Mr. Hellinger insisted on shooting on location in New York and called this his love note to the City. He was always on the set supervising every detail. It shows, as shooting on location was no easy feat in 1947.

This lasting tribute to� Mr. Hellinger’s� talent will be on Turner Classic Movies December 10 at 8:00PM.

http://www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html

Thanks

2) Adventures of Robin Hood 1939
Errol Flynn in the title role as the man who rises up against the oppressors. Shot in glorious Technicolor. Some of the best sword fighting ever put to celluloid.

3) Captain’s Courageous 1937
One of the original spoiled rich kid under goes radical transformation into a good person after falling off a boat pictures. Freddie Bartholemew is the kid rescued by Portugese fisherman Manuel (Spencer Tracy). Excellent picture.

4) Lucas 1986
A socially inept fourteen year old high school freshman experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends — Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love — fall for each other. Nice picture about the dramas of high school life that don’t involve Troy and Gabriella singing and dancing in the hallways.

5) Stagecoach1939
John Wayne, goodguy outlaw. A stagecaoch crossing the desert with the threat of an indian attack. Directed by John Ford. What more do you want? This si a very exciting picture. Dallas’s profession need not be explained at this juncture.

6) Rear Window 1954
Seems harmless now but it was scary stuff for 1954. However, younger viewers might need dome guidance. That will teach them not to peak into windows. Great introduction to Alfred Hitchcock

7) Some Like It Hot 1959
When two musicians witness the Saint Valentines day massacre in old Chicago, they hightail it south with an all girl band dressed as women. They pull it off. This is a great picture and there are jokes in there for everyone. The kids, they dig this one.

The Russian’s Are Coming, The Russian’s Are Coming 1966
Made during the height of the cold war, this picture is a “what if” situation. A Russina submarine accidentally runs aground off the coast of a small New England town and sends the locals into a tizzy.

9) King Of The Hilll - 1993
A young boy to his own devices in a run-down hotel after he is seperated from his parents and younger brother. Set in the 1930s Depression-era St. Louis this was a forgooten gem directed by Steven Soderbergh. Rated PG 13 for certain thematic elements. In other words, watch this picture with the kids. It is great.

10) Ten Commandments1956
The bible, the DeMille way. Exciting stuff, not to violent. I have had to use the plot summary and actor names to explain Passover to my aethiest parents. It’s the Haggadah in Technicolor.

Walter Matthau is the weary, seen it all detective Zachary Garber who has to deal with a highly dangerous and unusual situation. A subway car has been detached from a train and is being held hostage by “four dangerous and heavily armed men”. They are demanding a $1,000,000. ransom. How will they pull this off? They are in the claustrophobic confines of a subway tunnel. You will have to watch and see.

The only sets that had to be built for this picture were the Command Center and a motorman’s cab. Both sets were accurate. The actor motorman who loses his train to the gang of hijackers is Matthew Broderick’s father. He was not qualified to move a subway train. So a motorman’s cab was built on a flat bed car and a real NYCTA motorman operated the train from one car back. The Transit Authority did not offer any technical assistance to the producers. In fact they originally said no to this picture being made here. It was referred to as a “terrible idea”. Finally the NYCTA was persuaded with a hefty rental fee, an insurance policy just in case this situation ever arose and the intervention of Mayor John Lindsay

The uncanny resemblance that the actor who plays “the Mayor” to real life mayor Edward Koch was not lost as actor Lee Wallace did a one man show about Mayor Koch back in the 1980’s. He also played the mayor of Gotham City in the 1989 Batman with Micheal Keaton in the title role. Ed Koch did not become mayor for a few more years so the casting was just coincidental.

The score for this picture is one of the best ever composed by David Shire. It was something that would be played very loud late in a Friday night at the store, much to the dismay of out upstairs neighbors.

I do not remember the first time I saw this picture but I was a kid who did not end up terribly scared by this experience. The Transit Authority however, was. Ever since this film no #6 train has left Pelham at 1:23 (the title refers to the time a train left it’s starting point).

December 11 at 1:30 AM on Turner Classic Movies

Barbara Graham was a woman with dubious morals, a barfly and a passer of bad checks. She had done time for some petty crimes. Two men she knows murder an older woman during a burglary . When they get caught they believe that Barbara has snitched to the police. As a revenge they tell the police that Barbara was the murderer.

Gritty and realistic the picture is made so perfect by the great Susan Hayward. This is one of those roles, one of those performances that explain why someone is a star, why they get paid the big bucks and why they win an Oscar for Best Actress. Her portrayal is so human that at times I find myself getting mad at Barbara for being so flippant (before she realizes the seriousness of her situation). There is nothing that I can say here that will explain Ms. Hayward’s performance, one has to see it.

December 5th at 9:30AM on Turner Classic Movies.

Absolutely not for the kids.

One of the great circus pictures of all time. Shot in beautiful technicolor on location at the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris, the picture has some of the most exciting trapeze scenes ever put to celluloid. The story is simple. Mike Ribble (Mr. Lancaster) was once a legendary trapeze artist until an injury sidelined him. He was also one of the only trapeze artists ever to complete a triple somersault. Tino (Tony Curtis) wants to get in on the act and convinces Mike to teach him the “triple”. The problem is not a busted net but that they are both in love with the same woman (Gina Lollobrigida). That could lead to some serious conflict, not a good thing high up in a circus tent.

Mr. Curtis and Mr. Lancaster did their own trapeze work. Gina did not. This is the second picture that Mr. Curtis and Mr. Lancaster appeared together in but the first in which they had dialogue. Mr. Curtis, who in 1949 was known as Anthony Curtis, danced with Yvonne DeCarlo in one scene in Criss Cross. Mr. Curtis and Mr. Lancaster followed up this collaboration with Sweet Smell Of Success a year later.

Safe for the kids but although the trapeze scenes are exciting, the conflict between the two men might bore younger viewers.

November 20th at 6:00PM on Turner Classic Movies

The action takes place in a snowbound ranch where a panther has been attacking the livestock. In the middle of the night the brothers are awoken by Joe Sam, a native American ranch hand. He ain’t going to get this cat, it is a dangerous business tracking this cat. And the first big snow storm of the winter has struck with a vengeance.

Although the picture was shot in color it almost looks black and white. The scenery and, except for one red coat, the costumes are almost devoid of color. Director William Wellman wanted it this way. The storm outside the house obviously reflecting the storm inside the house.

Not really for the kids. This is what a western would be like if Chekov wrote the screenplay. Interesting note is that Joe Sam, the elderly native American ranch hand was played by a 27 year old Carl Switzer. Some of us fondly remember Carl Switzer as Alfalfa in “The Little Rascals”. Strange casting.

November 7 at 12:30PM on Turner Classic Movies

As with Best Years Of Our Lives, there are many wonderful silent moments. I dare you not to shed a tear when Fredrick March walks down the hallway to the embrace of Myrna Loy. In Till The End of Time, one of my favorite silent moments of all time is when one of our soldiers returns home to find his parents out, no one home and when he goes up to his room it is a room of a boy. This boy went away and came back a man. He came back forever altered. He has killed, seen death all around him and no High School in pre - World War Two southern California prepared anyone for what they were going to see and do. Nothing fits him, not the pennants hanging on the wall, the airplane models dangling overhead and his clothing is many sizes too small. Literally and symbolically nothing fits him.

No one wants to talk about the war. In fact there is one character at a loss for words says “oh, you’re back from the. . . the thing”. His mother makes a point of not wanting to hear what her son so desperately wants to talk about, the loss of friends, innocence, being terrified, feeling guilty. This picture touches very deeply on these subjects. Nobody was allowed to grieve, they were heroes and hailed as such. This picture touches on many subjects including racism (paving the way for Gentleman’s Agreement in 1947)

The only problem with this picture is the lead male. Discovered and guided by Rock Hudson’s agent, Guy Madison was a recently discharged member of the Coast Guard and former olympic swimmer. He was pretty but unfortunately could not act to save his life. He is great when he doesn’t talk, barely adequate when he opens his mouth. What saves the day is the supporting cast, especially Robert Mitchum (but I am prejudiced).

This picture, what I call “the angry version of Best Years of Our Lives” is safe for the kids. Turner Classic Movies Wednesday October 29th at 11:15 AM

Robert Mitchum proving yet again that he can carry a picture effortlessly and do the kind of “noir voice over narration with the same ability as Fred Mac Murray in Double Indemnity, this is a one of a kind picture. Robert Mitchum stars as a former private detective who has gone into hiding with a different name and a career different than the one left behind in New York. Hired by New York based gangster Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) to find the woman who shot at him five times (and made one of them count) and stole 40,000 dollars our hero ultimately finds the woman but he falls in love with her. Oops, the tragic flaw, which can be dangerous.

The woman, Cathy, played beautifully by Jane Greer is a scorpion in sheep’s clothing. Beautiful yet extremely dangerous. “Then one day she drifted in out of the sun and I knew why Whit wanted her back” is the line that introduces us to her. After much time spent together she asks “when are you taking me back”. After not really answering the question Cathy pleads her case. “I’m not sorry I shot him but I didn’t take the money, you believe me don’t you?” to which Mitchum replies the famous “Baby, I don’t care”. The two run off together and go into hiding. Unfortunately they are found by Mitchum’s former partner. After a viscous fist fight some one is dead on the floor and a certain woman has disappeared into the night.

Mitchum has gone into hiding under a different name in a small town in California where he owns a gas station. He is also involved with a local woman whom he plans to marry. Everything seems okay until someone out of his past breezes through town and recognizes him. Forced to confront his past and quite possibly Cathy, Mitchum agrees to drive to Lake Tahoe (were Whit has relocated) and close all unfinished business so he can move on. That is all I am going to say about the plot. I do not want to give anything away.

The performances are all top notch. Jane Greer is Lauren Bacall hot in this role as the femme fatal. Kirk Douglas is subtly evil. Paul Valentine as Whit’s sidekick Joe is smarmy and as real as one could get with the role of a sidekick. Same goes for Steve Brodie who plays Mitchum’s sidekick/partner Jack. For me the stand out of the supporting cast is Dickie Moore. Some of us remember Dickie Moore for his stint as an Our Gang (Little Rascals) member. Mr. Moore appeared in many films over the years and I believe that he also gave Shirley Temple her first screen kiss. He plays “the Kid”, Mitchum’s gas station assistant who is deaf and mute but can read lips. Fortunately for Mitchum they can both use sign language as well.

The script is top notch as well. Written by the same people that wrote The Big Steal, both pictures have dialogue that exhibits the same spark of originality and humor although both pictures are very different.

This film is safe for the kids; there is no need to explain what the windows blowing open and the music swelling after a kiss in which the kissers disappear mean. I called it “noir sexual innuendo”. It is a great introduction to “film noir” as well as being an all around great picture.

Wednesday October 29 ^th at 10:00 PM on Turner Classic Movies

This is an adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Farewell My Lovely. According to one story I read, the title was changed because the studio (RKO)thought the name sounded too much like a musical picture for which Mr. Powell was already known for. Very few musicals have “murder” in the title. In this picture Philip Marlowe is hired by a large two bit thug named Moose Malloy. His moniker aptly applies. Moose wants Marlowe to track down his girlfriend Velma who he hasn’t seen in 6 years, he was in the big house for 7. As Marlowe starts to put the pieces together people start dropping like flies. It seems that finding this Velma may be the kiss of death.

Great dialogue (they don’t write them like this anymore - or is it people don’t talk that way anymore), great direction from Edward Dmytryk (who would later go to jail as one of the infamous Hollywood Ten) and great acting. The always marvelous Claire Trevor and of course Dick Powell is tremendous in the role. Safe for the kids.

8:00 PM on Wednesday October 29th on Turner Classic Movies