RUN OF THE ARROW (1957)
BBC Two, 1.35pm
A revisionist western from the highly regarded pulp writer and director Sam Fuller, Run of the Arrow feels like an early B-movie blueprint for Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves. Rod Steiger hams it up as an embittered Irishman who fought for the Confederates in the American Civil War, but learns to accept the value of peace after immersing himself in Sioux culture. Charles Bronson co-stars. (86 min)
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FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE (1954)
Channel 4, 1.55pm
Dirk Bogarde and Susan Stephen play newlyweds searching for a flat in London in J. Lee Thompson’s breezy mix of comedy and social realism, which was a little too early and too upbeat to cash in on the coming boom in hard-nosed “kitchen sink” drama. All the same, For Better, For Worse delivers a coldly honest snapshot of marriage during the postwar years. (92 min)
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JAGGED EDGE (1985)
Sky Cinema 1, 10pm
A powerhouse courtroom thriller full of twists and sudden shocks, Jagged Edge now looks very much like a dry run for Basic Instinct, which was also written by Joe Eszterhas. Jeff Bridges stars as a wealthy publisher who begins an illicit affair with his defence attorney (Glenn Close) while standing trial for his wife’s murder. Eszterhas and the director Richard Marquand keep the killer’s identity secret right up to the final scene, stringing the viewer along with strong performances and generous helpings of old-fashioned B-movie suspense. (108 min)
BRONCO BILLY (1980)
BBC One, 11.35pm
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Clint Eastwood affectionately spoofs his own screen past as a touring Wild West showman in this gentle comic fable about redemption and reinvention. A minor chapter in the Eastwood canon, Bronco Billy is a warm-hearted and romantic tale. Eastwood’s real-life former partner, Sondra Locke, co-stars as a spoilt heiress who brings Billy’s show bad luck. (116 min)