DVR Alert

On Thursday, 13 June, Turner Classic Movies will show The Mark of Zorro, with Tyrone Power, Basil Rathbone, and Linda Darnell. Despite the heavy hitters at the top of the bill, J. Edward Bromberg and Gale Sondergaard, as Don Luis and Inez Quintero, manage to steal pretty much every scene they're in, as truly great character actors are wont to do; I particularly enjoy how Don Luis seems like a helpless incompetent in thrall to Capitan Pasquale, but later demonstrates his own capacity for manipulation and menace.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the fourth time that TCM aired The Mark of Zorro since the start of the year. You will not, of course, hear any complaints from me.

DVR Alert

This Saturday, 9 March, TCM shows Tyrone Power's Captain from Castile. The Michoacán locations and Lee J. Cobb's standout performance as the troubled adventurer Juan Garcia are my highlights of this epic swashbuckler.

Check your local listings for times, of course.

DVR Alert

If you missed The Mark of Zorro last week, you have a chance to catch it again, along with another Tyrone Power swashbuckler, Captain from Castile, on TCM Friday night.

Don't forget to check your local listings for times.

DVR Alert

Clear some space on the DVR - Monday night's Turner Classic Movies schedule, titled, "Sword Play," features five excellent swashbucklers: Tyrone Power in The Mark of Zorro, Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Don Juan, Jose Ferrer - in a rare Oscar-winning cape-and-sword performance! - in Cyrano de Bergerac, Raiders of the Seven Seas, and Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara - as the daughter of Athos! - in At Sword's Point.

Check your local listings for times, as always - and seriously, isn't it well past time for you to delete Dungeons & Dragons: Book of Vile Darkness?

Cinematic: The Black Swan

DVR Alert

On Thursday, 23 August, Turner Classic Movies is screening The Three Musketeers and The Pirate as part of its tribute to Gene Kelly.

Then on Saturday, TCM honors Tyrone Power with a lineup which includes Captain from Castile but leaves off, unfortunately, The Mark of Zorro, Prince of Foxes, or The Black Swan.

Check your local listings for times.

Cinematic: The Mark of Zorro