The Fox Movie Channel generally has two limitations - one inherent (only showing the Fox studio’s films) and the other self-imposed (showing the same movies over and over, sometimes three times in a row). There are still some older classics that slip through from time to time, many of which haven’t made it to R1 DVD yet. With the classics division at Fox Home Entertainment seemingly having given up entirely, I thought this would be a great occasion to monthly find around ten films, many of which TCM has never shown, and highlight them. Because the Fox Movie Channel does like to repeat itself quite a bit this idea might not really have any legs, but we’ll see how it goes. Times are EDT.

Monday June 1

6:00 AM A Hatful of Rain (Zinnemann, 1957) - BW-104 mins. - Co-adapted by Michael V. Gazzo (Oscar-nominated for his acting in The Godfather Part II) from his own stage play, this film deals with a soldier’s return from Korea and the drug addiction, specifically morphine, that follows. Don Murray plays the lead and Eva Marie Saint is his wife, though it was Anthony Franciosa, as Murray’s brother, who snagged an Oscar nod in the Lead Actor category. The picture has ’50s grit and is somewhat actor-y. It’s another notch on the career of Fred Zinnemann, who was lauded while active but seems to lack much critical respect today. The theme of drug addiction continues with Nicholas Ray’s superior and also not on R1 DVD (though available from the BFI in R2 and rumored to be forthcoming from Criterion stateside) Bigger Than Life at 8:00 AM.

12:00 AM 99 and 44/100% Dead (Frankenheimer, 1974) - C-98 mins. - Not seen this, but it apparently can be watched in full (for free) on the nifty Hulu site. I did notice that Hulu’s print is 4:3 instead of letterboxed, though the FMC version may be identical. It’s a Frankenheimer picture so I’m automatically in the door, though, like most of his ’70s work, the film doesn’t have much of a reputation. Richard Harris stars as a hitman hired by mob boss Edmond O’Brien. That’s intriguing enough for me, and a pop art animated opening titles sequence scored by Henry Mancini, which I did watch, was pretty fun.

Thursday June 4

7:30 AM Cry of the City (Siodmak, 1948) - BW-95 mins. - Available in several countries (including the BFI’s R2 edition I reviewed at DVD Times), but nothing here in the U.S. There was a single source rumor that had Criterion picking the film up. Things might’ve changed or it could possibly still be on the way at some point. In terms of Robert Siodmak’s noir entries, this is pretty far down the list in my mind. Since only a couple of those films even have R1 DVD releases, titles like Phantom Lady and The File on Thelma Jordon (also rumored as coming from Criterion) would seem preferable. Cry of the City is still a good, solid film, with an excellent Richard Conte playing a thug gangster as well as he ever did, but the story of childhood buddies who grow up on different sides of the law (an ineffective Victor Mature is the cop counterpart) has been done enough times that I have little enthusiasm left for it.

Saturday June 6

10:30 AM Violent Saturday (Fleischer, 1955) - C-90 mins. - Not a film noir at all, but an involving piece of crime melodrama from Richard Fleischer that has a top-notch cast. The obvious attraction is Lee Marvin, but he’s joined by Ernest Borgnine as an Amish farmer, Victor Mature, Sylvia Sidney, the strangely beautiful Virginia Leith, peeping Tommy Noonan, menacing bank robber Stephen McNally, J. Carrol Naish, and Dorothy Patrick. I saw it a little over a year ago during a run at Film Forum (review), and the most striking thing Fleischer did was to take his wide, 2.55:1 frame and position it against a rural small town unexpectedly threatened with soap opera-level turmoil. A pretty fair picture not on DVD, though it can be watched in full at Hulu.

Monday June 8

10:00 AM Night Train to Munich (Reed, 1940) - BW-90 mins. - Working from a screenplay by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, director Carol Reed made what was probably his first significant film with this pre-war thriller. Margaret Lockwood plays the daughter of a sought-after Czech inventor, with Rex Harrison as the British spy pretending to be a Nazi and Paul Henreid relegated to the bad guy. Also of interest, Gilliat and Launder’s well-known characters Charters (Basil Radford) and Caldicott (Naunton Wayne) who appeared in The Lady Vanishes and a couple of other pictures pop up here as well. Kino released this film on DVD but Fox obviously now control the rights and it hasn’t yet had a release in R1. The Fox Movie Channel will have additional airings in June - the night of the 12th at midnight and the morning of the 30th at 7:30.