TCM Schedule for Tuesday, February 10: 31 Days of Oscar: 20th Century British Writers

Hang out the flag!



The Union Jack, that is.



And fire up your DVR or VCR. TCM is finally showing the 1991 version of Enchanted April, one of my favorite movies of all time and definitely one of the greats of the 1990s. TCM has been known to show the earlier version, which bears almost no resemblance to this take on the story. There really are things that are better in color and with understatement.

Now go watch, people.

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009.

2:00 AM Angry Silence, The (1960)
A young factory worker stands alone against a proposed stroke. Cast: Richard Attenborough, Pier Angeli, Michael Craig. Dir: Guy Green. BW-96 mins, , Letterbox Format

3:48 AM Short Film: Goodbye, Miss Turlock (1947)
BW-11 mins,

4:00 AM Valley Of Decision, The (1945)
An Irish housemaid's romance with the boss's son is complicated by labor disputes in the Pittsburgh mills. Cast: Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Lionel Barrymore. Dir: Tay Garnett. BW-119 mins, TV-PG, CC



6:00 AM David Copperfield (1935)
Charles Dickens' classic tale of an orphaned boy's fight for happiness and the colorful characters who help and hinder him. Cast: Freddie Bartholomew, W.C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore. Dir: George Cukor. BW-130 mins, TV-G, CC

8:15 AM Tale Of Two Cities, A (1935)
Charles Dickens' classic story of two men in love with the same woman during the French Revolution. Cast: Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Edna May Oliver. Dir: Jack Conway. BW-126 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS



10:30 AM Scrooge (1970)
A miser faces the ghosts of his past on Christmas Eve. Cast: Albert Finney, Edith Evans, Kenneth More. Dir: Ronald Neame. C-113 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

12:30 PM Romeo And Juliet (1936)
Shakespeare's classic tale of young lovers from feuding families. Cast: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore. Dir: George Cukor. BW-125 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

2:45 PM Henry V (1944)
Shakespeare's tale of the warrior king who learns the meaning of heroism during a daring invasion of France. Cast: Sir Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks. Dir: Sir Laurence Olivier. BW-137 mins, TV-PG




5:15 PM Richard III (1955)
A hunchbacked madman plots to make himself king of England. Cast: Sir Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Claire Bloom. Dir: Sir Laurence Olivier. C-158 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

What's On Tonight: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: 20TH CENTURY BRITISH WRITERS

8:00 PM Room at the Top (1959)
A young accountant claws his way to the top in the boardroom and the bedroom. Cast: Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears. Dir: Jack Clayton. BW-115 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

10:00 PM Enchanted April (1991)
Four women search for happiness on an Italian vacation. Cast: Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Josie Lawrence. Dir: Mike Newell. C-93 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format



11:44 PM Short Film: So You Want To Be In Pictures (1947)
Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) learns what a bumpy road it can be to become an Hollywood star. Cast: George O'Hanlon, Jack Carson, George Chandler Dir: Richard L. Bare BW-11 mins,

12:00 AM Tunes of Glory (1960)
When a popular colonel loses a promotion, it sets the stage for conflict with his new superior officer. Cast: Alec Guinness, John Mills, Dennis Price. Dir: Ronald Neame. C-107 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

I seem to recall this is the one where Guinness and Mills play against type, each taking the role that would normally be given to the other!



2:00 AM Fallen Idol, The (1948)
A neglected child thinks the servant he idolizes has committed murder. Cast: Ralph Richardson, Michele Morgan, Bobby Henrey. Dir: Carol Reed. BW-95 mins, TV-G, CC

3:45 AM Rebecca (1940)
A young bride is terrorized by the memories of her husband's glamorous first wife. Cast: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-130 mins, TV-PG, CC

Thank you for the heads up on Enchanted April. I have never seen it. I just set the DVR to record it.
Any movie featuring Italy will usually get my attention. How did I miss this? Well, won't miss it this time!
Oh, to live there someday. Oh, to win the lottery....hahaha. ;)

There are so many literary adaptations about stiff upper lip types getting in touch with their sensual selves on a trip to the continent (A Room with a View, Where Angels Fear to Tread, etc.), but Enchanted April is especially wonderful. It's done with a painterly eye (Watch particularly for the shots featuring Miranda Richardson) and a lot of gentleness.

And the performances are wonderful. I particularly like Richardson, who possibly has the single most demure, understated role of her career here, and Josie Lawrence, as the two women who launch the plan to spend a month in Italy. Michael Kitchen is very likeable here too, and watch for Alfred Molina as well.


On edit: It looks as though Enchanted April is finally going to be released on DVD in the United States. I had visions of buying a multi-code, multi-region player (the better to grab up a few BBC dramas), but it looks as though the powers that be will make it easier for us Yanks/Southerners/whoevers.

http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/product.asp?sku=D55932&shopRef=TCMdb|Title

It sounds absolutely delicious. (In the way that good films satisfy a person's soul.)
I'll post back here after watching the film. :)

I confess I've never seen it, but I read about it somewhere and it sounded good, so I added it to
the list.

"Room At The Top" is another not-to-be-missed film, if a completely different genre. I wasn't
particularly sold on Laurence Harvey when I was young, but as I've got older I've come to appreciate
just how good an actor he was. (But the stories that went about London of what he got up to in
those days - oh, my!).

This is one that is in my top five list! I checked in at 8:56pm, and saw that it was going to be on at 9pmCST, and quickly set my DVR to record it. I am in heaven! AND ON TOP OF IT: to hear that TCM is finally going to release this wonderful film to DVD is almost too much to absorb- I am going to pre-order it from them, so that I don't miss out. I know that there are a lot of others out there like me, that have signed petition after petition for this film to be released to DVD. And now its finally going to happen! Yippee!! :bounce:

ps. For anyone who's interested, TCM is releasing it on 05/05/09

I have always wanted to see this too! Popcorn, p.j.s couch, blanket, sugarkitty (my fur child) I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it. It's gonna be a snuggle up kinda evening.

You D.U.ers do a bang up job in Classic Films and I use it so much!!!
Much Gratitude!!


:popcorn:

Cannot wait to see the rest.

Alfred Molina sure has a way of picking roles that make him look so horrid, inside and out.
I don't know how he'll be at the end of the movie, but the start, oh my! LOL.

The camera work, dialogue, and character development in the first exchange between Mellersh Wilkins (Molina) and his wife, Lottie (Josie Lawrence), are excellent.

But that's not the last you see of the Wilkinses, not at all, and the story takes off from there. Good stuff, and of course Alfred Molina is a good sport about it all.

In fact, though the movie obviously belongs to the women -- Miranda Richardson, Lawrence, Joan Plowright, and Polly Walker -- the men make the most of their scenes. Michael Kitchen is lovely here, and Jim Broadbent, like Richardson, was having a good couple of years for film roles.

I LOVED it!

What a wonderful movie. :) :) :)

One of my true loves, Italy, has never looked better. The people behind the cameras - they fell in love with Italy too.

The story - so poetic, so funny, so profound. I was not at all expecting what I saw or what I felt.
From the beginning bus ride, where you could feel the sweat of fellow passengers, to the coast of Italy, where you could just about feel the ocean breeze, it was fantastic. The acting was top notch, perfect casting all the way around.

I found myself laughing out loud, watching a movie that did not seem ready to give me laughs when I first started watching it.
By the end, I was crying.

What surprised me most of all was the feel of layers in the movie. Usually, when I watch a movie, it feels as though the layers are being pulled back, to reveal what the story has to offer. This time, I felt like layers were being added with each scene. I never knew where the story was going and was truly surprised at how things worked out for all the characters. I think we all want happy endings, but I never expected to see one at the end of this film.

Italy is magic. You really can 'feel' the soul of the country when you are there.

Now how can I get a place to stay there for one month, at 60 pounds?
One month wouldn't be enough. Five years - maybe. LOL.

CBHagman, thank you again for the recommendation. What a jewel of a film!

When the movie first came out, reviewers noted how much power was in the details of the movie. You feel as though you were walking through a garden, eating a breakfast roll (or your first plate of spaghetti!), etc. Wonderful humor, too, and subtle storytelling.

A mistake actually - I sent back The Pentagon Papers due to a fault and wanted a replacement DVD, but they sent the
next one on my list in error.

Ah, well, I can't lose really.

I ordered 'Enchanted April' from TCM, and am so excited for it to arrive. I've been on a couple of petitions to get this film released. SO very excited its on its way to you.... Enjoy! :hi: