Turner Classic Movies

I recently dumped my satellite television service, and the channel I watched the most was TCM.  This isn't a post about satellite or cable or even TCM the cable channel (which is the only reason I was even holding on to my satellite for so long).

Have you ever wanted to see Jaws on the big screen? How about Gone With The Wind or Casablanca? How about Grease? Hitchcock films?

Guess what? You can.

Turner Classic Movies has been bringing classic films back to the big screen. These films usually only play for two days, but if you follow TCM's schedule you'll be in for a treat.  Last year, we enjoyed Casablanca, Gone With The Wind, and Rear Window. If you haven't seen those, go watch them immediately, you're missing out. All three of those are in the top 50 films of all time.

This year, TCM's schedule is full of great films:

Jaws 40th Anniversary – Sunday, June 21 and Wednesday, June 24
Double Indemnity – Sunday, July 19 and Monday, July 20
Grease Sing-A-Long – Sunday, August 16 and Wednesday, August 19 
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho – Sunday, September 20 and Wednesday, September 23
Dracula (1931)/Drácula (1931) Double Feature – Sunday, October 25 and Wednesday, October 28
Roman Holiday – Sunday, November 29 and Tuesday, December 1
Miracle on 34th Street – Sunday, December 20 and Wednesday, December 23

We missed Jaws, which I would have loved to have seen in the theater (I was 5 when that came out, but I remember being terrified of the movie poster and ads). I didn't want anything to do with water at that point and I hadn't even seen the picture!

However, we did see Double Indemnity--not only one of the all-time great film noir films, but one of the all-time great films. Read the short novel by James M. Cain, then watch the film starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson. The movie was directed by Billy Wilder (now go and watch every single film this man directed--want a sample? Some Like It Hot, Hollywood Boulevard, Stalag 17, The Apartment).

You can sit home and watch these films, but there is something to be said for heading to the theater and experiencing them on a big screen, surrounded by others who also appreciate these movies. I'm looking forward to Psycho--not my favorite Hitchcock film, but it will be amazing on the big screen. During the original release, theater owners would not allow people in once the film began.

I almost forgot Ghostbusters. In 2014, TCM also re-released Ghostbusters for the film's 30th anniversary. What I loved about the release was that a bunch of high school kids showed up and had fun. I remember seeing the movie with a bunch of friends when it came out in 1984--I was 14. To see modern teenagers laughing and enjoying the movie made me smile and think that perhaps these final gasp Millennials/tip of the spear Generation Z kids aren't all that bad--boy do I sound like an old and curmudgeonly Gen-X'er right now.

Check out the website for TCM's film lineup and go see an old movie!

Where To Start: Hitchcock Films

I've been a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan since I was a teenager. I collected Hitchcock movies on VHS back in the 80s and still have a few on LaserDisc.  I'm a sucker for upgrading certain films when they become available on a higher resolution format.

You may scoff at collecting old movies on Blu-Ray, an important thing to remember (and I'm getting off track a little here, but it's worth mentioning) that just because a movie is old doesn't mean that in the theaters it wasn't high resolution. The limiting factor for home viewing has always been the old CRT televisions and the means of playing the old movies.  I'm sorry, but watching Casablanca on Blu-Ray is worth it!  One thing to watch for though when buying Blu-Rays is to be sure they aren't simply taken from DVD copies and upconverted. Anyway--major digression--

Hitchcockian Elements:  There are a few types of Hitchcock films out there:

• Wrong man/mistaken identity
• Psychological
• Suspense
• Horror
• Confined spaces/limited sets
• Artsy
• Plain old drama

I typically think of them in this way, oh, and by the way, he often combines all the elements. Even in his more "pure" dramas there is suspense or some psychological aspect. There are way more elements than these he tends to toss into his films, but the list above shows the basics.

Here I'm going to tell you where I'd start if I was approaching Hitchcock for the first time knowing now what I didn't back in the 1980s:

You could begin with #1 or #2 here, or if you like some of the actors and actresses I list, go ahead and start with their film(s).  Hitchcock used the same actors and actresses quite a bit.

1. Psycho: This may be obvious, but for mass appeal, I'd start with Pyscho--released in 1960, this is late-period Hitchcock, but so wonderful. Spooky and tense. I'd say it holds up pretty well. A motel out in the desert with a creepy old victorian house overlooking it?  psychological, suspense, horror, and some artsy moments--usually with clever shots
2. Rear Window:  Any film with Grace Kelly and James Stewart is a winner, I shouldn't even have to write anything else about it.  Stewart plays a photographer trapped in his NYC apartment because he broke his leg. He stares into the courtyard day and night and gets to know all the details about his neighbors--oh, and he believes there has been a murder. See this one. In fact, you could start here if you like.  confined space, suspense, drama
3. Notorious:  Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. Again, should be enough. Grant plays a government agent attempting to ferret out Nazis in South America while Bergman goes undercover to find out what the Nazis are up to. This is a great spy movie packed with suspense and a love story. Claude Rains is wonderful in his role, and you almost feel sorry for him.  suspense, drama
4. North By Northwest:  Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and Martin Landau. Great cast. This film may be the broadest in scope of all the Hitchcock films. This is a mistaken identity film filled with intrigue which takes Grant across the country in order to prove his innocence. This film has it all: wrong man, suspense, drama, love story, and plenty of artsy techniques.
5. Rope:  I really like the films Hitchcock did where the space is limited (see Rear Window above and not mentioned here--Lifeboat).  Rope is a story about not getting away with the perfect murder, but if some people have a right to murder people they feel are inferior to them intellectually.  This one was done as to appear as one seamless take with no cuts. It's an interesting film to watch for the premise alone.  confined space, suspense, horror, psychological
6. The 39 Steps:  This is a wrong man film. Again, on the run after he is mistaken for a murderer. A lot of fun and this one is considered Hitchcock's commercial breakthrough.  I believe this is the first of his many "wrong man" films. This one, too, has spies and a broader scope--not quite like North By Northwest, but this was made in 1935!
7. The Lady Vanishes: takes place mainly on a train and is a wonderful mystery. This one is like a comic thriller in a lot of ways. Witty.  A young woman meets an older woman who seems to disappear into thin air. The young woman gets drawn into a complex mystery.
8. Strangers On A Train:  based off the Patricia Highsmith novel, and the inspiration for another of my favorites--Throw Momma From The Train. 

'm stopping with these seven. There are quite a few I've left off the list that I adore. Spellbound, Vertigo, The Birds, Suspicion, Foreign Correspondent, The Man Who Knew Too Much (the earlier one with Peter Lorre rather than the James Stewart/Doris Day version), To Catch A Thief, and Rebecca. There are more though, many, many more to find and enjoy.

Rebecca is a great movie (and won an Academy Award)--winning against another Hitchcock film from the same year--Foreign Correspondent! I wouldn't recommend starting with it since it isn't the typical Hitchcock film.

Bottom line: if you enjoy suspense-filled films with the best actors and actresses of their generation, check out Hitchcock. If you want to own the films, find the Criterion versions (many of them are being re-released on Blu-Ray).  The transfers are wonderful, and they usually clean up the sound a bit--but while the picture may be wonderful, many times the sound quality is what lags.

Do you have a favorite Hitchcock film?  Maybe a modern day film or director equivalent?