Nice and early this week since Saturday morning looks to be of particular interest. I don’t know if it’s dangerous self-satisfaction or what, but I’m proud of this week’s selections and would gladly watch any of these movies. In particular, Beat the Devil has been on my radar for awhile now and I’m pleased to see it finally make the schedule. As always, all times are EDT and program days begin at 6:00 AM.

Saturday July 25

8:30 AM Lord Jim (Brooks, 1965) - C-154 mins. - I feel less guilty about apparently not picking this film before than having not seen it. Peter O’Toole stars as the sailor branded a coward who’s out to redeem himself in Richard Brooks’ floppish adaptation of the Joseph Conrad novel. Brooks’ next film was The Professionals (the best of anything I’ve watched from him) and I heard John Boorman recount how Lee Marvin, on the set of that western, would tease his director by yelling out “Lord Jim!” when anything went a bit sideways. I’m going to absolutely record this airing and then we’ll talk about it again when TCM airs it in the future (after August 2nd, that is, when another showing is scheduled). James Mason and Eli Wallach are among O’Toole’s co-stars. Made for Columbia, Lord Jim was released on R1 DVD by Sony but is no longer in print and is fetching hefty prices through third party sellers at Amazon.

11:30 AM Beat the Devil (Huston, 1954) - BW-90 mins. - This is on DVD in the U.S., sort of. I’m not sure of the history, but Beat the Devil is somehow in the public domain here. The editions are probably all imperfect and I’ve been waiting on TCM to come through before actually watching this final pairing of Humphrey Bogart and John Huston. I do know that Truman Capote was one of the film’s writers and the cast other than Bogie included a blonde Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, and Peter Lorre. The plot has something to do with Bogart being married to Lollobrigida on the way to Africa and stuck in a boat with crooks intent on buying uranium-laden property. Those who follow Roger Ebert might be interested to know he has this film included among his “Great Movies.”

Sunday July 26

7:30 AM Personal Affair (Pelissier, 1953) - BW-82 mins. - Here’s a title that’s completely eluded me. Never even heard of it, but the film certainly sounds worthwhile. Gene Tierney is top-billed as the wife of a teacher in England whose female student develops feelings for her educator, only to have Tierney confront the student before she runs away. Leo Genn is Tierney’s husband and Glynis Johns plays the student. A crime element also apparently plays an important role in the movie. This isn’t a terribly popular film at IMDb, with no reviews and only 32 votes. United Artists is listed as the theatrical distributor. If accurate, that might give MGM the current DVD rights, but Hallmark actually put out a VHS. Nothing in the direction of a DVD yet, I don’t think.

10:30 AM Topper (McLeod, 1937) - BW-97 mins. - I thought I’d probably already highlighted this one, but my Index list tells me otherwise. Cary Grant stars as a ghost, alongside wife Constance Bennett. They use their afterlife privileges to playfully harass friend Cosmo Topper, played by Roland Young. Billie Burke is Mrs. Topper, and you also get Hedda Hopper in a prominent supporting role. TCM shows this a few times a year it seems so if you happen to miss this airing another should follow eventually. The film is another to have slipped into public domain. Several DVD releases are out there, but I’m not sure about the quality on any of them. I trust TCM here to show at least an equally good or better quality print.

Monday July 27

12:30 PM Immortal Battalion (Reed, 1944 ) - BW-88 mins. - Also known as The Way Ahead, this Carol Reed-directed war drama stars David Niven as a commanding officer of a bunch of misfits headed to fight in Northern Africa. Eric Ambler fans can take heart that he did the story and screenplay, joined by Peter Ustinov on the latter. Ustinov also appears as a cafe owner in the film. Hmm, 1944, war effort, etc. - we’re probably looking at some military propaganda but so be it. A DVD exists in R2, but not stateside. IMDb has Fox as the theatrical distributor, but do they really still control the rights?

10:15 PM Halls of Anger (Bogart, 1970) - C-95 mins. - I don’t mind too much that TCM is a constant reminder of my ignorance in popular fringe cinema. This is a movie starring, among others, Jeff Bridges (a year before The Last Picture Show) and set in a high school where a black ex-basketball star (Calvin Lockhart) goes from teaching at one school to being the principal at a less esteemed institution. Racial tension bubbles up. Rob Reiner and Ed Asner also have prominent roles. Burnett Guffey, who, lest we forget, shot the gorgeous In a Lonely Place, was the cinematographer.  I’m somewhat reminded of the superb television series The White Shadow from reading the plot description, though it seems that comparisons aren’t seamless. The Mirisch Corporation produced for United Artists, leaving MGM with the rights. No DVD so far.

Tuesday July 28

8:30 AM The Tenderfoot (Enright, 1932) - BW-69 mins. - When it comes to black and white comedic actors who frequently headlined films, Joe E. Brown was less annoying than Red Skelton for me. After that, Brown is pretty low down my list of interesting performers. TCM disagrees and today is airing a collection of Brown’s starring roles. This one particularly drew my attention because it co-stars Ginger Rogers. He’s a cowboy interested in Broadway and she’s a secretary with ambitions of her own. Maybe this’ll be the picture to change my mind on Joe E. Brown. Either way, we get Ginger. It’s Warner Bros., and there’s no DVD release.  A Very Honorable Guy, again with Brown and co-starring Alice White, airs later at 12:15 PM.

1:30 AM Green Fire (Marton, 1954) - C-100 mins. - Grace Kelly only did about a dozen feature films and while several are well known, there are still a few that have fallen through the cracks. One is this adventure picture which airs as part of the Stewart Granger Star of the Month ordeal. Grace is the love interest to explorer Granger, who discovers emeralds in South America. Paul Douglas is Granger’s partner. I have very little knowledge about director Andrew Marton. He worked on King Solomon’s Mines, the first version of The Thin Red Line,  and, though uncredited, is listed as contributing to Nick Ray’s 55 Days at Peking. MGM put out Green Fire. Warner Bros. should control now, but it’s not on DVD in R1. Another unavailable Grace Kelly picture, The Swan, airs at 6:00 PM on Friday the 31st.

Wednesday July 29

1:00 AM Fashions of 1934 (Dieterle, 1934) - BW-78 mins. - Would we be interested in seeing a picture where William Powell plays a shady dealer of knock-off fashion items and Bette Davis works the sidecar as his assistant? Oh, I think so. A film with a terrible name nonetheless has a pretty great cast and features contributions by Busby Berkeley. Use this information however you see fit, but TCM is showing Pre-Code musicals all into the night. Some are on DVD and a couple are not, including this one. Warner Bros. has the rights.

Thurdsday July 30

2:30 PM Cry Danger (Parrish, 1951) - BW-79 mins. - And I was just making a crack about picking two Robert Parrish films not long ago. Anyway, here’s another, a noirsh tale starring Dick Powell, and one which he might’ve actually directed as well. His character is framed for a crime and goes in search of who did the job. Rhonda Fleming and William Conrad are among the supporting players. RKO all the way on this one. I don’t think it’s on DVD, certainly not in R1. Fritz Lang’s While the City Sleeps follows at 4:00 PM