The best films on the box this week
FRIDAY THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947) (Film4, 11am)
ADVENTUROUS Michael O’Hara takes a job on wealthy Arthur Bannister’s yacht. He falls for his employer’s beautiful wife but needs money if they’re to run away together. He thinks he’s found the perfect solution when lawyer Grisby offers him $5,000 to help him fake his own death. Unfortunately, when Grisby is murdered for real, Michael becomes the chief suspect. Orson Welles’ nailbiting thriller will keep even the pickiest viewer hooked thanks to its twisty-turny plot.
SATURDAY YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) (BBC Two, 11pm)
WHEN Dr Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) inherits his grandfather’s estate in Transylvania, complete with a book revealing how to reanimate the dead, he can’t resist the urge to create a monster (Peter Boyle) of his own. Mel Brooks and Wilder’s spoof works as both a loving tribute to James Whale’s 1931 Frankenstein and a hilarious comedy in its own right.
SUNDAY THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER (2015) (C4, 2.55pm) Premiere
SPONGEBOB (voiced by Tom Kenny) flips burgers in a diner run by the irrepressible Eugene Krabs (Clancy Brown). When the secret Krabby Patty recipe is stolen by pirate Burger Beard (Antonio Banderas), SpongeBob and his friends must venture on to dry land. This sequel splices colourful animation and live action to chart its hero’s journey.
MONDAY THE PLEDGE (2001) (Sony Movie Channel, 9pm)
MIDWAY through his retirement party, jaded detective Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) is called to the scene of a young girl’s murder. Vowing to unmask the killer, his inquiries lead to a waitress called Lori (Robin Wright) and her young daughter Chrissy (Pauline Roberts), who may be the killer’s next target. Director Sean Penn shuns the conventions of a routine Hollywood thriller, while Nicholson commands the screen with a simmering presence.
TUESDAY THE MISFITS (1961) (Film4, 3.45pm)
JOHN Huston’s 1961 drama, based on a script by Arthur Miller, marks the final screen appearances of Hollywood legends Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. After divorcing her husband, Roslyn Tabor (Monroe) drowns her sorrows with her friend Isabelle (Thelma Ritter) in a local bar. They are approached by cowboy Gaylord Langland (Gable) and his friend Guido (Eli Wallach), who invite the two women to Guido’s half-completed ranch in the country. Roslyn eventually moves into the ranch with Gaylord – but an encounter with rodeo rider Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift), creates friction.
WEDNESDAY THE IRON LADY (2011) (Film4, 6.55pm)
RETIRED from politics, Baroness Thatcher (Meryl Streep) juggles a busy social diary with the help of her daughter Carol (Olivia Colman). Disparaging about the state of Westminster since her departure and comforted by the ghost of her late husband Denis (Jim Broadbent), Thatcher’s mind wanders back to the 1984 IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, the Falklands war and her own downfall. Streep’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Thatcher electrifies every frame of an otherwise somewhat uneven film.
THURSDAY LONE SURVIVOR (2013) (Film4, 9pm)
BASED on a true story, Lone Survivor is a rousing tribute to four Navy SEALs (Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch and Ben Foster), who are sent on a top-secret mission to locate a high-ranking member of the Taliban (Yousuf Azami). When three shepherds, two of them boys, stumble on their hiding place, the soldiers face a moral dilemma. A heroic, harrowing portrait of bravery and brotherhood.