Welcome to another edition of Fedya's "Movies to Tivo" thread, for the week of May 2-8, 2016. The NFL Draft is over with, and while we're waiting for all the Vikings picks to fail, why not spend the time watching some good movies? Once again I've used my good taste to pick a set of movies I know you'll all like. We're in the first full week of a new month, so we get a new Star of the Month, as well as a new spotlight on TCM. As always, all times are in Eastern, unless otherwise mentioned.
This week's TCM Imports sees two films from Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, starting with Taste of Cherry at 2:15 AM Monday. Homayoun Ershadi plays Mr. Badii, who is driving his car around the outskirts of a big city (presumably Teheran), looking for somebody to do a job for him, and looking particularly desperate for somebody to do that job for him. At first we don't know what that job is, but we can see that the people Badii asks don't seem particularly thrilled at the prospect, even though they could earn a lot of needed money. The reason for their ambivalence is because Badii has decided he wants to die. And to that end he's picked out a burial spot, dug the grave, and plans to commit suicide. All the other person has to do for him is to make certain that Badii is in fact dead before ground back over Badii's dead body under the cherry tree he's picked as the site of his grave.
A movie returning to FXM Retro after a long absence is Man in the Middle, which you can catch at 7:40 AM Monday and 6:00 AM Tuesday. Set in India in the closing days of World War II, the movie starts off with US Army Lt. Winston (Keenan Wynn) going into a camp of British soldiers and shooting one of them dead. There's going to be a court martial, of course, but the British are unhappy that Winston hasn't been executed already, and the US military brass is trying to achieve a result as quickly as possible. So the bring in Lt. Col. Adams (Robert Mitchum) to be the defense counsel in what should be a kangaroo court. But Adams investigates, and finds out that there's a lot more going on than meets the eye, and that perhaps an insanity defense might be the best way to move forward. This, needless to say, doesn't make either the British or the Americans happy. France Nuyen plays the love interest; Trevor Howard a British commander. The movie was directed by the recently deceased Guy Hamilton (of Goldfinger fame).
Last month, TCM spent three nights looking at German cinema during the Weimar era. This month, they're looking at the people the Nazis basically sent into exile, and the influence those people had on Hollywood cinema. That will be three straight nights, this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. In addition to movies from all the usual suspects: Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Ernst Lubitsch among the directors; Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, and Hedy Lamarr among the actors; there's also going to be a documentary on the subject. Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood will be airing twice, at 8:00 PM Monday and 11:30 PM Tuesday.
Tuesday marks the birth anniversary of actress Mary Astor, probably most famous from The Maltese Falcon. TCM is marking the occasion with a bunch of her earlier movies, such as The Sin Ship, which you can watch at 2:45 PM (although you'll probably have to record it since you'll want to watch the Champions League football). In this one, Astor plays Kitty, the wife of a preacher, played by Ian Hunter. They're looking to board an ocean liner but miss their ship. So they ask Captain McVey (Louis Wolheim), who captains a steamer, for passage. He accepts, but this doesn't necessarily turn out so well for Kitty since McVey decides he could use a little bit of loving. Of course, it turns out that Kitty and her husband have a shocking secret of their own! And then both McVey and Kitty start acting as they think the other want them to be, and not as they trule are. Sadly, this was Louis Wolheim's final film, and the only movie he also got to direct. He died a few months after making the movie, just shy of his 51st birthday. Watch for Hugh Herbert as one of the ship's crew in a very unorthodox role for him.
A western I don't think I've recommended before is Ride Clear of Diablo, airing at 12:35 PM Tuesday and 1:50 AM Wednesday on Encore Westerns. Audi Murphy stars as O'Mara, a man whose father and brother were killed by cattle rustlers while he was away. So when O'Mara returns, he gets a job with sheriff Kenyon as a deputy, quickly falling in love with the sheriff's niece Laurie (Susan Cabot) although she's already got someone pursuing her in the form of lawyer Tom (William Pullen). Anyhow, the sheriff puts O'Mara on the trail of the outlaw Whitey (Dan Duryea). When O'Mara goes out and tries to arrest Whitey, however, Whitey responds by suggesting that perhaps it wasn't he who killed O'Mara's family, but in fact some of the "good" guys in town. And he'll help O'Mara get revenge. But is Whitey really being honest, or just trying to save his own hide? Russell Johnson, a decade before becoming the professor on Gilligan's Island, plays a man trying to play both sides against the middle for his own benefit.
For those who complain that I only recommend old movies, something more recent is Rain Man, which you can find on Encore Classics at 3:00 PM Thursday. Tom Cruise plays Raymond, a California car dealer who is estranged from his father who, it turns out has just died. Dad was wealthy, but only left Raymond a car and some rose bushes, with the rest of the estate being left to someone else. Raymond investigates, and discovers that he has an autistic older brother Charlie (Dustin Hoffman) that Dad never told him about. So Raymond decides to go find Charlie and trick him out of the inheritance. Raymond goes to the home where Charlie lives and basically kidnaps him, taking him on a cross-country trip. But along the way, Raymond develops an emotional bond with Charlie and learns something about himself. For obvious reasons, airlines edited this one for showing on planes. 
Long before there were remakes like 11 Fast 11 Furious (have they got there yet or have they already passed it?), there was the original The Fast and the Furious, airing at 8:00 PM Thursday on TCM. This is not the movie that spawned all those remakes, but a 1955 original that has nothing to do with the later movie of the same title. John Ireland plays Frank, whom we first see at a diner. There, he's spotted by Bob. It turns out that Bob and Frank were both truck drivers; Frank was framed for killing a third truck driver and is now on the run from the law; and Bob is willing to turn him in. So Frank knocks out Bob and runs off with Connie (Dorothy Malone), who just happens to have a nice Jaguar sports car. That's just the way to escape to Mexico! Meanwhile, Connie was planning to enter that car in a race going from California to Mexico, and needs a male driver, so Frank is just the ticket. Besides, she comes to believe that Frank is innocent. But she also stupidly believes that if he just turns himself in to the law instead of trying to escape to Mexico, everything will be alright. Stupid naïve faith in the legal system. It's a B movie to be sure, but an interesting one, and one that gearheads will like for all the vintage sports cars. This is being shown as part of the TCM Spotlight on American International Pictures, which will be running every Thursday in May, hosted by producer Roger Corman.
Now that we're into the first full week of a new month, we get a new Star of the Month on TCM: Robert Ryan. His movies will be running every Friday night in May. Among the movies airing on this first Friday of the month are The Set-Up, which you can catch at 4:00 AM Saturday on TCM. Ryan plays Stoker, a boxer who is on his way down and reduced to fighting in small towns like Paradise City. However, he still believes he's got a shot, and wants one more fight for the winner's purse. His wife Julie (Audrey Totter), however, is none too pleased about any of this, and wants her husband to give up boxing and take on a more stable profession. Worse for Stoker, however, is the fact that his trainer Tiny (George Tobias) knows he can't win and, knowing that, has made a wager against his own boxer! Stoker eventually finds out about this, and decides that dammit, he's going to do everything he can to win the fight, regardless of what the consequences for his trainer may be (and who'd want a trainer like that anyway?).
Back on TCM after a long absence is All About Eve, which will be airing at 8:00 PM Saturday. Eve is played not by Bette Davis, but by Anne Baxter. Eve is seen briefly at the beginning winning a theatre award (not a Tony since those were relatively new, but a fictitious award), and then we get a long flashback to how Eve got to where she is today. Just a few short years ago, she showed up in New York City as a young ingenue who was interested in the theater and the biggest fan of acclaimed stage actress Margo Channing (that's Bette Davis). Eve gets to meet Margo backstage, and takes such an interest in Margo that Margo doesn't realize what Eve is really doing, which is to try to take Margo's place. First Eve gets a spot as Margo's understudy, and then plots to have Margo miss a performance.... Along the way, we're also introduced to playwright Lloyd (Hugh Marlowe), his wife Karen (Oscar-nominated Celeste Holm); Gary Merrill as Margo's lover (Merrill would marry Bette Davis in real life); Thelma Ritter as Margo's dresser; and almost stealing the show, George Sanders as critic Addison DeWitt, who know what Eve is really up to. This is one of the all-time classics, and deservedly so. Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night.
Sunday is Mothers' Day, so TCM is spending the day with a bunch of classic movies about mothers. Pretty much every year, you can expect them to run Mildred Pierce; this year it's on at 4:00 PM Sunday. Joan Crawford plays the title character, who at the start is married to Bert (Bruce Bennett) with two daughters. Joan does everything she can for the daughters, leading to marriage strains and Bert's leaving. Mildred, now a single mother, becomes a baker and waitress, working long hours for her daughters and eventually rising to become a restaurant owner. But daughter Veda (Ann Blyth) is none too happy with any of this, pretty much thinking that nothing Mom does is good enough for her. And that's just the half of it. This one has an outstanding cast: Crawford won the Best Actress Oscar; Blyth was nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar, as was Eve Arden as the restaurant manager who first hires Mildred and then works under her. Jack Carson might be at his slimy best as a friend of the family who goes into business with Mildred and then....