Tuesday, November 15, 2016

TCM Guest Programmer November 2016: Steve Israel

So you were hoping the election season was over. Unfortunately, politics goes on, and we get a politician for this month's TCM Guest Programmer: US Rep. Steve Israel, from Long Island. He's selected four movies, three of them obviously politically-themed, and will be presenting them with Ben Mankiewicz I'd assume:

The Candidate at 8:00 PM, in which Robert Redford runs for Senate. Natalie Wood has a cameo so this one is showing up again later in the month;
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at 10:00 PM, with James Stewart getting named Senator and finding out how dirty a place Washington is; and
The Best Man at 12:30 AM, about a contested presidential convention. We'll win with Merwin, or maybe we won't.
As for non-political movies, you can't get more apolitical than Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, at 2:30 AM. It's funny because it's true, 70 years on. Just ask anybody who's built or renovated a house.

For some reason, I thought TCM had scheduled A Face in the Crowd to follow Israel's selections. The inimitable Jesse Walker has a good commentary on that and Meet John Doe here, although it was probably more timely last week at this time.

No comments: