I’ll preface this by saying “For David Lean Diehards Only”. Ryan’s Daughter stars the great Robert Mitchum as a middle-aged Irishman whose much younger wife carries on an affair with a British officer. This movie was made after Bridge On The River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago, so David Lean clearly had his brain set to BIG – an filmmaking approach which he applies to this rather small, intimate story. It’s a fascinating dichotomy, filming what is basically a small-scale chick flick as if it were a 3-hour war epic. Imagine if Christopher Nolan directed The Vow, and you get the idea. 

 The Marx Brothers. All day. Call in sick, or hell, just tell your boss you’re not coming into work because you’re watching Marx Brothers movies. He’ll understand. If he doesn’t, throw a pie in his face. According to the codified, sacrosanct, and legally binding rules of “Turner Classic Tuesday”, I have to recommend just one movie. So here goes, my choice is…all of them! This is the Marx Brothers. The rules no longer apply. 

George Stevens may be the greatest director nobody has ever heard of. Wait, I already wrote that about William Wyler. Anyway, George Stevens was a great director nobody has ever heard of. Gunga Din  is one of his most rousing pictures. It’s based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling, and stars Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as British calvary officers in India who collectively swashbuckle harder than perhaps anybody has ever swashbuckled before!