Friday, November 15, 2019

Ida Lupino, in the Director’s Chair: TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Lupino’s Thriller, The Hitch-Hiker (1953), Starring Edmund O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, and William Talman; Also, Sidney Lumet’s The Anderson Tapes (1971), and John Ford's Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

By David in TN
Friday, November 15, 2019 at 5:22:00 P.M. EST

TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is The Hitch-Hiker (1953), directed by Ida Lupino and featuring Edmund O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, and William Talman.

Film Noir Guide: “Two buddies (O'Brien and Lovejoy) heading north to the mountains for a fishing trip impulsively decide to drive south toward Mexico instead. Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker (Talman), an escaped convict who has been robbing and killing motorists. The unlucky friends are forced to drive the killer five hundred miles across the desert to the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia, where the killer hopes to find a boat to take him to California. One of the hostages cracks under the strain; the other remains calm and hopeful. Talman is terrific as the sadistic psycho with a paralyzed eyelid that never closes, even when he sleeps. Based on the true story of a real-life spree killer, The Hitch-Hiker is a bit dated but definitely worth a viewing.”

Right before The Hitch-Hiker, at 10:15 p.m. ET TCM shows Sidney Lumet’s 1971 crime drama The Anderson Tapes, starring Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam, and Christopher Walken in his film debut.

Connery is a burglar paroled after 10 years in prison. After visiting high-class call girl Cannon in her upscale East Side apartment, Connery’s character, Duke Anderson, decides to rob the building and recruits a crew and seeks Mob money to fund the project.

The Anderson Tapes was the first major film about the prevalence of electronic surveillance and security cameras. Ralph Meeker plays an NYPD Captain who shows up to foil the crime.

Right after The Hitch-Hiker, TCM at 1:45 a.m. ET features the delightfully politically incorrect John Ford's Drums Along the Mohawk (1939).








1 comment:

David In TN said...

TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 am ET is Phil Karlson's Kansas City Confidential (1952) with John Payne, Preston Foster, Coleen Gray, Jack Elam, Neville Brand, and Lee Van Cleef.

Payne stars as a classic Noir protagonist; An ex-con framed for a heist planned by a crooked cop.

Film Noir Guide: "Foster, an embittered ex-cop, recruits Elam, Brand, and Van Cleef for an armored car heist. Foster is the only one known by the others. Anonymous himself, he makes the gang 'cop proof' and stool pigeon proof' by having everyone wear masks from day one. Immediately after the robbery, an unfortunate war hero and ex-con (Payne) gets picked up because he's driving the same kind of commercial van as the robbers. After being worked over by some disagreeable cops, he's released and begins searching for the crooks. He finds himself in a small Mexican resort, where the gang is meeting to split the dough. Foster, however, is planning an ingenious double-cross. Gray plays Foster's daughter, who shows up at the resort unexpectedly and falls in love with Payne. This is a brutal and fast-paced noir with excellent performances by Payne, Foster, and those three great character actors, Elam, Brand, and Van Cleef."