The Silver Screen Oasis

Here's the link:

http://www.tcm.com/schedule/month/?cid=&oid=7/1/2007

It looks like Randolph Scott is Star of the Month.

And, unless I miss my guess, they are doing a 60th anniversary salute to the United States Air Force becoming a separate entity. (Though the anniversary is really in September 2007.) (Prior to 1947, military aviation was divided between the Army and the Navy.). It could also be because of Charles Lindbergh's famous flight in May 1927, marking the 80th anniversary of that. Or Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in 1947. Amazing how many aviation incidents occured in years ending in "7" (for example, the Hindenburg blew up in 1937).

There's a day-long tribute to Barbara Stanwyck for her 100th birthday.

Boston Blackie movies are being shown on Saturdays at 10 AM ET. It will probably be much of the series over a few months, much as they ran the Crime Doctor series over a few months each Saturday.

And, of course, an evening tribute to July 4th, including 1776 and Yankee Doodle Dandy.

And there's a Merry Day featuring:

Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932)
The Merry Wives Of Reno (1934)
The Merry Widow (1934)
Merry Andrew

Wow, July has some incredible and rare noir nuggets for the fanatic connoisseur: the 1937 French masterpiece Le Quai de Brumes (Sun July 1) is a smoky blueprint of American noir to be; 711 OCEAN DRIVE (Fri July 6) with punchy Edmond O'Brien and that great climax at Hoover Dam; BIG HOUSE USA (Sat July 7) Ralph Meeker--straight out of Kiss Me Deadly--as a psychotic kidnapper; chilling! Also in the killer cast are Brod Crawford and Lon Chaney, Jr. Great noir! THE STRANGE MR. GREGORY (July 11) is one of my favorite "B" noirs from Monogram--I had it on my Programming Challenge, maybe someone took note! It's a weirdly kinky tale with Edmund Lowe and Jean Rogers (Dale Arden from the Flash Gordon serial!!); CITY OF FEAR (July 19) with Vince ("Ben Casey") Edwards and directed by Irving Lerner who the year before did Murder By Contract (also with Edwards) which is fantastic! Edwards was terrific in a number of unsympathetic roles before becoming the TV doctor. He was genuinely memorable as Marie Windsor's bad boyfriend in Kubrick's THE KILLING. I've never seen CITY OF FEAR and am very much looking forward to it. THESE ARE THE DAMNED (July 2) is a unique 1965 British b&w widescreen hybrid; part mods & rockers terrorizing American tourists and part arthouse science fiction. Shirley Ann Field and Oliver Reed are in it. MacDonald Carey plays a boring American tourist. Directed by maverick Joseph Losey. An incredible month, thanks to the fine folks at TCM.

Looks like a very nice schedule. A few more new films. With Randolph Scott (cue chorus*) some people around here are going to be very happy even if it doesn't include all his late great westerns. Another busy month for the DVR.

*been wanting to do that for some time now.

Looks good, Especially Barbara Stanwyck day on the 16th. with some rare pre-codes Night Nurse and Ladies They Talk About and on the 15th Greed (1924) .

vallo

I agree, vallo....especially Barbara Stanwyck.

movieman1957 wrote: ...With Randolph Scott (cue chorus*)

*been wanting to do that for some time now.

It must be tiresome for Mr. Scott to travel around with his own choir.
But I didn't even know he had one.

kjk

There are some interesting entries in the July schedule that I'll try to catch:

On the 5th, David and Lisa, based on a case study of troubled young adults. I remember this movie being all the rage among the intellectual set in New York at the time of its release.

On the 13th, Bunuel's Simon of the Desert - hard to describe - it's about St. Simon Stylites, a saint who stood on a pillar (on one leg, I think) in the desert for 40 years or so. He has a lot of visitors to keep things interesting.

On the 22nd, there's a B film called The Happy Years, directed by William Wellman, which I remember finding of interest because it features both Dean Stockwell and Darryl Hickman, IMO the two finest juvenile actors of Classic Hollywood.

On the 28th there's Member of the Wedding. Loved the book, have mixed feelings about the film. I expect that Julie Harris (not my favorite actress by any means) had more success playing a 12 year old girl on the stage. In the film, the illusion of youth is not so successful. However, she gives an excellent portrayal of female adolescent angst, rare to see in older films, and she is matched in excellence by Ethel Waters and Brandon deWilde.

Then, of course, there's Greed, shown late on the 15th. Based on my all-time favorite American novel, "McTeague" by Frank Norris - every goshdarn time this movie has been shown on TV I've missed it. Not this time. I think I'll program my recorder now to be sure.

jbd1,
" David and Lisa " is the film debut of Janet Margolin, who died at age fifty in 1994. A wonderful actress, ill - used by Hollywood, and an exceptionally beautiful woman.

It must be tiresome for Mr. Scott to travel around with his own choir.
But I didn't even know he had one. >>

Kyle,

The townsfolks from Blazing Saddles are the chorus that follows R. Scott around.

Hand over heart in unison: "Randolph Scott!"

Looks like a great month. I personally hated David and Lisa though.

I remember seeing it after Dad told me that he and Mom saw it in the theater and just walked out. I thought "Ah that's just old Dad he doesn't know anything. " I found out our tastes were more similar than I realized.

Mr. Arkadin -

Next month's (May) Guest Programmer is film historian David Thomson and he has chosen Mr. Arkadin as one of his films. You can read about his Guest Programmer evening here -

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=159382

and it includes this "quote" -

Thomson tells host Robert Osborne that, for him, the “first test” of a film is its director. For his programming picks, he deliberately chose lesser-known works of four important filmmakers so that many viewers would come to the movies “fresh.”

kjk

I'm glad Act of Violence is reshowing. One of my faves. Van Heflin is probably one of the most underated actors out there.

As for showing my namesake, it all depends on which version they show. Hopefully the one recut to Welles notes as the that is the most superior one in my opinion. It's said that Welles worked and edited this for years (before it was taken out of his hands) and when he couldn't find or get the actors to postsynch new dialogue, he overdubbed it himself! Some critics claim he did as many as 14 voices in the film. Happy viewing.

I thought I also saw Exodus in the July lineup. IMO, it's a film that tries to do too much but, like the "curate's egg," "parts of it are excellent."

I think Preminger intended an epic, but what he got was mostly an overblown melodrama. I also find it greatly diminished on the small screen; it needs a widescreen theater.

However, it's worth a look for young Sal Mineo's wonderful performance, which was, I think, unquestionably Oscar-worthy (he was nominated).

Not a particular fan of Randolph Scott...but it'll be good for me to see more of his films.

However, I am really pleased about the following:

6th - THAT FORSYTHE WOMAN - Errol Flynn/Greer Garson film that is rarely shown

10th - CHINA CLIPPER - Bogie film that is rarely shown.

11th - Tab Hunter day - I'm not all that familiar with him, so this will be new to me.

16h - Barbara Stanwyck day - with one film I've not yet seen, even!

17th - WOMEN IN THE WIND - Kay Francis film I've not seen

22nd - CASANOVA BROWN - Gary Cooper film that is not played often.

28th - THE TENDERFOOT - Ginger Rogers film I've not seen



Several Richard Barthelmess films spread throughout the month.