Thursday, May 31, 2018

Wednesday, May 30 - The Twilight Zone: The Little People

The Twilight Zone (1959–1964): The Little People (Season 3 | Episode 28 - aired 30 March 1962)

When a spacecraft makes an emergency landing on an unknown planet the commander, William Fletcher, is anxious to get underway again as soon as possible. Not so for his navigator, Peter Craig, who is insubordinate and is fed up taking orders all of the time. While Fletcher makes repairs to the ship Craig explores the area around them and is astonished to find that there are living beings there only a fraction of the size of humans. Soon, he is being recognized by them as a god and refuses to leave when the ship is ready. He is to realize that one's place in the universe is a relative thing.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Tuesday, May 29 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Creeper

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962): The Creeper (Season 1 | Episode 38 - aired 17 June 1956)

Ellen and Steve live in a New York neighborhood that is being terrorized by a strangler known only as the Creeper. When Steve leaves on a business trip, Ellen becomes increasingly paranoid - especially after her neighbour is murdered and her house keys disappear.

A frightened housewife is alone in her apartment building when she begins to suspect just about anyone could be the unknown killer who has been strangling women.

The storyline written by Chocklit is wrong. The husband is not on a business trip, he works the night shift. And the woman does not find her keys missing.

What I like best is the episode throws legitimate suspicion on 3-4 characters. What I like next best is that the husband has a beer at the bar before going in to work the night shift.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Monday, May 28 - Terror in the Haunted House

My World Dies Screaming (1958)

American-born Sheila Wayne has lived in Switzerland since childhood. Now newly married, she has a recurring nightmare about an ominous old house she can't recall having seen in waking life. Returning with husband Philip to Florida, they go to live at a country house...the house in her dream. Mysterious events multiply; who is responsible and why? Who is crazy? The answer is rooted in dark days of the past.

Monday, May 28, 2018

Sunday, May 27 - The Bride Walks Out

The Bride Walks Out (1936)

Carolyn (Barbara Stanwyck) reluctantly gives up her lucrative career as a fashion model to marry engineer Michael (Gene Raymond), but their marriage gets off to a rocky start thanks to Michael's bad temper and their increasingly dire financial straits. As she pines for her old job, wealthy alcoholic playboy Hugh (Robert Young) helps the newlyweds financially out of unrequited love for the beautiful Carolyn, creating an even deeper strain on the foundering marriage.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Saturday, May 26 - The Bride Comes Home

The Bride Comes Home (1935)

Bored with Chicago high society, Jeanette Desmereau is anxious to go to work when her father Alfred tells her that as a result of the Depression, they are broke. At the same time, Jeanette's lifelong friend, Jack Bristow, inherits three million dollars and starts a magazine called The Man with his bodyguard, Cyrus Anderson, as editor.

Cy, a tough, hot-tempered man, has designed the magazine to cater to the self-made man and greatly dislikes those who inherit their wealth. Thus, when Jeanette comes to Jack for work and he makes her Cy's assistant editor, Cy refuses to take her seriously. They quarrel constantly until she finally tells him, against her father's wishes, that she is broke. Cy apologizes, but Jeanette remains angry at him, until one night they discover they are in love.

Jack, meanwhile, has moved into Cy's apartment in order to experience life among the working class. He repeatedly proposes to Jeanette, whom he has loved "ever since he could write her name on a fence," but one afternoon she and Cy decide to marry after work. Jeanette goes to Cy's apartment and finds Jack packing. He warns her against Cy's annoying habits and proposes again, but she rejects him. After work, Cy arrives with a judge and finds that Jeanette has cleaned the whole apartment for her "wedding" and has thrown away his important papers. After Jeanette refuses to marry without cleaning up, they quarrel and finally decide not to marry because they always fight.

Later, Jeanette, miserable, comes to pick up her bag and finds Jack, as always easy to get along with and still willing to marry her. She accepts and they leave to elope at Crown Point. Cy, meanwhile, visits the Desmereau home, where Alfred explains that his wife was a "fire eater" like Jeanette and confesses they fought constantly for years and loved it. Jeanette then calls while en route to Crown Point to tell her father she is marrying Jack, and Cy and Alfred race on a motorcycle to stop the elopement. Fortunately, the wedding ceremony is delayed because Jeanette quarrels with the justice of the peace. Cy arrives in time to have one last argument with Jeanette before they marry.

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Friday, May 25 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Decoy

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962): Decoy (Season 1 | Episode 37 - aired 10 June 1956)

Secretly in love with a married singer, Gil Larkin learns that she is being abused by her husband. Confronting the man in his office, Gil is knocked unconscious, only to awaken and learn he's being framed for the husband's murder - and must now discover who is really behind the crime.

Friday, May 25, 2018

Thursday, May 24 - Mr. Lucky: The Leadville Kid Gang

Mr. Lucky (1959–1960): The Leadville Kid Gang (Season 1 | Episode 14 - aired 23 January 1960)

Turn-of-the-century train robbers become ship robbers when they visit the Fortuna II. Mr. Lucky and Andamo track them down despite the interference of present-day thieves.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Wednesday, May 23 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Mink

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962): Mink (Season 1 | Episode 36 - aired 3 June 1956)

Paula Hudson has a stolen mink coat she tells police she purchased on a recommendation, and when they retrace her steps to find out how she obtained it, everyone denies they ever talked to her about it.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Tuesday, May 22 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Crooked Man

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1985): The Crooked Man (Season 1 | Episode 5 - aired 22 May 1984)

Egged on by his friend Dr. Watson, Holmes agrees to investigate the murder of Col. James Barclay who rose from the ranks to command his Regiment. After returning home from her monthly evening out helping the poor, the dead man's wife Nancy had a flaming row with her husband. After hearing a scream, the servants try to enter the room only to find locked from the inside. When they do manage to enter, they find the Colonel dead from what appears to be a blow to the head and Nancy in a feint (faint, surely?). Holmes learns that at her charity work, she had reacted in shock when she approached a new arrival, an old man with a bent back and crooked legs.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Monday, May 21 - The Twilight Zone: Person or Persons Unknown

The Twilight Zone (1959–1964): Person or Persons Unknown (Season 3 | Episode 27 - aired 23 March 1962)

David Gurney awakens on his bed fully clothed and realizes he's late for work. He and his wife Wilma had a few drinks the night before and she is sound asleep. When he can't find his razor he wakes her but she says he doesn't know who he is and demands he leave her house. His clothes are nowhere to be found and so heads off to work. He knows everyone there but like his wife, none of his co-workers have any idea who he is. He's desperate to find one piece of his identity to prove who he is. When all finally seems resolved, he faces another shock.

Monday, May 21, 2018

Sunday, May 20 - Topaze

Topaze (1933)

Professor Auguste A. Topaze (John Barrymore) is a simple, naïve schoolteacher with a good name and an impeccable reputation. When the wealthy and corrupt Baron Philippe de La Tour-La Tour (Reginald Mason) and his mistress, Coco (Myrna Loy), take advantage of the professor's good nature in a fraudulent business scheme, Topaze learns a harsh lesson on the consequences that exist outside the world of academia. He soon finds his sense of ethics and honesty being pushed to the limit.

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Saturday, May 19 - One, Two, Three

One, Two, Three (1961)

In his last starring film, James Cagney plays Coca-Cola executive C.R. MacNamara. Assigned to manage Coke's West Berlin office, MacNamara dreams of being transferred to London, and to do this he must curry favor with his Atlanta-based boss, Hazeltine Thus, MacNamara agrees to look after Hazeltine's dizzy, impulsive daughter, Scarlett, during her visit to Germany. Weeks pass, and on the eve of Hazeltine's visit to West Berlin, Scarlett announces that she's gotten married. Even worse, her husband is a hygienically challenged East Berlin Communist named Otto Piffl. The crafty MacNamara arranges for Piffl to be arrested by the East Berlin police and to have the marriage annulled, only to discover that Scarlett is pregnant. In rapid-fire "one, two, three" fashion, MacNamara must arrange for Piffl to be released by the Communists and successfully pass off the scrungy, doggedly anti-capitalist Piffl as an acceptable husband for Scarlett. MacNamara must accomplish this in less than 12 hours, all the while trying to mollify his wife, who has learned of his affair with busty secretary Ingeborg.

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Friday, May 18 - The Twilight Zone: The Obsolete Man

The Twilight Zone (1959–1964): The Obsolete Man (Season 2 | Episode 29 - aired 2 June 1961)

In a futuristic totalitarian world, meek and mild-mannered librarian Romney Wordsworth finds himself on trial for being obsolete. This future society has decided on everything people need to know. There is no God and there are no books. Society doesn't need librarians. Romney makes an impassioned plea about his rights and free will but the judge in the case, the Chancellor, will have nothing of it. The jury finds Romney obsolete and orders him to be executed. As he can choose the method of his death, Romney's plans include a little surprise for the Chancellor.

Friday, May 18, 2018

Thursday, May 17 - Mr. Lucky: The Two Million Dollar Window

Mr. Lucky (1959–1960): The Two Million Dollar Window (Season 1 | Episode 13 - aired 16 January 1960)

A horse racetrack is robbed and some of the money with known serial numbers ends up on the Fortuna II. When Mr. Lucky and Andamo are jailed for suspicion of being part of the heist team, the gang tries to use the ship as a drop to smuggle the money out of the country.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Wednesday, May 16 - The Twilight Zone: The Rip Van Winkle Caper

The Twilight Zone (1959–1964): The Rip Van Winkle Caper (Season 2 | Episode 24 - aired 21 April 1961)

Four thieves steal $1 million in gold bullion in a train robbery and hide the money in a mountainside cave. The four plan to go into suspended animation for approximately 100 years when they hope to awaken as extremely rich men with their heist long forgotten. When they awaken, they're not quite sure what year it is. One of them, De Cruz, has his eye on getting as much of the gold for himself as he possibly can. The world they have awakened in isn't exactly what they had hoped for.

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Tuesday, May 15 - Topper: Henrietta Sells the House

Topper (1953–1955): Henrietta Sells the House (Season 1 | Episode 27 - aired 9 April 1954)

Henrietta decides she going to sell the house without informing Cosmo first. She gets a buyer and has the house sold before Cosmo can stop her. George and Marion are very upset with Topper because they feel he wants to leave. They soon realize that Topper does not want to move. They make the new buyer think the house is haunted. He decides not to buy the house and of course it ends happily with Topper staying at the house.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Monday, May 14 - Topper: George's Old Flame

Topper (1953–1955): George's Old Flame (Season 1 | Episode 39 - aired 2 July 1954)

Topper tries to help his god-daughter Ellen get her aunt's permission to marry a movie star. The problem is, Ellen and George were once madly in love (that's his story, anyway).

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Saturday, May 12 - She Freak

She Freak (1967)

Jade is a diner waitress who wants success at any price, so she joins a traveling carnival. Before long, Jade is married to the sideshow owner and having an affair with a Ferris-wheel operator. Jade likes the money (her husband's money) but hates the carnival freaks.

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Friday, May 11 - The Twilight Zone: A Hundred Yards Over the Rim

The Twilight Zone (1959–1964): A Hundred Yards Over the Rim (Season 2 | Episode 23 - aired 7 April 1961)

Christian Horn is member of an 1847 wagon train headed west. They are 1500 miles from St. Louis and are now in the New Mexico desert. Many in the wagon train are ready to turn back but Chris wants everyone to persevere. His son has had a fever for 11 days now and Chris goes off looking for water, only 100 yards or so from the others and suddenly finds himself in the present day. He can't quite bring himself to believe what he sees or where he is but those he meets believe he's a man from the past. The trip in time does have one positive outcome.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Thursday, May 10 - Devil Bat's Daughter

Devil Bat's Daughter (1946)

Wishing to dispose of his wife, psychiatrist Doctor Elliott makes his patient Nina think that she suffers from a compulsion to kill. He drugs Nina, murders his wife and leaves evidence that points to Nina. The latter, pre-conditioned by Elliott, also thinks she is guilty.

Nina is the daughter of the notorious Dr. Paul Carruthers, the crazed scientist who allegedly created a species of giant killer bats. Nina has been plagued with terrifying recurring nightmares and decides to see a psychiatrist. However, the man uses her psychosis for his own evil ends.

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Wednesday, May 9 - Bolero & Maigret: Maigret on Trial

Bolero (1934)

This is the story of an egotistical nightclub dance performer named Raoul, his determination to succeed at all costs, and the only woman in his life that truly matters to him, a dancing partner named Helen. (The highlight of the film is a dance performed atop a circular stage to a truncated version of Ravel's "Bolero.")

Maigret (1991–2005): Maigret se défend (Season 1 | Episode 8 - aired 7 May 1993)

Inspector Maigret is accused of taking advantage of the teenage daughter of a prominent public official by getting her drunk in a bar.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Tuesday, May 8 - Wallander: Den svaga punkten (The Tricksters) & Making 'Em Move (parts 1-4)

Wallander (2005–2013): Den svaga punkten (Season 1 | Episode 7 - aired 29 December 2006)

A horse breeder is found dead, and almost everything proves that he is been kicked by his horse. But the post-mortem shows the opposite, the horse breeder had been hit to death and that is a case for Kurt Wallander. The neighbors confirms that he lived alone, but he had visits from a mysterious woman several times. An amazing thing on the farm shows a hole new side of the horse feeder and somewhere, in the beautiful state of Skåne, there's a dark world that didn't want to see the daylight.

Two girls coming to ride horses find a man brutally murdered. Wallander gets the case and finds that this guy has been bilking gullible women for a long time. The police find themselves delving into the world of bondage and explore the implications of this.

Making 'Em Move

Rare behind the scenes footage of vintage animation studios.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Monday, May 7 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Solitary Cyclist

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1985): The Solitary Cyclist (Season 1 | Episode 4 - aired 15 May 1984)

Holmes is approached by Miss Violet Smith with a most peculiar problem. She has recently accepted a position with Mr. Carruthers as a music teacher for his 10 year old daughter. On Saturdays, she returns to her home to he with her mother and returns to Chilton Grange Manor on Mondays. She cycles the several miles to the train station and recently she has noticed a man, also on a bicycle, following her. He is quite blatantly there, stopping when she stops and always keeping the same distance from her but making no attempt to to hide his presence. She is worried at least in part because she recently rejected the advances of a Mr. Woodley who became upset and violent at the rejection. As Holmes soon deduces, she has good reason to be fearful, though not necessarily from the cyclist.

Monday, May 7, 2018

Sunday, May 6 - Splendor

Splendor (1935)

The once-great Lorrimore family faces bankruptcy unless older son Brighton marries wealthy Edith Gilbert. When Brighton instead returns from a trip with his new wife Phyllis, she receives a cool reception from his family. Phyllis wants Brighton to pursue his dream of being a writer, but Mrs. Lorrimore sees to it that he gets a high-pressure job that he's totally incapable of handling. She also arranges for Phyllis to spend a lot of time (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) with Brighton's boss in order to advance Brighton's career.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Saturday, May 5 - The Maze

The Maze (1953)

A Scotsman named Gerald MacTeam (Richard Carlson) abruptly breaks off his engagement to pretty Kitty (Veronica Hurst) after receiving word of his uncle's death. He inherits a mysterious castle in the Scottish highlands and moves there to live with the castle servants. Kitty refuses to accept the broken engagement and travels with her aunt (Katherine Emery) to the castle. When they arrive, they discover that Gerald has suddenly aged and his manner has changed significantly.

After a series of mysterious events occur in both the castle and the hedge maze outside, they invite a group of friends, including a doctor, to the castle in the hopes that they can help Gerald with whatever ails him. Although the friends are equally concerned by Gerald's behavior, they are at a loss to its cause. One night, Kitty and her aunt steal a key to their bedroom door (which is always locked from the outside) and sneak out into the mysterious maze. There they discover Gerald and his servants...

But I am sworn to secrecy and cannot reveal the shocking ending!

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Friday, May 4 - The Twilight Zone: Long Distance Call

The Twilight Zone (1959–1964): Long Distance Call (Season 2 | Episode 22 - aired 31 March 1961)

Billy Bayles loves his Grandma Bayles and likes the present she's given him, a toy telephone which she says will allow them to communicate forever. Grandma Bayles is ill however and soon dies but Billy claims he can speak to her on their special telephone. When he tells his parents that she wants him to join her, wherever she's gone to, they pay no mind. When he throws himself in front of their neighbor's car however, it all gets deadly serious.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Thursday, May 3 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Naval Treaty

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1985): The Naval Treaty (Season 1 | Episode 3 - aired 8 May 1984)

An unknown thief steals an important naval treaty from the office of Mr. Percy Phelps, a Foreign Office clerk. Phelps's distress gives him a brain fever that lasts for nine weeks. As he begins to recover, he writes to his old schoolmate, Dr. Watson, begging him to invite Sherlock Holmes to investigate the matter and find the treaty. Otherwise, his honor and happiness are gone forever. Holmes takes up the case with zest, but gives Phelps no false hopes. The mystery is as dark and tangled as any he has known.

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Wednesday, May 2 - Topper: Topper Goes to Las Vegas

Topper (1953–1955): Topper Goes to Las Vegas (Season 1 | Episode 29 - aired 23 April 1954)

Topper is to go on a short trip with Henrietta sailing. The trip gets stopped because he needs for business reasons to go make a bid for a client on a hotel in Las Vegas. He takes Henrietta, George & Marion with him to Las Vegas. Marion and George teach Topper to gamble. They help Topper win a lot of money at the craps table. Topper is about to get arrested because security is sure he is cheating. He has not lost once at the craps table. Evident turn quickly from bad to good. Topper's client now owns the Hotel. Topper now is in charge of making decisions for the hotel. He claims he busted the bank to test their security systems. He tells them they have a wonderful security department and puts the head of security in charge of the hotel.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Tuesday, May 1 - The Twilight Zone: The Prime Mover

The Twilight Zone (1959–1964): The Prime Mover (Season 2 | Episode 21 - aired 24 March 1961)

Ace Larson owns a roadside diner. It's a dreary existence for him, his girlfriend Kitty Cavanaugh, and his friend and employee Jimbo Cobb. Through a serious accident just outside his diner, Ace learns for the first time that Jimbo has telekinetic powers. Ace the gambler sees an easy way to make his fortune, and the three of them set off for Las Vegas. Jimbo has little trouble making roulette balls fall on the right number or making any point with a pair of dice. Ace learns the hard way, however, that there can be too much of a good thing.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Monday, April 30 - Route 66: You Can't Pick Cotton in Tahiti

Route 66 (1960–1964): You Can't Pick Cotton in Tahiti (Season 3 | Episode 16 - aired 11 January 1963)

Tod is working at a cotton mill in the small town of Lake Chisholm, Tennessee while he waits for Buz, still in hospital in Cleveland. He has been befriended by Skeeter, a co-worker, and his girlfriend of nineteen years, Elva Dupree. Skeeter and Elva are like most people in the town, born and raised in town, not knowing of any other life than what happens in town. One day, a middle aged man wearing a tuxedo steps off the bus, only looking to buy a pair of shoes to replace his ruined ones. On a whim, he decides to stay, at least for the three days until the next bus rolls through town. They will learn his name is Julian Roebuck from Hollywood. Part of his enchantment is sensing an opportunity to learn about the southern culture, important to him as an artist, especially the local folk music. Another part of the enchantment is Elva. In return, Elva, who offers him a room in her parents' house, is immediately smitten with him, believing she has fallen in love. Tod ends up being caught in the middle of what is happening. He can understand Julian's need to stay to create something of meaning to him - his folk opera - but Julian, by his sheer presence here which to some like Skeeter seems to be mocking their way of life, makes them see Tod too as an outsider. Julian has to decide how important this work is to him and how far he will go to achieve it, which, if he goes too far, may end up ruining Elva's life, like the path of destruction he has left in his wake so far, such as was the case in Hollywood.