#sydney greenstreet
Veterans Day is Thursday, Nov. 11 and TCM has a great 24 hours of movies on the schedule.
The daytime lineup features films made by old Hollywood actors and directors who served in the military. The most bang for your buck is in the action film The Dirty Dozen (1967) at 3:30 pm ET/12:30 pm PT, which features a whopping eight World War II veterans, including Lee Marvin (Marines), Charles Bronson (Army Air Corps), and Ernest Borgnine (a veteran of both the U.S. Navy and McHale’s Navy).
The primetime lineup is equally good starting with director William Wyler’s masterpiece The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT, which is still the best film ever made about the effects of combat on those who served and on their loved ones. The late night lineup includes Gary Cooper’s Oscar-winning performance in Sergeant York (1941) at 1 am ET/10 pm PT.
Here’s the best of the rest for the week of Nov. 8:
1. The Band Wagon (1953) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Monday, Nov. 8: The early ‘50s were the golden age of old Hollywood musicals with literally dozens of all-time classics made within the space of four or five years. There’s lots and lots of great dance numbers to choose from, but the cream of the crop (at least in our book) is Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in “The Girl Hunt Ballet” in this wonderful backstage musical.
2. Bulldog Drummond marathon on Wednesday, Nov. 10: There’s nothing quite like a good classic-movie detective series to relax with on a cold autumn day. TCM is airing several Bulldog Drummond films on Wednesday starting at 8 am ET/5 am PT with The Return of Bulldog Drummond (1934) starring Sir Ralph Richardson as detective.
3. Flamingo Road (1949) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Wednesday, Nov. 10: This Southern-fried noir about a woman (Joan Crawford) who fights corruption in a small Florida town is one of our favorite guilty pleasures. Joanie’s battle with star-of-the-month Sydney Greenstreet (he Boss Hoggs it up as a small-town sheriff) is EPIC.
4. The French Connection (1971) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Saturday, Nov. 13: TCM is celebrating the 50th anniversary of this fantastic police procedural with a special airing on Saturday night. The French Connection is both an excellent flick for a night on the couch and one of the best auteur-driven films of the '70s.
BTW, It’s not old Hollywood, but Tuesday night’s lineup of Australian New Wave movies is beyond excellent. The lineup starts with Walkabout (1971) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.
TCM’s star-of-the-month for November is Sydney Greenstreet. TCM will be showing the rotund character actor’s films each Wednesday in November starting with The Maltese Falcon (1941) at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Nov. 3.
Greenstreet, who was a well-respected theater actor, made his film debut at age 61 as Kasper “The Fat Man” Gutman in director John Huston’s 1941 version of Dashiell Hammett’s detective novel. Greenstreet’s menacing giggle and air of casual cruelty makes him the perfect choice to play Gutman, but, behind the scenes, he was reportedly terrified, tearfully imploring costar Mary Astor to hold his hand.
Greenstreet later said, “Pictures are much harder to do than theater. . .you can get wonderful cooperation out of the lens [camera] if you are true, but God help you if you are not.”
