 5 - Katharine Hepburn

7:30 AM Little Women (1933)

11:30 AM Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) - an all new capsule review!

1:30 PM Long Day's Journey into Night (1962)

4:30 PM The Lion In Winter (1968)

10:00 PM The Philadelphia Story (1940)

12:00 AM Holiday (1938)

1:45 AM Alice Adams (1935) - full review!

Saturday, August 6 - John Wayne

8:00 AM How the West Was Won (1962)

5:45 PM Red River (1948)

8:00 PM Fort Apache (1948) - another super John Ford/John Wayne western (the first of his trilogy of U.S. Cavalry pictures these two made, along with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) & Rio Grande (1950)). This one also features Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, and Ward Bond among others.

10:15 PM She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)

12:15 AM 3 Godfathers (1948) - A most unusual film, and a remake of William Wyler’s Hell's Heroes (1930) with Charles Bickford, about three outlaws trying to get away from the law and find water that happen upon a dying about-to-be mother and then, inspired, make it their job to care for the newborn in the spirit of the Three Wise Men. John Wayne stars in this version by director John Ford. Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond, Jane Darwell, Ben Johnson, and Guy Kibbee also appear.

Sunday, August 7 - Judy Garland

2:15 PM Easter Parade (1948)

4:15 PM The Harvey Girls (1946) - won an Oscar for Best Original Song ("On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe"), its Score was also nominated. Otherwise, this troubled George Sidney Musical Comedy, with a story co-written by Eleanore Griffin (Boys Town (1938)), features an uninspired (O.K., forced) performance Judy Garland as one of the many titled restaurant women who helped "tame" the West. There's a love triangle angle with a sensitive saloon owner rival (John Hodiak), who's misunderstood by his joint's main attraction (Angela Lansbury, whose singing voice is OBVIOUSLY dubbed, by Virginia Rees), and even an acrobatic performance by Ray Bolger. But the film is neither a great musical nor a particularly funny comedy, and the rest of its story fails to strike a balance anywhere in between that satisfies. Marjorie Main, Chill Wills, and Cyd Charisse (who dances, of course), among others, also lend their support in this losing effort.

6:00 PM Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)

Monday, August 8 - Shelley Winters

4:30 PM Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) - full review!

8:00 PM Alfie (1966) - an all new capsule review!

10:00 PM A Patch Of Blue (1965) - an all new full review!

12:00 AM The Night Of The Hunter (1955)

1:45 AM Lolita (1962)

Tuesday, August 9 - Ray Milland

6:15 PM The Major and the Minor (1942)

8:00 PM The Uninvited (1944)

11:30 PM The Lost Weekend (1945)

Wednesday, August 10 - Lena Horne

5:45 PM Two Girls And A Sailor (1944) - received a Best Writing, Original Screenplay Oscar nomination

8:00 PM Cabin In The Sky (1943) - "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song! Film clip of Ms. Horne appears in Chuck Workman's "100 Years at the Movies (1994)" short.

10:00 PM Ziegfeld Follies (1946) - a plethora of MGM's stars highlight this review - similar to those that legendary showman Flo Ziegfeld used to do - which won the Cannes Film Festival's Best Musical Comedy award.

Thursday, August 11 - Kirk Douglas

6:00 AM The Story Of Three Loves (1953) - only average, but read my full review!

8:15 AM Lust For Life (1956)

10:30 AM The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

12:30 PM The Devil's Disciple (1959) - a little odd perhaps, but pretty fun (especially given its cast!) nonetheless

2:00 PM The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946) - an all new capsule review!

4:00 PM Out of the Past (1947)

8:00 PM The Big Sky (1952) - better than average, an all new full review!

10:30 PM Paths Of Glory (1957)

Friday, August 12 - Jane Wyman

10:30 AM Larceny, Inc. (1942) - full review!

5:45 PM The Yearling (1946)

8:00 PM Magnificent Obsession (1954) - one of the early Douglas Sirk soapers has Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda (1948), who received her last of four Best Actress Oscar nominations) as a woman whose husband's death (and her subsequent blindness!) was in part caused by a reckless, wealthy playboy played by Rock Hudson. That's the simplest part of this otherwise convoluted (, unbelievable) and almost religious-based story which begins with Hudson's character wanting to make it up to the older, yet attractive widow with whom he falls in love. This remake of the 1935 film by the same name was responsible for launching Hudson's career, as the original had been for Robert Taylor's. Supporting cast members include Barbara Rush, as Wyman's skeptical daughter, Agnes Moorehead as her nurse-friend, and Otto Kruger as the purveyor of Wyman's deceased husband's do unto others, anonymously "religion".

10:00 PM All That Heaven Allows (1955) - only including it here because it was added to the National Film Registry in 1999, for some unknown reason. It's a horribly dated May-December romance (Douglas Sirk soap opera) between a 40 something widow (Jane Wyman) and a 30 year old independent (Rock Hudson). The highlights are the supporting cast which includes Agnes Moorehead, Conrad Nagel, and Virginia Grey. Otherwise, skip it!

11:45 PM Johnny Belinda (1948)

Saturday, August 13 - Cary Grant

6:00 AM She Done Him Wrong (1933)

7:15 AM Bringing Up Baby (1938)

9:00 AM Monkey Business (1952) - Howard Hawks directed this comedy starring Cary Grant as a scientist searching for a fountain of youth formula. Unfortunately, the product he doesn't realize he's invented and administered makes him act like a child in lieu of changing his physical appearance etc.. Ginger Rogers plays his wife; Marilyn Monroe his boss's (Charles Coburn) non-typing secretary; Hugh Marlowe a friend of the family. Oh yeah, and there's a chimpanzee too! A little too silly, and too late, to be classified as a screwball comedy. No relation to the 1931 Marx Brothers comedy of the same name.

10:45 AM Operation Petticoat (1959) - an above average comedy from director Blake Edwards starring Cary Grant as the Captain of a submarine, Tony Curtis as his first officer that can get him anything he needs, and Dina Merrill as the head nurse of a group which Grant & Co. must transport in close quarters;-) Also features four future television stars: Dick Sargent (Bewitched), Gavin MacLeod (The Love Boat), Marion Ross (Happy Days), and Arthur O'Connell (various).

1:00 PM Destination Tokyo (1943) - Delmer Daves directed, and assisted Albert Maltz (Pride of the Marines (1945)) with the screenplay of this Steve Fisher story about a submarine crew charged with infiltrating Tokyo bay in order to provide valuable information to the first Allied bombing mission of that city. Fisher's Original Story was Oscar nominated. Unusual casting and the human aspects of its personnel mark this above average (not P.C.) World War II film. Cary Grant plays the decorated Captain of the sub, John Garfield plays its heroic gunner, Alan Hale its sentimental cook, Dane Clark a crewman with an ax to grind, and Robert Hutton its newest member "The Kid". William Prince plays the sub's "medical" staff, who's called upon to perform a miraculous operation when Hutton's character comes down with an appendicitis (based on a true story!). John Ridgely plays a Naval Officer who was raised in Japan, that's needed for the mission, and is picked up en-route. John Forsythe (who with Hutton was making his credited film debut) plays the radio operator who, along with Garfield & Ridgely, goes ashore in Japan under cover of darkness to fulfill the task at hand.

3:30 PM North By Northwest (1959)

6:00 PM To Catch a Thief (1955)

8:00 PM His Girl Friday (1940)

10:00 PM Charade (1963) - an entertaining romp pairing Audrey Hepburn with Cary Grant in a comedy, mystery that includes some other named actors in humorous roles: Walter Matthau, James Coburn, & George Kennedy. Directed by Stanley Donen.

12:00 AM Gunga Din (1939)

3:30 AM Walk, Don't Run (1966) - Cary Grant's last film, a remake of The More The Merrier (1943), not so good otherwise

Sunday, August 14 - Glenn Ford

10:45 AM The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) - parts of it are better than average, an all new capsule review!

8:00 PM Midway (1976) - average war film with silly subplot involving Charlton Heston and his "son" Edward Albert; otherwise it features an all-star cast which includes (a bunch of future TV stars, and): Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Christopher George, Kevin Dobson, Pat Morita, Dabney Colman, Tom Selleck, and even Erik Estrada, uncredited.

12:00 AM 3:10 To Yuma (1957)

2:00 AM Blackboard Jungle (1955)

Monday, August 15 - Fred Astaire

8:00 AM The Band Wagon (1953)

10:00 AM Silk Stockings (1957)

3:00 PM The Gay Divorcee (1934)

4:45 PM Carefree (1938)

6:15 PM The Story Of Vernon And Irene Castle (1939) - full review!

8:00 PM Top Hat (1935)

10:00 PM Swing Time (1936)

12:00 AM Shall We Dance (1937) - another of the wonderful Mark Sandrich directed Fred (Astaire) & Ginger (Rogers) dancing Musicals with George & Ira Gershwin tunes like "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar). Humorous support provided by Edward Everett Horton & Eric Blore, as well as Jerome Cowan and Ketti Gallian.

Tuesday, August 16 - Donna Reed

6:00 AM The Get-Away (1941) - average B movie, full review!

9:00 AM Gentle Annie (1944) - enjoyable B movie, full review!

12:00 PM The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

5:00 PM Apache Trail (1942) - strange casting in this B Western, full review!

10:00 PM They Were Expendable (1945) - a terrific film about the surprising successes of the PT boats during World War II, initially thought unworthy of any role in the conflict. Directed by John Ford, and starring Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Ward Bond, Leon Ames, and more; it was nominated for two Oscars, Special Effects & Sound.

4:15 AM See Here, Private Hargrove (1944) - above average war comedy, full review!

Wednesday, August 17 - James Garner

6:00 AM The Children's Hour (1961) - though not quite as good as These Three (1936), this remake does restore the Lillian Hellman's original plot-line and features great acting by Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, Miriam Hopkins, and Fay Bainter. Directed by William Wyler.

8:00 AM The Wheeler Dealers (1963) - only average, read my full review!

5:00 PM The Great Escape (1963)

8:00 PM Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) - an excellent Western comedy spoof with James Garner in the title role. Garner agrees to take the job in a wild mining town that needs him, as a stopover on his way to Australia. Harry Morgan plays the Mayor who gives him the job; Joan Hackett his rich, klutzy daughter that becomes his love interest. Jack Elam is his reluctant deputy; Bruce Dern his first prisoner, the son of Walter Brennan, spoofing his role in My Darling Clementine (1946).

9:45 PM Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) - a pretty funny film in its own right with James Garner conning a whole town into believing bug-eyed Jack Elam is a notorious gunslinger, for his own purposes. Suzanne Pleshette, Harry Morgan, Joan Blondell, John Dehner, Grady Sutton, and Chuck Connors (uncredited as the actual gunslinger), among others, also appear.

1:30 AM Victor/Victoria (1982) - an all new essential, capsule review!

Thursday, August 18 - Irene Dunne

6:00 AM Cimarron (1931) - one of the weakest Oscar winning Best Pictures, worth watching for Dunne's performance only

3:00 PM Love Affair (1939)

4:30 PM Penny Serenade (1941) - Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are a young married couple who adopt a baby after their's dies. They must struggle every step of the way. This unusual role for Grant earned him his first of only two Academy Award nominations. Ms. Dunne's favorite of all her films, reportedly. George Stevens directed; Beulah Bondi provides support.

6:30 PM My Favorite Wife (1940)

8:00 PM Theodora Goes Wild (1936) - a TCM premiere; and an all new full review!

12:15 AM The White Cliffs Of Dover (1944) - outstanding cast, pretty good tear-jerker; full review!

2:30 AM I Remember Mama (1948)

Friday, August 19 - Marlon Brando

6:00 AM Julius Caesar (1953)

8:30 AM The Teahouse Of The August Moon (1956)

11:00 AM Guys And Dolls (1955)

4:15 PM A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - an all new essential, capsule review!

6:30 PM The Wild One (1953) - A somewhat disappointing film about a gang of men, led by Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin, with nothing better to do than put on leather and ride motorcycles every weekend with typical mob mentality outcomes. I'm guessing this had a bigger impact at the time, now it's pretty dated (even silly, at times).

8:00 PM On The Waterfront (1954)

10:00 PM The Freshman (1990) - a TCM premiere!

Saturday, August 20 - James Stewart

6:00 AM Ziegfeld Girl (1941) - Three interweaving plot-lines mark this MGM showcase for three of their star actresses of the time: Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner. The famed Florence Ziegfeld is interested in each for his shows, though he (nor an actor playing him) is never shown. Instead, Edward Everett Horton is used; he plays a trusted Ziegfeld talent manager who’s minimally involved in all three storylines. He’s interested in singer Garland, but not her overblown, aging vaudeville co-acting father ‘Pop’ (Charles Winninger). Lamarr’s character is only interested in being a Ziegfeld Girl to pay the bills while her struggling, and soon to be jealous, violinist husband (Philip Dorn) tries to find work. Turner is a small town girl who’s always wanted to make it big. Her conflict is with her small town boyfriend (James Stewart) whom she easily outgrows when she’s courted by men (like Ian Hunter) who can give her diamonds and furs. Her kid brother (Jackie Cooper) tries to bring her back to who she really is. Paul Kelly, Eve Arden, Dan Dailey, and Felix Bressart also appear.

8:30 AM The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

5:45 PM You Can't Take It With You (1938)

8:00 PM The Shop Around The Corner (1940)

10:00 PM Vertigo (1958)

12:15 AM Rear Window (1954)

2:15 AM Shenandoah (1965)

4:15 AM Destry Rides Again (1939)

Sunday, August 21 - Maureen O’Hara

12:15 PM The Spanish Main (1945) - the Academy Award nominated Color Cinematography, which helped dub Maureen O’Hara (in addition to the earlier, and similar, The Black Swan (1942)) Miss Technicolor, is not the only thing notable about this slightly above average swashbuckler. The fact that it was RKO’s first full Technicolor production is the other. Paul Henreid, Walter Slezak, Binnie Barnes, Barton MacLane, J. M. Kerrigan, and Mike Mazurki all appear in this Frank Borzage directed story that you’ve seen before with only slight modifications.

2:00 PM Sinbad The Sailor (1947) - Fun family film with the dashing Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in the title role, telling of his (eighth?) adventure(s) that no one is quite sure are true. A swashbuckling hero, two evil & ruthless villains (Walter Slezak & Anthony Quinn), and a beautiful girl (Maureen O’Hara) ... what more do you need to know;-) Oh yes, riches beyond your wildest imagination, the treasure of Alexander the Great, and a magnificent adventure/voyage to find/get it. Career sidekick George Tobias, Jane Greer, Mike Mazurki, Sheldon Leonard, and Alan Napier (Alfred on TV’s Batman) also appear in this stunning, Technicolor delight!

4:00 PM The Rare Breed (1966) - fairly unexciting (and thankfully, not too long) Western about a British widow, played by Maureen O’Hara, and her daughter, played by Juliet Mills, who bring their Hereford bull to America, claiming it’s a superior breed. James Stewart, miscast for his age at the time (nearly 60!), is the cattle puncher who is hired to transport the bull to its breeder, played by an unrecognizable (per a ridiculous red beard) Brian Keith. Of course the trip doesn’t go smoothly, the value of the new breed is questioned (is it hardy enough to survive in "our" West?) by "us" ignorant Americans, but all turns out well in the end. Jack Elam, Ben Johnson, and Harry Carey Jr. lend their support.

5:45 PM McLintock! (1963) - an all new capsule review!

10:00 PM The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939)

12:00 AM Jamaica Inn (1939) - a TCM premiere; read my full review!

Monday, August 22 - Joan Crawford

6:30 PM Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star (2002) - a TCM original documentary!

8:00 PM Mildred Pierce (1945)

10:00 PM The Story of Esther Costello (1957) - a TCM premiere!

2:00 AM Grand Hotel (1932)

Tuesday, August 23 - Basil Rathbone

12:15 PM A Tale Of Two Cities (1935)

2:30 PM The Dawn Patrol (1938)

4:15 PM Captain Blood (1935)

6:15 PM The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Several of Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes films, which I've not seen, check TCM's schedule

1:00 AM The Court Jester (1956) - a four star film that was added to the National Film Registry in 2004. It’s #98 on AFI’s 100 Funniest Movies list. Starring Danny Kaye in the title role, it also features Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, and Angela Lansbury, among others.

Wednesday, August 24 - Sophia Loren

6:00 AM Quo Vadis (1951) - an all new capsule review!

4:45 PM The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

12:15 AM Operation Crossbow (1965) - Fairly compelling "spies during war" film, set near the end of World War II, with George Peppard, Sophia Loren, Trevor Howard, and John Mills. About the Allies’ efforts to destroy the V2 rocket, after the V1 had done so much damage to London.

2:15 AM Two Women (1960) - a TCM premiere! A four star film I’ve not seen featuring Sophia Loren’s Academy Award winning Best Actress performance; Eleonora Brown, who actually plays her daughter, is the other titled "woman". Jean-Paul Belmondo also appears. The actual title is "La Ciociara (1960)".

Thursday, August 25 - Norma Shearer

7:30 AM The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

9:30 AM Romeo And Juliet (1936)

12:00 PM Marie Antoinette (1938) - an all new full review!

2:30 PM Idiot's Delight (1939) - opinion's vary (I didn't care for this myself); read my full review!

8:00 PM The Women (1939)

10:30 PM The Divorcee (1930) - an all new capsule review!

12:00 AM A Free Soul (1931) - full review!

3:30 AM He Who Gets Slapped (1924) - full review!

4:45 AM Their Own Desire (1929) - full review!

Friday, August 26 - Randolph Scott

6:00 AM Roberta (1935) - pretty good, an all new capsule review!

8:00 AM Follow The Fleet (1936) - one of the more average Fred (Astaire) & Ginger (Rogers) films directed by Mark Sandrich. This one has Randolph Scott, as one of Fred’s fellow Navy sailors, romancing both Rogers’s sister (Harriet Hilliard) and a wealthy woman without strings (Astrid Allwyn). Meanwhile, Fred & Ginger, who used to be part of the same dance team, can’t decide whether they want to be together or not. Betty Grable, Russell Hicks, Brooks Benedict, and Lucille Ball also appear.

11:00 PM Western Union (1941) - supposed to be one of Scott's best; I haven't seen it.

1:00 AM Bombardier (1943) - fair B movie, full review!

4:30 AM Gung Ho! (1943) - a TCM premiere!

Saturday, August 27 - Spencer Tracy

9:15 AM Boys Town (1938)

11:00 AM Northwest Passage (1940) - nominated for a Color Cinematography Oscar, this true story of Rogers’ Rangers features Spencer Tracy as the famous Major from the French and Indian (pre-Revolutionary) War times. Robert Young, Walter Brennan, Ruth Hussey, and Nat Pendleton also appear in this King Vidor directed film.

3:30 PM Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) - an all new full review!

6:00 PM Woman Of The Year (1942)

8:00 PM Adam's Rib (1949)

10:00 PM Desk Set (1957)

12:00 AM Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

2:00 AM Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1941) - though nominated for 3 Oscars (B&W Cinematography, Editing, and Score), most agree that this was one of Tracy’s lesser films - a waste of a good cast which included Ingrid Bergman as the street woman the Hyde character menaces, Lana Turner as Dr. Jekyll’s comely fiancée, Donald Crisp as Turner’s disapproving father, Ian Hunter as Jekyll’s closest friend, Barton MacLane, and C. Aubrey Smith, among others.

Sunday, August 28 - William Holden

6:00 AM Invisible Stripes (1939)

7:30 AM Picnic (1955)

9:30 AM Executive Suite (1954)

11:30 AM The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

2:30 PM Rachel And The Stranger (1948) - slightly above average; an all new full review!

4:00 PM Escape From Fort Bravo (1953) - average; an all new full review!

8:00 PM Sabrina (1954)

10:00 PM Sunset Blvd. (1950) - an all new essential, capsule review!

2:30 AM Network (1976)

4:30 AM Our Town (1940)

Monday, August 29 - Constance Bennett