Shadowy and Satiny: What to Watch on TCM in February 2024

Looking for some good stuff to watch in February? TCM’s got you covered.

Satiny Pick: One Way Passage (1932)

I found the pre-Code pickings for February to be rather slim but, never fear, I picked a real winner. One Way Passage may not be overflowing with salacious scenes and gratuitous shots of ladies in their step-ins, but it’s a darn good movie.

— They meet.

This feature stars William Powell and Kay Francis as Dan Hardesty and Joan Ames, who meet cute in a Hong Kong bar shortly before they both board a ship bound for America. But what Dan doesn’t know is that Joan is terminally ill, and what Joan doesn’t know is that Dan is a convicted killer on his way to the electric chair. Lucky for them both, Dan has a soft-hearted jailer (Warren Hymer), who gives him free rein on the ship (where’s he gonna go, after all?), which provides Dan and Joan with the perfect opportunity to fall in love – even while they both know that their days are numbered. Find out what happens on February 15th.

What else?

— They fall in love.

One Way Passage was the last of six films starring Powell and Francis. The others were Behind the Makeup (1930), Street of Chance (1930), For the Defense (1930), Ladies’ Man (1931), and Jewel Robbery (1932).

Directed by Tay Garnett (who would later helm the 1946 noir, The Postman Always Rings Twice), the film was a critical and commercial hit. In fact, it was the most successful of the six Powell-Francis teamings. Reportedly, though, Powell wasn’t overly fond of the film.

The film was remade in 1940 as Till We Meet Again, starring Merle Oberon and George Brent. It was decidedly NOT a hit.

Shadowy Pick: Odd Man Out (1947)

I don’t know what took me so long to watch Odd Man Out (I think it’s because I had it confused with the 1957 sports movie, Fear Strikes Out, about baseball player Jimmy Piersall), but thank goodness I finally wised up, because this is a good one, y’all.

— Rains considered this his best work. Me, too.

Set in Ireland, the film centers on escaped convict Johnny McQueen (James Mason), the leader of an underground organization which is not named but is undoubtedly meant to be the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Others in Johnny’s sphere include his most loyal comrade, Dennis (Robert Beatty), and Kathleen (Kathleen Ryan), the girl who loves him from afar (yet very near – she and her grandmother are allowing him to hide out in their house). The action kicks off when Johnny is shot after he and several of his associates commit a payroll robbery to secure funds for the group. And if that weren’t bad enough, Johnny becomes separated from his fellow conspirators, and spends the rest of the night struggling to avoid the police, encountering a series of peculiar characters, and trying to stay alive. Tune into TCM February 16th to see if he makes it.

What else?

— The cinematography was top notch.

The film was helmed by acclaimed English director Carol Reed, who also directed The Fallen Idol (1948), The Third Man (1949), and Oliver! (1968). James Mason considered his performance in Odd Man Out as the best of his career, and he named Reed as his favorite director.

The group of children playing in the streets were real-life residents of Belfast’s St. Patrick’s School for Roman Catholic Boys.

Odd Man Out has no femme fatale. No flashbacks. No voiceover narration. And it takes place in Ireland. But its painterly use of shadows and light, conflicted anti-hero, and purveying sense of impending doom make it unmistakably noir.

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Tune into TCM February 15th and 16th for these gems. You only owe it to yourself.

~ by shadowsandsatin on January 30, 2024.