http://www.tcm.com/schedule/month/?cid=&oid=12/1/2010
December brings the requisite number of holiday films on TCM, as well as a bushel of Will Rogers films on the 28th, an abundance of Vincente Minnelli movies, some excellent foreign films, a rarely seen Cary Grant feature, and a tribute to a living legend (and apparently a force of nature), Mickey Rooney. The month also sees a continuation of the network's seven-part documentary series that begins in November. Moguls and Movie Stars, A History of Hollywood, which early reports indicate will be among the most comprehensive ever made. More about this event can be seen here .
The month also features colorful bouquet-fulls of directorVincente Minnelli's best loved films, and a rarely seen final film, discussed below.
As they did last year for Humphrey Bogart, this December will focus on the undeniably talented Mickey Rooney for 24 hours each Thursday.
Some of the stand-outs among these films are very early appearances by the irrepressible Mick, his musicals with Judy Garland, and, interestingly, some of Rooney's better films post-Andy Hardy, including quartet of roles when Mickey gives his all to these interesting "B" movie roles:
12/9/10
2:30pm
Killer McCoy (1947)
A lightweight boxer gets mixed up in murder. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Ann Blyth, Brian Donlevy. Dir: Roy Rowland. BW-104 mins, TV-PG
4:30 PM
Big Wheel, The (1949)
A mechanic alienates everyone who loves him when he becomes a champion race car driver. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Spring Byington. Dir: Edward Ludwig. BW-91 mins, TV-PG
6:30 PM
Quicksand (1950)
Petty theft leads a mechanic into a life of crime. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lorre. Dir: Irving Pichel. BW-79 mins, TV-PG
12/23
10:30 AM
Sound Off (1952)
A brash nightclub entertainer has to straighten out when he's drafted and falls for a beautiful WAC. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Anne James, Sammy White. Dir: Richard Quine. C-83 mins,
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There are a few rarely shown films that may be TCM premieres popping up on the schedule, including several 20th Century Fox films on the schedule. I'm sure that I'm missing some and hope others will also mention points of interest:
12/2/10
1:00 PM
Death On The Diamond (1934)
A rookie pitcher tries to stop someone from killing the St. Louis Cardinals. Cast: Robert Young, Madge Evans, Mickey Rooney. Dir: Edward Sedgwick. BW-71 mins, TV-G
5:30 PM
Upper World (1934)
A wealthy man escapes his wife's social pretensions in the arms of a burlesque queen. Cast: Warren William, Mary Astor, Ginger Rogers. Dir: Roy Del Ruth. BW-73 mins, TV-G
12/6/10
3:45 AM
Zoo In Budapest (1933)
No notes yet from TCM, but this stars an impossibly lovely and very young Loretta Young, with Gene Raymond as a zoo keeper in director Rowland Lee's poetically photographed look at innocents in a corrupt world. Not everyone's cup of whimsy, but if you are a fan of Lee Garmes cinematography and are able to leave our 21st century's natural cynicism aside for a few minutes, you might find yourself a little bit enchanted.
12/7/10
12:00 AM
The Fast and the Furious (1954)
A wrongly convicted man takes a young woman hostage while fighting to clear his name. Cast: John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Iris Adrian. Dir: John Ireland, Edward Sampson. BW-74 mins, TV-G
C-85 mins,
12/10/10
2:00 PM
Room For One More (1952)
A family with three children takes in troubled orphans. Cast: Cary Grant, Betsy Drake, Lurene Tuttle. Dir: Norman Taurog. BW-98 mins.
12/11/10
4:15 PM
The Silent Call (1961)
No TCM notes posted at this time, but this is Gail Russell's last film, sadly. Pete, the Dog of Flanders and Roscoe Ates are the other familiar names in the cast. C-62 mins,
12/12/10
8:00 PM
Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949)
No TCM notes posted at this time, but if you ever liked the other performances by the perennially arch Clifton Webb exhibiting his hauteur, this movie may be enjoyable for you. A muted Shirley Temple plays a troubled young co-ed in this film. C-83 mins. Directed by Elliot Nugent.
9:30 PM
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951)
No TCM notes posted at this time, but this is very enjoyable, with Webb as an author living in a retirement home for research purposes. He is not quite as acerbic as usual, but the cast of supporting players is superb, including familiar faces Doro Merande, Kathleen Comegys,Billy Lynn (if the names are unfamiliar, their faces will definitely make you say, "oh, that guy!"). Directed by Henry Koster. Also, look for Zero Mostel in a role as Webb's agent, in one of Zero's few films that he made prior to being blacklisted.
C-87 mins,
12/14
9:00 AM
Experiment in Terror (1962)
A master criminal tries to force a bank teller to help him pull off a big heist. Cast: Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Ross Martin. Dir: Blake Edwards. BW-123 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
11:15 PM
Matter of Time, A (1976)
No TCM notes on this one yet, but it is the last film directed by Vincente Minnelli with Ingrid Bergman, Liza Minnelli, Charles Boyer and Isabella Rossellini. The story is set in Rome, 1949. Bergman plays a contessa, the impoverished but proud Contessa Sanziani, who lives on pawned jewels in a seedy hotel. She has an interesting relationship with a young chambermaid, played by Liza Minnelli, sharing her memories. Reportedly, this fantasy film was taken away from Minnelli and re-edited for quick disposal by the kind of producers the director parodied in Two Weeks in Another Town. If you are intrigued by the cast and the Minnelli touch, perhaps it is worth a look.
C-106 mins
1:00 AM
Stepping Out (1991)
No TCM notes on this one yet, but I LOVE this movie, which is about a down on her luck dancer, teaching tap to a bunch of misfits in Buffalo, NY! Liza Minnelli acts as part of an ensemble group in this one that includes the great Bill Irwin, (a man born 70 years too late, he should have been a silent comedian), Julie Walters, Jane Krakowski, and even Shelley Winters, who is bearable in this movie.C-106 mins,
12/19
10:00 PM
Summer Place, A (1959)
An adulterous couple discovers that their children are sexually involved. Cast: Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Sandra Dee. Dir: Delmer Daves. C-130 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format
12/20
3:00 AM
Orpheus (1949)
A poet follows his dead wife into the underworld, only to fall in love with Death. Cast: Jean Marais, Francois Perier, Maria Casares. Dir: Jean Cocteau. BW-95 mins, TV-PG
4:45 AM
Matter of Life and Death, A (1947)
An injured aviator argues in celestial court for the chance to go on living. Cast: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote. Dir: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. C-104 mins, TV-PG, CC
12/21
8:00 PM
Sunny Side Up (1929) C-121 mins, Charles Farrell, Janet Gaynor (please see Pvitari's comments on this here. Others who saw this film at the TCM Film Festival also raved.) Synopsis: Molly and Bee, sweet young 'working girls,' live in a cheap room over a New York grocery store. Molly's idol, wealthy Jack Cromwell, lives in a Long Island mansion but is markedly less happy, since his fiancée Jane won't discourage her other admirers. Fleeing in his car, Jack ends up in an urban block party where he meets you-know-who.
12/27
2:00 AM
Bicycle Thief, The (1948)
A working man's livelihood is threatened when someone steals his bicycle. Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell. Dir: Vittorio De Sica. BW-89 mins, TV-G
4:00 AM
Beware Of Pity (1946)
No TCM notes yet, but the terrific sounding cast includes Lilli Palmer, Cedric Hardwicke, Gladys Cooper, and Ernest Thesiger under the direction of Maurice Elvey, (who also made the highly imaginative Transatlantic Tunnel (1935) and the interesting film, The Clairvoyant (1935) with Claude Rains). Synopsis: A baroness believes she has found true love with an officer. However, she soon discovers that his proposal for marriage was made out of his pity for her physical handicap instead of for love. C-105 mins,
12/28
1:45 AM
Solaris (1972)
An alien intelligence infiltrates a space mission. Cast: Natalya Bondarchuk, Dontas Banionis, Juri Jarvet. Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky. BW-166 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format (The excellent Soviet version--not the okay one with George Clooney).
A slew of Will Rogers movies from Fox. No notes available on these yet, though there is more info about each of these movies here:
8:00 PM
Connecticut Yankee (1931)
C-95 mins,
10:00 PM
Doctor Bull (1933)
A country doctor ignites gossip when he falls for a small-town widow. Cast: Will Rogers, Vera Allen, Marian Nixon. Dir: John Ford. BW-77 mins,
11:30 PM
Handy Andy (1934)
C-83 mins,
1:00 AM
In Old Kentucky (1935)
A drunken young veteran returns home to find the family horse-breeding business facing ruin. BW-86 mins,
2:30 AM
Life Begins at Forty (1935)
C-85 mins,
4:00 AM
Too Busy to Work (1932)
C-70 mins,
5:15 AM
Down to Earth (1932)
C-71 mins,
12/31
3:45 AM
Bells Go Down, The (1943)
No TCM notes on this Basil Dearden film starring British comedian Tommy Trinder, James Mason, Mervyn Johns, and the great Finlay Currie.
You can see a Variety review of this film here Synopsis: Comedian Tommy Trinder plays it straight in this tribute to the wartime AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service). The dedicated band who kept the fires of London under control during the blitz and fire bombings of WWII. C-90 mins,
