TCM Pick O’ The Day: Monday, January 26th

11:30am PST – Fugitive, The (1947) – A revolutionary priest flees a Central American dictatorship. Cast: Henry Fonda, Pedro Armendariz, J. Carrol Naish, Leo Carrillo Dir: John Ford BW-100 mins, TV-PG

The star of John Ford’s most personal film is Gabriel Figueroa’s inexpressibly beautiful photography. The Mexican cinematographer painstakingly paints each and every shot with black and white and contrast and hushed stillness. Like his masterpiece, “Young Mr. Lincoln” (which also stars Henry Fonda), Ford isn’t interested in story as much as myth-making and emotional atmosphere. (more…)

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Tags: fugitive, gabriel figueroa, henry fonda, john ford
Posted Jan 25th 2009 at 9:00 am in Today's Pick | 298939 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/25/tcm-pick-o-the-day-monday-january-26th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Monday%2C+January+26th2009-01-25+17%3A00%3A07John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Sunday, January 25th

5am PST – Show Boat (1951) – Riverboat entertainers find love, laughs and hardships as they sail along “Old Man River.” Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown Dir: George Sidney C-108 mins, TV-G

“Show Boat” is all about Ava Gardner, who was so much more than just a pretty face. Here, as the victim of racial prejudice, or films such as “On the Beach” and “Night of the Iguana,” she was able to put across a tragic-laced melancholy that transcended her beauty and added an entire dimension to a character without a word of exposition.  The above clip is a perfect example. Ava’s singing voice may be dubbed but she sells the moment like few others could. I gotta love one man till I die… (more…)

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Tags: ava gardner, dubbed voice, show boat
Posted Jan 24th 2009 at 1:15 pm in Today's Pick | 2982517 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/24/tcm-pick-o-the-day-sunday-january-25th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Sunday%2C+January+25th2009-01-24+21%3A15%3A17John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Saturday, January 24th

6:45am PST – Big Heat, The (1953) – A police detective whose wife was killed by the mob teams with a scarred gangster’s moll to bring down a powerful gangster. Cast: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby Dir: Fritz Lang BW-90 mins, TV-14

There’s nothing quite like a Glenn Ford slow burn. Watching Ford’s nice guy characters take it and take it some more until they give it back with compound interest is one of the delights of Ford’s under-appreciated work. My favorite of these is “The Violent Men,” a 1955 Western that pits mild-mannered, square-shouldered Ford against land grabbers Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck.  It’s “Death Wish” on a horse. (more…)

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Tags: Death Wish, fritz lang, glenn ford, gloria grahame, lee marvin
Posted Jan 23rd 2009 at 9:50 am in Today's Pick | 2870511 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/23/tcm-pick-o-the-day-saturday-january-24th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Saturday%2C+January+24th2009-01-23+17%3A50%3A36John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Friday, January 23rd

2am PST – Hollywood Without Make-Up (1966) – In this special, Ken Murray hosts his own behind-the-scenes home movies of some of Hollywood’s greatest stars. Cast: Ken Murray BW-50 mins, TV-G

Not a movie this time, but a delightful 1966 television special hosted by Ken Murray and starring his own home movies that date back to Hollywood’s silent-era when the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks wiled away their weekends at San Simeon, the estate owned by William Randolph Hearst and his wife mistress Marion Davies. The same estate Orson Welles somewhat recreated for his character in “Citizen Kane” who was modeled after Hearst. (more…)

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Tags: bogie, cary grant, chaplin, hearst, ken murray
Posted Jan 22nd 2009 at 5:35 pm in Today's Pick | 280619 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/22/tcm-pick-o-the-day-friday-january-23rd/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Friday%2C+January+23rd2009-01-23+01%3A35%3A53John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Thursday, January 22nd

6:45pm PST – A Star Is Born (1937)  – A fading matinee idol marries the young beginner he’s shepherded to stardom. Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson Dir: William A. Wellman C-111 mins, TV-G

While few films top the marvelous Judy Garland musical update of this classic, cautionary Hollywood tale, this version (itself a sort-of remake of George Cukor’s1932 “What Price Hollywood?” – Cukor would direct the Garland version, as well) offers up a memorable, heartbreaking performance from Fredric March as the sad and sodden Norman Maine, a has-been movie star living in the shadow of his famous wife. Lionel Stander also blazes through his scenes as a ruthless studio press-hack who inadvertently brings ruin to those around him all in the name of doing his job of creating movie stars and keeping them movie stars. (more…)

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Tags: a star is born, fredric march, selznick, william wellman
Posted Jan 21st 2009 at 2:40 pm in Today's Pick | 268099 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/21/tcm-pick-o-the-day-thursday-january-22nd/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Thursday%2C+January+22nd2009-01-21+22%3A40%3A06John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Monday, January 19th

8:45am PST – The Human Comedy (1943) – A small-town telegraph boy deals with the strains of growing up during World War II. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig, Marsha Hunt Dir: Clarence Brown BW-117 mins, TV-PG

The camera floats high above a small, idyllic American town as our deceased narrator reflects on his life: (more…)

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Posted Jan 18th 2009 at 4:07 pm in Today's Pick | 2370923 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/18/tcm-pick-o-the-day-monday-january-19th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Monday%2C+January+19th2009-01-19+00%3A07%3A22John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Sunday, January 18th

7:15 am PST – Notorious (1946) – A U.S. agent recruits a German expatriate to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring in Brazil. Cast: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern Dir: Alfred Hitchcock BW-101 mins, TV-PG

Not only is “Notorious” my favorite Hitchcock film, it’s one of my steady top fives of all time. If there’s ever been a more complicated relationship created for the screen than the emotional wringer Hitchcock and his screenwriter (and genius) Ben Hecht crafted to put Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman though, I’ve yet to see it. Both leads are ridiculously gorgeous and Grant’s standout performance is ablaze with equal parts pride, jealousy, resentment and longing. (more…)

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Posted Jan 17th 2009 at 3:47 pm in Today's Pick | 2290526 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/17/tcm-pick-o-the-day-sunday-january-18th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Sunday%2C+January+18th2009-01-17+23%3A47%3A59John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Friday, January 16th

7pm PST - War Wagon, The (1967)  – A rancher and a hired gun join forces to take on the criminal who betrayed them both. Cast: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Robert Walker Jr. Dir: Burt Kennedy C-101 mins, TV-PG

In the mid-60s, Kirk Douglas and John Wayne made a number of films together, none of them classics, but the chemistry between the laconic Wayne and intense Douglas always made for an interesting screen dynamic. Considering how far apart they were politically, one can only guess at the between-take chatter as the Vietnam War raged and the hippies took to the streets.

Wayne and Douglas were lifelong friends.

Douglas is a different kind of Hollywood Democrat. He hails from an era when “class” meant something.

Frequently, we conservatives are accused of not liking certain actors because of the actor’s politics. What an absurd charge.

(more…)

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Posted Jan 15th 2009 at 1:55 pm in Today's Pick | 2040518 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/15/tcm-pick-o-the-day-friday-january-16th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Friday%2C+January+16th2009-01-15+21%3A55%3A41John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Thursday, January 15th

9:30pm PST – Double Indemnity (1944) – An insurance salesman gets seduced into plotting a client’s death. Cast: Porter Hall , Fred MacMurray , Edward G. Robinson , Barbara Stanwyck Dir: Billy Wilder BW-108 mins, TV-PG

Generally, these daily recommendations won’t include the obvious. You don’t need anyone to tell you to watch Casablanca or Ben-Hur or Double Indemnity. It’s just that when it comes to Barbara Stanwyck my self-control wavers slightly. My wife thinks I obsess over Stanwyck, which is silly. The nearly completed time machine is only so we can be friends. Then of course I’ll kill Hitler.

Double Indemnity is based on a novel by James M. Cain, who’s also responsible for the films Mildred Pierce in 1945 and The Postman Always Rings Twice in ‘46.  Between the three there are more unexpected, yet credible plot turns than you will see in all of 2009. The books were loaded with sex and didn’t always meet other production code standards, but all three were brilliantly adapted for the screen and the first, today’s pick, is the best of an elite trio.

(more…)

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Posted Jan 14th 2009 at 7:41 pm in Today's Pick | 1928526 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/14/tcm-pick-o-the-day-thursday-january-15th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Thursday%2C+January+15th2009-01-15+03%3A41%3A07John+Nolte

Movies Are Your Best Entertainment Value

As a professional filmmaker, I have to say I was as stunned as you when I read that the film industry suffered through another lackluster box office year in 2008. The chief reasons for this appear to be the economy and Internet pirates, or possibly that Raisinette ebola scare. Whatever the cause it’s safe to say that it had nothing to do with the screen product, because 2008 was also a landmark year for the kind of ponderous, preachy, high-quality cinema that Americans from Santa Monica to Silverlake are clamoring for. Don’t take my word for it — just look at the record 5,362 awards Hollywood earned from itself last year, up nearly 35% from 2003. Suck on that, stupid box office!

Thankfully, however, Hollywood’s nagging box office troubles are finally a thing of the past now that President-Elect Obama is busily healing the economy and the MPAA’s 6th Fleet is bombarding the movie pirates off the Barbary Coast. It’s finally safe for America to return to the local octoplex and enjoy the rich $10 cinematic experience they’ve been avoiding for the past year. Just look at some of the promising releases in store for 2009:

(more…)

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Posted Jan 14th 2009 at 12:27 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, News, Today's Pick | 18741106 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dburge/2009/01/14/movies-are-your-best-entertainment-value/Movies+Are+Your+Best+Entertainment+Value2009-01-14+20%3A27%3A55Iowahawk

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Tuesday, January 13th

5pm PST – Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The (1939) – A deformed bell ringer rescues a gypsy girl falsely accused of witchcraft and murder. Cast: Cedric Hardwicke , Charles Laughton , Thomas Mitchell , Edmond O’Brien Dir: William Dieterle BW-117 mins, TV-PG

Big Acting. Big Acting’s the worst, and we see a lot of big acting today. Here’s the rule: If you can see the acting, it’s big acting – and it’s bad acting. If you’re admiring the “technique,” there’s a problem. Film reviews that glow over accents and other actory affectations shouldn’t entice you into the theatre, they should be a red flag. You’re not supposed to notice that stuff. You’re supposed to be transported. Big Hollywood can give the otherwise talented Kate Winslet all the Golden Globes they want, but that wasn’t a character Winslet created in Revolutionary Road, it big acting and painful to sit through.

Big Characters, however, are one of the great joys of the Golden Age.

(more…)

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Posted Jan 12th 2009 at 7:54 pm in Today's Pick | 1672927 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/12/tcm-pick-o-the-day-tuesday-january-13th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Tuesday%2C+January+13th2009-01-13+03%3A54%3A49John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Monday, January 12th

7:15am PST – The Good Earth (1937) – Epic adaptation of the Pearl Buck classic about Chinese farmers battling the elements. Cast: Walter Connolly , Tilly Losch , Paul Muni , Luise Rainer Dir: Sidney Franklin BW-138 mins, TV-PG

Not to take anything away from James Dean, but there’s a certain amount of injustice at work in the fact that Dean, who only starred in three films (all of them superb), is better known than Paul Muni, an Oscar winner who dominated the prestige picture throughout the 1930s.

(more…)

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Posted Jan 11th 2009 at 6:55 pm in Today's Pick | 1570511 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/11/tcm-pick-o-the-day-monday-january-12th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Monday%2C+January+12th2009-01-12+02%3A55%3A12John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Sunday, January 11th

1pm PST – Alfie (1966) – A British womanizer refuses to grow up until tragedy strikes. Cast: Michael Caine , Julia Foster , Millicent Martin , Shelley Winters Dir: Lewis Gilbert C-114 mins, TV-14

Jude Law’s painful 2004 remake didn’t fail because, well, remakes usually do, it failed because present-day Hollywood wasn’t about to “remake” what makes the original so timeless. Michael Caine’s Alfie is practically a platinum cardholder in The Club Of Social Conservatism.

(more…)

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Posted Jan 11th 2009 at 12:26 am in Today's Pick | 1522521 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/11/tcm-pick-o-the-day-sunday-january-11th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Sunday%2C+January+11th2009-01-11+08%3A26%3A27John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Saturday, January 10th

5:00pm PST – Dinner At Eight (1933) – A high-society dinner party masks a hotbed of scandal and intrigue. Cast: John Barrymore , Lionel Barrymore , Marie Dressler , Jean Harlow Dir: George Cukor BW-111 mins, TV-PG

In his post, ‘Hollywood on the Recession: Told You So,’ my colleague Tom Shillue reports that Hollywood’s gearing up to respond to our present-day economic woes with a series of blame-the-rich films. This was disappointing news, especially for those of us into the second draft of our blame-Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac screenplays. But does anyone want to spend ten bucks to be reminded of reality when getting out of bed offers the same experience for free. Which leads me to why the Almighty invented Turner Classic Movies.

(more…)

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Posted Jan 9th 2009 at 9:18 pm in Today's Pick | 1387327 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/09/tcm-pick-o-the-day-saturday-january-10th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Saturday%2C+January+10th2009-01-10+05%3A18%3A32John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Happy Birthday Elvis

4:30am – PST King Creole (1958) – A singer with a criminal past gets drawn back into the mob. Cast: Carolyn Jones , Walter Matthau , Elvis Presley Dir: Michael Curtiz BW-116 mins, TV-PG

There were a few years, pre-Army, when Elvis Presley might have been the coolest person, well, ever. He also showed some real talent as an actor as you’ll see in King Creole, one of his better films, co-starring the great Walter Matthau as The Heavy and directed by Michael Curtiz.

Curtiz had one of the toughest late careers of almost any director from the Golden Age. In the thirties and forties he could do no wrong. One classic followed the next, especially when working with Errol Flynn on a number of unforgettable period films such as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City, and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. He also did more than okay with Bogart in Casablanca and Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy. Sometime in the late forties the mojo left him. He would go on to make another 20+ films, but nothing like at the start of his career. King Creole is arguably the best of this dry spell.

Curtiz surrounds Presley with real talent.  Matthau, Vic Morrow, Carolyn Jones (at the height of her beauty), and Dean Jagger. And Presley hangs right in there giving the performance of his career.

The music is also top notch, including the blistering title song, Trouble, Hard Headed Woman, and Don’t Ask Me Why.

If you missed this one, TCM airs Presley most of the day. And what else would you do tomorrow? It’s not like we go to work on Elvis Presley’s birthday. I mean, I’m not the only who considers the day a holiday, right?

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Posted Jan 7th 2009 at 6:41 pm in Today's Pick | 1095317 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/07/tcm-pick-o-the-day-happy-birthday-elvis/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Happy+Birthday+Elvis2009-01-08+02%3A41%3A02John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Wednesday, January 7th

YouTube

My Sister Eileen - (1955) – Two sisters from Ohio, one pretty, one witty, plot to take New York City by storm. Director: Richard Quine  Cast: Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon C-107 mins, TV-G

One of those big budget, mid-fifties, widescreen musicals released as the genre was on the wane both creatively and at the box office. What it has going for it, however, is a wonderful performance by Betty Garrett, who plays the unfortunate sister living forever in the shadow of the stunning Eileen, played by the stunning Janet Leigh.

The film’s highlight is “The Competition Dance,” performed and choreographed by the late, great Bob Fosse with Tommy Rall. Fosse’s the blonde one, but both defy physics. For those of you who might miss this tomorrow, the clip above has been provided for your convenience.

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Posted Jan 6th 2009 at 4:50 pm in Today's Pick | 966121 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/06/tcm-pick-o-the-day-wednesday-january-7th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Wednesday%2C+January+7th2009-01-06+23%3A50%3A30John+Nolte

Big Hollywood Loves The Arts

Until the very end of his storied career, Jack Lemmon could still be heard whispering, It’s magic time, to himself before the filming of each new scene.  More than our political views, and regardless of which part of the pop culture spectrum most engages us, what connects the Big Hollywood contributor is magic time, for we love the arts. And it’s a love that will manifest itself here in many forms, mainly through a sharing of our respective passions, but also criticism. Because whether it’s for the sake of the culture or simply customer bang-for-the-buck, we believe the arts must improve, but know that’s an impossibility until the discussion includes the ideas and ideals of everyone. 

For my part, I’ll mostly talk movies. You’ll find reviews of the latest releases and any trap I can lay to hook you with an appreciation for the classics, including top-five lists to get you thinking about films and a recommendation for whatever classic gem might be found on Turner Classic Movies or The Fox Movie Channel. 

Hollywood is much more than just “today.” It is a thing which reaches back a full century awaiting discovery and to help get us through as we plead our case here for a little more of that magic time.

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Posted Jan 6th 2009 at 12:58 am in Today's Pick, Top 5 | 826549 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/01/06/big-hollywood-loves-the-arts/Big+Hollywood+Loves+The+Arts2009-01-06+07%3A58%3A24John+Nolte