July Schedule is Up

[moira finnie]

TCM July Schedule is here:
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/month/?cid=&oid=7/1/2009

There seems to be a 1939 Documentary on the menu, though details haven't been released just yet. Many of the dazzling, familiar movies from that year (GWTW, Wuthering Heights, etc.) and, happily, a few of the lesser known ones are scheduled too: Of Mice and Men (1939)!

William Dieterle appears to be the Featured Director of the Month

Stewart Granger is the Star of the Month.

Mae Clarke has several of her early movies scheduled on 7/10

Rusty the Dog is back, along with Perry Mason (Warren William) and The Saint (please, George Sanders only!), and there's a Joseph Lewis double feature (no, not Gun Crazy), along with a slew of Japanese films, which might be interesting. Judy Garland pops up in some of the less worn out features she appeared in, including Presenting Lily Mars, Thoroughbreds Don't Cry, and I Could Go On Singing, among others. Dat's alot of Judy.

More later...

[moira finnie]

Since it's summertime, I guess TCM wants us to give our brain cells a vacation. Look who arrives on July 17th!? I know my application to MENSA only had a slim chance anyway, but since I will publicly confess that I once found these movies mildly amusing, perhaps I will again--even if I can't hang with the smart kids now. Just wish that The Egg and I were part of the mix too:


7/17/09

8:00 PM ET/5:00PM PT
Ma And Pa Kettle (1949)
On the verge of eviction, the hillbilly family wins a slogan contest and moves into an automated home. Cast: Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, Richard Long. Dir: Charles Lamont. BW-76 mins,

9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT
Ma And Pa Kettle Go To Town (1950)
The hillbilly farmers win a contest and take off for New York City. Cast: Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, Richard Long. Dir: Charles Lamont. BW-79 mins,

11:00 PM ET/ 8:00 PM PT
Ma And Pa Kettle Back On The Farm (1951)
The hillbilly farmers take off in search of uranium. Cast: Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, Richard Long. Dir: Edward Sedgwick. BW-80 mins,

12:30 AM ET/9:30 PM PT
Ma and Pa Kettle at the County Fair (1952)
The hillbilly farmers try to raise money to send their daughter to college. Cast: Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, Lori Nelson. Dir: Charles Barton. BW-78 mins,

[movieman1957]

It's too bad "The Egg and I." I just watched a friend's tape of it and Claudette was wonderful again. Marjorie Main sure did scratch herself a lot.

[moira finnie]

It's too bad "The Egg and I." I just watched a friend's tape of it and Claudette was wonderful again. Marjorie Main sure did scratch herself a lot.

Maybe the itching occurred when Percy Kilbride got too close?! Did the Kettles have running water in their hovel? I can't recall. We should probably remember that Marjorie was also supposed to be quite the germophobe, at least according to her co-star, James Whitmore, so perhaps that was a case of art imitating life in The Egg and I.

[movieman1957]

She was no germophobe in the movie. She was throwing chickens of the kitchen table, live ones. They could be found everywhere in the house but the ice box for the next meal. If there was running water it was from a pump handle but I don't remember.

They did have a still because it blew up and burned up a good protion of the area including Colbert's barn.

[moira finnie]

That's what made it so ironic to hear that from Whitmore in that interstitial. Marjorie Main, afraid of germs??? It just doesn't add up.

[jdb1]

Since it's summertime, I guess TCM wants us to give our brain cells a vacation. Look who arrives on July 17th!? I know my application to MENSA only had a slim chance anyway, but since I will publicly confess that I once found these movies mildly amusing, perhaps I will again--even if I can't hang with the smart kids now. Just wish that The Egg and I were part of the mix too:

Well, Moira, as a card-carrying member of that august body, I can tell you that first, I doubt you'd have any trouble getting in, and second, I've always loved Ma and Pa, as I'm sure other "Ms" do. (That's how we refer to each other: "Ms" or "FM" for girls; "MM" for boys. Cute, no? The high-IQ set is just as whimsical as all get-out.) These days, I see reams of subtext in everything the Kettles say and do, starting with the fact that such an "unusual" couple has umpteen children. One needn't expect much from the series in terms of depth; but you will delight at the performances of Main and Kilbride -- they are priceless. And it would have been very nice to include the movie that started it all: The Egg and I. Colbert and the Kettles -- who could make this stuff up?

[jdb1]

So, anyway, I don't have too much to say about July. Thrilled to see Mae Clarke movies being aired on the morning of the 10th. If you haven't yet seen Clarke, I think you will be impressed -- she was very good, even if the films in question are minor ones. On the whole, I think the monthly mix is pretty good, even if not made up of the greatest selections.

The Rusty the Dog series is interesting from the historical viewpoint of showing "real" kids in the mid-to late 1940s, but I caution you that some of them are pretty bad. You can check my thread on Rusty for more detail -- I think I put it in the Drama topic. I recommend the first one in the series, The Adventures of Rusty (1945) on the morning of the 4th, and Son of Rusty (1947) and the one I like best, Rusty Leads the Way (1948), on the morning of the 11th.

The Korda version of The Thief of Bagdad (1940) is being shown on the 5th at 10AM. This is a beautiful family movie, starring Sabu. I hope this is the recently restored color print. At 2PM on the 5th, the 1953 George Pal version of The War of the Worlds. This one is so much better (worlds better, actually), than any of the remakes.

On July 11th, Bonjour Tristesse (1957) is being shown, again. I'm not crazy about this movie, but I am endlessly fascinated by the beautiful face of Jean Seberg.

On the 12th, an early Hitchcock "innocents on the run," Rich and Strange (1932). An interesting foreshadowing of the Hitchcock to come. At 2 PM, Gidget (1959), which may seem a little silly and dated now, but has a lovely performance by Sandra Dee. Gidge, I feel your adolescent pain.

On July 13, Adam Had Four Sons (1941), with Ingrid Bergman. Saw this a few months ago for the first time, and I thought it a very good soap. Bergman is a dedicated governess who loves her boss. At 2:30AM on the 13th, there's a crime drama called The Case Against Brooklyn (1958), featuring Darren McGavin. Never saw this one -- whaddya, kiddin' me? Who could make a case against Brooklyn?

On July 14th, a morning of May-December romances of varying intensities, including Autumn Leaves (1958) with Crawford, Goodbye, Again (1961) with Bergman, Lolita (1962), and Harold and Maude (1971).

On the 15th at 9:15 AM, the great and somewhat Expressionist The Devil and Daniel Webster. (1941). Later that day, the English filming of a Brendan Behan play The Quare Fellow (1962). A very good drama of an idealistic prison employee, and the reality he finds himself facing. It stars Patrick McGoohan.

On the 17th, I guess to put us in the mood for the Kettles, we can see A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) at 12:45PM. This is a lavish "everything plus the kitchen sink" production, but has some excellent performances from 30s stars not normally associated with Shakespeare. I love Cagney and his working-class little theater group the best.

On the 19th, Teahouse of the August Moon (1956). Many consider this minor and rather tepid, but I always enjoy it. It's the story of clueless Americans vs. native culture. I'm not a Glenn Ford fan, but I think he's perfectly cast here as a bumbling do-gooder. Paul Ford is wonderful as the Babbitt-like commanding officer, and Marlon Brando is so slyly comical as the Okinawa translator. And no, he's not Asian and they could have cast someone Asian, but I wonder if anyone else would have been as good. I always like Brando in his comedies -- he was funny.

On July 20th, TCM celebrates man's first walk on the moon with an entire day of sci-fi, dramas and comedies involving people trying to get on or off the moon. Were you around on that fateful day? Did you watch Armstrong step onto the moon, as broadcast on TV? Did the whole thing have a sort of unreal, sci-fi quality to it? It did for me.

On the 24th, the sweet family movie On Borrowed Time (1939). When I was in middle school, we read the play, and were shown the film. We just ate it up. Little Bobs Watson is really good, and boy, could he cry.

Did you see Billy Liar when it was aired recenly on TCM? If not, I recommend you take a look on July 26th at 12:15PM. As far as I'm concerned, Tom Courtenay can do no wrong.

July 27th brings us the Post-Beat, Existential Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces (1970). I'm still not quite decided on whether I like this movie, but Nicholson is terrific.

On July 28, TCM is running a morning of Joe E. Brown movies. I wonder if these were intended for rural audiences, as Don Knotts' films were originally intended a generation later. In any event, I kind of like Brown, who has flashes of the cunning dissenter in his rube-like characters. He was also very athletic and graceful; you get used to the face after a while.

[moviemagz]

The big news of the month for many movie buffs hasn't really been mentioned yet - the July 10th airing of 1932's THREE WISE GIRLS starring Jean Harlow, Mae Clarke, and Marie Prevost. This is one of the most elusive Harlow fans and has never been aired on any cable channel before I believe. It may not be a classic but Harlow fans for decades have had to be content with a blurred ghost-like unwatchable copy that circulated among her most devoted fans. So everything else this month - and maybe this year - is gravy.

I'm not sure but I believe the somewhat notorious cult film THE TERROR OF TINY TOWN, a poverty row western with an all little people cast is also making it's TCM premiere. This is one of those films everybody has heard about but not many have seen.

There's also a rare chance to see one of Jessie Matthews' British musicals THE GOOD COMPANIONS (1932) and an early Ann Sothern Starrer LET'S FALL IN LOVE (1934) which I believe did air a few months ago.

THE EGG AND I has aired so many times on TCM (and earlier, AMC) I don't feel it's a big deal that it didn't make the schedule as part of the Kettles block. It probably will play again before the end of the year.

[Lzcutter]

The Terror of Tiny Town isn't a premiere in July. It was shown as part of TCM Underground this past winter.

Either way, it has to be seen to be believed. It's not just a western with little people riding shetland ponies but it's a musical as well.

[myrnaloyisdope]

I'm super excited about the Mae Clarke films. I have that awful bootleg of Three Wise Girls, and it's unwatchable, you can't even tell who is who in it. So I'm excited to actually watch it. Also I had no idea that The Good Bad Girl still existed, it has no votes on imdb, so count me doubly excited.

Now if only they could show Big Time, Mae's film debut, and one of the few films directed by Kenneth (brother of Howard) Hawks before he died..

[mongoII]

I'm happy to hear that Ma & Pa Kettle will invade TCM in July. I get a big kick out of those characters who I recall watching on the big screen in the 1950s.

[Ann Harding]

Now if only they could show Big Time, Mae's film debut, and one of the few films directed by Kenneth (brother of Howard) Hawks before he died..

I saw Big Time last year at the Cinémathèque. The print was a slightly grainy 16 mm, but reasonnable. The film itself was extremely good. I would say it was better directed than Howard's early talkie like The Dawn Patrol. What a shame Kenneth didn't have a chance to blossom.... Mae Clark was excellent in that film. I wished it was more widely available.
I wrote something about it here:
http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/vie ... f=4&t=1470

[Lzcutter]

Beau Geste returns to TCM.

Color me happy.

Now if it was on a double bill with the silent version, I would be ecstatic!