A couple of good days this week, Monday and Wednesday, and then a smattering of other things throughout the week.
Tonight (Sunday) at midnight the Silent Sunday feature is Ben-Hur (1925), one of the first successes Thalberg had in coming to MGM. A great film - as great as the remake if not better.
Tomorrow morning, starting at six, begins a string of films directed by W.S. VanDyke II, who I think was one of the better studio directors at MGM during the 1930s. Some of my favorites of his are Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), Manhattan Melodrama (1934), The Thin Man (1934), Forsaking All Others (1934), San Francisco (1936), Love on the Run (1936), and Marie Antionette (1938). As you can see from this list, he directed a number of films for Clark Gable and, in my opinion, constructed some interesting takes on depression era masculinity in these and other films. Manhattan Melodrama and Forsaking All Others remain two of my three favorite Gable films for just that reason: the way they juxtapose Gable against William Powell and Robert Montgomery respectively to highlight his gendered performance.
Tomorrow, TCM will be running some of Van Dyke's lesser known films, which I am grateful for and will be taping. When I get around to watching them I will post more about them.
Then, tomorrow night the Claudette Colbert tribute continues. Among the films being shown is Since You Went Away (1944) which I happened to see last month on TCM. A great tear-jerker and document of the realignment of social roles during World War II.
Wednesday would be Joan Crawford's 101st birthday (most likely), and so there are a number of her films on during the day. Unfortunately, not many of my favorites. But I would recommend Grand Hotel (1932) and Mildred Pierce (1945) (speaking of realigning social roles during World War II).
Nothing leaps out at me right now for the rest of the week - though there certainly are other great films. When I see them I will let you know.
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