TCM Schedule for Sunday, September 15, 2013 - Sundays With Hitch

[Bolo Boffin]

6:00 AM
VIVA VILLA! (1934)
Rousing biography of the bandit chief who led the battle for Mexican independence.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo, Fay Wray.
BW-110 mins, TV-PG, CC

8:00 AM
KING KONG (1933)
A film crew discovers the "eighth wonder of the world," a giant prehistoric ape, and brings him back to New York, where he wreaks havoc.
Dir: Merian C. Cooper
Cast: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot.
BW-104 mins, TV-PG, CC

9:50 AM
COLOR SCALES (1932)
This short film shows various species of tropical fish at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California.
Dir: Zion Myers
C-8 mins

10:00 AM
NUMBER SEVENTEEN (1932)
A detective sets out to recover a necklace lifted by jewel thieves.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Leon M. Lion, Anne Grey, Donald Calthrop.
BW-61 mins, TV-PG

11:15 AM
THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955)
A corpse creates a world of trouble for several passersby who each believe they may have caused the death.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Mildred Natwick.
C-99 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

1:01 PM
ON LOCATION: WHERE EAGLES DARE (1968)
This promotional short provides a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the film "Where Eagles Dare" (1968).
C-13 mins

1:15 PM
FAMILY PLOT (1976)
A phony psychic takes on a pair of kidnappers.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris.
C-120 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

3:30 PM
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956)
International spies kidnap a doctor's son when he stumbles on their assassination plot.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie.
C-120 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

5:33 PM
CAVALCADE OF SAN FRANCISCO (1940)
A Technicolor travelogue short celebrating the past and present of San Francisco.
C-9 mins

5:45 PM
VERTIGO (1958)
A detective falls for the mysterious woman he's been hired to tail.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes.
C-130 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

TONIGHT ON TCM
SUNDAYS WITH HITCH

8:00 PM
REAR WINDOW (1954)
A photographer with a broken leg uncovers a murder while spying on the neighbors in a nearby apartment building.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey.
C-114 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

10:00 PM
TO CATCH A THIEF (1955)
A retired cat burglar fights to clear himself of a series of Riviera robberies committed in his style.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis.
C-106 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

12:00 AM
THE FARMER'S WIFE (1928)
After his daughter weds, a middle-aged widower with a profitable farm decides to remarry but finds choosing a suitable mate a problematic process.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis, Gordon Harker.
BW-98 mins, TV-G

1:49 AM
THE CASE AGAINST THE 20% FEDERAL ADMISSIONS TAX ON MOTION PICTURE THEATRES (1953)
"The Entire Motion Picture Industry Presents" this short to argue against the 20% Federal Admissions Tax on Motion Picture Theatres.
BW-23 mins, TV-PG

2:15 AM
SUMMER WITH MONIKA (1953)
A working-class couple's affair leads to marriage and a baby.
Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Harriet Andersson, Lars Ekborg, Ake Gronberg.
BW-98 mins, TV-PG

4:00 AM
GEORGY GIRL (1966)
A misfit fights for happiness in the world of swinging London.
Dir: Silvio Narizzano
Cast: James Mason, Alan Bates, Lynn Redgrave.
BW-99 mins, TV-PG, CC

5:41 AM
HAPPY TIMES AND JOLLY MOMENTS (1943)
This short film offers a look at the work of Mack Sennett in the silent era.
BW-18 mins

[longship]

1. Some great Hitch.

One of my favs, "Rear Window" which is such an incredible flick. Jimmy Stewart doing his usually good work, as does Grace Kelly, and the irrepressible Thelma Ritter thoroughly chewing the scenery, as was her way. It, and "North by Northwest" are flicks I can watch over and over.

"Vertigo" is wonderful, too, but more from an artistic sense. Its plot is plodding and drawn out, but is such a beautifully filmed flick that one forgets to be bored. Again, Stewart comes through in fine form. But it's Kim Novack who utterly surprises here. Barbara Bel Geddes is also very good as the ever loyal friend. I'll watch this one about once a year and I am always awed by its beauty.

My least favorite Hitch is here, too. His remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Again Stewart, but this time paired with Doris Dog... er, eh,... Day, who utterly ruins the flick by having to sing one of the most horrible songs ever written for film. Beyond her talent for ruining even bad songs, she has no other talent that I can detect here. (Just my opinion.)

[Bolo Boffin]

2. But Day singing that song so badly is part of the plot, I thought. *SPOILERS*

She's normally a good singer, but she's trying to get her son to hear her in the embassy. So she is just wailing that song out, and everyone is standing around trying to be polite. It's a horrible Hitch joke at Day's expense, but I did think it was part of the plot.

[longship]

3. Well, I guess I remember that plot element.

But I just do not like the horribly miscast Day in this flick. I never liked anything she acted in, mostly light romantic comedy where she can sing all she wants. I confess a bias against her, but I don't see how anybody defends her casting in this, least of all as a vehicle to sing badly.

Plus, Hitch already made this flick, very well, in fact. But as usual, Hollywood likes to remake stuff and turn them to garbage. In this case, they succeed in that. IMHO.

I guess I just can't stomach Doris Day. (Don't get me started about Judy Garland.)

[CBHagman]

4. I won't, but...

...I'm not pouring you any bowls of cream either.

[longship]

5. Fair enough, my friend. ;-) nt

[rdmtimp]

6. I get what you say (I'm not much of a Day fan myself)....

...but there's so much great stuff happening in the film that I give her a pass.

As a classically trained percussionist, I especially love how a cymbal crash is so vital to the plot (there's a great close-up of the cymbal part - all blank except for the one big crash).

Plus it's fun seeing Bernard Herrman onscreen.

For an interesting defense, see this link:

http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2010/04/hitchcocks-scenes-from-a-marriage-the-man-who-knew-too-much-1956.html