HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM

[film lover 293]

Sunday, Oct. 15th--Hammer Horror, plus one short.  All times E.S.T.:

 

8:00 p.m. "Horror of Dracula" (1958)--The first four Christopher Lee Dracula films are my favorites.  This one is one of the best.

 

9:45 p.m. "The Brides of Dracula" (1960)--Good Hammer Dracula entry, this time without Christopher Lee.  Martita Hunt is quite good.

 

11:30 p.m. "Black Cats and Broomsticks" (1955)--Last chance to catch this short about superstitions; this is the third time it's been scheduled this month.

[kingrat]

Tom, many thanks for running the Laurette Luez screen test. That's priceless.

[darkblue]

Sunday 9:45 p.m. "The Brides of Dracula" (1960)--Good Hammer Dracula entry, this time without Christopher Lee.  Martita Hunt is quite good.

 

My choice as the best of the Hammer 'Dracula" films.

[TomJH]

I think it's safe to say that Horror of Dracula is easily the best of the Hammer Draculas.

 

Having said that, the last half hour of the handsome Brides of Dracula is terrific. If the entire film had been that good it would have been a classic. Peter Cushing is first rate as Van Helsing in both films.

 

These are my two favourite Hammer horror films.

 

[Swithin]

I think it's safe to say that Horror of Dracula is easily the best of the Hammer Draculas.

 

I'm not sure it's safe to say that, Tom.

 

Although I like several Hammer films, I'm not a fan of the Hammer films featuring our beloved Universal monsters. I do however remember enjoying Hammer's The Scars of Dracula very much. Has that been shown on TCM? I haven't seen it in years.

[TomJH]

I'm not sure it's safe to say that, Tom.

 

Although I like several Hammer films, I'm not a fan of the Hammer films featuring our beloved Universal monsters. I do however remember enjoying Hammer's The Scars of Dracula very much. Has that been shown on TCM? I haven't seen it in years.

 

It's been too many years since I saw Scars of Dracula to speak definitively about it. I had heard others speak well of it but when I saw it thought it okay, nothing special. I believe it has a rep as one of the most violent of the Hammer Draculas but that, in itself, hardly means it's the best. I suppose I should give it another look some time.

 

It's missing Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, not a plus.

[ElCid]

Watched A Lion is in The Streets and it is no where near All the King's Men.

Maybe it is Cagney or maybe it is the music or the screenplay or the director, but to me it is more of a comedy than a drama.  The accents are horrendous, especially Cagney's.

Comes closer to The Beverly Hillbillies. or maybe Green Acres.

Having read King's Men and seen the movie several times, no way would  I have thought Lion is even based on a similar scenario.

[LsDoorMat]

I would suggest tonight's Silent Sunday Night entry "The Phantom Carriage". It's not really horror - it's more of a morality tale about a wastrel who for some reason, for a dying Salvation Army Sister, is "the man she loves". This guy is married AND a complete waist of flesh and her Salvation Army compadres have no problem with this? Maybe there is a mistranslation in the subtitles but this has always confused me.  The film has to do with the  last person dying for the year - or maybe it is the first person dying in the new year - has to drive "The Phantom Carriage" which collects the souls of the newly dead for the next calendar year. Now this thing collects the souls of all of the dead, so maybe it would be a horror movie for a Muslim soul to have to ride in - or even wind up driving - this phantom carriage which is covered in Christian symbols. I wonder how that worked?

 

The other film I would recommend is tomorrow night at 8pm there is a rare showing of 1930's  "Madam Satan", the second of three films De Mille made at MGM. It's a musical! It's a precode! It's a costume ball on a blimp! And it is as weird as they come!  By the way, do NOT buy the Warner Archive DVD. I bought three and they were ALL bad! Just record it off TCM and you will probably get a lovely copy and commentary from the hostesses of the "Trailblazing Women Festival".

 

I'm also going to be recording "Snow Devils" (6:15AM) and "War of the Planets (3:15PM)" tomorrow, just because I have never seen them. But with imdb ratings of 3.6 and 2.7 respectively, I'm not holding out too much hope for quality here. Maybe they'll be so bad they're good.

[film lover 293]

Monday, Oct. 16th.  All times E.S.T.:

 

11:45 a.m. "The Power" (1968)--Director Haskin helmed 1953's "War of the Worlds" and 1964's "Robinson Crusoe On Mars", and "The Power"  has a good cast.  Should be interesting.

 

8:00 p.m. "Madam Satan" (1930)--Another recommendation for this film.

[darkblue]

"The Power"  has a good cast.  Should be interesting.

 

It was run this past week as well. I recorded it.

 

I'm not sure I'd call the cast "good". It's definitely weird, though - like they got a whole slew of 60's tv actors that had been in every series of that decade at some point; some almost stars but never quite made it on a permanent basis; some at the very end of being relevant actors even on tv.

 

But all with recognized names from all that tv exposure.

 

I watched the first 20 minutes - I'll finish it up sometime - but got the impression of a made-for-tv b-grader, just like all the actors in it.

 

The headliners: George Hamilton, Suzanne Pleshette. Hamilton peaked in '64 when he starred as Hank Williams in 'Your Cheatin' Heart'. Everything after that was pretty darn ordinary. In this role he has no charm whatsoever for the first 20 minutes I caught. Pleshette is at the prettiest she ever was in all her career in this movie. Yet, as always, she's sexless somehow.

 

And the rest: Earl Holliman, Gary Merrill, Yvonne De Carlo, Richard Carlson, Barbara Nichols, Nehemiah Persoff, Arthur O'Connell, Michael Rennie, Aldo Ray, Ken Murray, Miiko Taka, Vaughn Taylor, and Star Trek fanatics would've recognized this one - Lawrence Montaigne - who once played a Vulcan.

 

Except for Pleshette, who would go on to fame as Emily on 'The Bob Newhart Show' - and Hamilton, who would gain fame for being tanned - this was pretty much an end of the road outing for all these poor b-graders.

[kingrat]

Watched A Lion is in The Streets and it is no where near All the King's Men.

Maybe it is Cagney or maybe it is the music or the screenplay or the director, but to me it is more of a comedy than a drama.  The accents are horrendous, especially Cagney's.

Comes closer to The Beverly Hillbillies. or maybe Green Acres.

Having read King's Men and seen the movie several times, no way would  I have thought Lion is even based on a similar scenario.

Cid, you're so right about the quality of Lion, but it is based on the career of Huey Long, just like All the King's Men.

[ElCid]

Cid, you're so right about the quality of Lion, but it is based on the career of Huey Long, just like All the King's Men.

Forgot to mention that I also read the biography of Huey Long by T. Harry Williams, All the King's Men movie is based on Robert Penn Warren's book by the same title which is based on Long. 

Not to mention my parents grew up and began working in Long's Louisiana.  In fact, we had a distant cousin who was part of Long's administration.    

While Lion may have been based on it, it was poorly done.  Lion also does not reflect the career of Long, either before of after he was governor.

There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of Southern demagogues during the 20's through the 50's who could have been models for Lion, but the story in the movie is not close to Long.

Not defending Long, just saying this is not a reflection of him or what he accomplished and how he did it.

[LornaHansonForbes]

I'm not sure it's safe to say that, Tom.

 

Although I like several Hammer films, I'm not a fan of the Hammer films featuring our beloved Universal monsters. I do however remember enjoying Hammer's The Scars of Dracula very much. Has that been shown on TCM? I haven't seen it in years.

 

 

KINDRED SPIRIT!

They showed SCARS OF DRACULA for the first time on TCM last year. I keep meaning to check the schedule for this October to see if it's encoring.

[film lover 293]

LornaHansonForbes--TCM isn't showing "Scars of Dracula" this year.  Instead they're showing "I Remember Mama" (1948) to start the Halloween schedule.

[LornaHansonForbes]

LornaHansonForbes--TCM isn't showing "Scars of Dracula" this year.  Instead they're showing "I Remember Mama" (1948) to start the Halloween schedule.

 

 

wait...

no.

you're putting me on.

(runs to check schedule)

[LornaHansonForbes]

back from checking.

you're right.

this is one of those rare moments where i cannot think of anything to say.

[film lover 293]

Lorna--I'm guessing IRM is a leftover from the previous nights' "Powerful Women" schedule.  That's ok, but "Die! Die, My Darling!" (1965) or "Straitjacket" (1964), where mom's a nutjob murderess might be more appropriate.  Tallulah Bankhead and Joan Crawford weren't exactly "shrinking violets".

[RoyCronin]

Once when watching "I Remember Mama" I researched the meaning of a "hair receiver", as I was unfamiliar with the term.....GROSS!

[film lover 293]

Since the Boards will be down for an unspecified time,  Tues, and Wed. recommendations.

 

Tuesday, Oct. 17th/18th. Two films, one short.   All times E,S.T.:

 

7:30 p.m. "The Grand Inquisitor" (2008)--This info is from imdb.  Directed by Eddie Muller. " A noir fairy tale; A cache of used books leads a young woman to the door of a woman who may or may not be the widow of America's most notorious unapprehended serial killer."  Starring Marsha Hunt.

 

8:00 p.m. "The Devil's Bride" (1968)--Christopher Lee is the good guy for once.

 

2:45 a.m. "The Plague of the Zombies" (1966)--The only one of the night's films I haven't seen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wed., Oct 18th. All times E.S.T.

 

11:45 a.m. "Purple Noon" (1961)--Good thriller based on Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

[LornaHansonForbes]

Once when watching "I Remember Mama" I researched the meaning of a "hair receiver", as I was unfamiliar with the term.....GROSS!

 

oh puke out, you made me google it and EW!

[film lover 293]

"The Grand Inquisitor" (2008) is now not showing up as scheduled in the daily online schedule but shows up in the weekly schedule.  It may or may not be shown.  It disappeared around 11:50 p.m. E.S.T., Monday.

[TikiSoo]

Once when watching "I Remember Mama" I researched the meaning of a "hair receiver", as I was unfamiliar with the term.....GROSS!

 

What's gross about a hair receiver?

 

 

Women could have their own hair crafted into hairpieces that matched exactly. People would make memorial weavings of their, or their family's hair. They are highly collectible and fetch high prices these days.

 

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/victorian-hair-art

[Sepiatone]

What's gross about a hair receiver?

 

 

Women could have their own hair crafted into hairpieces that matched exactly. People would make memorial weavings of their, or their family's hair. They are highly collectible and fetch high prices these days.

 

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/victorian-hair-art

Yeah.  And how about that old practice of having dolls made that resemble children who may have died that actually had the hair of the departed child used for the doll's hair?

 

 

Sepiatone

[mr6666]

"The Grand Inquisitor" (2008) is now not showing up as scheduled in the daily online schedule but shows up in the weekly schedule.  It may or may not be shown.  It disappeared around 11:50 p.m. E.S.T., Monday.

 

Wow! so who caught The Grand Inquisitor just now??

How Cool was THAT?

 

see: http://www.eddiemull...inquisitor.html

 

"Legendary blacklisted actress Marsha Hunt, 90, returns to the screen in a noir fairy tale, based on actual events. A cache of used books leads a young woman to the door of a woman who may or may not be the widow of America's most notorious unapprehended serial killer......

 

(video posted in Marsha Hunt thread)

[film lover 293]

I rewatched it--I posted about it in the "What Are You Watching Now" thread in the "Favorites" forum after the title showed it wasn't scheduled to be shown (it's on YouTube).  Marvelous noir short film.  Very worth a watch.  If someone missed it, see if it's on TCM On Demand--it's worth seeing.