VisionTV August movies include Greta Garbo in Anna Karenina, Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory, Kevin Costner’s Oscar winner Dances With Wolves

Other highlights include Owning Mahowny, The Big Country and World War One drama Regeneration

VisionTV remains one of Canadian television’s best destinations for movie lovers, delivering an eclectic selection of feature film classics from the past and present every weeknight at Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT, and on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

VisionTV Movies in August:

Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday (1976) – Monday, Aug. 2, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Lee Marvin and Oliver Reed star in this Western comedy as a pair of outlaws looking for revenge on a partner (Robert Culp) who swindled them. With Elizabeth Ashley, Strother Martin and Sylvia Miles. Don Taylor directed.

Moll Flanders (1996) – Tuesday, Aug. 3, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Robin Wright Penn (The Private Lives of Pippa Lee) stars as the resilient heroine of Daniel Defoe’s classic novel. With Stockard Channing, Morgan Freeman and John Lynch. Pen Densham directed.

** Feature Documentary **
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple(2006) – Wednesday, Aug. 4, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Produced for the PBS series American Experience, this documentary tells the chilling story of preacher Jim Jones and the men and women who joined his Peoples Temple cult, following him from Indiana to California and ultimately to their deaths in Guyana in November 1978.

Regeneration (1997) – Thursday, Aug. 5, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
This sensitive adaptation of Pat Barker’s acclaimed World War One novel stars Jonathan Pryce (Brazil) as Captain William Rivers, a psychiatrist treating shell-shocked officers and soldiers at a military hospital in Scotland. Rivers’ convictions about the morality of the Great War are deeply shaken by his experiences with the patients under his care – in particular the poet Siegfried Sassoon (James Wilby), who has been hospitalized to silence his outspoken opposition to the war, and the young officer Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller), who has been rendered mute by the horrors of the front line. John Neville also stars. Gillies MacKinnon directed.

Dances With Wolves (1990) – Part One: Thursday, Aug. 5, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Kevin Costner directed and stars in this Western epic, which earned seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. He plays John Dunbar, a disillusioned Union Army officer who – longing to see the American frontier “before it’s gone” – chooses an isolated posting on the Dakota plains. There, he finds acceptance among a tribe of Lakota Sioux. But the white man is advancing relentlessly westward, and Dunbar will ultimately face a bitter test of his loyalties. Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica) and Canadian Graham Greene (New Moon) also star.

Dances With Wolves (1990) – Part Two: Friday, Aug. 6, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
See Thursday, Aug. 5 at Midnight ET.

The Big Country (1958) – Monday, Aug. 9, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
When a retired seafarer (Gregory Peck) moves out West to marry his fiancée (Carroll Baker), he finds himself caught in the middle of a feud between rival families. William Wyler (Ben-Hur) directed this epic tale of the lawless frontier. With Jean Simmons, Charlton Heston and Burl Ives, who earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Raging Bull (1980) – Tuesday, Aug. 10, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Martin Scorsese’s biography of prizefighter Jake LaMotta, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is a landmark of American filmmaking. Robert De Niro won an Oscar for his performance as LaMotta, a force of nature who rose from the slums of the Bronx to become a middleweight champion, but was brought to ruin by his uncontrollable passions. With Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci.

The Gospel Road (1973) – Wednesday, Aug. 11, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. ET
Johnny Cash co-wrote and narrated this big-screen retelling of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Filmed on location in Israel, it features original songs performed by The Man in Black. Director Robert Elfstrom appears as Jesus, and June Carter Cash plays Mary Magdalene.

Melanie (1982) – Thursday, Aug. 12, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
Glynnis O’Connor stars as an illiterate young mother fighting for custody of her son in this affecting independent feature. Paul Sorvino and Don Johnson co-star, along with Canadian singer-songwriter Burton Cummings, who makes a rare foray into dramatic acting. The film won three Genie Awards, including Best Original song for Cummings’ “You Saved My Soul.” Rex Bromfield directed.

Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) – Thursday, Aug. 12, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Who doesn’t love a good sword-and-sandal epic? This lavish sequel to The Robe stars Victor Mature as a freed slave who is entrusted with the task of keeping a precious treasure – Christ’s robe – from the clutches of the mad Roman emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson). With Susan Hayward, Anne Bancroft and Ernest Borgnine. Delmer Daves directed.

Borrowed Hearts (1997) - Friday, Aug. 13, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) stars as a wealthy playboy who needs to masquerade as a family man to close a business deal, and Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) plays a single mom who agrees to help him for a price. Ted Kotcheff directed.

The Black Stallion (1979) – Monday, Aug. 16, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Carroll Ballard directed this acclaimed adaptation of Walter Farley’s novel about a young boy (Kelly Reno) and an Arabian stallion who bond after being shipwrecked on a deserted island. With Mickey Rooney and Teri Garr.

The Verdict (1982) – Tuesday, Aug. 17, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Paul Newman gives one of his greatest performances in director Sidney Lumet’s Oscar-nominated courtroom drama. Newman stars as Frank Galvin, an alcoholic lawyer who finds one last chance for redemption when he takes on a malpractice suit against a Catholic hospital. With Charlotte Rampling, James Mason, Jack Warden and Lindsay Crouse. David Mamet wrote the screenplay.

Anna Karenina (1935) – Wednesday, Aug. 18, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. ET
The matchless Greta Garbo plays the doomed heroine in this lavish adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel. (The enigmatic star had played the role of Anna before, in a 1927 silent version entitled Love.) Fredric March co-stars as Count Vronsky, the dashing military man with whom the married Anna pursues a passionate but ultimately ruinous affair. The David O. Selznick production also features Basil Rathbone, Maureen O’Sullivan and child star Freddie Bartholomew. Clarence Brown directed. Garbo earned an inaugural New York Film Critics Circle award for her performance.

Owning Mahowny (2003) – Thursday, Aug. 19, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
The impeccable Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as an obsessive gambler in this keenly observed indie drama. Based on real-life events, Owning Mahowny tells the story of an unassuming Toronto bank manager who defrauds his employers of more than $10 million to feed his addiction. Minnie Driver co-stars as his esteem-challenged girlfriend, and John Hurt is the hard-eyed Atlantic City casino manager who circles Hoffman’s grimly fixated high roller like a hungry bird of prey. With Maury Chaykin, Ian Tracey, Sonja Smits and an uncredited cameo by Sandra Oh. Richard Kwietniowski (Love and Death on Long Island) directed.

Annie Hall (1977) – Thursday, Aug. 19, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Woody Allen’s masterpiece – the winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture – chronicles the romantic misadventures of a neurotic stand-up comic (Allen) and his eccentric girlfriend (Diane Keaton). With Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelley Duval, Colleen Dewhurst and Christopher Walken.

The Black Stallion Returns (1983) – Friday, Aug. 20, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
In this action-packed sequel to the family classic, young Alec (Kelly Reno) pursues thieves who have stolen his beloved black stallion and spirited him away to the Sahara for a race between rival desert tribes. Robert Dalva directed.

Bound for Glory(1976) – Monday, Aug. 23, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
David Carradine stars in this warts-and-all biopic of Woody Guthrie, an impoverished sign painter from Texas who rode the rails to California, where his sympathy for the plight of migrant workers fired his social conscience and fueled his emergence as one of the 20th century’s most impassioned and influential balladeers. With Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon and Randy Quaid. Hal Ashby directed.

Great Expectations (1998)  – Tuesday, Aug. 24, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) directed this modern-day adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic. Ethan Hawke stars as an impoverished young artist who rises to success with the help of a secret benefactor, while pursuing his childhood love, the haughty Estella (Gwyneth Paltrow). With Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft and Chris Cooper.

August (1996) – Wednesday, Aug. 25, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. ET
Anthony Hopkins directed and stars in this period drama, which transplants Anton Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya from its Russian setting to a Victorian country estate in Wales. Kate Burton, Gawn Grainger, Leslie Phillips, Rhian Morgan and Rhys Ifans also star.

Dances With Wolves (1990) – Part One: Thursday, Aug. 26, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
See Thursday, Aug. 5 at Midnight ET.

Dances With Wolves (1990) – Part Two: Friday, Aug. 27, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
See Thursday, Aug. 5 at Midnight ET.

The Manchurian Candidate(1962) – Monday, Aug. 30, Midnight ET / 9 p.m. PT
Director John Frankenheimer’s subversive thriller stars Laurence Harvey as a Korean War hero brainwashed by Communists to act as a sleeper agent. Frank Sinatra co-stars as a former comrade in arms racing against time to stop an assassination plot. With Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote) and Janet Leigh.

For more on VisionTV programming, please visit www.visiontv.ca