Bette Davis on TCM

No rare Bette Davis flicks on her Turner Classic Movies‘ "Summer Under the Stars" day, Saturday, Aug. 8.
That’s too bad, as TCM now has access to Columbia’s film library. They could have unearthed Davis’ early Columbia flick The Menace (1931), which isn’t very good, but it’s rare and it’s Bette Davis. Also, there’s the little-seen, Columbia-distributed, political drama Storm Center (1956), in which Davis co-stars with Kim Hunter, who happened to be blacklisted during the anti-Red hysteria of the 1950s. Well, maybe later in the year…
I can’t say I’m a huge Bette Davis fan, but I do like watching her. In fact, I find several of her performances to be among the best ever committed to [...]

Glenn Ford on TCM

Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford in Gilda

Glenn Ford will have his "Summer Under the Stars" day on Friday, Aug. 7.
The Turner Classic Movies Glenn Ford marathon will include three TCM premieres: Convicted Woman, Mr. Soft Touch, and A Time for Killing. The first one sounds like a B flick that may be quite enjoyable (hey, it revolves around women behind bars); the one in the middle is directed by Gordon Douglas, which is almost invariably a good sign; and the third one is a wild card: it could be a forgotten gem; it could be the sort of dreary star vehicle that ruined Ford’s film career at about that time.
Now, I must admit that I haven’t seen most of the [...]

Lee Madden

Lee Madden, best known for directing Hell’s Angels ‘69, died of complications from pneumonia on April 9 in Camarillo, a town north of Los Angeles. He was 82.
The American International Pictures release Hell’s Angels ‘69, the tale of two brothers who plan on robbing Las Vegas’ Caesar’s Palace, was the Brooklyn-born Madden’s first feature. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it is the only fiction film in which the Oakland Hell’s Angels, including leader Sonny Barger, appeared.
Madden’s other features were the bikers vs. rednecks adaptation of The Magnificent Seven, Angel Unchained (1970), starring Tyne Daly and Don Stroud, and which Madden also wrote and produced; The Night God Screamed (1971), starring 1940s Fox star Jeanne [...]

Best Films – 1946

Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford in Gilda
FILM
Anna and the King of Siam
d: John Cromwell; scr: Talbot Jennings, Sally Benson
The Best Years of Our Lives
d: William Wyler; scr: Robert E. Sherwood
Cloak and Dagger
d: Fritz Lang; scr: Albert Maltz, Ring Lardner Jr.
From This Day Forward
d: John Berry; scr: Hugo Butler, Garson Kanin
Gilda
d: Charles Vidor; scr: Marion Parsonnet
Margie
d: Henry King; scr: F. Hugh Herbert
A Night in Casablanca
d: Archie Mayo; scr: Joseph Fields, Roland Kibbee, Frank Tashlin
Le Père tranquille / Mr. Orchid
d: René Clément; scr: Noël-Noël
Sciuscià / Shoeshine
d: Vittorio De Sica; scr: Cesare Zavattini, Sergio Amidei, Adolfo Franci, Cesare Giulio Viola
The Spiral Staircase
d: Robert Siodmak; scr: Mel Dinelli
 
CHECK THESE OUT
My Darling Clementine
d: John Ford; scr: [...]