Saturday Cinema

Stanley Kramer became known as a director of "message movies," taking on tough subjects of the day, but it was his big budget, all-star shot at comedy that endeared him to many.

Saturday at 10 a.m., join host Lynne Warfel for classical music from the movies. Today's theme is Chaplin, Hitchcock and comedies. Plus, the Cube Critics provide a video that looks at artificial intelligence in film.

Franz Waxman gave the same chilling effect as his score to "The Bride of Frankenstein" in the score of "Sunset Boulevard," the story of the mental disintegration of a silent film star.

For Flicks in Five and Saturday Cinema, Lynne Warfel revisits Frank Capra's masterpiece about George Bailey's redemption in Bedford Falls. She continues in the spirit of the season with music from other holiday classics; plus a Cube Critics video that looks at the best films of 2013.

It started as a "pop" song by Irving Berlin that Bing Crosby debuted at Christmastime 1941, but didn't get much notice until late in 1943 when servicemen and women requested it to the top of the charts.

Lynne Warfel begins with the 1970 musical by Leslie Bricusse and continue with additional holiday film scores. Meanwhile, the Cube Critics share their thoughts about film trilogies.

The 1970 musical by Leslie Bricusse is a beautifully filmed version of the classic "A Christmas Carol" with Albert Finney, Alec Guiness and an all-star British cast.

Saturday Cinema begins with Flicks in Five and the 1990 holiday classic, Home Alone. The hour continues with the scores from holiday films. We've also included a DVD review from MPR's Cube Critics.

Brian Reitzell talks about the complicated process of composing scores for the NBC series Hannibal — and how he takes inspiration from sources ranging from John Cage to industrial rock bands.

Movie scores provide a huge portion of the story telling. John Barry wrote a choral score for The Lion in Winter that sets the stage for intrigue and the appropriate Plantagenet style backstabbing.