Special invite/Classic films this week
Before we get to this week's guide to classic movies on television, I would like to personally invite you to a very special event in San Antonio Thursday evening at 6:30.
Help us celebrate the grand opening of the brand-spanking new Emerald Oaks Retirement Resort, the state-of-the-art 55-and-over retirement community at 20302 Bulverde Rd. north of Loop 1604 on the Alamo City's North Side. I'll be onstage to inaugurate the spectacular theater that seats 150 in plush, stadium seating coolness.
My topic is my Movie Memories presentation titled "Father Knows Best, Or Does He?" and you can expect film clips from classic films such as Father of the Bride and To Kill a Mockingbird. But that's just the beginning.
There will be movies that I hope will surprise and delight you as we search for the most fantastic fathers -- and perhaps an offbeat guy or two -- in movie history. I can promise a fun-filled evening full of clips and quips that's a perfect tuneup for Father's Day.
Admission is free, but seating is limited and RSVP is required. Please call 210-740-8105 today to reserve your seats. Tell them Larry sent you.
I look forward to seeing you Thursday at Emerald Oaks!
Classic movies on TV this week
Looking for some good classic movies to watch this week at home? Well, I've got some suggestions in the latest weekly feature from Movie Memories with Larry Ratliff.
First up: A question. Who needs Botox when we've got movies like The Picture of Dorian Gray? George Sanders, Donna Reed and Angela Lansbury are on screen in this eerie mix of drama, fantasy and horror.
It is Hurd Hatfield who plays the tormented, but never-aging womanizer in director Albert Lewin's 1945 adaptation of Oscar Wilde's wild novel.
Mr. Gray, you see, never ages, but the portrait of him locked away in a special room does. It turns into quite a grotesque demon, in fact.
Well, you just have to see for yourself how it all works out. The Picture of Dorian Gray airs at 7 p.m. Saturday on TCM. (Please check local listings to confirm the time.)
I also like Get Shorty (1995), which is set for 5 p.m. Friday on MGM HD. It's great to see John Travolta and Gene Hackman chewing the scenery in this comic crime-thriller also featuring Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina and James Gandolfini based on Elmore Leonard's novel.
Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, Wild Wild West), one of Hollywood's most underrated directors, calls the shots.
Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier take center stage in Stanley Kramer's comic-drama classic Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? (1967) at 7 p.m. Thursday on TCM. Tracy huffs and puffs a lot, at least at first, when daughter Joey (Katharine Houghton) brings home an unexpected fiance.
Murder, deceit and romance are the name of the game in the original 1946 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice set for 5 a.m. (Yes, a.m.) Friday on TCM. John Garfield plays the handsome stranger who drifts into town and woos a married woman portrayed by sultry Lana Turner in this one.
And if you enjoy a good submarine action war drama, you could do a lot worse than Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), pairing Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. This is my choice this week for night owls and insomniacs. Run Silent, Run Deep ships out at 1 a.m. Wednesday on MGM HD.
If I were just going to see one this week, I guess I'd have to dust off The Picture of Dorian Gray (Saturday night at 7 on TCM).
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