The January 2013 TCM Schedule

[MissGoddess]

I always find it fun to listen to the different ways people pronounce RIFIFFI and TOPKAPI.

[JackFavell]

January looks like a great month, at least for me.

Saturday morning at 7:30 AM ET, is a Joseph Calleia movie called Sinner Take All (1936) which gets big points from me for the great title and hopefully will start the morning off right. I haven't seen it yet. It stars Bruce Cabot and the always perfect Margaret Lindsey, and boasts an appearance by Dorothy Kilgallen. Can't wait to see Calleia to play someone called Frank Penny, rather than the usual "Fisheye" or "Portuguese Ben".

Also excited about this first Silent Sunday Night, though they've shown the Sessue Hayakawa movie The Cheat before, they are also showing The Dragon Painter as well, and following that the aforementioned Life of Oharu. Then at 4:30 AM ET, one of my favorite guilty pleasures is on, The Garden of Allah which has to be seen to be believed. Or not believed.

This looks like a wonderful month, and it's just getting started.

[Rita Hayworth]

Last Night ... I watched all 4 of these movies in a row while having fun watching them.

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Tarantula (1955)
Incredible Shrinking Man, The (1957)
It Came From Outer Space (1953)

Everyone here pretty much know a thing or two about these movies but I grew up watching these classics on Public Television in the Seventies and now in the Twenty Thirteen Year ... these movies never, ever go out in Style. I love them dearly.

Thanks Jack Arnold for entertaining me last night!

[JackFavell]

Well, Sinner Take All was pretty good! Very much in The Thin Man mold, George Zucco showed up and made with the big crazy eyes as a financial manager and Charley Grapewin was the irascible scion of a wealthy family who are getting bumped off one at a time.

Bruce Cabot was A-OK, he was no William Powell, or even a George Sanders Saint, he's more of a Barton MacLane type, but he's better than Lee Tracy to look at and he was pleasant to watch as a reporter hired by the family to figure out who the murderer is. Margaret Lindsey had some snappy repartee with Cabot and managed to make him look appealing, though dumb, she's a whiz at playing intelligent females, and they have a nice chemistry, if not sizzling.

Joe Calleia, like the bad penny he was named after here, turned up, by that I mean he ended up helping our hero catch the bad guy, though he was once again a shady night club owner. In this one he's worried about selling bad hooch. The guy is class all the way.

A nice programmer that boasts a good cast to make it all go down smooth.

[CineMaven]

I watched that this morning too. Glad I read your post and your mention of Margaret Lindsay. That sent me to the movie. I sometimes don't read the TCM schedule as thoroughly as I should. I kinda chuckled when I saw George Zucco and the way he was lit under his chin, looking scary. Why would anyone even let him into their house? I'm not a big Bruce Cabot fan, but I like the look of a big strapping fella next to a leading lady. Next up for me will be your girl, Wendy, Glenda Farrell as Torchy Blane. with the real Barton MacLane and not the Cabot-knock off of Barton MacLane.

[JackFavell]

On first sight of Zucco, I hollered out at the TV, "He did it!" He was born to be a murderer.

Bruce Cabot isn't bad although his teeth looked as if they were filed and brightened so much for the camera that it seemed like he was wearing dentures. My favorite performance so far by him is in Robin Hood of El Dorado, a surprisingly good movie.

I really liked Margaret Lindsey, made you wonder what she was doing with such a dopey family. And her gowns were beautiful.

[Rita Hayworth]

UPCOMING FRIDAY ... JANUARY 11th, ON TCM

5:00 PM (PST) ... 8:00 PM (EST) Comedy
It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

8:00 PM (PST) ... 11:00 (EST) Comedy
Great Race, The (1965)

I'm looking forward to my yearly fix of these two Comedies that made in the early to mid sixties that always tickle my funny bones.

[CineMaven]

At 8:50pm, I was working at my computer a couple of Saturday nites ago and a friend texted me this:

Prognosis Negative. 9:00pm. Channel 13.

I stopped what I was doing, shut everything down, turned on my tv and settled into, of course...“DARK VICTORY.”

And then look...a week later, I see it's on the TCM schedule.

I haven't seen it in years and had a good time with it. A good time with a sad movie about a girl who dies? Yeah. Well it was just put together so well by Wyler. The story was constructed so tightly and linearly and it was sooooooo well-cast. It felt like an old friend. I felt like “Sigh! Yeah, now this is the way to make a movie.” Bette Davis plays it perfectly. A girl who goes through denial, grief and then acceptance, so the movie is in three parts, but not jagged and disjointed. It all flows one into the other. We all have to face the Inevitable. ( I refuse to go. Nope, I ain't goin'. ) But if I have to, I feel this movie might help me through a rough patch. Bette Davis is Judith, George Brent is the Doctor, Geraldine Fitzgerald is Ann, Bogie is Michael. Max Steiner waves his baton over the music score. And William Wyler provides his Master touch.

* * * * * * * * * * *

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME :



Judith has lost eye-hand coordination. She puts up such false bravado at the doctor's office but he calls her out. And when he breaks it down to her, her symptoms, the camera has Judith in profile slowly bowing her head as the Doctor ticks off each symptom with his explanation. She's broken. She can't deny it. And she finally admits to needing help. That was nice how Wyler shot it. And Brent is very commanding in this scene. As Judith rails, Brent as the Doctor stays steady, focused and not scared off by this human hurricane. I love him in this scene. I love the whole doctor's office scene. Thrust, parry.

* * * * * * * * * * *

FRIENDSHIP :



Movie newcomer Geraldine Fitzgerald plays Ann, Judith's best friend and business manager. ( You can hear the brush of the brogue still in her. ) They do seem like girls together. Friends. Ann has the tough job. She Watches Over Judith. She is the Keeper of Secrets. I like how she watches the doctor when he makes Judith come into his office when she tries to run away from her first exam. Her eyes just...watch...him. Then later, Ann asks and asks the doctor if anything is wrong. ( Does she really want to know? ) Ann is told by the Doctor that Judith is not going to make it. It was amazing to me how Fitzgerald plays the scene: her gasp and the air pulled out of her...her tremulous hands. I replayed her moment a couple of times b'cuz Fitzgerald seemed so true so genuine so subtle and pitch perfect. Ann has to go through all the emotions Judith will be going through, but she'll have to go through them all now...this instant. ( The-operation-was-a-success-but-the-patient-died. Ugh! "Why didn't you let her go then?!" ) The genius of the film is Hitchcockian. Others have more information than the protagonist has. So now we're made to watch over Judith too. We hold our collective breath.

I liked also how there was just the faintest whiff of jealous rivalry when Judith thinks Ann wants the Doctor. I must say, what did make me chuckle, made me have fun, is watching how they tamped down Geraldine Fitzgerald's looks. What a beautiful girl she was with that deep red hair. I swear you could see it through the B & W. I chuckled when I saw how they had Fitzgerald in "sensible" shoes or a frock up to her collar and long sleeves with buttons all the way down the front of her dress, while Bette was in frilly femme-y girly clothes. Uh-unh boys. Fitzgerald's beauty shone through even IF Bette's the Star.

* * * * * * * * * * *

THE DREADED MOMENT :



To be honest, this is the moment we wait for. Judith finds out. Steiner sets us up on tenterhooks with his music of discovery and realization. Prognosis Negative. Jesus. I like how Judith "lightly" asks Nurse Wainwright what each of those words means. The drama of the music, Judith running out of the office, and the great Dorothy Petersen ( Wainright ) having the realization slowly wash over her that Judith now knows she's going to die. That was a great set-piece. And again we're given information that Ann & the Doctor don't have. Judith knows. And she's coming for them.

I can't explain why I love Dorothy Petersen in this movie.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I'M GOING ON A BENDER. JUST TRY & STOP ME :



Fashion commentary: I never liked the yarmulka Judith wears after the operation, but I love the realistic attention to detail that has her wear something because, after all, she did just have brain surgery. And I am over the moon about her in the riding habit and in all her casual comfort clothes: plaid jacket, pants, curls not so tight. Bette Davis looks so relaxed and approachable dressed down and casual. Now, back to the movie...

That scene in the restaurant is classic, Judith is a cat playing with two meeses before she strikes the fatal blow. Ann and the Doctor have no clue WHAT she's talking about. ( Huh ? Wha' ? Nice try. ) Judith is pissed...and feels betrayed. She tears 'em both a new one, and storms into the night to drink and party and run. Run from...

The point/counterpoint of the scene with her frivolous crowd, with not a serious thought in their rich pointy heads was good. "Oh give me time," the song goes. Bette uses those great Bette Davis eyes to good effect here. She knows. Her eyes goes dead.

( P.S. There's my boy, the ubiquitous John Ridgely, standing over Ronnie Reagan's shoulder - He's in every movie ever made. )

* * * * * * * * * * *

PLEASE, MAKE ME FORGET :



Michael makes his move on Judith. He's always liked her, respected her. He's not afraid of her like those other vanilla milk sops. Judith encourages his advances, but comes to the realization that making out with the stable hand will not change things, or stave off the inevitable. The scene bothers me b'cuz Bogie's asked to really put on the Irish, and I don't think it works. Bogie and Bette had done a couple of movies together ( "Marked Woman" "The Petrified Forest" ) so they look comfortable with each other. But if only Bogie didn't have the brogue he could've really gotten in there. I try to get passed that, but I can't. I like him in the other scenes when he's bossing her around...but when he tries to make love to her, I can't. Still I'm happy he's in it, and in two short years he'll shine in "High Sierra" and then "The Maltese Falcon" and then "Casablanca" where we'll really see love torture him.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I'M HAPPY AND CONTENT :



I love the scenes in Vermont with Judith and her Doctor. The betrayal and recriminations are all in the past. Judith stops running and lets love wash over her. Here's another side to Bette. She's all little and friendly and warm and giving. She's sweet & young. She and Brent made several movies together and have wonderful chemistry. As the Doctor who falls in love with his patient, he's totally committed to her. He's making her happy. And I'm happy Judith is happy. She's a new woman.

* * * * * * * * * * *

KIBBITZING WITH OLD FRIENDS :



This is a nice scene of old friends getting together. I liked Bogie here. Doesn't he look good with the fedora and trench coat. Mmm. And Judith's got her best buddy up in Vermont for a visit. Surrounded by people who care for her. I like it.

* * * * * * * * * * *

...BE MY FRIEND :



What we're told would happen, is now happening. And both girls know it. I like how Judith covers her eyes with her hand and sees, it's really true. It's time. Ann takes it baaad. Judith still has ( "noble" ) work to do to get ev'ryone squared away. Ann holds one more secret and is made to promise not to tell the doctor. Boy. What a good supporting actress she is. I think Fitzgerald marvelously supports Bette as an actor throughout this entire movie. It's really a sad touching scene, to me, in the garden. And when Judith sends her away...when she tells Ann she must do this alone, it's really tough. Nothing maudlin or mawkish. There's a strength in it. I'm sad watching Ann run down the road, passing laughing children, running to deal with her grief. Losing her friend. Whew!

* * * * * * * * * * *

I LOVE YOU :



I know I know. You think he's clueless. You think he's a clueless doctor. You think he's a clueless husband. Awwwwright, be that way. I think this is a moment of a girl totally thinking of others. Steiner doesn't lay it on thick with the harps and violins. He poignantly accompanies Judith's goodbye to her husband. She puts on a false bravado, but this time it's for him; trying to give him something that will give him strength in his future without him. We all must face this alone, no matter how many people are in the room with us in the end. I found this a very romantic scene. And when he picks her off the stairstep and has her in his arms and they look out the window together, we know she almost totally blind. I think of "Brief Encounter" or "The Fallen Idol" where your last goodbye is spoiled by something outside yourself.

I watched this on channel thirteen and then saw that TCM had it on the other morning. I couldn't go through the emotions again. This was my Aunt Hattie's favorite movie. She saw it in the movies as a teenager and she & I would talk about "old' movies. She herself had to face her own end in 1980. I try to be the Aunt to my niece, that she was to me. Tearjerker, weepie, sudser, woman's picture, chick flick, soap opera? ...Go on be that way. You can't help yourself. I think this is a triumph in filmmaking. Wyler held it all together. I love his work and admire his career. It's a triumph in Bette Davis' career; in 1939 that juggernaut of a year when most every film released was Golden. We see several shades of Bette Davis in “Dark Victory.” She does a fantastic job of showing us the journey of this young woman.



"Because I could not stop for Death—
     He kindly stopped for me—
     The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
     And Immortality..."

--Emily Dickinson

[CineMaven]

I love William Wyler's work. He has so many classics under his belt. I wish I had his career

But alas..."DARK VICTORY" was NOT one of them. Edmund Goulding helmed "Dark Victory." Along with "Grand Hotel" "The Dawn Patrol" "The Old Maid" "The Great Lie" my beloved..."The Constant Nymph" "Nightmare Alleeeeee... hey wait a minute. I wish I had his career too. He was great!!

[charliechaplinfan]

It's been so long since I watched Dark Victory, whata great refresher you've given me. Isn't this the film where Bogie has an Irish accent?

Did someone mention Big Deal on Madonna Street? I love that movie and it has two of my favourite actors in it, Messrs Mastroianni and Gassman.

[Western Guy]

Well Alison, Bogie attempts an Irish accent. He's okay in the role but I accept him mainly because it gave him a break between all those gangster roles he was playing at the time.

[CineMaven]

Thank you Brother Rat.

Alison, give yourself a good cry and rent the dvd. It's Bette Davis at her finest.

Mastroianni and Gassman.

[JackFavell]

Watching Dark Victory again day before yesterday, I saw none of that leftover Bogart-can't play-Irish-thing that I thought I remembered. And you know what? I thought he was pitch perfect.

His chemistry with her for that one scene in the stable room was like lightning. I thought it was a tremendous scene. So sue me! I liked him and his accent and the way he and Bette batted the ball back and forth, acting wise. There was a flash of brilliance in his scenes that made me sit up in my chair. Made me wish they'd done another movie where they actually had scenes alone together. It could have been like a battle between the gods.

Not only that but the two together really struck sparks, because they were each as unpredictable as the other, as actors and as characters. You didn't know what either of them was going to do. It was exciting! I loved watching her thought processes with him. There's a lot going on, silently, between the lines. Each of them pauses after speaking, and things are happening quickly in those pauses... she was seeing how far she could push him, doubting that she wanted him at all and yet maybe she could just drown herself in physical passion....and he's deciding how much to open up to her, and wondering how far to go, he's waited for this chance to show her his real self. But instead of teasing and getting him to crush her in his arms, she just fell apart, and all the tension vanishes. It's actually a very quiet ending for Bette. She does this again and again in the film, defies your expectations and plays the opposite, the sweet, the young, the quiet.

Bogie didn't behave at all like you would expect him to either. There was a lot of sexual threat ans swagger early in the scene but when the moment came he was so stunned by her telling him she was going to die, he was so saddened, that all his bravado, wanting to master her, it fell away from him as quickly as it came on him. There was nothing to do but go back to being sweet Michael and comfort her. I liked him tremendously here. They were alike, Michael and Judith, very animal, very close to nature so it was only right that she should go to him and then find something unexpected there. Just like her, there was more to him than met the eye. I loved his speech about being the kind of man they didn't make anymore, that he dreamed of great things, and wasn't ashamed to say he was a MAN. I could watch a whole movie of him in this character. Wish they had gone ahead and written one.

I'm trying to remember when I first saw this movie, did I really think Bogie was terrible? I can't imagine it watching now. I totally loved him this time, he added some fire and maleness to the proceedings, that's for sure, and personally, I thought the accent was extremely good except for the novelty of it coming out in his voice.

I think more than likely I read something about this movie and didn't really make up my own mind about his performance, I just latched onto the oddness of an Irish accent coming out of Bogie's mouth.... I mean did folks back tin 39 think it was weird, or have we simply decided more recently that Bogie can only be Bogie in noir or quietly boozing himself to death in Casablanca? Is it that we have an image of him that is iconic and this character role doesn't fit that narrow perception? I find it no more odd than Bogie in naval uniform as Captain Queeg.

The lines in Dark Victory where he starts talking about how much he longs for something more, that he's trapped in a world that he doesn't fit into. well they just explode out of him, like it's been pent up in him for so long, and there's the total ring of truth in it. It surprised me how good it was. The real Bogie, the one we know, the intense man flashed out here. He, like Judy, has this secret life he's been hiding, and unfortunately, he bares his soul because he thinks she might possibly care for him. It's scary and almost deluded, this opening of himself, but then when he finds out her secret it all goes back inside and then Michael is the warm fellow we've seen all along. I almost would say it's brilliant. It's got that edge that he used so well throughout his career, and the frustration that comes out of him is real... It works completely for me. It is just a bit unexpected, maybe that's why folks seem to have a hard time with it.

Here's what I wrote at the other site about the movie after watching:

I re-watched Dark Victory today. Oh my gosh, what a really amazing film! Now I remember why it was my favorite (Bette Davis performance). I had forgotten how light it was, for such a heavy theme. It practically floated on air, the way it was presented was thoughtful and delicate. How Edmund Goulding ever put this over I don't know, but every scene rings with truth ... it was surprising to me watching it again, how it all played out so effortlessly.

For those who know the movie, little moments strike you, but are never pointed up. Like the scene where she first lights up... your eye goes to the motion of her hand moving in front to find the end of the cigarette. For someone who doesn't know the film, it plays out like a mystery because you don't really know why she was doing all that gadding about. You think she's just a spoiled rich girl, but there is more to it than that. For those who have seen it before, well this is a movie that improves on subsequent viewings. Because we know what we know, the way it's presented becomes very important to us. There isn't a wrong move in the whole movie. The story is simple, it's not hitting you over the head. The direction is first rate and tender, ethereal almost. So neat and tidy while staying loose and comfortable, never stolid or lumbering. Nothing is lingered over, and it's over in a flash. I was surprised at the ending coming up so quickly. There is nothing trite in this movie, but there is also noting that seems labored over.

Then there was that key scene, the one where calm George Brent was testing her, looking in her eyes, checking her reflexes and her perceptions... he was really wonderful here, I don't mind saying he was as good in this film as he could be. Perfect for the role and the most gentle, sad presence. Again, he gets lost in the role, and there is nothing wooden about him.

I think there's nothing I can add to Maven's splendid analysis of Geraldine Fitzgerald's fine performance. She's just aces here, and deserved the long career she had. But it is Bette's picture, and this movie really shows her at her best. Bette was superb, so fragile, and this is something you never expect with Bette, and it's what makes the movie and her performance so outstanding. Bette is not herself at all but really and truly Judith Traherne, and she totally loses herself in the role. There is no grandstanding, even in the scene where she's trapped Brent and Fitzgerald in the bar. Everything she does is unexpected, whether it's showing her vulnerability, or the way she aches over the news and tries to run from it, but can't. She plays the opposite of every Bette Davis move you think you know.

I loved her huge energy at the beginning of the film, I totally believed she was a horsewoman and a sporty type, because she's brimming with vivacity and vitality. She's trim and cute as a button, and I believed that when she entered a room everyone looked up and fell for her. As she learned of her fate, her fear was palpable and you can see every thought she has, and it all begins to make sense, why she is running. Bette's voice occasionally goes up into this higher, but gentle, questioning register as she falls in love with Brent, and she calms just like a child - fearful but wanting to know, and it broke my heart. And OK, so I am shallow, I love her wardrobe and hair here (aside from the spaghetti strainer they put on her head), plus the sets are great as well. It's nice to look at, but there is so much more here. It's a life lesson all wrapped up in a beautiful package. Her search for meaning as opposed to mindlessly fleeing from one thing to the next was very spiritual to me, without any of the trappings that usually go along with 'spiritual' movies.

I have to say that after watching again after so many years, this one is still my favorite Bette Davis performance. And that is saying one heck of a lot. She was able to completely transcend the material, and along with Goulding turned it into one of the best movies ever made. You can't take your eyes off Bette. The light touch was perfect for this film, and it made what could have been ridiculous and heavy handed something filled with hope and beauty. It IS, it's a beautiful film.

So yeah, I cried a bucketful.