A couple of recommendations for Turner Classic Movies viewers on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 20.
Wild Oranges (1924) is an early King Vidor effort featuring Virginia Valli, a popular leading lady of the 1920s. In this drama set on an island off the Florida coast, Valli plays a young woman whose quiet life with her grandfather is disturbed following the appearance of an evil escaped prisoner.
Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, Mikhail Kalatozov's The Cranes Are Flying (adapted by Viktor Rozov from his own play) is a beautifully photographed romantic drama about a young woman who goes through some rough times after her boyfriend, without having the chance to say goodbye, is sent to fight in World War II. The film's leading couple, Tatyana Samoilova and Alexey Batalov, won special career awards at the 2007 Moscow Film Festival.
I still haven't watched Bridge to the Sun, but this 1961 drama about an American woman (Carroll Baker) who marries a Japanese diplomat (Hawaiian-born James Shigeta) shortly before the outbreak of World War II sounds intriguing.
Pacific Time
9:15pm [Silent] Wild Oranges (1924)
In this silent film, an escaped convict terrorizes a young girl and her grandfather on a remote island.
Cast: Virginia Valli, Frank Mayo, Ford Sterling, Nigel De Brulier Dir: King Vidor BW-88 mins.
11:00pm [Romance] Cranes Are Flying, The (1957)
A Russian woman is tormented by fears that her boyfriend has been killed in World War II.
Cast: Tatyana Samoilova, Alexei Batalov, Vasili Merkuriev, Aleksandr Shvorin Dir: Mikhail Kalatozov BW-95 mins.
1:00am [Drama] Bridge To The Sun (1961)
An American woman marries a Japanese diplomat on the eve of World War II.
Cast: Carroll Baker, James Shigeta, James Yagi, Tetsuro Tamba Dir: Etienne Périer BW-112 mins.