Whenever bad news hits, as with the sad events in Aurora last week, I tend to overdo reading the coverage. In an effort to distract myself, I was flipping aimlessly through my Twitter account, and was delighted to find the answers to a question I'd asked my followers a couple of months ago. It was:
If you were a TCM guest programmer, which movies would you pick?
I loved the responses I got. This was partly because the choices were so diverse, but also because hardly anyone picked the same movie twice. It only happened three times: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). No one picked the same flick more than two times.
Check out the list, in all its unedited beauty:
Todd @Kinetograph
The Night of the Hunter, I Know Where I'm Going, Angels With Dirty Faces, The Last Laugh, Fétiche
Maureen Nolan @missmccrocodile
Contraband '40, Gaslight '40, Dawn Patrol '38, Broken Blossoms '19, Battling Butler '26.
Meredith Riggs @MeredithRiggs39
Meet Me in St. Louis, 42nd Street, The Philadelphia Story, Platinum Blonde, and Animal Crackers
John DeCarli @filmcapsule
Anything Michael Powell: THE RED SHOES, COLONEL BLIMP and older films like EDGE OF THE WORLD.
Dave Mutert @dmmutert
Sherlock Jr. ('24), The Power and the Glory ('33), Decoy ('46), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir ('47), Odd Man Out ('47)
Evangeline Holland @edwardian_era
Easy Living, Stella Dallas, Libeled Lady, and Peter Ibbotson.
scott stevens @scott219a
White Heat, King Kong, Angels with Dirty Faces, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Hells Kitchen
Simoa @Princess_Merida
The Third Man, Spellbound, and A Letter to Three Wives.
Mike Tennyson @M10247
Let's try The Boys from Brazil, The Stepford Wives, and Rosemary's Baby.
Jessica Pickens @HollywoodComet
Since You Went Away or Betty Grable or Alice Faye movies, Date with Judy
Terry Towles Canote @mercurie80
The Seven Samurai, The President's Analyst, and The Wicked Lady
Dee Griffiths @berkobabe
The Searchers, Barry Lyndon, The Godfather, Casablanca
Christine Brun @classicfilmbuf
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Now, Voyager, Mildred Pierce and Roman Holiday.
David Neary @DeusExCinema
Network. Princess Mononoke. Wages of Fear. Sweet Smell of Success. Wings of Desire.
Lê ^_^ @startspreading
The public enemy (1931), A star is born (1937), On the town (1949), Sunset boulevard (1951)
Irish @WhileTurning
The Quiet Man,The Enchanted Cottage, Ghost and Mrs Muir, Love Affair-Dunne Boyer, The Whales of August,Miracle on 34th St
kim dunn @kmjdu
The Guardsman....Woman Chases Man....Bringing Up Baby....Mary Poppins.
james @jamestheluddite
"Street Scene" (1931) "Meet Me in St Louis" (1944) "Picnic" (1955)
Jess Thomson @jessthomsonnn
That Hamilton Woman, Rear Window and The Thin Man.
Raquel @TheRedan3553
The Crowd, Last Holiday, Brief Encounter
Shannon O'Toole @holyunderwear92
I would choose The Cameraman, It Happened One Night and the Producers, from 1968. Tough question though. :)
Tobias Fearnside @Tobias1970
'Kind Hearts & Coronets', 'The Pawnbroker', 'The Bride of Frankenstein', 'Cool Hand Luke' & 'A Matter of Life & Death'...
Ryan @sheaciti
Duck Soup (1933), It's A Gift (1934), The Errand Boy (1961), Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962).
@StevieGauthier
Any @hammerfilms from the 50's.
Aren't they great choices? I thought I would go with My Man Godfrey (1936), Notorious (1946), All About Eve (1950) and Red Dust (1932). Then I changed my mind a few times, but ended up thinking these would still be the best, because I love talking about them so much. What movies would you choose?
KC, if by some delightful twist of fate I could be a guest TCM programmer for an evening (maybe if/when my novel is published and someone makes it into a movie :-)), I'd want to schedule a blend of classic suspense movies combining both suspense and humor (even if that meant gallows humor)! I can easily imagine myself doing nothing but Hitchcock, but if, say, I was limited to seven of my favorites for an evening from primetime to sun-up, here's what I'd pick:
ReplyDeleteNORTH BY NORTHWEST
CHARADE
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
ARABESQUE
MIRAGE
MARATHON MAN
THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (to start the morning with :-))
you picked a great batch for sure, all 4 are masterpieces! i have had this discussion with others before as well. i would shy away from the well known stuff people usually pick and take the opportunity to perhaps introduce some lesser known gems so my 4 picks are: Kongo, Force of Evil, The Mouthpiece and The Picture Snatcher...and if i sit here long enough i know i will wanna change those so i better post this lol
ReplyDeleteKC, my choices would always be subject to change, and I don't think I could stick to my originals choices. Here are a few I would certainly consider: begin the night with two Buster Keaton shorts, "Cops" and "The Playhouse"; followed by a particular pre-code favorite, "The Last Flight"; and it would be a tie between two films with Doug Fairbanks, Jr. (an evening of films without DFJr is not worth considering), "Joy of Living" or "State Secret"; and end the evening with a nod to foreign films and Matarazzo's Catene. I know even as I post this comment, I'm thinking "I should have included..."
ReplyDeleteMy four:
ReplyDelete* "Hands Across The Table" (1935) -- Carole Lombard's my all-time favorite actress, and this is one of her films that deserves greater recognition.
* "Libeled Lady" (1936) -- Great cast (including the wonderful Walter Connolly), clever script and that sublime William Powell fishing scene. Who could ask for more?
* "The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek" (1944) -- One of the most subversive movies ever made, considering the era. Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton are superb.
* "The Crowd" (1928) -- A late silent from director King Vidor with plenty of heart, sort of a precursor to "It's A Wonderful Life" minus its sanctimoniousness.
Great idea KC...Here are my four choices:
ReplyDeleteLike VP, Carole Lombard is my favorite actress and I would choose for her Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
His Girl Friday (1940) showcasing my favorite actor Cary Grant with an amazing Rosalind Russell.
Union Station (1950) an underrated crime thriller with William Holden as the cop trying to find a kidnapped young girl.
Good Neighbor Sam (1964) right now I am on a Romy Schneider kick and I thought this film was hilarious.
KC, what a surprise! You compiled all our tweets and published them here!
ReplyDeleteIt would be a dream if someday I get picked as TCM guest programmer, but my list is already made! frankly, only four wouldn't be enough for me ;)
Kisses!
Great ideas everyone. I've added a few of these to my "to see" list. Of course I've now thought of several other titles I'd like to do!
ReplyDeletescroll down at theredshoes.info for quite a few production stills from the movie
ReplyDeleteThat's a good subject! While there a lot of famous classic films that I love, I'd have to pick some more obscure stuff-- share what you want others to discover. My picks:
ReplyDelete- Bad Girl (1931)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
- I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
- Meet John Doe (1941)
I love these choices Mr. Sheldrake--especially Bad Girl. That's one where the title definitely doesn't fit with the film. The characters were so appealing.
ReplyDeleteHow in the world can the scheduling guys do this to us? This month on TCM the star of the month is Greer Garson. Every Monday night her mvoies are featured, but this Monday they do not start intil 8P and then some of her best movies of all time are in the wee hours of the morning. Start the movies earlier so we can watch them without staying up to all hours ....which I will force myself to do, because she is the greatest!!
ReplyDeleteHow does one get a hold of those schedulers at TCM. No Greer Garson movies at 3A. I want to be able to stay awake.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a TCM Guest Programmer, the four movies that I would pick for the night would be 2001: A Space Odyssey ('68), Bullitt ('68), The Wild Bunch ('69) and Thief ('81).
ReplyDelete