Well, quite the interesting week. Some often unheralded people get the spotlight, from Jean Seberg to William Dieterle, plus Star of the Month Stewart Granger. Also, some crime films centered around undercover work air Monday night and that looks to be a noteworthy block. Away from TCM, my top 50 films of the 1990s list and write-ups really will be up in the next week, probably Monday. As always, all times are EDT and program days begin at 6:00 AM.

Saturday July 11

9:30 PM In the French Style (Parrish, 1963) - BW-106 mins. - This week’s pick for The Essentials is the Peter Sellers film The Mouse That Roared, co-starring Jean Seberg. The rest of the night is built around Seberg, the Iowa native plucked from obscurity by Otto Preminger for his 1957 Joan of Arc movie Saint Joan (still not on R1 DVD and unseen on a TCM schedule since I’ve been paying attention). Seberg’s short life (dead at 40) and career remain fascinating to film fans, and perhaps her best known turn was in Jean-Luc Godard’s debut feature Breathless, which is also not being shown tonight. She seemed to have a real connection to France, both living there and making French and American films in that country. Her second film, Preminger’s Bonjour Tristesse (following at 11:30 PM), and this one directed by Robert Parrish both find Seberg working in English for a Hollywood picture set abroad. In the French Style has the more simple plot of Seberg’s art student character trying to decide between staying in France with her native boyfriend or returning to the states with her wealthy father. Originally released by Columbia, the film hasn’t been brought to R1 DVD yet.

Sunday July 12

9:00 AM Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Lang, 1956) - BW-80 mins. - There was a scheduled airing of this tight little Fritz Lang film back in January of this year which I mentioned, but it was ultimately not shown, pre-empted by a Richardo Montalban tribute. Credit to TCM for finding another spot for the movie, as it hasn’t been aired in a good bit and the plot wherein Dana Andrews plays a writer who intentionally frames himself for a murder in the name of research is really something, as is the final twist. Joan Fontaine co-stars as Andrews’ fiancee. For what it’s worth, there is a remake of Lang’s movie (his last in Hollywood) set to come out later this year, directed by Peter Hyams and starring Michael Douglas. RKO put out the original, and while Lang is generally underrepresented on DVD in R1, this film hasn’t even made it out officially anywhere in the world I don’t think.

12:00 AM The First Auto (Del Ruth, 1927) - BW-77 mins. - A silent with nonetheless still a little talking, this picture is set just before the turn of the 20th century and deals with a son’s fascination with cars despite his father’s loyalty to horses. Director Roy Del Ruth is a familiar name to fans of thirties cinema, having directed features like Lady Killer starring James Cagney and Employees’ Entrance with Warren William, both of which I really enjoyed, plus the 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon. The First Auto was done for Warner Bros., and does not have an actual DVD release, but can be purchased through Warner’s burn-on-demand service. On an entirely different note, the superb anti-war drama Fires on the Plain, directed by Kon Ichikawa, follows on TCM at 2:00 AM.

Monday July 13

11:00 AM The Unknown Man (Thorpe, 1951) - BW-86 mins. - A couple of crime dramas from 1951 air this morning, starting with The Sellout at 9:30 AM and followed by this Walter Pidgeon movie. He plays a lawyer who helps a young man be acquitted of murder charges, only to later learn his client was really guilty. When another opportunity for the freed murderer to be convicted of a separate killing arises, Pidgeon struggles with what to do. Ann Harding co-stars as Pidgeon’s wife and Barry Sullivan is the district attorney. Done for MGM, the picture hasn’t been released on DVD. A nice four-film salute to Susan Hayward follows, beginning with Adam Had Four Sons at 12:30 PM.

11:30 PM The Undercover Man (Lewis, 1949) - BW-84 mins. - More crime/noirish content in the evening, including four films in a row that aren’t on DVD here. The first is this Joseph H. Lewis-directed picture where Glenn Ford stars as a T-Man who goes after a tax-evading gangster in Chicago (undoubtedly based on a certain Mr. Capone). James Whitmore is Ford’s partner and Nina Foch plays his wife. Enjoyment of this one might be contingent on how much you like Ford’s screen presence. I generally count myself as a fan. The picture was made for Ford’s usual studio Columbia and hasn’t received a DVD release in R1, but can be found under the title Relato Criminal in R2 (Spain, I think).

1:00 AM The Mob (Parrish, 1951) - BW-86 mins. - Two Robert Parrish movies in one week, wow. That’s a first and probably an only also. These Columbia semi-noirs are sort of interesting and not shown very often (also not among the titles rumored for DVD release just yet) so it seems only right to mention them. Here we have Broderick Crawford in charge as a police detective who goes undercover to bring down the mob. Some of the supporting cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Neville Brand and Richard Kiley. The director of photography was Joseph Walker, who was one of the cinematographers on It’s a Wonderful Life.  A couple more in the same vein follow, with The Case Against Brooklyn at 2:30 AM and Bunco Squad at 4:00 AM.

Tuesday July 14

8:00 PM The Last Hunt (Brooks, 1956) - C-104 mins. - The Stewart Granger Star of the Month extravaganza continues, lead tonight by this Richard Brooks western starring Robert Taylor. I like Brooks as a filmmaker, one who also wrote his own screenplays, and find his work to be interesting, if somewhat overlooked. You think of Hollywood writer/directors of this era and people like Wilder or Sam Fuller or Joseph L. Mankiewicz come to mind, but usually Richard Brooks isn’t in that conversation so much. Here, he adapted a novel by Milton Lott where the situation of the title involves one of the final buffalo hunts in the Northwest. Granger’s character is apparently weary of killing these animals and the Indians who need them while Taylor still has a thirst for the hunt. Lloyd Nolan is also here, as is Debra Paget as an Indian girl. The CinemaScope picture was made for MGM, likely giving Warner Bros. the rights now, but is unreleased on DVD in R1. More Granger westerns follow.

Wednesday July 15

2:30 PM Boots Malone (Dieterle, 1952) - BW-104 mins. - In a day full of William Dieterle pictures, most of which I’ve not seen and are not available on DVD, I’m picking probably the safest one. (The Firebird at 6:15 AM and Syncopation at 11:15 AM both seem to have potential.) With William Holden, after Sunset Blvd. but just before Stalag 17, in the lead, this racetrack-set drama should be easygoing enough. Holden plays an agent who takes a young future jockey under his wing. Elmer Bernstein, just getting set up in Hollywood, did the score. Columbia again, without a DVD release.

Friday July 17

2:00 AM Venus in Furs (Franco, 1969) - C-86 mins. - Though the film is on DVD in R1 from Blue Underground, something compels me to draw attention to TCM’s showing of this strange cult classic. James Darren stars as a trumpet player who meets an attractive woman, finds her corpse, and then again apparently stumbles upon her (alive). Manfred Mann did the jazzy score. Hard to believe Dennis Price was in Kind Hearts and Coronets in 1949 and this film twenty years later.