TCM Look-Ahead - Oct. 16
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure.
Friday, October 16
It is a Todd Browning afternoon and eve on TCM, all of them worth watching, but one utterly indispensable....
06:45 p.m. PDT Freaks (1932) Totally irresponsible but ultimately a howl of sympathy. One of us, one of us, one of us...
If the heart of the horror movie is the annihilating Other, the Other has never appeared with more vividness, teasing sympathy, and terror than in this 1932 film by Tod Browning. – Dave Kehr
Sunday, October 18
08:00 a.m. PDT Night Watch (1973) I saw this restored at the BFI Southbank in London so the experience itself may outweigh the quality of the movie, but I found this to be a pretty effective "woman in the window sees something she shouldn't" thriller with Liz Taylor and a tired-looking Lawrence Harvey. Brian G. Hutton, an interesting figure who was able to earn the trust of not only Liz and Dick but Clint Eastwood, made a bunch of dodgy films but also some good ones (Sol Madrid, Where Eagles Dare). But he had style and could reasonably be called an Underrated Auteur. He quit film making for seven years after the release of Night Watch, saying "a gorilla could have made these movies." So, underrated even by himself.
Elizabeth Taylor, and about time, has got herself a good picture and a whodunit at that – Howard Thompson, N.Y. Times
11:45 a.m. PDT Singin' in the Rain (1952) A film that does not require my recommendation, but a reminder, once again, of the miracle of this movie. I saw a restored copy at Il Ritro (okay, enough already) in 2024 and the totally sold out crowd burst into applause about three separate times. The ballet sequence at its conclusion, all the rage in the day, is totally unnecessary, if beautiful, but it doesn't ruin the overall, jaw-dropping experience. Moses, supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously.
There is no movie musical more fun than Singin' in the Rain, and few that remain as fresh over the years. – Roger Ebert
Watch the Legendary Dance Number
08:00 p.m. PDT Witness for the Prosecution (1957) Just pure enjoyment from beginning to end. Billy Wilder seems to be genuinely in his bag working on someone else's material (it was a hit play first) and, while cynical and tart, he is able to focus on directing an ideal cast, led by the incomparable Charles Laughton, as a barrister charged with defending the wonderfully named Leonard Vole (a game, but sometimes falling just short, Tyrone Power). Marlene Dietrich plays Vole's wife, who turns on him with damning evidence. Or does she?
And the air in the courtroom fairly crackles with emotional electricity, until that staggering surprise in the last reel. – Bosley Crowther
Monday, October 19
The day begins with a staggering double bill by the one and only Carl Dreyer.
02:00 a.m. PDT Day of Wrath (1943) I am not going to try to convince you either of these masterpieces will be mistaken for a good time, but they are essential in understanding the art of cinema (and Paul Schrader's concept of "transcendental style" – link, below). The first is a tale of Witch-hunting in 17th century Denmark. Deeply moral, austere and striking visually (nobody looks like Dreyer – you know it is his film in a few frames) and an unmistakable metaphor for the events of the day, namely the Nazi occupation of Denmark.
and
03:45 a.m. PDT Ordet (1955) Set in a more contemporary Denmark, this supernatural meditation on faith and resurrection is Dreyer's most quintessential work.
One might go further and argue that unlike most other film masters who started out in the silent era, Dreyer’s major works were not only cinematically ahead of their own times; without ever becoming quite contemporary, they’ve even remained slightly ahead of ours. – Jonathan Rosenbaum
Watch Paul Schrader on Carl Dreyer
Wednesday, October 21
It is a day celebrating baseball (the World Series is under way) with, unfortunately, mostly mediocre fare, with one exception, a film I cannot resist...
11:45 a.m. PDT The Pride of the Yankees (1942) Today (ay-ay-ay), I consider myself (elf-elf-elf), the luckiest man on earth (erth-erth-ert). Have your kerchief handy.
Friday, October 23
It is Horror Anthology day on TCM, the best of the lot being...
03:45 a.m. PDT Kwaidan (1964) A shimmering restoration of Kobayashi's anthology based on the ghost stories by the largely forgotten Lafcadio Hern. Haunting, if not horrific, basically a two-hour exercise for the eyes.
It is a compendium of four ghost stories adapted from Lafcadio Hearn, so determinedly aesthetic in their design and style that horror frissons hardly get a look in. Very beautiful, though. – Tony Rayns
