MORE outstanding movies on TCM

Monday Feb 17th @ 12:00 pm eastern - 9:00 am pacific
The Young Lions (1958) directed by Edward Dmytryk it is one of the best WWII dramas ever with views from both the American and German side. stars Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Maximilian Schell and Lee Van Cleef.

Wednesday Feb 18th @ 12:00 am eastern - Tuedsay Feb 17th @ 9:00 pm pacific
North By Northwest (1959) "BUT I'm not REALLY a spy" drama directed by Alfred Hitchcock with  Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau

Wednesday Feb 18th @ 8:15 am eastern - 5:15 am pacific
On the Beach (1959) post-apocalyptic story of WWIII survivors waiting for the end in Australia. directed by Stanley Kramer and stars Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins

Wednesday Feb 18th @ 6:00 pm eastern - 3:00 pm pacific
The Paper Chase (1973) John Houseman in his Acadamy Award winning roll as Harvard Law Professor Kingsfield with Timothy Bottoms as student Hart and Lindsay Wagner as his daughter. Houseman and the movie were SO good it spun off a TV series by the same name.

Wednesday Feb 18th @ 8:00 pm eastern - 5:00 pm pacific
Topper (1937) one of the GREAT "screwball" comedies of the 1930's with Roland Young as henpecked banker Cosmo Topper and Constance Bennett & Cary Grant as "society" ghosts Marion & George Kerby. loaded with laughs. became a GREAT 1950's TV sitcom with Leo G. Carroll as Topper with Anne Jeffreys & Robert Sterling as the Kerby's

Friday Feb 21st @ 5:15 am eastern - 2:15 am pacific
My Favorite Year (1982) "screwball" comedy with Peter O'Toole as film star Alan Swann appearing on Joseph Bologna as "King" Kaiser's TV variety show. pretty much non-stop laughs it is loosely based on the appearance of Errol Flynn (who was pretty much a "wild man") on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" in the 1950's. Best Actor nomination for O'Toole

Friday Feb 21st @ 3:30 pm eastern - 12:30 pm pacific
Cool Hand Luke (1967) do I REALLY have to review this timeless Paul Newman, George Kennedy and Strother Martin classic? best Actor nomination for Newman and Best Supporting Actor win for Kennedy

Friday Feb 21st @ 6:00 pm eastern - 3:00 pm pm pacific
The Sunshine Boys (1975) comedy about an old two man vaudeville comedy team offered a part in a TV comedy special. problem is, they HATE each other in real life. tour de force by both George Burns as Al Lewis and Walter Matthau as Willy Clark with Richard Benjamin as Clark's long suffering nephew-agent Ben. check out VERY tasty Lee Meredith as "Nurse McIntosh" in the comedy sketch. pretty much non-stop laughs and the only time Burns and Matthau (who is usually associated with Jack Lemmon in comedy) worked together. Best Supporting Actor win for Burns. @ 80 years old I believe he is the oldest ever for the award

good stuff 

Cool Hand Luke- Top 5 all time for sure

you have good taste.

Sunday Feb 23rd @ 8:00 pm eastern/5:00 pm pacific
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) the classic "swashbuckler" with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains. excellent telling of the Robin Hood story with plenty of action. probably Flynn's best roll ever

Monday Feb 24th @ 8:00 pm eastern/5:00 pm pacific
Ship of Fools (1965) outstanding drama about the interation among passengers aboard an ocean liner bound to Germany from Mexico in 1933 right after the rise of the Nazis. stars Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, Jose Ferrer, Oskar Werner, George Segal, Werner ("Col Klink") Klemperer and esp Heinz Ruhmann as the j e w Lowenthal, Lee Marvin as the washed up baseball player Bill Tenny and Michael Dunn as Glocken. I believe it is the only time a midget (Dunn) received an Oscar nomination. VERY well acted by all involved. this is a "must see" at least once

Tuesday Feb 25th @ 10:15 am eastern/ 7:15 am pacific
In Cold Blood (1967) first movie from the Truman Capote novel with Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as the murderers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock and John Forsythe as detective Alvin Dewey.

 

the weekend starting Friday Febuary 28th is an absolute cornucopia of "bucket list" (you should see them at least once in your life) classic movies

Friday Feb 28th @ 7:15 am eastern / 4:15 am pacific
Captains Courageous (1937) Spencer Tracy Oscar winner about a spoiled rich kid played by Freddie Bartholomew "growing up fast" after being rescued by a fishing boat crew rescued by a fishing boat crew. the hard work and responsibility help him change from punk to man. outstanding cast also includes Lionel Barrymore, John Carradine and Mickey Rooney

Friday Feb 28th @ 1:45 pm eastern / 10:45 am pacific
Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)  Oscar winning roll for Jose Ferrer as the swashbuckling poet and swordsman who is very sensitive about his nose.

Friday Feb 28th @ 8:00 pm eastern / 5:00 pm pacific
Casablanca (1942) THE Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman classic with a supporting cast of Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Dooley Wilson as "Sam". Rains line as police captain Renault "I am Shocked, SHOCKED to find that gambling is going on in here!" one of the great movie lines of all time. and btw, 'Play It Again, Sam" is NOT the line in the movie

Saturday March 1st @ 12 noon eastern / 9:00 am pacific
On The Waterfront (1954) all-star cast in this powerful drama include Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger and Eva Marie Saint, winner of eight Oscar including Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and Best Supporting Actress (Saint). Brando's "I Could Have Been a Contender" speech with Steiger is timeless

Saturday March 1st @ 2:00 pm eastern / 11:00 am pacific
Gandhi (1982) epic biographical film about the life of the Indian leader who worked his whole life through non-violent protest for India's independence and peace between Muslims and Hindus. tour de force by Ben Kingsley in the title roll. won eight Oscars including best picture, best actor (Kingsley) and best director (Richard Attenborough)

Saturday March 1st @ 5:30 pm eastern / 2:30 pm pacific
A Man for All Seasons (1966) the story of Sir Thomas More, a devout Catholic trying to convince Henry VIII to not split with the church over Anne Boleyn. stars Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More, Robert Shaw as Henry VIII and Orson Welles as Cardinal Wolsey. early work by John Hurt as Richard Rich and Vanessa Redgrave as Anne Boleyn. best picture, best director and best actor (Scofield) Oscars

Saturday March 1st @ 8:00 pm eastern / 5:00 pm pacifc
In The Heat Of The Night (1967) Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger as a Philadelphia, PA police detective, Virgil Tibbs, roped into working a murder investigation with white racist Mississippi police chief Bill Gillespie. also stars Warren Oates as policeman Sam Wood. the scene of Tibbs slapping back Endicott after he struck him first was a major scene back in the mid 1960's. Scott Wilson is excellent as murder suspect Harvey Oberst while both James Patterson as Purdy and Anthony James as Ralph are just plain scary racists

Saturday March 1st @ 9:00 pm eastern / 7:00 pm pacifc
The Graduate (1967) made Dustin Hoffman a star as Ben with Anne Bancroft as Mrs Robinson and Katharine Ross as Elaine. NOT a particular favorite of mine BUT worth seeing at least once for Hoffman's performance
 
Sunday March 2nd @ 12 midnight /  Saturday March 1st @ 9:00 pm pacifc
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) more mid 60's "race relations" as an aging San Francisco liberal couple Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn find their principles tested when their daughter played by Katharine Houghton becomes ingaged to a black doctor played by Sidney Poitier. Best Actress Oscar for Hepburn and Tracy's last movie roll ever.

Sunday March 2nd @ 2:00 am eastern /  Saturday March 1st @ 11:00 pm pacifc
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) outstanding acting with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. features Michael J. Pollard as ( the fictional) C.W. Moss with Gene Hackman as Buck Barrow and Estelle Parsons as Blanche Barrow. early work by Gene Wilder as undertaker Eugene Grizzard. non-stop "shoot 'em up" action that not only made Bonnie and Clyde household names but made stars of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs for their GREAT bluegrass music sound track

Sunday March 2nd @ 8:00 pm eastern / 5:00 pm pacific
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) for my money STILL the best telling of the HMS Bounty story with Charles Laughton as Captain William Bligh and Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian. Franchot Tone is excellent as midshipman Byam. won the Best Picture Oscar with Best Actor nominations to Gable, Laughton and Tone

Sunday March 2nd @ 10:30 pm eastern / 7:30 pm pacific
Captain Blood (1935) more Errol Flynn "buckling the swash" as doctor Peter Blood who is forced into indentured sevice but escapes to become a pirate captain. also stars Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill and Basil Rathbone. was a "breakthrough" movie for both Flynn and de Havilland, establising both as major box office stars. plenty of action and sword play as in any Flynn movie.

Tuesday March 4th @ 12 midnight eastern/ Monday March 3rd @ 9:00 pm pacific
The Time Machine (1960) the H. G. Wells Sci-Fi classic with Rod Taylor as time machine inventor H. George Wells and the very tasty Yvette Mimieux as "Eloi" maiden Weena (although the "Morlocks" thinking Weena and the other Eloi very literally "tasty"). excellent special effects for a 1960 movie and the Well's story is timeless.

IF you missed it in Febuary, The Sunshine Boys plays again on TCM Saturday March 8th @ 8:15 am eastern / 5:15 am pacific.

two Humphrey Bogart classics back to back Wednesday March 12th @ 10:00 pm eastern / 7:00 pm pacific. first The Malteses Falcon (1941) with Bogey, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. both Lorre and Greenstreet at their "menacing" best in this detective drama. most everyone has seen it at one time or another BUT the follow up Across The Pacific is a little known Bogey with Astor and Greenstreet again. excellent WWII spy drama with Bogey trying to foil a Japanese plot to blow up the Panama Canal. BOTH movies "must see" for Bogey fans. Sydney Greenstreet one of the GREAT "menacing villians" in all of film history along as was Peter Lorre.

its ok

"Across the Pacific"  is a embarrassment.  John Ford got a check and never looked back.  It's only worth watching to see a truly horrible movie.