Friday, September 18, 2020

TCM Has Improved! It Offers a Solid Doubleheader: TCM’s Film Noir of the Week, Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight ET and 10 a.m. ET is Charles Vidor’s Gilda (1946), Starring Rita Hayworth in Her Most Famous Role as the Love Goddess, with Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia and Steven Geray, and on Monday, TCM Runs One of the Greatest Noirs, with One of the Greatest Actors of All Time, John Garfield, in James M. Cain/Tay Garnett’s The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Co-Starring Lana Turner

By David in TN
Friday, September 18, 2020 at 1:13:00 A.M. EDT

TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight ET and 10 a.m. ET is Charles Vidor’s Gilda (1946). Rita Hayworth has her most famous role as the Love Goddess. Also with Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia and Steven Geray.

TCM shows Gilda half a dozen times a year, but Eddie Muller decided to show it on Film Noir of the Week.

Film Noir Guide: “When a casino owner (Macready) saves the life of a down-and-out gambler (Ford) and gives him a job, an almost unbreakable bond is formed.

“But not long afterwards, Ford’s new boss returns from a business trip with a gorgeous bride (Hayworth) who was once Ford’s lover. Feeling betrayed by the man who informed him that ‘gambling and women don’t mix,' Ford now must share Macready, whom he obviously cares for, with a woman he considers a tramp. Feeling a responsibility to protect his friend, Ford takes it upon himself to shadow Hayworth but keeps her many romantic trysts to himself. Hayworth, who cares nothing for her middle-aged husband, keeps throwing herself at Ford, but he stubbornly resists her advances....

“Ford turns in an excellent performance, but all eyes will be on the love goddess, whose rendition of ‘Put the blame on Mame’ (and not her acting) is the highlight of this interesting melodrama, which tiptoes guardedly around the homosexual attraction between the two men.”

On Monday, TCM runs one of the greatest noirs, with one of the greatest actors of all time, John Garfield, in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Garfield plays a drifter who stops at a diner and romances Lana Turner, the owner’s wife, whom he helps become a widow.

3 comments:

David In TN said...

I forgot to mention The Postman Rings Twice is on at 10:15 am ET Monday, September 21.

David In TN said...

TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:15 am ET and 10 am ET is Irving Pichel's They Won't Believe Me (1947) with Robert Young, Susan Hayward, Jane Greer, Rita Johnson, and Tom Powers.

Film Noir Guide: "This is an intriguing tale of a reprehensible cad (Young), the three women in his life--his wife (Johnson) and his two girlfriends (Hayward and Greer)--and how fate deals them all a dirty hand. Young, a lecherous stockbroker who can't seem to keep away from the ladies, always seems to wind up back with his wealthy and forgiving wife. He drops newspaper reporter Greer when Johnson finds out about them and becomes involved with a self-described gold digger (Hayward). Unfortunately, his philandering leads to tragedy for two of the women and a murder charge against him. Young (TV's Marcus Welby, M.D.) is wonderfully cast against type as a loathsome husband who gets his noirish comeuppance when he tries to capitalize on an unfortunate accident."

Eddie Muller has been recycling titles this year instead of running films not featured yet. They Won't Believe Me was on Noir Alley three years ago.

David In TN said...

TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight ET and 10 am ET is Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950). A great cast features Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Karl Malden, Craig Stevens, Bert Freed, Neville Brand, screenplay by Ben Hecht.

For a change, Eddie Muller chooses a very good one not previously on Noir Alley. A detective tries to cover up an accidental killing and pin it on a mobster.

Film Noir Guide: "Andrews, a two-fisted police detective warned by his boss to lay off the rough stuff, gets into a brawl with an inebriated murder suspect (Stevens, TV's Peter Gunn) and accidentally kills him. Already self-conscious and ashamed because he's known on both sides of the law as the son of a thief killed by police, Andrews hides the body and tries to frame Merrill, a local hood. During the investigation, he meets Stevens' estranged wife (Tierney) and falls in love with her. When Tierney's father is arrested by police lieutenant Malden for his son-in-law's murder, Andrews faces the inevitable choice--do the right thing and go to jail or continue to cover up. Freed is Andrews' understanding partner, who must hock his wife's jewelry to help his friend assuage his guilt. Andrews is outstanding in one of his best performances, and Merrill is excellent as the murderous hood. Brand gives one of his enjoyable, patented performances as the sadistic thug."