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TORONTO FILM SOCIETY MONDAY FILM BUFF 2007 - 2008 100 QUEEN'S PARK 7 MONDAY EVENINGS AT 7:30 PM
OCT 1, 2007
WHAT
CONTEMPTIBLE SCOUNDREL...
Unavailable anywhere else, you can finally see this pre-code gem. Set in a mythical country of Klopstokia where the strongest man gets to be president, it just gets crazier by the minute until everyone ends up at the 1932 Olympics. Not to be missed. Wild anarchy.
MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH (1934) 80 mins. The Wiggs family decides to celebrate Thanksgiving in their rundown shack with leftover stew. Not a roaring comedy but the budding romance between Fields, (you get to see his tender side in a supporting role) and Pitts certainly livens things up in this rarely seen film.
NOV
12
WORLD WAR
TWO Often regarded as Laurel and Hardy light, the famous duo is still funny but with fewer gags than normal (some very unPC). The “boys” enlist so they can take care of their sickly employer and manage to wreak chaos, panic and disorder from the US Army. Boot camp should always be this much fun.
CORVETTE K-225 (1943) 99 mins.
DEC 3
NEW YORK
TIMES TWO A rare gem not seen for decades. This smart, cynical and sophisticated comedy stars one of the great radio comedians of the 1930s. A small town family moves to New York after inheriting money so the daughter can meet a “better class of people” but meet typical New Yorkers instead. Ingenious offbeat script. TAXI (1953)
77 mins. NYC cab driver tries to help an Irish immigrant woman with a baby find her husband in the big bad city. Another film not seen in years.
JAN 7, 2008
FILM NOIR A man goes into hiding after being the sole witness to a gangland murder. The police are on his tail, his wife thinks he’s running from her, the reporter may or may not be an ally and the murderer is tracking them all. Sharp, tart dialogue and great location filming in San Francisco. Hitchcock channeled the fairground ending a year later for Strangers on a Train. BACKFIRE (1950) 91 mins. Director: Vincent Sherman. With Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Gordon McRae, Dane Clark. Things are rarely what they first seem to be. That’s the premise for this neat noir thriller of a recuperating vet looking for his vanished friend through the dark underbelly of postwar LA.
FEB 4
WESTWARD HO Ladd’s in his element here, and Preston’s the friend gone bad. Railroad detective Ladd sets out to bring him in. Beautifully shot in Technicolor. ALIAS JESSE JAMES (1959) 92 mins. Director: Norman McLeod. With Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey. One of the best Hope comedies. Bob is an insurance salesman out west who sells a policy to Jesse James, who’s already worth more dead than alive. The climax has cameo appearances from every western star you can think of including Trigger! Great fun.
MAR 3
RULE BRITANNIA Milland returns to England to ferret out the truth about his brother’s death during a commando operation in occupied France. Neat suspenser.
BEDELIA (1946) 92 mins. Femme fatale Lockwood tends to become a frequent widow especially if there is insurance money to be had. When an interesting artist begins to probe her past, skeletons fall out of the closet. Superior British noir.
APR 7
COMEDY IN THE
KEY OF SCREWBALL
A bright, witty comedy that has Baxter
learning he has a good singing voice that will compete with his wife’s
faltering singing career. The original version of last year’s screening
of Everybody
Does It. Verbal pyrotechnics fly between reporter (Montgomery) and his boss (Davis) as they go off to Indiana to cover a “typical American wedding.” Unusual pairing of Bette and Bob. To register for this series
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