TCM Schedule for Tuesday, March 9th: TCM Spotlight: Akira Kurosawa's 100th Birthday

[CBHagman]

Up for this Tuesday: tales of sisters, then an array of films by the legendary Kurosawa. March comes in like a lion!

On edit: The Kurosawa birthday tribute lasts the entire month of March, not merely one day. He was actually born on the 23rd, not the 9th.

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

1:15 AM Confessions Of A Nazi Spy (1939)
An FBI agent risks his life to infiltrate Nazi sympathizers in the U.S. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Paul Lukas, George Sanders. Dir: Anatole Litvak. BW-104 mins, TV-PG, CC

3:15 AM Brothers Warner, The (2008)
Four brothers pioneer in film distribution then build one of Hollywood's greatest studios. Cast: Dennis Hopper, Sherry Lansing, Debbie Reynolds. Dir: Cass Warner Sperling. BW-94 mins, , CC, Letterbox Format

5:00 AM Casablanca (1942)
An American saloon owner in North Africa is drawn into World War II when his lost love turns up. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid. Dir: Michael Curtiz. BW-103 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS



6:45 AM And One Was Beautiful (1940)
Two sisters vie for the same dashing young man. Cast: Robert Cummings, Laraine Day, Billie Burke. Dir: Robert B. Sinclair. BW-70 mins, TV-G, CC

8:00 AM Sisters, The (1938)
Three western girls make unhappy marriages at the turn of the century. Cast: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Anita Louise. Dir: Anatole Litvak. BW-99 mins, TV-PG, CC

9:45 AM Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family. Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor. Dir: Vincente Minnelli. C-113 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS



11:45 AM Little Women (1949)
The four daughters of a New England family fight for happiness during and after the Civil War. Cast: June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Lawford. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. C-122 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

2:00 PM My Sister Eileen (1955)
Two sisters from Ohio, one pretty, one witty, plot to take New York City by storm. Cast: Betty Garrett, Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon. Dir: Richard Quine. C-107 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format

4:00 PM Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer, The (1947)
A teenage girl's crush on a playboy spells trouble, particularly when he falls for her older sister. Cast: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple. Dir: Irving Reis. BW-95 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ke2jlzUOhk0/SC9CFvgjU2I/AAAAAAAAAQE/63ku0ho6XIU/s400/Poster%2520-%2520Bachelor%2520and%2520the%2520Bobby-Soxer,%2520The_02%5B1%5D.jpg

5:45 PM Parent Trap, The (1961)
Twins separated by divorce plot to bring their parents back together. Cast: Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith. Dir: David Swift. C-129 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format



What's On Tonight: TCM SPOTLIGHT: AKIRA KUROSAWA'S 100TH BIRTHDAY

8:00 PM Ikiru (1952)
A dying man devotes his last months to building a children's playground. Cast: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Kyoko Sieki. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-143 mins, TV-14



10:30 PM Throne of Blood (1957)
Spurred by his wife and a witch's prediction, a samurai murders his lord to steal the throne. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-110 mins, TV-14



12:30 AM Hidden Fortress, The (1958)
In medieval Japan, a samurai fights to sav a feudal lord's daughter from bandits. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Ninoru Chiaki. Dir: Toshiro Mifune. BW-139 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format



3:00 AM Hakuchi (1951)
A former mental patient's romantic involvements lead to tragedy. Cast: Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Toshiro Mifune. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-166 mins, TV-PG

[Matilda]

1. We just don't get lineups like this any more.

We used to, on our multicultural channel, SBS. Wonderful European films, especially from Germany (and some amazing
television series too, such as the "Heimat" series), and also a lot of Japanese and Chinese films that I normally
wouldn't have seen.

Then came John Howard.

He didn't believe Australia should be multicultural - we are a British colony - so he cut their funding, appointed
a conservative board of directors and told them to raise their own money. So SBS went commercial, selling
advertising space and running largely second-rate British and American series (they couldn't afford the top ranking
material). And SBS went from being one of the channels I watched at some time every week, to one that I turn to
about once every six months. Even when they run a film I'd like to see, I prefer not to watch because I can't bear
to watch movies with ad breaks.

And I doubt the Foxtel programmers have ever heard of Kurosawa ...

[CBHagman]

2. John Howard should have been American.

The right wing in the United States has long had its collective knickers in a twist over cultural spending of any kind and detests public broadcasting as too left-wing...yet that's precisely where the bulk of classical music, educational programming, etc., winds up, while the RW is snuggling up to Rupert Murdoch.

As for cable, which I don't subscribe to any more (the prices doubled over a decade), Turner Classic Movies is one of the few networks that lives up to the promise of the whole concept -- no advertising except things directly related to TCM, and lots of variety -- shorts, foreign films, silent movies, etc.