The September 2013 TCM Schedule

[sandykaypax]

I absolutely loved the Kim Novak interview with Robert Osborne at the film festival. I watched it twice! Now that I understand Kim Novak's naturalistic, emotional based approach to acting, I have a new appreciation for her work. I teach acting/youth theatre, and as a student of acting myself, I am familiar with the techniques of Lee Strasberg that Novak talked of. I love that she didn't study with Strasberg, but this was just her natural technique and instinct. Sometimes I think actors on all levels get too caught up in a technique or correct way to do it, or conversely, have disdain for a method or technique that doesn't suit them.

I've seen all of the films being shown tonight before, and the dvr is getting full, but I'm tempted to record them anyway to view with new eyes.

Sandy K

[CineMaven]

Sandy, I had the same feeling watching the Kim Novak interview. It's really something to see a film that you think you know, but see it with different "eyes." Kind of makes it a new movie almost. She was very emotional. Where do you teach acting/youth theater?

[Rita Hayworth]

Thanks Kingrat that LIFEBOAT is on TCM this Saturday. I appreciate the news!

[sandykaypax]

Sandy, I had the same feeling watching the Kim Novak interview. It's really something to see a film that you think you know, but see it with different "eyes." Kind of makes it a new movie almost. She was very emotional. Where do you teach acting/youth theater?

BTW, Maven--I saw you in the audience applauding at the end of the interview! LUCKY YOU! I was always interested in Kim Novak, since my father wanted to name me "Kim" after her. Apparently, my dad thought she was hot stuff. My mom put the kibosh on that though, which I'm grateful for since our surname started with "K".

Anyway, after that interview, I just love Kim Novak. What a sensitive soul.

I recorded Jeanne Eagels and watched it this morning. I didn't think much of it the first time I saw it, but this time I was very moved by the performances of Kim Novak and Jeff Chandler. Also, Agnes Moorehead was wonderful (as usual!) as Eagels' elegant acting coach and Virginia Grey tragic in a small role as a washed-up alcoholic actress. Novak didn't shy away from the unsympathetic aspects of the character--her driving, self-centered ambition, her sharp tongue when angered, her grandiosity. I'm sure, like most Hollywood bio-pics, things were fictionalized to focus on the love story between Novak and Chandler. I'm curious about Eagels' REAL rise to stardom. And subsequent fall.

Maven, I work for a non-profit arts organization and school. By school I mean that we offer classes and lessons in theater, art, dance, vocal and instrumental music and also have a community theatre all in the building. We're in beautiful Willoughby, Ohio. Last stop Willoughby.

Sandy K

[ChiO]

Summer with Monika (1957), described in the program guide as "A working-class couple's affair leads to marriage and a baby." The very appealing Harriet Andersson stars. I'm curious to see a film that sounds quite different from, say, Winter Light, which was shown earlier this week.

It is worth seeing, especially being a work at the early stage of Bergman's career. But I always find the backstory of its U.S. premiere to be a hoot.

This was only the second or so Bergman film to be released in the U.S. (1955), so he was not established. His people met with Hallmark Productions, who really wanted the U.S. distribution rights. Hallmark Productions got the rights, changed the title to MONIKA, THE STORY OF A BAD GIRL, cut a third of it (the skinny-dipping scene miraculously was retained), dubbed it, created salacious posters and showed it in what were then known as Art Houses (now they’d be called grindhouses or porn theaters). One of the best known films that Hallmark distributed was the notorious MOM AND DAD (William Beaudine 1945), a sex “education” film that was wildly popular, wildly reviled, and is now on the National Film Registry. Kroger Babb, film titan and one of the most interesting men ever connected with the U.S. film industry.

There are lessons there, somewhere, on High Art vs. Trash Art, Art vs. Commercialism, shifting views on sexual themes, and chutzpah.

[CineMaven]

BTW, Maven--I saw you in the audience applauding at the end of the interview! LUCKY YOU!...

Yup...that was me Sandy K...and happy to be there too. I've been recording many of Novak's movies during this month, and I thought she was underrated. Glad to read non-profit in the Arts is still going strong in the face of our country's crazy economy and loony pols. Sounds like things are thriving in Willoughby. Wonderful.

Wait...WILLOUGHBY?!!!!

[Rita Hayworth]

Don't forget about LIFEBOAT is on tonight on TCM - 8 PM Eastern and 5 PM Pacific.

[CineMaven]

Folks were talking of a double feature over at TCM-City of "ABANDON SHIP" and "LIFEBOAT" and this time I paid attention. I watched both and was shocked out of my wits by "Abandon Ship." The ferocity of Tyrone Power showed me he could really pull off that type of character. "Nightmare Alley" was no fluke. He did make some tough decisions, and those camera shots that focused on those left at sea and when the camera pulled back to the boat you could really see that those poor souls were really left out there. It was serious business out there. Some folks only obeyed orders "at the point of a gun." Every time Moira Lister said "Brave Captain" was chilling. Now that girl WAS a survivor. My jaw dropped when she peeled off her dress and jumped into the ocean to show that she needed no preferential treatment of women and children first-kind. She just auditioned to be one of the fit survivors is all. ( I wouldn't have been surprised had she keeled Mai Zetterling overboard in the moonlight. ) Whew! Marie Lohr also impressed me and broke my heart with her dignity. "I forgive you." Now help me into the water. The thing that was most shocking to me was the dog willingly jumping into the water after his master. Hell...he knew what was in store for him had he stayed on board that lifeboat. This movie was a grim, harrowing watch. It pulled no punches. I wish Tyrone Power had lived to make more motion pictures with strong roles as this.

* * * * * * * * *

“FUTURE NOMINEE FOR SUMMER UNDER THE STARS” I know the many actors I'd like to see may not have a body of work that could fill a 24-hour period. Some were not leads so they have a small amount of screen time. And because I don't have an archival memory, I may be repeating actors that TCM has already featured. But below are my nominees for TCM's SUTS' month-long marathon:

VICTOR MATURE - I'm not going to lie. Mature's hunkability is just too irresistible for me not to want to watch him all day... 8/15/2013- 1:41am )

Alright. So it's only twelve hours. On Wednesday, September 18th, I'll take the twelve hours. Thank you TCM:

( 6:00 AM ) THE HOUSEKEEPER'S DAUGHTER (1939) - A gangster's moll runs home to mother, with reporters and amateur detectives hot on her tail. Dir: Hal Roach. Cast:  Joan Bennett, Adolphe Menjou, John Hubbard. BW-80 mins.

( 7:30 AM ) SEVEN DAYS LEAVE (1942) - A serviceman has one week to wed an heiress and inherit $100,000. Dir: Tim Whelan. Cast:  Victor Mature, Lucille Ball, Harold Peary. C-87 mins.

( 9:00 AM ) GAMBLING HOUSE (1951) - A gambler faces deportation when he gets mixed up with murder. Dir: Ted Tetzlaff. Cast:  Victor Mature, Terry Moore, William Bendix. BW-80 mins.

( 10:30 AM ) MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID (1952) - True story of Annette Kellerman, the world's first great swimming star. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. Cast:  Esther Williams, Victor Mature, Walter Pidgeon. C-110 mins.

( 12:30 PM ) THE LAS VEGAS STORY(1952) - When newlyweds visit Las Vegas, the wife's shady past comes to the surface. Dir: Robert Stevenson Cast:  Jane Russell, Victor Mature, Vincent Price. BW-88 mins.

( 2:00 PM ) THE ROBE (1953) - Biblical epic in which a Roman military tribune, who commands the unit that crucified Jesus Christ, tries to learn about the man he killed. Dir: Henry Koster Cast:  Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature. C-134 mins.

( 4:30 PM ) THE SHARKFIGHTERS (1956) - Navy scientists race to develop a shark repellent that could save the lives of downed fliers.
Dir: Jerry Hopper Cast:  Victor Mature, Karen Steele, James Olson. C-74 mins.

( 6:00 PM ) THE LONG HAUL (1957) - A veteran is lured into crime by his boss's sultry mistress. Dir: Ken Hughes. Cast:  Victor Mature, Diana Dors, Patrick Allen. BW-88 mins.

[JackFavell]

I'll be watching Vic for sure! I just saw Demetrius and the Gladiator the other day, and was surprised to find it pretty engrossing, not the Bad Movie You Love I was expecting. I only got to watch to the middle section, but up until then, I liked it much better than The Robe.

[JackFavell]

I LERVE The Last of Mrs. Cheyney. I mean, truly deeply lerve it! What a great movie. I still haven't seen the 1929 version. Who could make up their mind between Powell and Montgomery? I would probably take Powell, but really wouldn't the best thing be for it all to keep going just as it is for another hour or two? It's a movie I'd love to live inside.

I missed Mannequin for the umpteenth time. I guess I'm going to have to shell out the bucks for this one, since I've missed it every single time it's ever been on. I even KNEW it was going to be on yesterday, was going to record it, and still missed it. My mother in law called me, who only recently got TCM, and SHE watched it, asked me what that great movie was. Dang!

Also set my recorder for the wrong timing and got not even a whole version of La Roue, missed the actual movies I was wanting to gt on disc, the ones starting at 12:30 on through the morning. I already have a copy of La Roue.

Sometimes I just shouldn't even attempt to record anything. Just like there are days when I shouldn't be allowed in the kitchen.

[MissGoddess]

Wendy, I have almost given up timer-recording, too. I used to be better at it but now, 3 out of 4 times I do something wrong or my machine has a mind of its own.

Mannequin is a favorite of mine.

[movieman1957]

If you use a DVD recorder you might check the clock. I have 2 and both run fast. Never check it and you wind up with a machine that is 20 minutes fast.