Thursday, March 31, 2011

Wednesday, Mar. 30 - Screaming Mimi

Screaming Mimi (1958)

Exotic dancer Virginia Wilson sees a man get shot moments after he tries to knife her in a shower, so she goes to Dr. Greenwood a psychiatrist for therapy. He falls in love with her and takes over her life, although she insists on continuing her career at the El Madhouse nightclub. The club's tough owner is none other than Gypsy Rose Lee who plays 'Gypsy' and sings an incredibly bad song ("Put the Blame on Mame") when Virginia is late one night. The traumatized Virginia is suspected of a series of murders. Each victim had purchased a contorted sculpture of a woman called the Screaming Mimi, which was created by her step-brother Charlie who was also responsible for shooting her attacker. It's up to a handsome columnist Bill Sweeny to figure it all out.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Monday, Mar. 28 - The Comedian

The Comedian
(Playhouse 90 TV series 1956–1961)

Mickey Rooney stars as a raging, tyrannical TV star stepping on anyone on his way to the top, including his browbeaten brother (Mel Tormé), despairing wife (Kim Hunter), and washed-up scriptwriter (Edmond O’Brien). Powerfully directed by John Frankenheimer from a script adapted for the screen by Rod Serling, The Comedian is a volatile glimpse behind the showbiz curtain.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Sunday, Mar. 27 - No Way Out

No Way Out (1950)

The Biddle brothers, shot while robbing a gas station, are taken to the prison ward of the County Hospital; Ray Biddle, a rabid racist, wants no treatment from black resident Dr. Luther Brooks. When brother John dies while Luther tries to save him, Ray is certain it's murder and becomes obsessed with vengeance. But there are black racists around too, and the situation slides rapidly toward violence.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Saturday, Mar. 26 - The Cobweb

The Cobweb (1955)

At an exclusive psychiatric clinic, the doctors and staff are about as crazy as the patients. The clinic head, Dr. Stewart McIver, thinks that it would be good therapy for his patients to design and make new drapes for the library. Mrs. Karen McIver, who is neglected by her hardworking husband (and a bit unbalanced herself), wants to make her mark on the clinic, so she orders new drapes. Miss Inch, the business manager, who has been with the clinic longer than anyone, sees this as an intrusion into her territory, and she too orders drapes. All this puts everyone in a dither, as they fight over drapes and clinic politics.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Friday, Mar. 25 - Lady in the Death House

Lady in the Death House (1944)

A young woman is on death row for the murder of a man who was blackmailing her family, although she claims she was framed. Her fiance, a doctor who is conducting experiments on reviving the dead, also happens to be the state's executioner, and is assigned to pull the switch when she is strapped into the electric chair. A famous criminologist, believing her to be innocent, rushes to investigate the case and clear her before her execution date

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wednesday, Mar. 23 - Crack-Up

Crack-Up (1946)

George Steele, art curator at a small museum, has an apparent mental breakdown one night, convinced he was in a train wreck...which never happened. In flashback, shortly after proposing to x-ray some old master paintings the museum has on loan, Steele is called on an unplanned nocturnal train trip. He suddenly sees another train ahead, speeding toward his... Is George indeed cracking up, or is there a plot to discredit him? The mystery grows murky with shadowy menace...

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Tuesday, Mar. 22 - The Juggler

The Juggler (1953)

After being incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, a Jewish vaudevillian-juggler emigrates to Israel in hopes of beginning and making a new life. He is neurotic about authority and confinement, from his experiences in the Nazi death camps, and is quick to anger. When asked by an Israeli policeman for his identification papers, he smashes the police officer in the face. Thinking he has killed the man, he flees across the country, meets and falls in love with a young girl, and teachers a young orphan boy to juggle while searching for peace of mind.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Monday, Mar. 21 - The Thirteenth Day of Christmas

The Thirteenth Day of Christmas (TV 1985)

A Christmas time card game get together with old friends takes on murderous intent for Gilbert and Evelyn Smith when their mentally ill son Richard becomes fixated by the idea that his real father was killed and replaced by Gilbert.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Sunday, Mar. 20 - Freud

Freud (1962)

This pseudo-biographical movie depicts 5 years from 1885 on in the life of the Viennan psychologist Freud (1856-1939). At this time, most of his colleagues refuse to cure hysteric patients, because they believe they're just simulating to gain attention. But Freud learns to use hypnosis to find out the reasons for the psychosis. His main patient is a young woman who refuses to drink water and is plagued by always the same nightmare.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Saturday, Mar. 19 - The League of Gentlemen

The League of Gentlemen (1960)

Involuntarily-retired Colonel Hyde recruits seven other dissatisfied ex-servicemen for a special project. Each of the men has a skeleton in the cupboard, is short of money, and is a service-trained expert in his field. The job is a bank robbery, and military discipline and planning are imposed by Hyde and second-in-command Race on the team, although civilian irritations do start getting in the way.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Wednesday, Mar. 16 & Thursday, Mar. 17 - Marty

Marty (1955)

Marty is a 34-year-old butcher whose Italian family is constantly after him to get married. He meets plain-looking schoolteacher Clara. They are both lonely, unglamorous people who have resigned themselves to their unloved lives. But they manage, in time, to grope their way to love.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tuesday, Mar. 15 - This Lightning Always Strikes Twice

This Lightning Always Strikes Twice (TV 1985)

A murder has occurred at the country home of Sir Daniel and Lady Barbara Penwarden, and the prime suspect is the new tutor to the couple's daughter. A murder mystery with many twists and turns and dark family secrets to keep the armchair sleuth guessing.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Sunday, Mar. 13 - 10 Rillington Place

10 Rillington Place (1971)

London, 1949. John Christie is an unassuming, middle aged man who, along with his wife Ethel, manages the apartment building at 10 Rillington Place. His unassuming demeanor masks the fact of being a serial killer. His modus operandi is to act as a person with a medical background, lure unsuspecting women to his apartment on the pretense of curing them of some ailment, knock them unconscious with carbon monoxide gas, gain his sexual release through contact with the unconscious body, then strangle the victim dead before disposing of the body usually by burying it in his back yard. His next intended target is Beryl Evans, a young woman who has just moved into a flat in his building. Beryl's husband, Tim Evans, is an illiterate man who likes to put on airs. Already with an infant daughter named Geraldine, the Evanses learn they are going to have another baby, which they cannot afford to have, nor can they afford to abort the pregnancy. This problem, on top of the constant issue of lack of money in all aspects of their lives, places a strain on the marriage, of which all their neighbors are aware through the constant fighting they overhear. Christie will offer to perform the abortion for free. The difference with this intended murder is that Tim will be aware that his wife will have died, but Christie plans either to goad Tim into keeping silent since the abortion would have been illegal, an act to which Tim would have provided his consent, or pin the murder on Tim who would have motive. Will this change in modus operandi affect Christie's ability to kill Beryl, or kill her without detection?

Friday, March 11, 2011

Wednesday, Mar. 9 & Thursday, Mar. 10 - Horror Express

Horror Express (1972)

In 1906, in China, Professor Alexander Saxton discovers an ancient frozen fossil in the remote Province of Szechuan. He brings the remains of the being in a box to Shanghai and boards a trans-Siberian train, where he meets his acquaintance Dr. Wells. During the trip, a life force trapped in the frozen creature is released, killing and stealing the memories of the passengers.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Tuesday, Mar. 8 - Mister Clay, Mister Clay

Mister Clay, Mister Clay (TV 1985)

Mr Clay, a teacher at an all boys prep school is unable to control his particularly unruly class of pupil, when one of them is later found dead the evidence seems to point to Clay as being the killer, but what about fellow teacher Max Donaldson who seems just too good to be true.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Monday, Mar. 7 - The Murders at Lynch Cross

The Murders at Lynch Cross (TV 1985)

A snowstorm traps the guests, proprietors and servants at the newly opened Lynch Cross Moorland Hotel in Yorkshire. Gradually, everyone realizes that a common thread--involving an old crime--links them, and new murders ensue.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Sunday, Mar. 6 - Two Men in Town

Two Men in Town (1973)
(Deux hommes dans la ville)

A former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed by an old cop from his past.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Friday, Mar. 4 - New Orleans Uncensored

New Orleans Uncensored (1955)

On the New Orleans shipping docks, an open hiring call for workers dissolves into a free-for-all fistfight led by representatives of racketeer Zero Saxon, who intends to stifle outside competition for the men. When ex-naval officer Dan Corbett arrives at the docks looking for work, he is put off by the brawl, and goes instead to a shipyard, where he negotiates the purchase of a surplus LSM craft, with which he plans to use to start his own shipping business.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Thursday, Mar. 3 - Bright Smiler

Bright Smiler (TV 1985)

Avon Eve, a successful writer for films and television, checks into a spa for a week of rest and relaxation. There, she is assigned a masseuse, Sonja, who the director of the spa calls the Smiler for her constantly pleasant and smiling disposition. Sonia has heard of Avon and is particularly enchanted by one of her works for television - one that Avon thinks is quite dreadful. As they spend more time together, Sonja begins to remember a failed love affair with Sir Jonathan Sibley who claimed to have loved her but refused to marry. When her old love arrives at the spa with his wife - and fails to even recognize Sonja - she becomes unhinged and plays a terrifying game of Russian roulette.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Wednesday, Mar. 2 - No Time for Sergeants (TV)

No Time for Sergeants
(The United States Steel Hour - TV 1955)

Will Stockdale is a country bumpkin drafted into the Air Force and too dumb to realize he's driving everyone around him crazy -- no one more than Sgt. King. At first King thinks he's found the perfect boob to do all the dirty work around the barracks. After all, Will actually enjoys cleaning the latrines. But the sergeant is in a heap of trouble when Will innocently tells the captain that King plans to keep him from getting classified. Now King will do anything to get rid of his perfect boob. But getting rid of him will prove more difficult than keeping him around.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Tuesday, Mar. 1 - Patterns (TV)

Patterns
Kraft Theatre (TV series 1947–1958)

Directed by Fielder Cook, the intense big-business drama starred Richard Kiley as up-and-coming vice-president Fred Staples. Ruthless corporate boss Walter Ramsey (Everett Sloane) attempts to edge out aging employee Andy Sloane (Ed Begley) to make room for newcomer Staples. Ramsey uses every opportunity to humiliate the fragile Sloane, while Staples sees Sloane as a professional who makes valuable contributions to the firm.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Monday, Feb. 28 - The Great McGinty

The Great McGinty (1940)

Told in flashback, Depression-era bum Dan McGinty is recruited by the city's political machine to help with vote fraud. His great aptitude for this brings rapid promotion from "the boss," who finally decides he'd be ideal as a new, nominally "reform" mayor; but this candidacy requires marriage. His in-name-only marriage to honest Catherine proves the beginning of the end for dishonest Dan...