By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.

The Criterion Channel, the streaming service for the discerning film fan, plans to remove 88 movies from its lineup after Sunday, June 30, 2024. Here’s the three you want to watch before they leave, in my humble opinion. (The Criterion Channel costs $10.99 a month but has a 7-day free trial.)

The Exorcist (1973)
The horror film stars Linda Blair as a movie star’s daughter whose body is taken over by the Devil himself. (Or herself. Veteran actress Mercedes McCambridge did the voice of Satan, making The Evil One sound like a whiskey-guzzling old coot). Directed by the recently departed William Friedkin, The Exorcist scared the bejesus out of moviegoers in the 70s and it still holds up today as a great film. Some younger viewers might think it builds too slowly, but that’s what makes it great. When the thrills actually begin, the payout is powerful.

The Graduate (1967)
The Mike Nichols-directed film stars then-unknown Dustin Hoffman as a recent college graduate whose confused outlook on post-education life is made all the more confounding when he begins an affair with an older woman played deliciously by Anne Bancroft. And his dilemma becomes even more of a pickle when he falls in love with the woman’s daughter (Katharine Ross.)! Hoffman is superbly sublime here as is the pitch-perfect supporting cast including William Daniels as his Dad, Murray Hamilton as Bancroft’s husband and Buck Henry as a hotel clerk. (Henry also co-wrote the script with Nichols.) The Graduate was then and remains today a sharp satire of the inexorable life cycles of the American culture.

In a Lonely Place (1950)
If you think you know Humphrey Bogart, you haven’t seen In a Lonely Place. Directed by Nicholas Ray, In a Lonely Place stars Bogie as a cynical screenwriter who’s suspected of murdering a brief acquaintance. Gloria Grahame plays his beautiful neighbor who falls in love with him despite lingering suspicions that he may be guilty. What makes this typical noir story special is Bogart’s performance as the writer/accused killer. He’s charismatic and clever, but also violent, particularly when he drinks too much, and seemingly uncaring what the police (or anyone else) thinks of him. Friends of Bogart say this role came closest to capturing the off-screen Bogie, a gregarious but hard-drinking soul whose machismo often got the best of him. In a Lonely Place shows that Bogart was courageous enough to allow his true self to be displayed on the big screen, all in the quest to make a great picture. And a great picture it is!

Complete List of Movies Leaving Criterion Channel After June 30:

Sorcerer
After Hours
Inferno
Near Dark
Sunset Boulevard

Jade
The Exorcist
The Graduate
Daddy Longlegs
Comrades: A Love Story

In a Lonely Place
The Harder They Come
Babylon
Heaven Knows What
Whore

Escape From New York
Cruising
The Immigrant
The Asphalt Jungle
The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean

The Day the Earth Caught Fire
The Quiet Earth
Before Sunrise
Try and Get Me
Rip’s Dream

New Rose Hotel
Two Evil Eyes
Beyond the Visible
The Pillar of Fire
One Way Street

Rockers
Threads
Life After BOB: The Chalice Study
1990: The Bronx Warriors
Stranded

A Trip to the Moon
The File On Thelma Jordon
Can-Can
The Lair of the White Worm
The Breaking Point

Little Odessa
Guerillere Talks
Phase IV
Dead End Drive-In
John’s Gone

The Diabolic Tenant
Escape From the Bronx
Gothic
Two Lovers
Robinson Crusoe

Night and the City
The Trouble With Harry
What a Way to Go
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
Joan of Arc

The Music of Regret
Them!
The Witch
The Infernal Cauldron
Panic in the Streets

The Cat
Salome’s Last Dance
The Witch
The Black Balloon
Collateral

Terms of Endearment
The Merry Frolics of Satan
The Addiction
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Practice

Whimsical Illusions
Stage Fright
The Sleeping City
Caged
No Way Out (with Sidney Poitier)

The New Barbarians
Gun Crazy
The Rainbow
The Impossible Voyage
The Damned Don’t Cry

Girl, Interrupted
Air Doll
This Magnificent Cake!
Makar
The Kingdom of the Fairies

Where the Sidewalk Ends
Born to Be Bad
What About Me

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.