Film choice

The Comancheros (1961) MORE4, 10.00AM ★★★★

John Wayne starred in – and, during the illness of director Michael Curtiz, oversaw – this solid Western. After he captures the errant gambler Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman), Texan ranger Jake Cutter (Wayne) finds himself yoked to the rogue and up against the shady “Comancheros”, a band of criminals who smuggle arms and alcohol to the Comanche tribe. You can guess the rest: galloping horses, cracking pistols, dusty plains…

The Man in the White Suit (1951, b/w) BBC TWO, 2.45PM; SCOTLAND, 3.00PM ★★★★★

Alec Guinness flees the forces of capitalism in this thoughtful Ealing comedy. He gives a convincing performance as Sidney Stratton, an eccentric chemist who invents a fabric that won’t wear out or get dirty, but has to make an escape from his mill when a trio of unscrupulous textiles heavies, including a sinister Ernest Thesiger, try to trick him. Guinness is a charmer, while the pro-everyman satire remains.

A Walk in the Woods (2015) CHANNEL 4, MIDNIGHT ★★★

Robert Redford turns Bill Bryson’s elegant travelogue about his middle-aged attempt on the Appalachian Trail – a 2,200-mile trek through the eastern United States – into a slightly patchy sitcom. The great American outdoors, however, are flawless, every shot a treat. Nick Nolte is Bryson’s walking companion, there to remind him (somewhat blandly) that being human is never a walk in the park.