Thursdays in October | 27 Films
Every Thursday in October, Turner Classic Movies delivers stomach-churning, popcorn-munching Creepy Cinema. Beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET, join Ben Mankiewicz and guest host Mario Cantone for a themed double feature that will make your skin crawl. Following their picks will be a continuation of thrilling, horror-inducing movies. To kick off Creepy Cinema on October 3rd (and since no one can possibly mention one without the other), we once again showcase one of cinema’s best-known stars with two separate films featuring Bette & Joan. Presenting psychological turmoil suffered by both leads in their respective films, these two actresses always took on challenging roles and brought their all.
First up, a wealthy playwright’s marriage to a charming, but less affluent actor turns into a fight for her very life in Sudden Fear (1952). Based on the novel by Edna Sherry, Myra Hudson (Joan Crawford) has just rejected actor Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) to star in her new play. Though Lester comes at Myra with some harsh words about her decision, he can’t help but lay on the charm when he encounters her on a cross-country train ride. Their whirlwind romance results in marriage, yet unbeknownst to Myra, Lester’s lover Irene (Gloria Grahame) comes back into the picture. In the haze of love, Myra decides to leave Lester all her money, but soon realizes the reunited lovers’ plan to murder her in order to take the money, starting a race against time to thwart it. Crawford and Palance received Academy Awards nominations for their respective roles in the lead and supporting categories.
What happens when the ultimate bad girl gets her clutches on her sister’s husband and causes chaos wherever she goes? We find out in the 1946 drama In This Our Life. Bette Davis portrays Stanley Timberlake, one of two daughters in a moderately affluent family. Though she doesn’t seem to have a professional life, she is set to marry Craig Fleming (George Brent), a local attorney. Her sister Roy (Olivia de Havilland), on the other hand, enjoys a career and a stable marriage to Peter Kingsmill (Dennis Morgan). Alongside their parents and extended family, the women seem to have carved their own respective lives, but the grass may be greener on the other side as Stanley and Peter run off together and marry after his divorce from Roy. When Roy and Craig find comfort in one another, Stanley once again tries to steal back her old lover revealing just how self-destructive, manipulative and narcissistic she can be to satisfy her own desires – including framing an innocent young Black man (Ernest Anderson) who works for the family. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Ellen Glasgow, In This Our Life was directed by John Huston (with uncredited assistance from Raoul Walsh after Huston took an assignment with the U.S. Department of War).
Two beloved directors of suspense and mystery face off on October 10, with a night of Hitchcock & De Palma. These tales of voyeurism, helplessness and a desire to uncover some evil doings within close quarters parallel and complement each other quite beautifully.
Alfred Hitchcock has long been dubbed the Master of Suspense, and he spares none in 1954’s Rear Window. Confined within his apartment in a wheelchair due to a broken leg, photographer L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) spends the majority of his days parked in front of his large back window, which faces into the courtyard of his apartment building. Observing the daily habits of his neighbors, he sees that Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) exhibits quite suspicious behavior after his wife goes missing. Along with girlfriend Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) and nurse (Thelma Ritter), L.B.’s amateur detective hat is firmly perched on his head. Often classified as one of Hitchcock’s best films, and nominated for several Academy Awards, it was based on the Cornell Woolrich short story “It Had to Be Murder.” Rear Window was remade as a television movie in 1998, with Christopher Reeve taking on the renamed lead role.
Often classified as Hitchcockian, Brian De Palma’s Sisters (1972) pays direct homage to the latter’s body of work, particularly Rear Window and Psycho (1960). Co-written with Louisa Rose, a “Life Magazine” article on Russian conjoined twins Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova inspired De Palma’s screenplay, and the film was scored by frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann. Following a meet-cute during the filming of a “Candid Camera”-esque game show, Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder) gets two prizes: a set of cutlery and a date with the subject of the prank, Philip Woode (Lisle Wilson). After the date, Philip learns of Danielle’s twin sister Dominique who is arriving for their birthday. But Danielle murders Philip in cold blood, and Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt), a neighbor with a bird’s eye view into the apartment, witnesses his death. With the help of a private investigator, Grace begins to unravel the whole thing, learning more than she bargained for about the history of Danielle and Dominique - the conjoined Blanchion twins that were a sensation in their native Canada.
The viewpoints of the voyeur and the subject in the scene portraying Phillip’s desperate and futile attempt to signal for help as he lay dying are presented through a marvelous split-screen shot. De Palma would use this type of sequence successfully (and just as shockingly) four years later in Carrie’s (1976) infamous prom scene. Fraught with plot twists and plenty of madness, we’d be remiss not to mention Sisters’ parallels to Psycho, including the assumed lead being killed off within the film’s first hour, a trauma-induced personality shift and its final, heart-stopping shot. Sisters would be remade in 2006, starring Lou Doillon and Chloë Sevigny.
October 17th brings two films featuring men who may be the picture of attractiveness, but behind that façade lies Handsome & Homicidal tendencies of an obsessive personality and a taste for murderous violence and mayhem. While a revered horror actor Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff) has shocked a movie studio with his intention to retire, in a different part of Metro Los Angeles a mild-mannered, yet deeply disturbed suburban dweller, Bobby Thompson (Tim O’Kelly), stockpiles weapons and ammunition, then goes on an unabashed killing spree. Peter Bogdanovich’s debut film Targets (1968) juxtaposes one man’s disillusionment with society and one’s quest to destroy it. Alternating between scenes of an average family and the general public marred by senseless and unprovoked violence and also Orlok’s emphatic declaration of the impending phase-out of his brand of entertainment. Written by Bogdanovich (who also co-stars) and Polly Pratt, the calm demeanor of Bobby Thompson as he executes random people near a freeway (taking a break for a sandwich before his resumes) truly makes for a shocking sequence.
Making its TCM debut, The Fan (1981) is based on the novel by Bob Randall and also involves Hollywood fame. But Douglas Breen’s (Michael Biehn) obsession with actress Sally Ross (Lauren Bacall) has completely consumed his life – costing him his job and worrying his sister. Sending out repeated and increasingly obscene letters that go through Sally’s assistant Belle (Maureen Stapleton), Belle’s curt responses agitate him, and he breaks – going after everyone within Sally’s inner circle. As Breen’s mental state spirals and his behavior gets increasingly erratic and dangerous, one needs to suspend their disbelief a bit as to the lengths he will go to get close to the object of his fixation. While the film itself was considered a box-office bomb, fan appreciation has made it a cult classic.
On October 24th, mum’s the word as we are pulled into Maternal Madness. This block features women who don’t exactly fit the image of maternal grace and dignity. In The Night Digger (1971), Maura Prince’s (Patricia Neal) life with her controlling, demanding mother Edith (Pamela Brown) in the English countryside continues to stifle her. When the quiet Billy Jarvis (Nicholas Clay) is sent to the estate to help do repairs, Edith immediately takes to him and installs him in Maura’s bedroom, infuriating her daughter. As Edith pampers a young man she barely knows and continues criticizing and belittling Maura, little do any of them know that Billy has a dark side and an even darker secret. Based on the book “Nest in a Fallen Tree” by Joy Cowley, impotence inflicted by ridicule and emasculation, vicious acts of murder, a manipulative parent and a woman’s fight to regain her autonomy make for one wild examination of toxic relationships and their influence on behavior.
Tune it later that night for an examination into the dark feminine and deep familial trauma in David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979). Starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar and Art Hindle, a contentious divorce and custody battle are influenced by a mother’s mental illness, latent rage and the controversial therapeutic practices she is involved in—resulting in a physical manifestation of something horrific, grotesque and truly tragic. Cronenberg’s original screenplay was inspired by his own troubled divorce and child custody battle with his ex-wife. The film has since become a cult classic, and its themes have been studied by film theorists and critics for decades.
On Halloween, we wrap up our double feature with a pair of Bad Boys. In The Other (1972), a pair of 9-year-old twins are the center of a series of gruesome murders taking place in their rural Connecticut home in 1935. Based on a novel written by former actor Tom Tryon, he gained inspiration to write the story after the success of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968). He adapted the screenplay and then worked with director and producer Robert Mulligan to bring the chilling story to the big screen. Stage actress Uta Hagen made her film debut at 53 years old playing the boys’ grandmother. Another Bad Boy of the night is Willard (1971). Bruce Davison plays the titular character, a social outsider being taken advantage of by his boss. Unable to connect with people, he develops a friendship with rats in his home. Over time, he’s able to use the rats to do his bidding and settle the score with his adversaries. Based on the novel “Ratman’s Notebooks” by Stephen Gilberts, Willard became wildly successful when released. It sparked a sequel a year later, Ben (1972), the theme of which spawned a hit song for then 13-year-old Michael Jackson making his solo artist debut. A series of imitation films followed, and Willard was remade with Crispin Glover in 2003.
Stay tuned after each double feature on Thursdays for a block of continued creepy cinema.
