Bernard Herrmann beginning tonight on TCM and continuing each Tuesday this month.
As I write this, I'm listening to my recording of my favorite Herrmann score from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947-Joseph Mankiewicz), but that movie is not, alas, among those featured. However, the surfeit of new movies (including many 20th Century Fox films) is just great. I am also always up for listening to the beautiful, melancholy sound of Virginia Majewski's viola d'amore wrapped up in the dissonance and fury of the of music of On Dangerous Ground, which is on late tonight and may also feature my favorite performances by the fascinating Ida Lupino and the superlative Robert Ryan. You can hear portions of this score here.
Heck, what am I saying--these are all terrific listening. Do you have a favorite Bernard Herrmann score?
Sept. 1st
Early Career Part One
8:00 PM
Hangover Square (1945)
A composer who can't control his creative temperament turns to murder. Cast: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders. Dir: John Brahm. BW-78 mins,
9:30 PM
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
A farmer sells his soul for seven years of good crops. Cast: Walter Huston, Edward Arnold, John Craig. Dir: William Dieterle. BW-106 mins, TV-G, CC
11:30 PM
Citizen Kane (1941)
The investigation of a publishing tycoon's dying words reveals conflicting stories about his scandalous life. Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead. Dir: Orson Welles. BW-120 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
1:45 AM
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
A possessive son's efforts to keep his mother from remarrying threaten to destroy his family. Cast: Tim Holt, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead. Dir: Orson Welles. BW-88 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
3:30 AM
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry's blind sister. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond. Dir: Nicholas Ray. BW-82 mins, TV-PG, CC
5:00 AM
The Set-Up (1949)
An aging boxer defies the gangsters who've ordered him to throw his last fight. Cast: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-73 mins, TV-PG, CC
Sept. 8th
Early Career - Part Two
8:00 PM
Five Fingers (1952)
A British valet in Turkey during World War II sells secrets to the Germans. Cast: James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie. Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. BW-108 mins, , CC
10:00 PM
The Snows Of Kilimanjaro (1952)
As he fights a deadly jungle fever, a hunter remembers his lost loves.. Cast: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner. Dir: Henry King. C-114 mins, TV-PG, CC
12:00 AM
Beneath The 12-Mile Reef (1953)
Love brings together two families of rival sponge fishers. Cast: Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Gilbert Roland. Dir: Robert D. Webb. C-101 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format
2:00 AM
The Naked And The Dead (1958)
A green lieutenant comes up against incompetent officers and a sadistic sergeant during World War II. Cast: Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson, Raymond Massey. Dir: Raoul Walsh. C-131 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
4:15 AM
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
A physician lost at sea discovers lands populated by tiny warriors and giant kings. Cast: Kerwin Mathews, Basil Sydney, Jo Morrow. Dir: Jack Sher. C-99 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
September 15th:
Herrmann & Hitchcock - Part One
8:00 PM
The Trouble With Harry (1955)
A corpse creates a world of trouble for several passersby who each believe they may have caused the death. Cast: Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-99 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
10:00 PM
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
International spies kidnap a doctor's son when he stumbles on their assassination plot. Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda De Banzie. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-120 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
12:15 AM
Vertigo (1958)
A detective falls for the mysterious woman he's been hired to tail. Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-130 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
Herrmann Highlights
2:30 AM
The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad (1958)
Sinbad hunts for a roc's egg to save his love from an evil sorcerer. Cast: Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Torin Thatcher. Dir: Nathan Juran. C-88 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
4:15 AM
Mysterious Island (1961)
Escaped Civil War POWs end up on an island populated by giant animals. Cast: Michael Craig, Michael Callan, Joan Greenwood. Dir: Cy Endfield. C-101 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
Sept. 22nd
Herrmann & Hitchcock - Part Two
8:00 PM
North By Northwest (1959)
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase. Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-136 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format, DVS
10:30 PM
Psycho (1960)
A woman on the run gets mixed up with a repressed young man and his violent mother. Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-109 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
12:30 AM
Marnie (1964)
A rich man marries a compulsive thief and tries to unlock the secrets of her mind. Cast: Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery, Diane Baker. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-130 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
Sept. 29th
Late Career
8:00 PM
The Bride Wore Black (1968)
A woman seeks revenge on the five men who murdered her fiance. Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Bouquet. Dir: FrancoisTruffaut. C-108 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format
10:00 PM
The Road Builder (1971)
A drifter with a deadly secret ignites passions in two lonely women. Cast: Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown, Nicholas Clay. Dir: Alastair Reed. C-96 mins, TV-PG
12:00 AM
Obsession (1976)
A businessman falls in love with a double for his murdered wife. Cast: Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold, John Lithgow. Dir: Brian Da Palma. C-98 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format
2:00 AM
Taxi Driver (1976)
A loner becomes fixated on a teen prostitute. Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd. Dir: Martin Scorsese. C-113 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format