13th
Lookers: Doug Bentin Recommends
Lovers of vintage movies have a treat in store during the week of April 13-19. Seven treats, actually, as seven memorable films will be shown on Turner Classic Movies. To be absolutely honest, TCM’s schedule is loaded with lookers, but I’ve picked one each day that I know will repay your time and space on whatever recording device you use.
Monday, April 13:
The Letter (Warners, 1940) starring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson
Directed by William Wyler
Remake of the 1929 film starring Jeanne Engels, both based on a short story and play by Somerset Maugham. Davis is at her neurotic, bad Bette best as a bored wife on a tropical plantation who murders a flirtatious neighbor and then plays up to her lawyer when he suspects that her self-defense plea might not be entirely accurate. Herbert Marshall is also fine as her doting husband, seeing everything he believes in crumble under his feet. Melodrama at its best.
Tuesday, April 14:
Bombshell (MGM, 1933) starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone
Directed by Victor Fleming
One of Harlow’s best and funniest pictures, working with one-time lover Victor Fleming. Harlow plays a famous and well-loved movie star who might remind you a lot of, oh, say Jean Harlow, but with the addition of a family of leeches, including a wonderfully funny father played by Frank Morgan. Too bad he is remembered almost exclusively now as the man behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz. Lee Tracy, as an obnoxious and nosy reporter, a specialty of his, is even more forgotten.
Wednesday, April 15:
Double Indemnity (Paramount, 1944) starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson
Directed by Billy Wilder
Stanwyck and insurance salesman MacMurray take out a large accidental death policy on her husband and then plot the perfect murder. They have to battle their own consciences—not too hard as they barely have one between them—and stay one step ahead of investigator Robinson. The suspense is unrelenting, the characters sleazy, and their ends are written in the stars.
Thursday, April 16:
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Paramount, 1956) starring James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie, Bernard Miles
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock remade his 1934 thriller, Americanizing it on the way and turning it into one of his most deceptive movies. Many viewers don’t realize how tense it’s made them until the final line of dialogue. Stewart and Day are American tourists in North Africa whose son is kidnapped as a guarantee that they won’t tell the authorities what they’ve discovered about a murder attempt in London—and they don’t have a clue what it is they’re supposed to know.
Friday, April 17:
The Maltese Falcon (Warners, 1941) starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre
Directed by John Huston
Dashiell Hammett’s celebrated hard boiled detective story comes to the screen for the third time in this definitive version with a screenplay and direction from John Huston. An ensemble of sinister and curious types call on PI Sam Spade in a quest for the black statue of bird. Cue the double and triple crosses. Often overlooked is the fact that it’s also a tragic back alley love story.
Saturday, April 18:
Dead of Night (Ealing Studios, 1945) starring Michael Redgrave
Directed by Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, (Alberto) Cavalcanti, Robert Hamer
This is the first horror film made in England after WW II and it’s from a studio known almost exclusively for tart comedies. It’s an anthology picture in which a houseful of strangers exchange creepy, true tales, the most famous one being of a ventriloquist, played by Michael Redgrave, who has trouble determining whether he or his dummy is the star of the act. Yes, you’ve seen that story before but you’ve never seen it this well produced and acted.
Sunday, April 19:
City Lights (United Artists, 1931) starring Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill
Directed by Charles Chaplin
Chaplin’s Little Tramp meets a blind flower girl and determines to do whatever it takes in order to get enough money for her to have a sight-restoring operation. It’s Chaplin wondering what it would take to get people to see the kind-hearted, gentle and funny guy he saw himself to be. It’s silent with sound effects, music, and arguably the most famous final shot in movie history.