Imagine you're TCM's guest programmer. Name your list of films.

[CBHagman]

Choose three or four films you'd love to introduce with the help of Robert Osborne, and this time you don't have to be constrained by what's available in the TCM library. Choose whatever you like - silents, documentaries, westerns, world cinema, or anything else. Pick a theme and build your movies around that, or have no theme at all.

Go.

[brooklynboy49]

1. My Theme -- Billy Wilder films

1. First up, Some Like It Hot, starting the evening with Lemmon, Curtis and Monroe. Loads of laughs, Monroe at her best.
2. Next, we get serious. Stanwyck and MacMurray plot the murder of the former's husband in the quintessential noir, Double Indemnity.
3. Our third film of the night, we continue the drama with Sunset Boulevard. Hard to pick a favorite Holden film; this is a serious contender.
4. We round out the night with my favorite movie, The Apartment. MacMurray comes up empty, Lemmon gets the girl. That's the way it crumbles, cookie-wise

[CBHagman]

2. I love it!

That's a nice mix of genres (something for everyone), and of course it's Wilder.

[mockmonkey]

3. I just added two of yours to my Netflix list

I don't know how I never saw The Apartment and Double Indemnity.

[brooklynboy49]

4. Wow!

You are in for a major treat! Make that two major treats!

Enjoy 'em

P.S. Sorry for the spoiler. It won't happen again

[mockmonkey]

5. You didn't spoil anything

I kind of knew some of the details already. I often will look up movies in IMDB and read what others have to say about them before I watch them.

My main problem at my age is staying awake.

[dc rox]

10. great movie choices

and I really like your signature.

[Graybeard]

6. My Howard Hawks night.

I feel Howard Hawks is sometimes overlooked as director due to the diversity of the genres in his output.

Twentieth-Century (1934)
His Girl Friday (1940)
To Have And Have Not (1944)
Red River (1948)
The Thing From Another World (1951)

Although Hawks is only credited as producer of 'The Thing' various accounts say he was deeply involved in the direction as well.
.
.

[cyberswede]

7. Marlowe night (pic heavy)

Philip Marlowe in the movies

It would be fun to compare and contrast!

The Big Sleep (1946) Played by Humphrey Bogart
Murder, My Sweet (1944) Played by Dick Powell
The Big Sleep (1978) Played by Robert Mitchum
Farewell, My Lovely (1975) Played by Robert Mitchum

...and then if there's time

The Long Goodbye (1973) Played by Elliott Gould
Marlowe (1969) Played by James Garner
The Brasher Doubloon (1947) Played by George Montgomery
Lady in the Lake (1947) Played by Robert Montgomery

[sufrommich]

8. Classic comedies:

1.It's a Mad,Mad,Mad,Mad World.

2. Mr.Blandings Builds His Dream House.

3.What's Up,Doc?

4.It Should Happen To You.

[dc rox]

9. too many to list but...

4 favorites are:

1. Cluny Brown (1946) Ernst Lubitsch (Director) with Jennifer Jones and Charles Boyer. Jennifer Jones second line, "Well, shall we have a go at it?" always makes me laugh.

2. Tovarich (1937) Anatole Litvak (Director) with Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer is delightful. I don't think it's available on DVD.

3. Leave Her To Heaven (1945) John M Stahl (Director) with Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde. Beautiful technicolor and chilling performance by Gene Tierney, who's usually so sweet.

4. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) John Frankenheimer (Director) with Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury who is truly the mother from hell. Great performances all around.

[CBHagman]

11. I still have not seen "Cluny Brown."

A while back someone did a write-up (Perhaps it was a critic in The New York Times), and I always meant to see it. It looks as though it has a great cast, including C. Aubrey Smith and Richard Haydn.

Thanks for the additional endorsement!

[dc rox]

12. Reginald Gardiner is also in Cluny Brown

as Hilary Ames, the host of the cocktail party at the beginning of the film. There are a lot of great lines in the film. Another film that doesn't seem to be very well known, but I enjoy a lot is The Battle of the Sexes from 1959 with Peter Sellers and Constance Cummings. It's loosely based on James Thurber's story "The Catbird Seat". It also has Donald Pleasance. Peter Sellers character Mr. Martin reminds me of his character Chance, the gardner in Being There. If you haven't seen it it's worth watching.

[CBHagman]

14. Update: No joy on Netflix.

It looks as though Netflix has neither Cluny Brown nor The Battle of the Sexes, though the former is on YouTube. I'll keep an eye out for the other.

Meanwhile, I put Longship's Miracle Mile in the Netflix queue. I remember the movie getting some good reviews when it first came out, and I figure Mare Winningham is always worth watching.

[dc rox]

15. I'm not familiar with Miracle Mile, I'll have to look for it.

I taped Cluny Brown and Battle of the Sexes on VHS from AMC, when AMC was classic movies and had no commercials. I stopped watching AMC when they changed their format. I have a lot of movies that aren't available anywhere else that I need to convert to DVD. Another that I keep trying to find is Clifford Odets' The Story on Page One from 1959, with Rita Hayworth, Anthony Franciosa and Gig Young. I have a taped copy, also from AMC. It's a bit sappy and soapy, but the performances are good and I like it. Unfortunately it was filmed in widescreen and my copy is panned and scanned, and it's quite obvious. An early scene shows cars on a highway that look like toy cars, the result of bad panning and scanning. I don't think it's been restored, but I hope it is someday.

[longship]

13. Nuclear Armageddon night.

Fail-Safe (1964) -- a great cast, and done with great aplomb by all. Some real stand outs are Larry Hagman and Dan O'Herlihy. Walter Matthau also puts in a great performance as the nuclear hawk Pentagon advisor. Henry Fonda as the president tops it off. Look for Dom DeLuise in a rare early (and minor) dramatic role. A chilling drama directed by Sidney Lumet.

On the Beach (1959) -- you will either love this film or hate it. Regardless, although this Stanley Kramer direction may be a bit heavy handed, and a bit soapy, it has some very stand-out roles. Yup! Hate the phony accents. But there are some stand outs. Gregory Peck turns in his usual great job, no surprise there. Ava Gardner is absolutely wonderful as Peck's love interest. Fred Astaire turns in a fairly good dramatic performance. The scenes with Admiral Bridie and Lieutenant Hosgood were added for the film; they offer a nice, human touch.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) -- with what has got to be the longest movie title ever, we come to the genius work in this genre. Kubrick nails this one. Perfectly cast with Peter Sellers the standout, playing three completely different characterizations, with three different (and flawless) accents -- shades of his Goon Show heritage. The supporting cast is incredible. George C. Scott -- jet exhaust frying chickens in the barnyard. Sterling Hayden -- have you heard of fluoridation, Mandrake? Keenan Wynn -- if you don't get the president on the phone you're going to have to answer to the Coca Cola Corporation. Slim Pickens -- who can select one line? As near to a flawless movie as exists. And the world will end for your pleasure. At least you'll die laughing.

Finally, a campy late night flick to put an end to the end of the world...

Miracle Mile (1988) -- a quirky and somewhat minimalist entry into the genre. It was pretty much all filmed within the titled area of Los Angeles. If one can ignore the somewhat poor production values it is still a somewhat iconic film of the genre. It rates 86% on the Tomato-meter. It's messy and frustrating as would be any end of the world scenario, real or imagined. Forgive Mare Winningham's mullet haircut. Perfect late night fare. Plus, it has John Agar playing a role. And is that William Shatner speaking over the opening credits, a film within the film from the Page Museum at the Le Brea tar pits? Uncredited, but it certainly sounds like him. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack does a great job of moving the messy plot forward. Can anybody tell me where I can find a helicopter pilot?

[dc rox]

16. I love On the Beach.

After the fishing scene, when the discordant Waltzing Matilda continues in the hotel, the window blows open, he pokes at the fire, the discordant Waltzing Matilda changes and becomes richly harmonious and they kiss. To me, it's one of the most romantic scenes ever filmed.

[longship]

17. As I indicated...

It is the very little scene near the end with Adm. Bridie and Lt. Hosgood that brings this film home for me.

Kramer was often heavy handed. But there were often these little and subtle touches which hit home. He had a knack for that, too.

And you are right, the fishing scene ending with Dwight and Moira love is a grand scene. I compare it to the end of North by Northwest with the train going through the tunnel. One had to be a bit heavy handed with the sexual innuendo in the late 50's. The suddenly harmonic, in tune "Waltzing Matilda" accomplishes precisely that.

Astoundingly, some complain about the scene -- and the movie -- being boring. On IMDB, that's the inevitable conclusion of almost all one star reviews (people who apparently solely demand Action Jackson).

Thanks for the response.

And BTW, Ava Gardner acted without makeup.

[dc rox]

18. No makeup, wow!

The scene you mentioned is a great one. Thanks for responding. I'll look for your next posts after next week.