Foibles: A Mother-Daughter Podcast: Recent Episodes
foibles
Jaqueline Susann (1918-1974)
Novels:
Yargo (1950’s) - Science Fiction
Every Night, Josephine! (1963) - epistolary novel about her poodle
Valley of the Dolls (1966)
The Love Machine (1969)
Once is Not Enough (1973)
Sex and Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown
Must watch film: Valley of the Doll (1967), starring Patty Duke, Susan Hayward, Sharon Tate, and Barbara Parkins
Music:
Valley of the Dolls theme sung by Dionne Warwick
"The Love Machine" theme sung by Dionne Warwick
Thank you to David Plell and Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
We've been on hiatus for some time! Thank you for your patience while I took a vacation - Xoe
Carole Lombard (1908-1942) nee Jane Alice Peters
Must-see movies:
- To Be or Not To Be (1942)
- My Man Godfrey (1936)
- No Man of Her Own (1932)
Marriages:
William Powell (1931-1933)
Clark Gable (1939-1942)
Clip of the Love of Carole’s Life - Russ Columbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-zQWgOKFTg&t=102s
Thank you to David Plell and Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Carole Lombard (1908-1942) nee Jane Alice Peters
Must-see movies:
- To Be or Not To Be (1942)
- My Man Godfrey (1936)
- No Man of Her Own (1932)
Marriages:
William Powell (1931-1933)
Clark Gable (1939-1942)
Clip of the Love of Carole’s Life - Russ Columbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-zQWgOKFTg&t=102s
Thank you to David Plell and Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Pt III of III
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Novels
- Sense and Sensibility (1811) published when Austen was 37 years old
- Pride and Prejudice (1813)
- Mansfield Park (1814)
- Emma (1815)
- Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous)
- Persuasion (1818, posthumous)
- Lady Susan (1871, posthumous)
Our favorite adaptations:
BBC P&P (1995) - the best! Starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle
S&S (1995) - Emma Thompson won an Oscar for Best Adaptation and a new husband
Enjoyable Austen fan fiction:
These are the very best:
Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) - Colin Firth again! Both a tribute and its own thing.
Lost in Austen (2008) - 4-part BBC TV series: Modern day Londoner switches places with Elizabeth Bennett - adorable!
These are fun too:
Austenland (2013)- rom-com about immersive Austen cosplay
Becoming Jane (2007) - starring Anne Hathaway as Austen in a fictionalized story about her failed romance with Tom LeFroy
Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) - BBC 3-part murder mystery based the book by E. L. James
Darcy in the water statue
Other Music: Excerpts from BBC's Pride and Prejudice (1996).
Thank you to David Plell and Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Pt II of III
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Novels
- Sense and Sensibility (1811) published when Austen was 37 years old
- Pride and Prejudice (1813)
- Mansfield Park (1814)
- Emma (1815)
- Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous)
- Persuasion (1818, posthumous)
- Lady Susan (1871, posthumous)
Our favorite adaptations:
BBC P&P (1995) - the best! Starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle
S&S (1995) - Emma Thompson won an Oscar for Best Adaptation and a new husband
Enjoyable Austen fan fiction:
These are the very best:
Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) - Colin Firth again! Both a tribute and its own thing.
Lost in Austen (2008) - 4-part BBC TV series: Modern day Londoner switches places with Elizabeth Bennett - adorable!
These are fun too:
Austenland (2013)- rom-com about immersive Austen cosplay
Becoming Jane (2007) - starring Anne Hathaway as Austen in a fictionalized story about her failed romance with Tom LeFroy
Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) - BBC 3-part murder mystery based the book by E. L. James
Darcy in the water statue
Other Music: Excerpts from BBC's Pride and Prejudice (1996).
Thank you to David Plell and Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Pt I of II
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Novels
- Sense and Sensibility (1811) published when Austen was 37 years old
- Pride and Prejudice (1813)
- Mansfield Park (1814)
- Emma (1815)
- Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous)
- Persuasion (1818, posthumous)
- Lady Susan (1871, posthumous)
Our favorite adaptations:
BBC P&P (1995) - the best! Starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle
S&S (1995) - Emma Thompson won an Oscar for Best Adaptation and a new husband
Enjoyable Austen fan fiction:
These are the very best:
Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) - Colin Firth again! Both a tribute and its own thing.
Lost in Austen (2008) - 4-part BBC TV series: Modern day Londoner switches places with Elizabeth Bennett - adorable!
These are fun too:
Austenland (2013)- rom-com about immersive Austen cosplay
Becoming Jane (2007) - starring Anne Hathaway as Austen in a fictionalized story about her failed romance with Tom LeFroy
Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) - BBC 3-part murder mystery based the book by E. L. James
Darcy in the water statue
Other Music: Excerpts from BBC's Pride and Prejudice (1996).
Thank you to David Plell and Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Thank you for joining us for the fourth and final part of the series on the life and career of Preston Sturges. Unfortunately, he's a jerk in this one and his later films are... simply not good, so you'll find this to be a somewhat downbeat episode. We'll make sure something short and sweet is next, so look forward to that!
Preston Sturges (1898 - 1959) birth name Edmund Preston Biden - writer, director, producer
Part IV of IV
Must see movies:
- Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
- The Lady Eve (1941)
- Christmas in July (1940)
Runner Up: Palm Beach Story (1942)
Full Quote from the Title: "A pretty girl is better than a plain one. A leg is better than an arm. A bedroom is better than a living room. An arrival is better than a departure. A birth is better than a death. A chase is better than a chat. A dog is better than a landscape. A kitten is better than a dog. A baby is better than a kitten. A kiss is better than a baby. A pratfall is better than anything." -Preston Sturges
Other Music: Opening credits Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, and Palm Beach Story.
Thank you to Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Preston Sturges (1898 - 1959) birth name Edmund Preston Biden - writer, director, producer
Part III of IV
Must see movies:
- Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
- The Lady Eve (1941)
- Christmas in July (1940)
Runner Up: Palm Beach Story (1942)
Full Quote from the Title: "A pretty girl is better than a plain one. A leg is better than an arm. A bedroom is better than a living room. An arrival is better than a departure. A birth is better than a death. A chase is better than a chat. A dog is better than a landscape. A kitten is better than a dog. A baby is better than a kitten. A kiss is better than a baby. A pratfall is better than anything." -Preston Sturges
Other Music: Opening credits Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, and Palm Beach Story.
Thank you to Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Preston Sturges (1898 - 1959) birth name Edmund Preston Biden - writer, director, producer
Part I of IV
Must see movies:
- Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
- The Lady Eve (1941)
- Christmas in July (1940)
Runner Up: Palm Beach Story (1942)
Full Quote from the Title: "A pretty girl is better than a plain one. A leg is better than an arm. A bedroom is better than a living room. An arrival is better than a departure. A birth is better than a death. A chase is better than a chat. A dog is better than a landscape. A kitten is better than a dog. A baby is better than a kitten. A kiss is better than a baby. A pratfall is better than anything." -Preston Sturges
Other Music: Opening credits Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, and Palm Beach Story.
Thank you to Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Preston Sturges (1898 - 1959) birth name Edmund Preston Biden - writer, director, producer
Part I of IV
Must see movies:
- Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
- The Lady Eve (1941)
- Christmas in July (1940)
Runner Up: Palm Beach Story (1942)
Full Quote from the Title: "A pretty girl is better than a plain one. A leg is better than an arm. A bedroom is better than a living room. An arrival is better than a departure. A birth is better than a death. A chase is better than a chat. A dog is better than a landscape. A kitten is better than a dog. A baby is better than a kitten. A kiss is better than a baby. A pratfall is better than anything." -Preston Sturges
Other Music: Opening credits Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, and Palm Beach Story.
Thank you to Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Jeanette MacDonald (1903 -1965)
Nelson Eddy (1901 - 1967)
Naughty Marietta (1935) - Highly recommended
Rose Marie (1936)
Maytime (1937) - Highly recommended
The Girl of the Golden West (1938) - Highly recommended
Sweethearts (1938) - Highly recommended
New Moon (1940) - Highly recommended
Bitter Sweet (1940)
I Married an Angel (1941) - hmmm, inter-esting
A couple of recommendations of their separate films:
The Merry Widow (1934) - Jeanette stars with Maurice Chevalier directed by Ernst Lubitsch
The Chocolate Soldier (1941) - Nelson stars with opera star Rise Stevens
Italian Street Song from Naughty Marietta - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n94pvclfugk
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life! From Naughty Marietta - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xpKeabZlEs
Other Music: Indian Love Call, Rose Marie I Love You, Shortenin' Bread, all sung by Nelson Eddy
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Herman Melville (1819-1891)
Most famously the author of Moby Dick but his best work is Bartleby the Scrivener (1853) - “I would prefer not to.”
Billy Budd (1891) - left unfinished at this death
Our preferred adaptation is a loose one - Beau Travail directed by Claire Denis (1999)
As adapted into an opera by Benjamin Britten - Billy Budd (1951) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6cdCuKhjKM
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Other Music: "Farewell to thee, old Rights o' Man" from the Billy Budd opera by Bitten
Herman Melville (1819-1891)
Most famously the author of Moby Dick but his best work is Bartleby the Scrivener (1853) - “I would prefer not to.”
Billy Budd (1891) - left unfinished at this death
Our preferred adaptation is a loose one - Beau Travail directed by Claire Denis (1999)
As adapted into an opera by Benjamin Britten - Billy Budd (1951) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6cdCuKhjKM
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Other Music: "Farewell to thee, old Rights o' Man" from the Billy Budd opera by Bitten
The final part of the life and times of Rudolph Valentino: his second divorce, the famous boxing match, and more.
- Corrections: Rudy gave out his first and only prize for best actor in 1924; the first Oscars were held in 1929, not 1926.
Rudolph Valentino nee Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (1895 - 1926)
In Part IV, we discuss Rudy's first two marriages and the drama that ensues, and his rise to international stardom with the Sheik (1921).
Top 5:
- The Eagle
- The Sheik/Son of the Sheik
- Cobra
- Blood and Sand
- Moran of the Lady Letty
Photos from the Young Raja
Valentino's Car
The Mineralava Beauty Pageant
Song: "There's a New Star In Heaven Tonight"
Rudy Singing "Kashmiri Love Song"
mysilentboyfriend onYoutube
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Rudolph Valentino nee Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (1895 - 1926)
In Part IV, we discuss Rudy's first two marriages and the drama that ensues, and his rise to international stardom with the Sheik (1921).
Top 5:
- The Eagle
- The Sheik/Son of the Sheik
- Cobra
- Blood and Sand
- Moran of the Lady Letty
Photos from the Young Raja
Valentino's Car
The Mineralava Beauty Pageant
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Rudolph Valentino nee Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (1895 - 1926)
In Part IV, we discuss Rudy's first two marriages and the drama that ensues, and his rise to international stardom with the Sheik (1921).
Top 5:
- The Eagle
- The Sheik/Son of the Sheik
- Cobra
- Blood and Sand
- Moran of the Lady Letty
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Rudolph Valentino nee Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (1895 - 1926)
Top 5:
- The Eagle
- The Sheik/Son of the Sheik
- Cobra
- Blood and Sand
- Moran of the Lady Letty
Movies watched:
Patria (1917) - Fragments only exist; He shows up briefly in the background of a nightclub in episode 2. Movie stars Irene Castle.
A Society Sensation (1918 short) - romantic male lead opposite the star Carmel Myers. Star power is evident already. But the movie is fragmented and not funny, except for Zazu Pitts. Skip it unless you are a Rudi completist.
All Night (1918) - This silly bedroom farce is actually funny once it gets going. Rudi is just as funny as he is romantic.
The Married Virgin (1918) - Rudi’s sneer is the best thing about this drama where he plays a manipulative, conniving nobleman. The revelation in this film is Kathleen Kirkham. She must have supplied her own costumes because she presents a parade of beautiful clothes that even pop in scratchy black and white. Kirkham is quite marvelous. She started her own production company but like so many women in early Hollywood was trampled under the boot heels of misogyny.
The Delicious Little Devil (1919) - a new blu-ray was released in 2021. A real delight if you like silliness. Mae Murray is the star and she is full-on, full-blown slapstick. This is the first film where Rudi is featured with some close-ups and a solid amount of screen time. He plays his romantic role with a sprightly lightness and admirable attention to character detail. And he engages in some punch-ups and door smashing.
Eyes of Youth (1920) - Clunky and excruciatingly boring with a paucity of Rudi. But he so impressed June Mathis that she got him his break out part in 4 Horsemen
Stolen Moments (1920) - Skip the first ⅔ and get to the hand-kissing lollapalooza. Rudi’s 15 minutes or so are the only portion worth watching.
The Wonderful Chance (1920) - barely 3 minutes existing on YouTube. But worth watching. Rudi plays a believable Hollywood style gangster sporting a fake moustache. Was filming this movie in NYC when he got the part of Julio in Four Horsemen.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) - Often credited as the film where Rudolph was discovered by the public. It was his first collaboration with June Mathis, who claims to have discovered him. Valentino had been making his way up the chain to bigger parts since the beginning of his film career but Mathis certainly spring-loaded his ascent with this co-starring role. But it’s function was really more of a beta test for the movie that really shot Rudi to fame - The Sheik.
Rex Ingram was not much of an editor/director and this film suffers for it. Yes, it was intended as an epic about a European family torn apart by WWI. But it is too long, lacks style, and has too little Rudi. Its great value is the showcase it offers for Rudi’s dancing and his sensuality - something the American was gasping for. The gaucho/whip dance sequence is in during the 1st third of the film. Don’t fail to see what captured the hearts and libidos of filmgoers the world over.
Uncharted Seas (1921) - Lost film produced by Alla Nazimova that looks awesome in the stills that remain. You can see a nice compilation set to music here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASNeXq7pHbU. He met future wife Natasha Rambova on this film set.
The Conquering Power (1921) - A turgid adaptation filmed by Rex Ingram of Honore de Balzac’s short story Eugenie Graudet. Turgid except for Rudi. This is where you can see his skillful depiction of a character through small gestures and thoughtful acting choices. Most of his acting is pretty modern and authentic. Plus he wears spats and a monocle.
Camille (1921) - The film is dominated by Alla Nazimova displaying her grandeur rather than the emotional life of Camille. Rudi does his best but he is hardly in it. The whole thing is stiff and only for the Rudi completists. During this film Rudi and Natasha Rambova started an affair and ended up moving in together.
The Sheik (1921)
Moran of Lady Letty (1922) - Nice piratical thriller. Rudi engages in lots of fisticuffs and action.
Beyond the Rocks (1922) - Until 2003, this was a lost film. A copy was found in The Netherlands when a collector (hoarder) died and his collection of 2,000 silent films in rusty old cans made its way to the Filmmuseum. It was the Dutch version of the film entitled Golden Chains, with all the credits and intertitles in Dutch. It has been restored and a version with English intertitles is available.
Well, thank goodness! Beyond the Rocks is a little gem. In it, Rudi stars opposite Gloria Swanson, both of them at the peak of their beauty and at the apex of their stardom. They have stellar romantic chemistry as lovers kept apart by the heroine’s scruples about betraying her unattractive much older, yet decent, husband. Swanson’s presence is commanding and lovely. Rudi is winsome and manly. There are only 2 hand kisses but I relished them both.
The story, adapted from an Elinor Glynn novel, is simple. There is a meet-cute, talisman of their love (in this case a narcissus blossom), the barrier (marriage vows), ultimate sacrifice, and happy ending. All the elements we see reused and recombined endlessly. In 1922, was it still fresh? For me, it doesn’t matter because the movie made me sigh even a hundred years later.
Blood and Sand (1922) - This is Rudi’s last movie before he walked away from his contract with Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount Pictures). Blood and Sand was a huge hit and put him at the pinnacle of international stardom. But like so many actors after him, he resented the lack of control over his own career and that his salary was not commensurate with his value. So he became the first star to try to break the stranglehold of the Hollywood moguls over his life and work, as James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Olivia deHavilland did in the 1930’s and 40’s. While his case was being settled, he became the spokesperson for Mineralava beauty products and toured the country dancing with his wife, Natash Rambova.
Blood and Sand (1922) - This is Rudolph Valentino's last movie before he walked away from his contract with Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount Pictures). Blood and Sand was a huge hit and put him at the pinnacle of international stardom. But like so many actors after him, he resented the lack of control over his own career and that his salary was not commensurate with his value. So he became the first star to try to break the stranglehold of the Hollywood moguls over his life and work, as James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Olivia deHavilland did in the 1930’s and 40’s. While his case was being settled, he became the spokesperson for Mineralava beauty products and toured the country dancing with his wife, Natasha Rambova.
Blood and Sand contains his most varied performance. He’s athletic, arrogant, jaunty, impish, tender, nonplussed, and best of all supremely passionate as a poor, working-class lad who becomes the greatest bullfighter in all of Spain. His passion for fighting the bulls is equal only to his love for his pretty, but boring wife (Lila Lee) and to his lust for the mercurial, smoky-eyed, hip-swaying Vamp, played by the redoubtable Nita Naldi.
Valentino's acting is timeless. This timelessness comes from the inner stillness he brings to every motion, look, and gesture. This stillness is most evident in the love scenes, where he emits a magnetic force that is thrilling even today. His power of attention and grounded characterization would translate to modern screens - after a few updates.
On the other hand, Naldi is pure time-old theatricality. Her Vamp (the silent film version of the femme fatale) is as hot-blooded as she is cold-hearted. Her debauchery, carelessness with the hearts of men, and gleeful depravity reach an apex when she sinks her teeth into Valentino. She really perks up the the proceedings.
Carlos Saura's Carmen (1983) would be a great double feature.
The Young Rajah (1922) - The only memorable aspect of this movie about the heir to an Indian throne are the costumes designed for Rudi by his wife Natasha Rambova. Rambova really knows how to design clothes to highlight her husband’s attributes. Rudi can really wear a turban! Unfortunately, this film is only partially intact and the best costume of all exists only in a still photograph. You can see it here: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0884388/mediaviewer/rm2996167680/
Monsieur Beaucaire (1924) - Rudi’s 1st movie after his contract dispute with Famous Player-Lasky. It is also the 1st picture where he and his wife had creative control. The critics panned it and rightly so. The film is very poorly directed and requires as much reading as a novel. The long, numerous intertitles are interspersed with scenes of people talking a great deal. There is a witty sword duel and a couple fights that enliven the dullness. But ultimately, the only thing to watch this for is shirtless Rudi in a powdered wig. Chef’s kiss!
The Eagle (1925) - The Eagle is one Valentino's top 5 films and one of my top 20 silent films. It succeeds so well because the film does not rely solely on Rudolph Valentino's charisma and talent to carry it. The film is directed by Clarence Brown, one of the great, and little known, early directors. Though Brown is not as well-remembered as innovators like DW Griffith or Cecil B DeMille, he was a gifted, clear-eyed director who helmed such films as Greta Garbo's first talkie, Anna Christie.
The Eagle takes off at a run and doesn't look back until the final frame. The intertitles are kept to a minimum and Brown tells the delightful story, based on a novel by Alexander Pushkin, clearly with gestures, expressions, and editing. He uses the close-up extensively and effectively to convey the interplay of characters' motivations and intentions.
Valentino, a young Cossack, is on the run from the ire of Catherine the Great, who has marked him for death out of vindictive pique for her spurned sexual advances. Valentino's impoverished nobleman becomes the Robin Hood-like Black Eagle, wearing one of the coolest masks ever. In the course of his adventures, he falls for the virginal Vilma Banky, who is the daughter of his arch-enemy.
Delights abound when the Eagle disguises himself as a French tutor to infiltrate his enemy's abode, ala Zorro - the effete dandy hiding the rapier wit and the slashing blade of The Black Eagle. The film serves up Valentino's world-class hand kissing, several dashing costumes, complete with majestic hats, impish humor, derring-do, and love eternal.
Matching Valentino's expansive on-screen talents is Louise Dresser (not to be confused with Louise Dressler) playing Catherine the Great. Dresser is a middle-aged beauty who the daffy Black Eagle was foolish to reject in favor of the tepid Vilma Banky, who has a name for the ages but is merely pretty and competent as compared to Dresser's commanding womanhood.
Gary Cooper makes an early screen appearance as an uncredited masked Cossack.
It would be interesting to watch The Eagle with The Adventures of Robin Hood (1935). This Errol Flynn vehicle seems to have scenes inspired by The Eagle such as the forest scene where The Black Eagle captures his lady love.
Cobra (1925) - Oh my, Rudi’s penultimate film. We are nearing the end. This is a top-notch vehicle for Rudi’s signature louche, elegant wolf who turns into a solid gold mensch.
Son of the Sheik (1925)
Rudolph Valentino's final film, released only 2 weeks after his death at the age of 31 of peritonitis. He suffered the same fate as Harry Houdini another icon of the early 20th century, who also died of peritonitis 5 weeks later. They are a visible reminder of the days when otherwise healthy people died from simple infections.
Valentino died on cusp of the talkie revolution. Could he have made it through the approaching upheaval with his Italian accent, in the same way Greta Garbo did with her Swedish accent? Or would he have succumbed to the new technology the way his contemporary John "The Great Lover" Gilbert did? I think his talent and intelligence would have seen him through. But am less certain if he had the financial acumen to ultimately survive the whirlwind of this life. In a nutshell, Valentino had no concept of fiscal responsibility. And it was catching up to him.
The estate he left, by various reports, had no money or owed money. Valentino said, "I have everything—and I have nothing. It’s all too terribly fast for me. A man should control his life. Mine is controlling me.” He passed away before he fell; and, perhaps, that is a blessing.
His last film is a great film. He plays a double role as both The Sheik and Son of the Sheik. For such early cinematic days, the technology and make-up convincingly show father and son interacting in the same shot.
The heat initially generated by The Sheik in 1922, flares and sizzles in this sequel. The story is better. The cinematography is better. And the female is better. The ethereal Vilma Banky (her real name) is cast as the kidnapped beauty in this love/hate/love story, while the object of desire in The Sheik, Agnes Ayers, plays Son of the Sheik's mother. Despite her function as the McGuffin of love, Banky manages to make us believe that she is a person and that the trials that the vengeful Son of TS put her through have impact, which is another element that makes this even better and more thrilling than the original.
Son of TS is vengeful because he believes that Banky's dancing girl betrayed him to bandits, who tortured him in a rather sadomasochistic way - arms tied above his head, bare-chested whipping, and nipple pinching. Whoa! But she didn't. She is innocent. A comedy of errors, if you will, but more hot than humorous. This movie is a febrile stew of hinted at sexual deviation and violence. It's like wrestling with sweat-soaked sheets during a fever dream.
Valentino did not want to do this sequel but he gave it his all, nonetheless. He brought back authentic Arab dress from his travels and used them in the film. He worked manfully without showing the pain he was suffering from stomach ulcers. Pola Negri, whom he was dating, said he would double over from the pain.
Even though he was not there to see it, Son of the Sheik was a massive hit and pushed his stardom into the stratosphere.
Ken Russell did a good, though at times surreal, biopic - Valentino (1977) - starring the ballet legend Rudolph Nureyev.
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Other songs in this episode:
Tango- music from Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Rudolph Valentino nee Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (1895 - 1926)
Top 5:
- The Eagle
- The Sheik/Son of the Sheik
- Cobra
- Blood and Sand
- Moran of the Lady Letty
Movies watched:
Patria (1917) - Fragments only exist; He shows up briefly in the background of a nightclub in episode 2. Movie stars Irene Castle.
A Society Sensation (1918 short) - romantic male lead opposite the star Carmel Myers. Star power is evident already. But the movie is fragmented and not funny, except for Zazu Pitts. Skip it unless you are a Rudi completist.
All Night (1918) - This silly bedroom farce is actually funny once it gets going. Rudi is just as funny as he is romantic.
The Married Virgin (1918) - Rudi’s sneer is the best thing about this drama where he plays a manipulative, conniving nobleman. The revelation in this film is Kathleen Kirkham. She must have supplied her own costumes because she presents a parade of beautiful clothes that even pop in scratchy black and white. Kirkham is quite marvelous. She started her own production company but like so many women in early Hollywood was trampled under the boot heels of misogyny.
The Delicious Little Devil (1919) - a new blu-ray was released in 2021. A real delight if you like silliness. Mae Murray is the star and she is full-on, full-blown slapstick. This is the first film where Rudi is featured with some close-ups and a solid amount of screen time. He plays his romantic role with a sprightly lightness and admirable attention to character detail. And he engages in some punch-ups and door smashing.
Eyes of Youth (1920) - Clunky and excruciatingly boring with a paucity of Rudi. But he so impressed June Mathis that she got him his break out part in 4 Horsemen
Stolen Moments (1920) - Skip the first ⅔ and get to the hand-kissing lollapalooza. Rudi’s 15 minutes or so are the only portion worth watching.
The Wonderful Chance (1920) - barely 3 minutes existing on YouTube. But worth watching. Rudi plays a believable Hollywood style gangster sporting a fake moustache. Was filming this movie in NYC when he got the part of Julio in Four Horsemen.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) - Often credited as the film where Rudolph was discovered by the public. It was his first collaboration with June Mathis, who claims to have discovered him. Valentino had been making his way up the chain to bigger parts since the beginning of his film career but Mathis certainly spring-loaded his ascent with this co-starring role. But it’s function was really more of a beta test for the movie that really shot Rudi to fame - The Sheik.
Rex Ingram was not much of an editor/director and this film suffers for it. Yes, it was intended as an epic about a European family torn apart by WWI. But it is too long, lacks style, and has too little Rudi. Its great value is the showcase it offers for Rudi’s dancing and his sensuality - something the American was gasping for. The gaucho/whip dance sequence is in during the 1st third of the film. Don’t fail to see what captured the hearts and libidos of filmgoers the world over.
Uncharted Seas (1921) - Lost film produced by Alla Nazimova that looks awesome in the stills that remain. You can see a nice compilation set to music here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASNeXq7pHbU. He met future wife Natasha Rambova on this film set.
The Conquering Power (1921) - A turgid adaptation filmed by Rex Ingram of Honore de Balzac’s short story Eugenie Graudet. Turgid except for Rudi. This is where you can see his skillful depiction of a character through small gestures and thoughtful acting choices. Most of his acting is pretty modern and authentic. Plus he wears spats and a monocle.
Camille (1921) - The film is dominated by Alla Nazimova displaying her grandeur rather than the emotional life of Camille. Rudi does his best but he is hardly in it. The whole thing is stiff and only for the Rudi completists. During this film Rudi and Natasha Rambova started an affair and ended up moving in together.
The Sheik (1921)
Moran of Lady Letty (1922) - Nice piratical thriller. Rudi engages in lots of fisticuffs and action.
Beyond the Rocks (1922) - Until 2003, this was a lost film. A copy was found in The Netherlands when a collector (hoarder) died and his collection of 2,000 silent films in rusty old cans made its way to the Filmmuseum. It was the Dutch version of the film entitled Golden Chains, with all the credits and intertitles in Dutch. It has been restored and a version with English intertitles is available.
Well, thank goodness! Beyond the Rocks is a little gem. In it, Rudi stars opposite Gloria Swanson, both of them at the peak of their beauty and at the apex of their stardom. They have stellar romantic chemistry as lovers kept apart by the heroine’s scruples about betraying her unattractive much older, yet decent, husband. Swanson’s presence is commanding and lovely. Rudi is winsome and manly. There are only 2 hand kisses but I relished them both.
The story, adapted from an Elinor Glynn novel, is simple. There is a meet-cute, talisman of their love (in this case a narcissus blossom), the barrier (marriage vows), ultimate sacrifice, and happy ending. All the elements we see reused and recombined endlessly. In 1922, was it still fresh? For me, it doesn’t matter because the movie made me sigh even a hundred years later.
Blood and Sand (1922) - This is Rudi’s last movie before he walked away from his contract with Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount Pictures). Blood and Sand was a huge hit and put him at the pinnacle of international stardom. But like so many actors after him, he resented the lack of control over his own career and that his salary was not commensurate with his value. So he became the first star to try to break the stranglehold of the Hollywood moguls over his life and work, as James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Olivia deHavilland did in the 1930’s and 40’s. While his case was being settled, he became the spokesperson for Mineralava beauty products and toured the country dancing with his wife, Natash Rambova.
Blood and Sand (1922) - This is Rudolph Valentino's last movie before he walked away from his contract with Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount Pictures). Blood and Sand was a huge hit and put him at the pinnacle of international stardom. But like so many actors after him, he resented the lack of control over his own career and that his salary was not commensurate with his value. So he became the first star to try to break the stranglehold of the Hollywood moguls over his life and work, as James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Olivia deHavilland did in the 1930’s and 40’s. While his case was being settled, he became the spokesperson for Mineralava beauty products and toured the country dancing with his wife, Natasha Rambova.
Blood and Sand contains his most varied performance. He’s athletic, arrogant, jaunty, impish, tender, nonplussed, and best of all supremely passionate as a poor, working-class lad who becomes the greatest bullfighter in all of Spain. His passion for fighting the bulls is equal only to his love for his pretty, but boring wife (Lila Lee) and to his lust for the mercurial, smoky-eyed, hip-swaying Vamp, played by the redoubtable Nita Naldi.
Valentino's acting is timeless. This timelessness comes from the inner stillness he brings to every motion, look, and gesture. This stillness is most evident in the love scenes, where he emits a magnetic force that is thrilling even today. His power of attention and grounded characterization would translate to modern screens - after a few updates.
On the other hand, Naldi is pure time-old theatricality. Her Vamp (the silent film version of the femme fatale) is as hot-blooded as she is cold-hearted. Her debauchery, carelessness with the hearts of men, and gleeful depravity reach an apex when she sinks her teeth into Valentino. She really perks up the the proceedings.
Carlos Saura's Carmen (1983) would be a great double feature.
The Young Rajah (1922) - The only memorable aspect of this movie about the heir to an Indian throne are the costumes designed for Rudi by his wife Natasha Rambova. Rambova really knows how to design clothes to highlight her husband’s attributes. Rudi can really wear a turban! Unfortunately, this film is only partially intact and the best costume of all exists only in a still photograph. You can see it here: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0884388/mediaviewer/rm2996167680/
Monsieur Beaucaire (1924) - Rudi’s 1st movie after his contract dispute with Famous Player-Lasky. It is also the 1st picture where he and his wife had creative control. The critics panned it and rightly so. The film is very poorly directed and requires as much reading as a novel. The long, numerous intertitles are interspersed with scenes of people talking a great deal. There is a witty sword duel and a couple fights that enliven the dullness. But ultimately, the only thing to watch this for is shirtless Rudi in a powdered wig. Chef’s kiss!
The Eagle (1925) - The Eagle is one Valentino's top 5 films and one of my top 20 silent films. It succeeds so well because the film does not rely solely on Rudolph Valentino's charisma and talent to carry it. The film is directed by Clarence Brown, one of the great, and little known, early directors. Though Brown is not as well-remembered as innovators like DW Griffith or Cecil B DeMille, he was a gifted, clear-eyed director who helmed such films as Greta Garbo's first talkie, Anna Christie.
The Eagle takes off at a run and doesn't look back until the final frame. The intertitles are kept to a minimum and Brown tells the delightful story, based on a novel by Alexander Pushkin, clearly with gestures, expressions, and editing. He uses the close-up extensively and effectively to convey the interplay of characters' motivations and intentions.
Valentino, a young Cossack, is on the run from the ire of Catherine the Great, who has marked him for death out of vindictive pique for her spurned sexual advances. Valentino's impoverished nobleman becomes the Robin Hood-like Black Eagle, wearing one of the coolest masks ever. In the course of his adventures, he falls for the virginal Vilma Banky, who is the daughter of his arch-enemy.
Delights abound when the Eagle disguises himself as a French tutor to infiltrate his enemy's abode, ala Zorro - the effete dandy hiding the rapier wit and the slashing blade of The Black Eagle. The film serves up Valentino's world-class hand kissing, several dashing costumes, complete with majestic hats, impish humor, derring-do, and love eternal.
Matching Valentino's expansive on-screen talents is Louise Dresser (not to be confused with Louise Dressler) playing Catherine the Great. Dresser is a middle-aged beauty who the daffy Black Eagle was foolish to reject in favor of the tepid Vilma Banky, who has a name for the ages but is merely pretty and competent as compared to Dresser's commanding womanhood.
Gary Cooper makes an early screen appearance as an uncredited masked Cossack.
It would be interesting to watch The Eagle with The Adventures of Robin Hood (1935). This Errol Flynn vehicle seems to have scenes inspired by The Eagle such as the forest scene where The Black Eagle captures his lady love.
Cobra (1925) - Oh my, Rudi’s penultimate film. We are nearing the end. This is a top-notch vehicle for Rudi’s signature louche, elegant wolf who turns into a solid gold mensch.
Son of the Sheik (1925)
Rudolph Valentino's final film, released only 2 weeks after his death at the age of 31 of peritonitis. He suffered the same fate as Harry Houdini another icon of the early 20th century, who also died of peritonitis 5 weeks later. They are a visible reminder of the days when otherwise healthy people died from simple infections.
Valentino died on cusp of the talkie revolution. Could he have made it through the approaching upheaval with his Italian accent, in the same way Greta Garbo did with her Swedish accent? Or would he have succumbed to the new technology the way his contemporary John "The Great Lover" Gilbert did? I think his talent and intelligence would have seen him through. But am less certain if he had the financial acumen to ultimately survive the whirlwind of this life. In a nutshell, Valentino had no concept of fiscal responsibility. And it was catching up to him.
The estate he left, by various reports, had no money or owed money. Valentino said, "I have everything—and I have nothing. It’s all too terribly fast for me. A man should control his life. Mine is controlling me.” He passed away before he fell; and, perhaps, that is a blessing.
His last film is a great film. He plays a double role as both The Sheik and Son of the Sheik. For such early cinematic days, the technology and make-up convincingly show father and son interacting in the same shot.
The heat initially generated by The Sheik in 1922, flares and sizzles in this sequel. The story is better. The cinematography is better. And the female is better. The ethereal Vilma Banky (her real name) is cast as the kidnapped beauty in this love/hate/love story, while the object of desire in The Sheik, Agnes Ayers, plays Son of the Sheik's mother. Despite her function as the McGuffin of love, Banky manages to make us believe that she is a person and that the trials that the vengeful Son of TS put her through have impact, which is another element that makes this even better and more thrilling than the original.
Son of TS is vengeful because he believes that Banky's dancing girl betrayed him to bandits, who tortured him in a rather sadomasochistic way - arms tied above his head, bare-chested whipping, and nipple pinching. Whoa! But she didn't. She is innocent. A comedy of errors, if you will, but more hot than humorous. This movie is a febrile stew of hinted at sexual deviation and violence. It's like wrestling with sweat-soaked sheets during a fever dream.
Valentino did not want to do this sequel but he gave it his all, nonetheless. He brought back authentic Arab dress from his travels and used them in the film. He worked manfully without showing the pain he was suffering from stomach ulcers. Pola Negri, whom he was dating, said he would double over from the pain.
Even though he was not there to see it, Son of the Sheik was a massive hit and pushed his stardom into the stratosphere.
Ken Russell did a good, though at times surreal, biopic - Valentino (1977) - starring the ballet legend Rudolph Nureyev.
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Other songs in this episode:
Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend- Marilyn Monroe
Ten Cents a Dance- Ruth Etting
Apologies for missing our upload last week- my (relatively new) laptop broke (R.I.P.) and thus our next release will be delayed. Thank you for your patience!
Rudolph Valentino nee Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (1895 - 1926)
Top 5:
- The Eagle
- The Sheik/Son of the Sheik
- Cobra
- Blood and Sand
- Moran of the Lady Letty
Movies watched:
Patria (1917) - Fragments only exist; He shows up briefly in the background of a nightclub in episode 2. Movie stars Irene Castle.
A Society Sensation (1918 short) - romantic male lead opposite the star Carmel Myers. Star power is evident already. But the movie is fragmented and not funny, except for Zazu Pitts. Skip it unless you are a Rudi completist.
All Night (1918) - This silly bedroom farce is actually funny once it gets going. Rudi is just as funny as he is romantic.
The Married Virgin (1918) - Rudi’s sneer is the best thing about this drama where he plays a manipulative, conniving nobleman. The revelation in this film is Kathleen Kirkham. She must have supplied her own costumes because she presents a parade of beautiful clothes that even pop in scratchy black and white. Kirkham is quite marvelous. She started her own production company but like so many women in early Hollywood was trampled under the boot heels of misogyny.
The Delicious Little Devil (1919) - a new blu-ray was released in 2021. A real delight if you like silliness. Mae Murray is the star and she is full-on, full-blown slapstick. This is the first film where Rudi is featured with some close-ups and a solid amount of screen time. He plays his romantic role with a sprightly lightness and admirable attention to character detail. And he engages in some punch-ups and door smashing.
Eyes of Youth (1920) - Clunky and excruciatingly boring with a paucity of Rudi. But he so impressed June Mathis that she got him his break out part in 4 Horsemen
Stolen Moments (1920) - Skip the first ⅔ and get to the hand-kissing lollapalooza. Rudi’s 15 minutes or so are the only portion worth watching.
The Wonderful Chance (1920) - barely 3 minutes existing on YouTube. But worth watching. Rudi plays a believable Hollywood style gangster sporting a fake moustache. Was filming this movie in NYC when he got the part of Julio in Four Horsemen.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) - Often credited as the film where Rudolph was discovered by the public. It was his first collaboration with June Mathis, who claims to have discovered him. Valentino had been making his way up the chain to bigger parts since the beginning of his film career but Mathis certainly spring-loaded his ascent with this co-starring role. But it’s function was really more of a beta test for the movie that really shot Rudi to fame - The Sheik.
Rex Ingram was not much of an editor/director and this film suffers for it. Yes, it was intended as an epic about a European family torn apart by WWI. But it is too long, lacks style, and has too little Rudi. Its great value is the showcase it offers for Rudi’s dancing and his sensuality - something the American was gasping for. The gaucho/whip dance sequence is in during the 1st third of the film. Don’t fail to see what captured the hearts and libidos of filmgoers the world over.
Uncharted Seas (1921) - Lost film produced by Alla Nazimova that looks awesome in the stills that remain. You can see a nice compilation set to music here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASNeXq7pHbU. He met future wife Natasha Rambova on this film set.
The Conquering Power (1921) - A turgid adaptation filmed by Rex Ingram of Honore de Balzac’s short story Eugenie Graudet. Turgid except for Rudi. This is where you can see his skillful depiction of a character through small gestures and thoughtful acting choices. Most of his acting is pretty modern and authentic. Plus he wears spats and a monocle.
Camille (1921) - The film is dominated by Alla Nazimova displaying her grandeur rather than the emotional life of Camille. Rudi does his best but he is hardly in it. The whole thing is stiff and only for the Rudi completists. During this film Rudi and Natasha Rambova started an affair and ended up moving in together.
The Sheik (1921)
Moran of Lady Letty (1922) - Nice piratical thriller. Rudi engages in lots of fisticuffs and action.
Beyond the Rocks (1922) - Until 2003, this was a lost film. A copy was found in The Netherlands when a collector (hoarder) died and his collection of 2,000 silent films in rusty old cans made its way to the Filmmuseum. It was the Dutch version of the film entitled Golden Chains, with all the credits and intertitles in Dutch. It has been restored and a version with English intertitles is available.
Well, thank goodness! Beyond the Rocks is a little gem. In it, Rudi stars opposite Gloria Swanson, both of them at the peak of their beauty and at the apex of their stardom. They have stellar romantic chemistry as lovers kept apart by the heroine’s scruples about betraying her unattractive much older, yet decent, husband. Swanson’s presence is commanding and lovely. Rudi is winsome and manly. There are only 2 hand kisses but I relished them both.
The story, adapted from an Elinor Glynn novel, is simple. There is a meet-cute, talisman of their love (in this case a narcissus blossom), the barrier (marriage vows), ultimate sacrifice, and happy ending. All the elements we see reused and recombined endlessly. In 1922, was it still fresh? For me, it doesn’t matter because the movie made me sigh even a hundred years later.
Blood and Sand (1922) - This is Rudi’s last movie before he walked away from his contract with Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount Pictures). Blood and Sand was a huge hit and put him at the pinnacle of international stardom. But like so many actors after him, he resented the lack of control over his own career and that his salary was not commensurate with his value. So he became the first star to try to break the stranglehold of the Hollywood moguls over his life and work, as James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Olivia deHavilland did in the 1930’s and 40’s. While his case was being settled, he became the spokesperson for Mineralava beauty products and toured the country dancing with his wife, Natash Rambova.
Blood and Sand (1922) - This is Rudolph Valentino's last movie before he walked away from his contract with Famous Players-Lasky (Paramount Pictures). Blood and Sand was a huge hit and put him at the pinnacle of international stardom. But like so many actors after him, he resented the lack of control over his own career and that his salary was not commensurate with his value. So he became the first star to try to break the stranglehold of the Hollywood moguls over his life and work, as James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Olivia deHavilland did in the 1930’s and 40’s. While his case was being settled, he became the spokesperson for Mineralava beauty products and toured the country dancing with his wife, Natasha Rambova.
Blood and Sand contains his most varied performance. He’s athletic, arrogant, jaunty, impish, tender, nonplussed, and best of all supremely passionate as a poor, working-class lad who becomes the greatest bullfighter in all of Spain. His passion for fighting the bulls is equal only to his love for his pretty, but boring wife (Lila Lee) and to his lust for the mercurial, smoky-eyed, hip-swaying Vamp, played by the redoubtable Nita Naldi.
Valentino's acting is timeless. This timelessness comes from the inner stillness he brings to every motion, look, and gesture. This stillness is most evident in the love scenes, where he emits a magnetic force that is thrilling even today. His power of attention and grounded characterization would translate to modern screens - after a few updates.
On the other hand, Naldi is pure time-old theatricality. Her Vamp (the silent film version of the femme fatale) is as hot-blooded as she is cold-hearted. Her debauchery, carelessness with the hearts of men, and gleeful depravity reach an apex when she sinks her teeth into Valentino. She really perks up the the proceedings.
Carlos Saura's Carmen (1983) would be a great double feature.
The Young Rajah (1922) - The only memorable aspect of this movie about the heir to an Indian throne are the costumes designed for Rudi by his wife Natasha Rambova. Rambova really knows how to design clothes to highlight her husband’s attributes. Rudi can really wear a turban! Unfortunately, this film is only partially intact and the best costume of all exists only in a still photograph. You can see it here: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0884388/mediaviewer/rm2996167680/
Monsieur Beaucaire (1924) - Rudi’s 1st movie after his contract dispute with Famous Player-Lasky. It is also the 1st picture where he and his wife had creative control. The critics panned it and rightly so. The film is very poorly directed and requires as much reading as a novel. The long, numerous intertitles are interspersed with scenes of people talking a great deal. There is a witty sword duel and a couple fights that enliven the dullness. But ultimately, the only thing to watch this for is shirtless Rudi in a powdered wig. Chef’s kiss!
The Eagle (1925) - The Eagle is one Valentino's top 5 films and one of my top 20 silent films. It succeeds so well because the film does not rely solely on Rudolph Valentino's charisma and talent to carry it. The film is directed by Clarence Brown, one of the great, and little known, early directors. Though Brown is not as well-remembered as innovators like DW Griffith or Cecil B DeMille, he was a gifted, clear-eyed director who helmed such films as Greta Garbo's first talkie, Anna Christie.
The Eagle takes off at a run and doesn't look back until the final frame. The intertitles are kept to a minimum and Brown tells the delightful story, based on a novel by Alexander Pushkin, clearly with gestures, expressions, and editing. He uses the close-up extensively and effectively to convey the interplay of characters' motivations and intentions.
Valentino, a young Cossack, is on the run from the ire of Catherine the Great, who has marked him for death out of vindictive pique for her spurned sexual advances. Valentino's impoverished nobleman becomes the Robin Hood-like Black Eagle, wearing one of the coolest masks ever. In the course of his adventures, he falls for the virginal Vilma Banky, who is the daughter of his arch-enemy.
Delights abound when the Eagle disguises himself as a French tutor to infiltrate his enemy's abode, ala Zorro - the effete dandy hiding the rapier wit and the slashing blade of The Black Eagle. The film serves up Valentino's world-class hand kissing, several dashing costumes, complete with majestic hats, impish humor, derring-do, and love eternal.
Matching Valentino's expansive on-screen talents is Louise Dresser (not to be confused with Louise Dressler) playing Catherine the Great. Dresser is a middle-aged beauty who the daffy Black Eagle was foolish to reject in favor of the tepid Vilma Banky, who has a name for the ages but is merely pretty and competent as compared to Dresser's commanding womanhood.
Gary Cooper makes an early screen appearance as an uncredited masked Cossack.
It would be interesting to watch The Eagle with The Adventures of Robin Hood (1935). This Errol Flynn vehicle seems to have scenes inspired by The Eagle such as the forest scene where The Black Eagle captures his lady love.
Cobra (1925) - Oh my, Rudi’s penultimate film. We are nearing the end. This is a top-notch vehicle for Rudi’s signature louche, elegant wolf who turns into a solid gold mensch.
Son of the Sheik (1925)
Rudolph Valentino's final film, released only 2 weeks after his death at the age of 31 of peritonitis. He suffered the same fate as Harry Houdini another icon of the early 20th century, who also died of peritonitis 5 weeks later. They are a visible reminder of the days when otherwise healthy people died from simple infections.
Valentino died on cusp of the talkie revolution. Could he have made it through the approaching upheaval with his Italian accent, in the same way Greta Garbo did with her Swedish accent? Or would he have succumbed to the new technology the way his contemporary John "The Great Lover" Gilbert did? I think his talent and intelligence would have seen him through. But am less certain if he had the financial acumen to ultimately survive the whirlwind of this life. In a nutshell, Valentino had no concept of fiscal responsibility. And it was catching up to him.
The estate he left, by various reports, had no money or owed money. Valentino said, "I have everything—and I have nothing. It’s all too terribly fast for me. A man should control his life. Mine is controlling me.” He passed away before he fell; and, perhaps, that is a blessing.
His last film is a great film. He plays a double role as both The Sheik and Son of the Sheik. For such early cinematic days, the technology and make-up convincingly show father and son interacting in the same shot.
The heat initially generated by The Sheik in 1922, flares and sizzles in this sequel. The story is better. The cinematography is better. And the female is better. The ethereal Vilma Banky (her real name) is cast as the kidnapped beauty in this love/hate/love story, while the object of desire in The Sheik, Agnes Ayers, plays Son of the Sheik's mother. Despite her function as the McGuffin of love, Banky manages to make us believe that she is a person and that the trials that the vengeful Son of TS put her through have impact, which is another element that makes this even better and more thrilling than the original.
Son of TS is vengeful because he believes that Banky's dancing girl betrayed him to bandits, who tortured him in a rather sadomasochistic way - arms tied above his head, bare-chested whipping, and nipple pinching. Whoa! But she didn't. She is innocent. A comedy of errors, if you will, but more hot than humorous. This movie is a febrile stew of hinted at sexual deviation and violence. It's like wrestling with sweat-soaked sheets during a fever dream.
Valentino did not want to do this sequel but he gave it his all, nonetheless. He brought back authentic Arab dress from his travels and used them in the film. He worked manfully without showing the pain he was suffering from stomach ulcers. Pola Negri, whom he was dating, said he would double over from the pain.
Even though he was not there to see it, Son of the Sheik was a massive hit and pushed his stardom into the stratosphere.
Ken Russell did a good, though at times surreal, biopic - Valentino (1977) - starring the ballet legend Rudolph Nureyev.
Barbara Stanwyck nee Ruby Stephens (1907 - 1990) She had a 64 year show business career!
Must-see Stanwyck in chronological order:
Night Nurse (1931) - Starred with newcomer Clark Gable who became a lifelong friend
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932) - There are some elements that did not age well but it is still a touching romance that defied the laws of anti-miscegenation.
Baby Face (1933) - Pre-code, gritty depiction of a woman who claws her way to the top using the only asset that the Patriarchy values. Theresa Harris has a prominent role, and unusually for a black actor, gets significant screen time and her character is as fleshed out as Stanwyck’s is.
The Lady Eve (1941) - Transcendent Preston Sturges comedy. Stanwyck’s comedic timing and her sensuality had never been given full rein. Henry Fonda who stars with her never stood a chance.
Ball of Fire (1941) - Her character’s name is Sugarpuss O’Shea. Need I say more?
Double Indemnity (1944) - The ultimate femme fatale.
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Vladimir Nabokov (1899 - 1977)
Recommended:
Pale Fire (1962) - Parallel stories told through an epic poem and the annotation to the poem. Brilliant layering of clues, leaving the reader to decide how unreliable the narrator is - and who he is
Pnin (1957) - Pnin is a professor at the same college where John Shade and Charles Kinbote for Pale Fire teach. Pnin is mentioned in Pale Fire.
Lolita (1958) - The novel that made Nabokov wealthy and famous. The Stanley Kubrick movie adaptation is marvelous - Lolita (1962). The 1998 film version lacks the spark of Kubrick’s vision.
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (2003) - compelling memoir of stolen pleasure in literature
Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!
Douglas Sirk (1897 - 1987) - All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Sirk was a Dane born in Germany and became very successful in Germany as a theater director. His 1st wife joined the Nazi Party. He left Germany primarily because of the danger the rise of the Nazi Party created for his 2nd wife who was a Jew.
The core and substance of Sirk’s oeuvre was created in Hollywood in the 1950’s in so-called women’s films. Sirk’s greatest works depicted social constraints from the woman’s point of view and offered full-bodied characters to his female stars. Sirk uses sweeping music, vivid technicolor, and lush scenery in opposition to emotional suppression and the heavy hand of systemic oppression. He hides his true anti-fascist message behind the tissue-thin glamor of Hollywood.
At the time of their release, Sirk’s movies were critically sneered at for their swollen emotions and woman-centric themes. It was, per usual, the French New Wave directors and Cahiers du Cinema who embraced, lauded, and raised to the pantheon Douglas Sirk’s 1950’s films. Perhaps, the French could appreciate the films in depth because they were not afraid of the romantic stylistic grandeur and the anti-bourgeoises subtext.
ATHA stars the almost forgotten Jane Wyman (Ronald Reagan’s 1st wife in real life) opposite the younger Rock Hudson. Wyman is an upper class widow in love with a younger, working class man. And all the forces of her class, family, and larger social circle put pressure on her to forego an alliance with an “unsuitable” man. Her family and society’s discomfort come from her crossing the class barrier and more, fundamentally, her implicitly asserting her sexual desire by making this choice. Sirk uses lighting, imagery, and mise en scene to evoke Wyman’s inner life, which she keeps buttoned up as required by her training and social position.
To my mind, Sirk’s greatest film is his last, Imitation of Life (1959). It is a remake of the equally good 1934 black-and-white version starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers as two women whose lives are bound together. They are bonded emotionally and economically, yet divided by race and class. Sirk’s remake starring Lana Turner and Juanita Moore is more stylish and emotionally febrile as he builds an edifice of intersectional inequality with gowns by Jean Louis. The major difference between the films is that in the 1934 version Louise Beaver’s black maid character plays a major role in raising the family’s fortunes by her own talents.
Sirk retired in 1959 after Imitation of Life. But continues to influence and inspire filmmakers, particularly male filmmakers.
Todd Haynes (b. 1961) - Far From Heaven (2002)
Todd Haynes has a strong sympathy and insight into the female point of view. He has directed films in many genres but he brings a complex compassion no matter the form he is using. Far From Heaven is a remake of All That Heaven Allows (1955) with a large dollop of Imitation of Life (1959) folded in.
In FFH, Julianne Moore is not a widow but a woman married to a closeted gay man, who falls in love with a straight, working-class, black man; thereby, challenging all the taboos. Haynes adopts all the hallmarks of Sirk’s style - oceanic musical score, colors so rich you can taste them, and pulsating, barely expressed emotions shifting the tectonic plates of the character’s lives.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945 - 1982) Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
This is one of the best out of Fassbinder’s enormous catalog of 44 films directed during his 18-year career. Fassbinder lived an openly queer lifestyle, indulged in, and eventually died from drugs. Basically, Fassbinder did not give shit what conventional and middle-class morality dictated. All of his films were political in that they spit in the face of the establishment.
In Ali, Fassbinder has the courage to cast a man and woman whose demographics really challenges normative attitudes about heterosexual relationships. Brigitte Mira is actually 25 years older than her love interest played by El Hedi Ben Salem. She is not cosmetically enhanced with surgery, weight-loss, or special undergarments. Salem is a man of color, originally from Morocco, making him an immigrant and non-white. Every element is spectacularly transgressive in the 1970’s and still challenging today.
Unlike Douglas Sirk and Todd Haynes, Fassbinder had no ties to the filmmaking establishment. He rebels stridently in his raw, unlovely mise en scene. Yet, at the same time, he pays homage to Sirk’s visual vocabulary.
Book:
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, published 1905.
11 sequels plus numerous short stories
Movie adaptations:
Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon- The BEST adaptation
Pimpernel Smith (1941), Leslie Howard- Meh.
The Elusive Pimpernel (1950), David Niven and Margaret Leighton- Rita hated, Xoe loved the surreal sets.
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour- Solid adaptation.
TV:
Scarlet Pimpernel (1999)- Not very good.
Experiences the child-like joy of gleaming muscles, flashing teeth, ill-timed explosions, and mayhem by the best of the worst.
Link to Ted's IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0697961/
Xoe and Rita's Top 7 Ted Prior Movies:
Sledgehammer (1983)
KILLZONE (1985)
Born Killer (1989)
Future Zone (1990)
Raw Nerve (1991)
Possessed by the Night (1994)**
Day of the Warrior (1996)*
Honorable Mentions:
Hardcase and Fist (1989)
Raw Justice (1994)
The Last House (2015)
*Xoe's unique pick
**Rita's pick
Thanks as always to Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind". Listen Here
archy and mehitabel by don marquis is a collection of newspaper columns in verse without kapitalization or punctuation except occasionally published between 1916 and 1936
filled with social and politikal commentary along with a very wry perspective on human foibles and the vagaries of life for all life forms
wonderful stylized illustrations by george herriman who wuz also the author of the krazy kat comics
first half of the full collection is highly recommended interest peters out in the second half
marquis's hit play old soak wuz definitely of it time its humor does not hold up at all
always speshial thanks to david plell and powerbleeder for our muzak
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
All Systems Red - 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novella; 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella; & 2018 American Library Association’s Alex Award; nominated for 2017 Philip K Dick Award
Artificial Condition - 2019 Hugo Award
Rogue Protocol
Exit Strategy
Network Effect
Fugitive Telemetry - Published in 2021. We have not read it yet
Read these in order!
The 1st three following novellas had enough votes for the 2019 Hugo Award final ballot but Wells declined all nominations except for Artificial Condition, which won.
Thanks to David Plell with Powerbleeder for our theme Future Mind.
Thanks for listening to the long saga of visionary film producer Val Lewton! This episode is a one-off, and the author only wrote two novels.
Mary Mapes Dodge (1831-1905) Writer, editor, widow, single mother
She was instrumental in encouraging Rudyard Kipling to write The Jungle Book. She also published books of sketches and poems.
Novels:
Donald and Dorothy (1883)
Hans Brinker; or the Silver Skates (1865)
Special thanks to David Plell and Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind"!
Special Thanks to Adam Roche for his excellently researched podcast The Secret History of Hollywood - Shadows. This is a multi-hour epic documentary about Val Lewton's life and work. https://www.attaboyclarence.com/the-secret-history-of-hollywood
Val Lewton (1904-1951) (nee Vladimir Ivanovich Hofschneider in Imperial Russia; mother's maiden name was Leventon)
Top Four Must-See Val Lewton movies:
1) I Walked with Zombie
2) Cat People
3) Rita: The Ghost Ship; Xoe: The 7th Victim
Universal Studios horror classics:
Frankenstein (1931) - starring Boris Karloff
Dracula (1931) - starring Bela Lugosi
The Black Cat (1941) - exemplar of Universal formula mixing equal parts of suspense/horror and comedy; directed by Albert Rogell, brother of Sid Rogell who was Val Lewton's boss for during his early career.
Lewton's filmography as producer:
Cat People (1942) (Jacques Tourneur)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Tourneur)
The Leopard Man (1943) (Tourneur)
7th Victim (1943) (Mark Robson)
The Ghost Ship (1943) (Robson) - Theme: Corruption caused by power/authority
Curse of the Cat People (1944 (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise)
Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) (Wise)
Youth Runs Wild (1944) (Robson)
The Body Snatcher (1945) (Wise)
Isle of the Dead (1945) (Wise)
Bedlam (1946) (Robson)
My Own True Love (1948) (Paramount)
Please Believe Me (1950) (MGM)
Apache Drums (1951) (Universal)
Intro and extro music: "Future mind" by Powerbleeder. Thanks David!
Special Thanks to Adam Roche for his excellently researched podcast The Secret History of Hollywood - Shadows. This is a multi-hour epic documentary about Val Lewton's life and work. https://www.attaboyclarence.com/the-secret-history-of-hollywood
Val Lewton (1904-1951) (nee Vladimir Ivanovich Hofschneider in Imperial Russia; mother's maiden name was Leventon)
Top Four Must-See Val Lewton movies:
1) I Walked with Zombie
2) Cat People
3) Rita: The Ghost Ship; Xoe: The 7th Victim
Universal Studios horror classics:
Frankenstein (1931) - starring Boris Karloff
Dracula (1931) - starring Bela Lugosi
The Black Cat (1941) - exemplar of Universal formula mixing equal parts of suspense/horror and comedy; directed by Albert Rogell, brother of Sid Rogell who was Val Lewton's boss for during his early career.
Lewton's filmography as producer:
Cat People (1942) (Jacques Tourneur)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Tourneur)
The Leopard Man (1943) (Tourneur)
7th Victim (1943) (Mark Robson)
The Ghost Ship (1943) (Robson) - Theme: Corruption caused by power/authority
Curse of the Cat People (1944 (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise)
Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) (Wise)
Youth Runs Wild (1944) (Robson)
The Body Snatcher (1945) (Wise)
Isle of the Dead (1945) (Wise)
Bedlam (1946) (Robson)
My Own True Love (1948) (Paramount)
Please Believe Me (1950) (MGM)
Apache Drums (1951) (Universal)
Intro and extro music: "Future mind" by Powerbleeder. Thanks David!
Link to "Shame & Scandal (In the Family):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJyVB_sqh3E
Special Thanks to Adam Roche for his excellently researched podcast The Secret History of Hollywood - Shadows. This is a multi-hour epic documentary about Val Lewton's life and work. https://www.attaboyclarence.com/the-secret-history-of-hollywood
Val Lewton (1904-1951) (nee Vladimir Ivanovich Hofschneider in Imperial Russia; mother's maiden name was Leventon)
Top Four Must-See Val Lewton movies:
1) I Walked with Zombie
2) Cat People
3) Rita: The Ghost Ship; Xoe: The 7th Victim
Universal Studios horror classics:
Frankenstein (1931) - starring Boris Karloff
Dracula (1931) - starring Bela Lugosi
The Black Cat (1941) - exemplar of Universal formula mixing equal parts of suspense/horror and comedy; directed by Albert Rogell, brother of Sid Rogell who was Val Lewton's boss for during his early career.
Lewton's filmography as producer:
Cat People (1942) (Jacques Tourneur)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Tourneur)
The Leopard Man (1943) (Tourneur)
7th Victim (1943) (Mark Robson)
The Ghost Ship (1943) (Robson) - Theme: Corruption caused by power/authority
Curse of the Cat People (1944 (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise)
Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) (Wise)
Youth Runs Wild (1944) (Robson)
The Body Snatcher (1945) (Wise)
Isle of the Dead (1945) (Wise)
Bedlam (1946) (Robson)
My Own True Love (1948) (Paramount)
Please Believe Me (1950) (MGM)
Apache Drums (1951) (Universal)
Intro and extro music: "Future mind" by Powerbleeder. Thanks David!
Val Lewton (1904-1951) (nee Vladimir Ivanovich Hofschneider in Imperial Russia; mother's maiden name was Leventon)
Top Four Must-See Val Lewton movies:
1) I Walked with Zombie
2) Cat People
3) Rita: The Ghost Ship; Xoe: The 7th Victim
Universal Studios horror classics:
Frankenstein (1931) - starring Boris Karloff
Dracula (1931) - starring Bela Lugosi
The Black Cat (1941) - exemplar of Universal formula mixing equal parts of suspense/horror and comedy; directed by Albert Rogell, brother of Sid Rogell who was Val Lewton's boss for during his early career.
Lewton's filmography as producer:
Cat People (1942) (Jacques Tourneur)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Tourneur)
The Leopard Man (1943) (Tourneur)
7th Victim (1943) (Mark Robson)
The Ghost Ship (1943) (Robson) - Theme: Corruption caused by power/authority
Curse of the Cat People (1944 (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise)
Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) (Wise)
Youth Runs Wild (1944) (Robson)
The Body Snatcher (1945) (Wise)
Isle of the Dead (1945) (Wise)
Bedlam (1946) (Robson)
My Own True Love (1948) (Paramount)
Please Believe Me (1950) (MGM)
Apache Drums (1951) (Universal)
Special Thanks to Adam Roche for his excellently researched podcast The Secret History of Hollywood - Shadows. This is a multi-hour epic documentary about Val Lewton's life and work. https://www.attaboyclarence.com/the-secret-history-of-hollywood
Intro and extro music: "Future mind" by Powerbleeder. Thanks David!
MILDRED PIERCE Novel: Mildred Pierce by James M Cain, 1941. Still entertaining
Film: Mildred Pierce (1947) - starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blythe, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden - The classic holds up
Miniseries: Mildred Pierce (2011) 5 episodes - starring Kate Winslet, Evan Rachel Wood, Guy Pearce - Atmospheric, well-acted and directed, a little too slow because there is not enough material from the novel to fill 5 episodes.
Reccomended movies mentioned: The Bad Seed (1956) The Babadook (2014) Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) Duel in the Sun (1946)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Stay tuned for the discussion on how much we hate St. John Rivers, the significance of Rochester's mad wife Bertha, Jane Eyre erotica, and more!
Books: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855), 1847. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, 2001. (Alternate universe in which the criminal enters great novels and changes the plot. The protagonist, Thursday Next, is a detective in the literary police.)
The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Adaptations: Jane Eyre (1934) - starring Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive. I Walked with a Zombie (1943, very loose adaptation) starring Frances Dee and Tom Conway. Jane Eyre (1944) - starring Joan Fontaine and Orson Wells. Jane Eyre (1970) - starring Susannah York and George C Scott. Jane Eyre (1983 - 5 1/2-hour BBC series) - starring Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton. Jane Eyre (1996) - starring Charlotte Gainsbourgh and William Hurt. Jane Eyre (1997) - starring Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds. Jane Eyre (2006 - 4-hour BBC series) - starring Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. Jane Eyre (2011) - starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbinder.
We made a newsflash about COVID to tell you we will not be talking much about COVID, but we hope each and every one of you are as well as possible!
Take care everyone
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Stay tuned for the discussion on how much we hate St. John Rivers, the significance of Rochester's mad wife Bertha, Jane Eyre erotica, and more!
Books: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855), 1847. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, 2001. (Alternate universe in which the criminal enters great novels and changes the plot. The protagonist, Thursday Next, is a detective in the literary police.)
Adaptations: Jane Eyre (1934) - starring Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive. I Walked with a Zombie (1943, very loose adaptation) starring Frances Dee and Tom Conway. Jane Eyre (1944) - starring Joan Fontaine and Orson Wells. Jane Eyre (1970) - starring Susannah York and George C Scott. Jane Eyre (1983 - 5 1/2-hour BBC series) - starring Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton. Jane Eyre (1996) - starring Charlotte Gainsbourgh and William Hurt. Jane Eyre (1997) - starring Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds. Jane Eyre (2006 - 4-hour BBC series) - starring Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. Jane Eyre (2011) - starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbinder.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Stay tuned for the discussion on how much we hate St. John Rivers, the significance of Rochester's mad wife Bertha, Jane Eyre erotica, and more!
Books: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855), 1847. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, 2001. (Alternate universe in which the criminal enters great novels and changes the plot. The protagonist, Thursday Next, is a detective in the literary police.)
Adaptations: Jane Eyre (1934) - starring Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive. I Walked with a Zombie (1943, very loose adaptation) starring Frances Dee and Tom Conway. Jane Eyre (1944) - starring Joan Fontaine and Orson Wells. Jane Eyre (1970) - starring Susannah York and George C Scott. Jane Eyre (1983 - 5 1/2-hour BBC series) - starring Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton. Jane Eyre (1996) - starring Charlotte Gainsbourgh and William Hurt. Jane Eyre (1997) - starring Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds. Jane Eyre (2006 - 4-hour BBC series) - starring Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. Jane Eyre (2011) - starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbinder.
Xoe and Rita do a deep dive into the many iterations of the classic story of A Star is Born and the themes of true love, addiction, artistry, and feminism each explores in its own way. Stay tuned for part II to learn who is the handsomest Mr. Maine.
What Price Hollywood? (1932)- dir. George Cuckor and starring Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, Neil Hamilton. A Star is Born (1937)- starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March A Star is Born (1954)-starring Judy Garland and James Mason A Star is Born (1976)- starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson A Star is Born (2018)- starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga
In order of rank, best to worst:
1954
1937
1976 & 2018 (tied)
A Star is Born(s) - 4 films and a prototype
Xoe and Rita do a deep dive into the many iterations of the classic story of A Star is Born and the themes of true love, addiction, artistry, and feminism each explores in its own way. Stay tuned for part II to learn who is the handsomest Mr. Maine.
What Price Hollywood? (1932)- dir. George Cuckor and starring Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, Neil Hamilton. A Star is Born (1937)- starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March A Star is Born (1954)-starring Judy Garland and James Mason A Star is Born (1976)- starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson A Star is Born (2018)- starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga
We discuss the iterations of Babe, pig extraordinaire, and the deep themes that can be found in the excellent film adaptation of the book, Babe (1995).
We also discuss:
Babe: The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith (book)
Babe: Pig in the city (1998)
Wallace and Gromit in The Wrong Trousers (1993)
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (book)
Theme music is "Future Mind" by David Plell of Powerbleeder
https://powerbleeder.bandcamp.com/album/l-i-m-b-o
Graphic Novels
Definition according to Merriam-Webster.com: a story that is presented in comic-strip format and
published as a book.
The Pantheon of Graphic Novels:
Maus by Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 to 1991. A memoir of the child of Holocaust survivors that artfully combines historical events and Spiegelman's relationship with his difficult father.
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (eponym of the Bechdel Test), 2006. Another memoir about a difficult paternal relationship. A wry exploration of sexual identity, depression, etc. and very engaging.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, 2000. It depicts youth in Iran and Paris during and after the Islamic Revolution.
Xoe’s List:
Capacity- Theo Ellsworth
Solanin- Inio Asano
Beautiful Darkness- Fabien Velhman
Uzumaki- Junji Ito
Tekkonkinkreet- Taiyou Matsumoto
A Child’s Life- Phoebe Gloeckner
Rita's List:
Transmetropolitan series by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson (1997-2002) - raw and rauchy. An R-rated political screed. Great graphics. Read the issues in order.
Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel: A Graphic Novel by Anya Ulinich, 2014. Life in New York City for a woman after her 15-year marriage breaks up. Full of weird dates, poignant characters, and wry humor.
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua, 2015. A David Foster Wallace-esque story about Lord Byron's daughter, a mathematical genius, and her collaborator and rival.
The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln by Scott McCloud, 1998. A Lincoln doppelganger attempts to wreak havoc.
Locke & Key by Joe Hill, art by Gabriel Rodriguez, 2008. Stephen King's son and horror novelist creates a stylish nightmare in a gothic mansion.
The Private Eye by Brian K Vaughan, 2015. Futuristic detective story full of the wit and violence you expect in a good noir.
Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales
Other Titles Mentioned:
Garfield- Jim Davis
TinTin- Hergé
Asterix- Alberto Uderzo
Shonen Jump- A monthly Japanese comics anthology that is also released in the U.S.
Dear Creature- Jonathan Case
Sandman- Neil Gaiman
Saga and Y The Last Man- Brian K Vaughn
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art- Scott McCloud
Chicken With Plums (film)- dir. By Marjane Satrapi
Sailor Moon (TV Series)
Pokemon (TV series)
The Difference Engine (novel)- William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
Jean Harlow Born Harlean Carpenter McGrew Bern Rossen (1911-1937)
Bibliography: Platinum Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jean Harlow by Eve Golden, 1991. Recommended Harlow films: The Public Enemy (1931) Red-Headed Woman (1932) - Her breakout role and her 1st of 4 films with her BFF Clark Gable. Red Dust (1932) - Also with Gable. Fine vehicle for Harlow, if you can handle the colonialistic lens of the film. Dinner at Eight (1933) - star-studded cast including John and Lionel Barrymore. Harlow steals the show. Libeled Lady (1936) - She acted with her real-life fiance William Powell (famously of the The Thin Man series), though in the movie she conceded him to Myrna Loy.
False rumors about Harlow: 1) Jean's 2nd husband committed suicide because he was impotent/Jean's husband was murdered: Neither Jean or the studio had anything to do with the death of her 2nd husband, Paul Bern. And there is no evidence that her husband was impotent. On the other hand, Bern had just been visited by his 1st wife, whom he had never divorced and about whom he had not told Jean. 2) Jean died because her mother refused to allow her to have medical treatment due to Christian Science beliefs: Neither Jean nor her mother were Christian Scientist. Medical help was sought as soon as it was evident that Harlow needed treatment. Her mother did not prevent Jean from receiving care, in fact, she urged Jean to see a doctor. Jean died of kidney failure before dialysis existed.
Jean Harlow Born Harlean Carpenter McGrew Bern Rossen (1911-1937)
Bibliography: Platinum Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jean Harlow by Eve Golden, 1991. Recommended Harlow films: The Public Enemy (1931) Red-Headed Woman (1932) - Her breakout role and her 1st of 4 films with her BFF Clark Gable. Red Dust (1932) - Also with Gable. Fine vehicle for Harlow, if you can handle the colonialistic lens of the film. Dinner at Eight (1933) - star-studded cast including John and Lionel Barrymore. Harlow steals the show. Libeled Lady (1936) - She acted with her real-life fiance William Powell (famously of the The Thin Man series), though in the movie she conceded him to Myrna Loy.
False rumors about Harlow: 1) Jean's 2nd husband committed suicide because he was impotent/Jean's husband was murdered: Neither Jean or the studio had anything to do with the death of her 2nd husband, Paul Bern. And there is no evidence that her husband was impotent. On the other hand, Bern had just been visited by his 1st wife, whom he had never divorced and about whom he had not told Jean. 2) Jean died because her mother refused to allow her to have medical treatment due to Christian Science beliefs: Neither Jean nor her mother were Christian Scientist. Medical help was sought as soon as it was evident that Harlow needed treatment. Her mother did not prevent Jean from receiving care, in fact, she urged Jean to see a doctor. Jean died of kidney failure before dialysis existed.
The final episode on Marilyn Monroe!
note Please excuse the increasingly poor sound quality of this episode. We may have gotten a little tipsy and careless, we'll keep it under control in the future :P
Bibiliography:
My Story by Marilyn Monroe, 1974.
Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote, 1980. (Chapter 6 A Beautiful Child is Capote's novelized non-fiction story about MM.)
Marilyn Monroe by Barbara Leaming, 1998.
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto, 1993.
Links:
Calendar photos of Marilyn: https://www.widewalls.ch/marilyn-monroe-rare-nude-photos/
Scudda Hoo Scudda Hay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gD8YZu8uLs&t=3110s
Subversive Blondes
Bibiliography:
My Story by Marilyn Monroe, 1974.
Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote, 1980. (Chapter 6 A Beautiful Child is Capote's novelized non-fiction story about MM.)
Marilyn Monroe by Barbara Leaming, 1998.
Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto, 1993.
Links:
Calendar photos of Marilyn: https://www.widewalls.ch/marilyn-monroe-rare-nude-photos/
Scudda Hoo Scudda Hay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gD8YZu8uLs&t=3110s
Bibiliography: My Story by Marilyn Monroe, 1974. Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote, 1980. (Chapter 6 A Beautiful Child is Capote's novelized non-fiction story about MM.) Marilyn Monroe by Barbara Leaming, 1998. Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto, 1993. Links: Calendar photos of Marilyn: https://www.widewalls.ch/marilyn-monroe-rare-nude-photos/ Scudda Hoo Scudda Hay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gD8YZu8uLs&t=3110s Marilyn Miller (Marilyn's namesake): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Miller
From My Story At 13, first time walking down the beach in a bathing suit: "I was full of a strange feeling, as if I were two people. One of them was Norma Jean from the orphanage who belonged to nobody. The other was someone whose name I didn't kow. But I knew where she belonged. She belonged to the ocean and the sky and the whole world." Acting teacher Michael Chekhov, "You are a young woman who gives off sex vibrations-no matter what you are doing or thinking...You can make the studio a fortune by merely vibrating in front of the camera. You more valuable to them as a sex stimulant." MM: "I want that. Because I want to be an artist, not an erotic freak. I don't want to be sold to the public as a celluoid aphrodisical. Look at me and start shaking.It was all right for the first few years. but now it's different." Background: Maternal great-grandfather has syphilis and got dementia as a result; maternal grandmother died in a straitjacket (violent and ran around naked); maternal grandfather was an alcoholic; mother was commited to mental hospital; was not sure who her father was. When she was 7 a neighbor chopped her dog in 2 in front of her.
From Music for Chameleons: Constance Collier's description: She is a beautiful child. I don’t mean that in the obvious way—the perhaps too obvious way. I don’t think she’s an actress at all, not in any traditional sense. What she has—this presence, this luminosity, this flickering intelligence—could never surface on the stage. It’s so fragile and subtle, it can only be caught by the camera. It’s like a hummingbird in flight: only a camera can freeze the poetry of it. But anyone who thinks this girl is simply another Harlow or harlot or whatever is mad. ..This beautiful child is without any concept of discipline or sacrifice. Somehow I don’t think she’ll make old bones. Absurd of me to say, but somehow I feel she’ll go young. I hope, I really pray, that she survives long enough to free the strange lovely talent that’s wandering through her like a jailed spirit.”
Bibiliography: My Story by Marilyn Monroe, 1974. Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote, 1980. (Chapter 6 A Beautiful Child is Capote's novelized non-fiction story about MM.) Marilyn Monroe by Barbara Leaming, 1998. Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto, 1993. Links: Calendar photos of Marilyn: https://www.widewalls.ch/marilyn-monroe-rare-nude-photos/ Scudda Hoo Scudda Hay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gD8YZu8uLs&t=3110s Marilyn Miller (Marilyn's namesake): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Miller
From My Story At 13, first time walking down the beach in a bathing suit: "I was full of a strange feeling, as if I were two people. One of them was Norma Jean from the orphanage who belonged to nobody. The other was someone whose name I didn't kow. But I knew where she belonged. She belonged to the ocean and the sky and the whole world." Acting teacher Michael Chekhov, "You are a young woman who gives off sex vibrations-no matter what you are doing or thinking...You can make the studio a fortune by merely vibrating in front of the camera. You more valuable to them as a sex stimulant." MM: "I want that. Because I want to be an artist, not an erotic freak. I don't want to be sold to the public as a celluoid aphrodisical. Look at me and start shaking.It was all right for the first few years. but now it's different." Background: Maternal great-grandfather has syphilis and got dementia as a result; maternal grandmother died in a straitjacket (violent and ran around naked); maternal grandfather was an alcoholic; mother was commited to mental hospital; was not sure who her father was. When she was 7 a neighbor chopped her dog in 2 in front of her.
From Music for Chameleons: Constance Collier's description: She is a beautiful child. I don’t mean that in the obvious way—the perhaps too obvious way. I don’t think she’s an actress at all, not in any traditional sense. What she has—this presence, this luminosity, this flickering intelligence—could never surface on the stage. It’s so fragile and subtle, it can only be caught by the camera. It’s like a hummingbird in flight: only a camera can freeze the poetry of it. But anyone who thinks this girl is simply another Harlow or harlot or whatever is mad. ..This beautiful child is without any concept of discipline or sacrifice. Somehow I don’t think she’ll make old bones. Absurd of me to say, but somehow I feel she’ll go young. I hope, I really pray, that she survives long enough to free the strange lovely talent that’s wandering through her like a jailed spirit.”
Bibiliography: My Story by Marilyn Monroe, 1974. Music for Chameleons by Truman Capote, 1980. (Chapter 6 A Beautiful Child is Capote's novelized non-fiction story about MM.) Marilyn Monroe by Barbara Leaming, 1998. Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto, 1993. Links: Calendar photos of Marilyn: https://www.widewalls.ch/marilyn-monroe-rare-nude-photos/ Scudda Hoo Scudda Hay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gD8YZu8uLs&t=3110s Marilyn Miller (Marilyn's namesake): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Miller
From My Story At 13, first time walking down the beach in a bathing suit: "I was full of a strange feeling, as if I were two people. One of them was Norma Jean from the orphanage who belonged to nobody. The other was someone whose name I didn't kow. But I knew where she belonged. She belonged to the ocean and the sky and the whole world." Acting teacher Michael Chekhov, "You are a young woman who gives off sex vibrations-no matter what you are doing or thinking...You can make the studio a fortune by merely vibrating in front of the camera. You more valuable to them as a sex stimulant." MM: "I want that. Because I want to be an artist, not an erotic freak. I don't want to be sold to the public as a celluoid aphrodisical. Look at me and start shaking.It was all right for the first few years. but now it's different." Background: Maternal great-grandfather has syphilis and got dementia as a result; maternal grandmother died in a straitjacket (violent and ran around naked); maternal grandfather was an alcoholic; mother was commited to mental hospital; was not sure who her father was. When she was 7 a neighbor chopped her dog in 2 in front of her.
From Music for Chameleons: Constance Collier's description: She is a beautiful child. I don’t mean that in the obvious way—the perhaps too obvious way. I don’t think she’s an actress at all, not in any traditional sense. What she has—this presence, this luminosity, this flickering intelligence—could never surface on the stage. It’s so fragile and subtle, it can only be caught by the camera. It’s like a hummingbird in flight: only a camera can freeze the poetry of it. But anyone who thinks this girl is simply another Harlow or harlot or whatever is mad. ..This beautiful child is without any concept of discipline or sacrifice. Somehow I don’t think she’ll make old bones. Absurd of me to say, but somehow I feel she’ll go young. I hope, I really pray, that she survives long enough to free the strange lovely talent that’s wandering through her like a jailed spirit.”
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Bibiliography:
In Search of Anne Bronte by Nick Holland, (2016). - As the title indicates, this book focuses on Anne but it gives a rounded view of the family and their circumstances.
Wuthering Bites by Sarah Gray (2010) - In which Heathcliff is a vampire. Didn't bother to read it, but had to include it here to show the range of fan fiction.
Film and televion adaptations of WH. Please forgive omissions. There are so many! Ratings out of 5 stars.
1920 - Wuthering Heights, starring Colette Brettel and Warwick Ward - silent screen adaptation - I have not seen it.
1939 - Wuthering Heights, starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier - 3 stars: Worth-seeing, though the content is sanitized for the Hollywood censors and the actors' looks are beautified for the tastes of the day.
1948 - Wuthering Heights (British TV adaption) - starring Katherine Blake and Kieron Moore - have not seen it.
1962 - Wuthering Heights, starring Keith Mitchell and Claire Bloom - have not seen it.
1967 - Wuthering Heights (British TV series), starring Angela Scoular and Ian McShane - 1 1/2 stars: McShane has the Heathcliff glower down to the tee. But little else about this slow-paced drama is engaging.
1970 - Wuthering Heights, starring Anna Calder-Marshall and Timothy Dalton - 4 stars: I saw this for my 13th birthday. It was my first taste of WH. My friends and I were so in love with Timothy Dalton. Nice dark perspective that maintains a lush emotional and physical violence along with the feral sexiness.
1978 - Wuthering Heights (TV series one season), starring John Duttine and Amanda Root - have not seen it
1992 - Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, starring Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes - 2 stars: Fiennes is more mean and brittle than dark and brooding, while Binoche is too refined for Kathy.
1998 - Wuthering Heights, starring Robert Cavanah and Orla Brady - have not seen it.
2003 Wuthering Heights, starring Erika Christensen and Mike Vogel - modern day loose adaptation, I haven't seen it.
2009 - Wuthering Heights (limited TV series), starring Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy - 4 1/2 stars: These 2 actors are the among the best to assay these roles. They both have the acting heft and temperment to manage the layers these characters embody. Though note to ITV, for God's and all our sakes please get some better wigs. Only someone as massively talented as Tom Hardy could overcome that mop on his head.
2011 - Wuthering Heights, starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson - 1 1/2 stars: Director Andrea Arnold's films, while interesting, are low in energy and understated. This style does not serve a wild Gothic ghost story. The film is a faded husk. (On the other hand, many critics lauded it.)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Bibiliography:
In Search of Anne Bronte by Nick Holland, (2016). - As the title indicates, this book focuses on Anne but it gives a rounded view of the family and their circumstances.
Wuthering Bites by Sarah Gray (2010) - In which Heathcliff is a vampire. Didn't bother to read it, but had to include it here to show the range of fan fiction.
Film and televion adaptations of WH. Please forgive omissions. There are so many! Ratings out of 5 stars.
1920 - Wuthering Heights, starring Colette Brettel and Warwick Ward - silent screen adaptation - I have not seen it.
1939 - Wuthering Heights, starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier - 3 stars: Worth-seeing, though the content is sanitized for the Hollywood censors and the actors' looks are beautified for the tastes of the day.
1948 - Wuthering Heights (British TV adaption) - starring Katherine Blake and Kieron Moore - have not seen it.
1962 - Wuthering Heights, starring Keith Mitchell and Claire Bloom - have not seen it.
1967 - Wuthering Heights (British TV series), starring Angela Scoular and Ian McShane - 1 1/2 stars: McShane has the Heathcliff glower down to the tee. But little else about this slow-paced drama is engaging.
1970 - Wuthering Heights, starring Anna Calder-Marshall and Timothy Dalton - 4 stars: I saw this for my 13th birthday. It was my first taste of WH. My friends and I were so in love with Timothy Dalton. Nice dark perspective that maintains a lush emotional and physical violence along with the feral sexiness.
1978 - Wuthering Heights (TV series one season), starring John Duttine and Amanda Root - have not seen it
1992 - Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, starring Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes - 2 stars: Fiennes is more mean and brittle than dark and brooding, while Binoche is too refined for Kathy.
1998 - Wuthering Heights, starring Robert Cavanah and Orla Brady - have not seen it.
2003 Wuthering Heights, starring Erika Christensen and Mike Vogel - modern day loose adaptation, I haven't seen it.
2009 - Wuthering Heights (limited TV series), starring Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy - 4 1/2 stars: These 2 actors are the among the best to assay these roles. They both have the acting heft and temperment to manage the layers these characters embody. Though note to ITV, for God's and all our sakes please get some better wigs. Only someone as massively talented as Tom Hardy could overcome that mop on his head.
2011 - Wuthering Heights, starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson - 1 1/2 stars: Director Andrea Arnold's films, while interesting, are low in energy and understated. This style does not serve a wild Gothic ghost story. The film is a faded husk. (On the other hand, many critics lauded it.)
Thank you everyone! Please review and subscribe, and drop us a recommendation or request at foiblespodcast@gmail.com
ELAINE MAY Films directed: American Masters- Mike Nichols (2016) Ishtar (1987) Mikey and Nicky (1976) The Heartbreak Kid (1972) A New Leaf (1971) - The very best per Rita and Xoe. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5278964/
Folks! This third part to our series on English mystery writer and her creation, Lord Peter Wimsey, was hidden away in an obscure corner of my flashdrive until this day. Now you can hear of the last several books, our favorites, and the conclusion of Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane's thrilling love story.
Music:
Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E minor Op. 44/2- 3. Andante
Future Mind by Powerbleeder
Wimsey novels in chronological order:
Whose Body? (1923)
Clouds of Witness (1926)
Unnatural Death (1927)
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)
Strong Poison (1931)- Xoe's Fav
The Five Red Herrings (1931)
Have His Carcase (1932) - Rita's favorite
Murder Must Advertise (1933) - Rita and Xoe's favorite
The Nine Tailors (1934)- Xoe's favorite
Gaudy Night (1935)
Busman's Honeymoon (1937)
Bibliography:
Brabazon, James. Dorothy L. Sayers: A Biography, 1981.
Coomes, David. Dorothy L. Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life, 1992.
Dale, Alzina Stone. The Story of Dorothy L. Sayers, 1978.
Hitchman, Janet. Such a Strange Lady, 1975.
Kenney, Catherine McGehee. The Remarkable Case of Dorothy L. Sayers, 1990. (A scholarly look at the themes of social criticism in Sayers' work.)
Reynolds, Barbara. Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul, 1993. (The best one in my opinion. It is writen in an open, modern style and contain many more pictures than than the others.)
Video:
The best series - A Dorothy L Sayers Mystery. BBC, 1987. This cover 3 out 4 of the Wimsey/Vane books -
Strong Poison (in which they meet and Peter saves Harriet from the gallows),
Have His Carcase (in which Harriet finds a body, which subsequently disappears, and partners with Peter in investigating and solving the murder),
Gaudy Night (in which Harriet goes back Oxford for a reunion and runs into a mystery about a vicious vandal; while the plots thickens, so does their romance).
Best Wimsey is Edward Petherbridge and best Vane is Harriet Walter, both of whom are in this series.
The other series was made by the BBC in 1970. It starred Ian Carmichel as Wimsey. Carmichel looks nothing like Wimsey and, to my mind, does not act like Wimsey either. This series includes:
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
The Nine Tailors
Murder Must Advertise
Five Red Herrings
Clouds of Witness
There were also a couple films made, both of which Sayers absolutely hated. They are:
The Silent Passenger, 1935, British, starring John Loden and Peter Haddon.
Busman's Honeymoon (US: The Haunted Honeymoon), starring Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings, 1940.
A short Interview with Edward Patherbridge on playing Lord Peter Wimsey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsMOMbCpBFU
Link to an article illustration about Sayer's advertisment for Guiness https://vinepair.com/articles/history-guinness-toucan-ads/
Larry McMurtry born in 1936 in Archer City, TX. Also wrote Terms of Endearment and The Last Picture Show. Had the biggest used bookstore in the world until 2012.His father and grandfather were cattle ranchers.
Lonesome Dove TV miniseries, 1989 - Starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. Their original script was welcomed by the studio, but disliked by the actors McMurtry and Bogdanovich had in mind: Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, and John Wayne.
Prizes - Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1986)
Novelist Larry McMurtry’s Last Kind Words by Michael Mechanic, Mother Jones, May/June 2014, https://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/larry-mcmurtry-brokeback-mountain-last-kind-words/
We were interviewed as guests on Anne Bogel's podcast What Should I Read Next?
Here's a link to the episode: https://modernmrsdarcy.com/192-episode
Thanks to Anne, Brenna, and Melissa. Welcome to our new listeners!
*Note: The episode ended up being so long that we split it into two parts. Part II will be released next Saturday and will pick up exactly where this one let off. Thanks for your patience!
Lonesome Dove Notes
Larry McMurtry born in 1936 in Archer City, TX. Also wrote Terms of Endearment and The Last Picture Show. Had the biggest used bookstore in the world until 2012.
His father and grandfather were cattle ranchers.
Lonesome Dove TV miniseries, 1989 - Starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones.
Prizes - Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1986)
Novelist Larry McMurtry’s Last Kind Words by Michael Mechanic, Mother Jones, May/June 2014, https://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/05/larry-mcmurtry-brokeback-mountain-last-kind-words/
Origin of title: “Lonesome Dove Baptist Church”
On Brokeback Mountain screenplay: Their original script was welcomed by the studio, but disliked by the actors McMurtry and Bogdanovich had in mind: Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, and John Wayne.
There are 2 versions of The Warriors: theatrical release and director's cut. We recommend the theatrical release version because it eliminates that annoying comic book panels that interrupt the flow of the narrative.
The film is based on the Sol Yurick novel, The Warriors (1965), which in turn is based on Xenophon's Anabasis (370 BCE).
Music: In the City- Joe Walsh "The Warriors" theme and Baseball Furies Chase- Barry De Vorzon
Email us at: foiblespodcast@gmail.com
Bibliography:
My Days with Errol Flynn by Buster Wiles, 1988. (Mostly about Wiles and a few anecdotes about Flynn. Not very well written.) Errol Flynn: A Memoir by Earl Conrad, 1978. (Written by the ghost writer of Flynn's autobiography, My Wicked Wicked Ways. Mostly covers the sad, decadent last year of Flynn's life.) The Two Lives of Errol Flynn by Michael Freedland, 1978. (Contains a few unique anedotes from co-stars such as Ida Lupino.) The Life and Work of Errol Flynn: A Psycholanalytical Biography by B. Dramov, 2005. (Very sympathetic to Flynn and finger-pointing at his mother and other women - it's true they were pretty rough. But let's him off the hook for his behavior.) My Wicked, Wicked Ways by Errol Flynn, 1959. (This came out just after Flynn's death. It's sad that he had to rely on a ghost writer because Flynn had been a writer in his younger, healthier days.) The Films of Errol Flynn by Tony Thomas, et. al., 1969.
Documentaries:
Errol Flynn: Portait of a Swashbuckler, Kultur, 1993. The Adventures of Errol Flynn, Turner Entertainment Co, 2005.
Best Errol Flynn Movies:
Flynn had a lot of box office success in dozens of mediocre or worst quality films. But, particularly, early in his career he starred in a come gems. Xoe and I agree that the two best by far are 1) Captain Blood (1935) Here's my 5-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more. Blood! Blood!! Blood!!! When I first saw this in my 20's, I could not believe that such a wonderful thing existed. Absolutely witty, action -packed and joyous. I immediately fell in love with Basil Rathbone, the greatest fencer in Hollywood. My friend was the Errol Flynn fan. Though he was one of the prettiest humans to ever live, he was too good-looking for me. Luckily, his success in this role emanates from an earnest insouciance and obvious intelligence, as well as, a bouncy charm - not just good looks. As I watch this again for the 20th time, it is easy to see that Flynn is, by far, a better actor than Rathbone. And Flynn's immediate star status is understandable. Honestly, I don't think anyone else in the history of cinema could actually carry off the line, "Bedad, that's queer!" But the script and direction would made this film a hit anyway. Based on Rafael Sabatini's novel Captain Blood, there is ready-made witty dialogue that the screenwriters had the good sense to retain. Director Michael Curtiz is a powerful action stylist, who proves verisimilitude tempered with human pathos or humor, as needed. This is the first pairing of Flynn with 17-year-old Olivia de Haviland. Her character Arabella Bishop is a good match for Peter Blood because she has agency, which she exercises to the frustration and ultimate delight of Captain Blood. There are so many wonderful studio character actors here that I can't start or I would never stop. Peruse the IMDB page to see all great actors in this (Guy Kibbee, Henry Stephenson...) One tidbit I read in Basil Rathbone's biography: He thought it would a cool idea if he kept his eyes open after he died during a duel, like a real corpse. Unfortunately for him, the duel took place on a beach and he fell into the ocean. The saltwater stung his eyes like the bejesus. Watch the scene as see how hard it is for him to keep his eyes open. The best double feature for this is The Adventures of Robin Hood, with essentially the same cast. 2) The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Here's my 5-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more. In 80 years, no one has done the story of Robin Hood better or even as well. And in 80 years, there has been no one who is a better Robin Hood than Errol Flynn. Flynn and the rest of the cast attack the centuries old myth of Robin Hood with a joie de vivre that is impossible to resist. Critical judgment is put on hold until the last hearty laugh echoes away. And there are as many laughs, chortles, chuckles and guffaws as there are stars in the sky. Yes, everything is Hollywood -ized and glamorized but what a tale, what fun! This is a film that is so chock-full of studio contract players that if I started I would go on and on. So I will pick a very few, warning you that I am leaving large painful holes in this review: Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) (FYI- She still alive and 101 in 2018!!) - I must speak about her performance because I have overlooked her intelligent approach to a fairly thin role. You can see behind her eyes that Marian is no dope, though she has been duped by her class and privilege about the plight of the English. It is easy to believe that once she sees the truth that her intelligence and compassion will force her to act against her class (sort of). Basil Rathbone - who I love so much I once names my cat Rasil Bathbone. One of the greatest fencer in Hollywood. He is magnificent in his role as the evil Guy of Gisbourne. He is as dashing as Robin Hood, though less merry. I'll stay my hand here and suggest a couple of good double features: Captain Blood with almost the same cast filmed 3 years earlier; or, The silent Robin Hood (1922) with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Fact: Alan Hale Sr play LIttle John in both the 1922 and 1938 versions! He's the father of Alan Hale Jr who was the Skipper on Gilligan's Island. 3) Rita's number 3 is Dawn Patrol (1938). Here's my 4-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more. There were two The Dawn Patrols made in the 1930’s: the original in 1930 and a remake in 1938. This is study in how different equally good talents synergize in different ways. The same script is used in both (judiciously tweaked for the remake),a very similar set and a lot of the same aerial and bombing footage. But a different director and cast. What a difference! The remake wins – hands down. The 1930 Howard Hawks version stars Richard Barthelmess, Douglas Fairbanks Jr (both of whom had affairs with Marlene Dietrich) and Neil Hamilton (whose enduring fame will be as Commissioner Gordon in the original Batman TV show). Despite their similar romantic background, Barthelmess and Fairbanks don't exhibit the easy, uninhibited camaraderie of the later cast. They can't stand up in comparison to the 1938 mega-watt stars Errol Flynn, David Niven and Basil Rathbone. Flynn, Niven and Rathbone fairly pop their buttons with energy and charisma. Flynn and Niven were also good friends, which cemented their chemistry on film. In addition, Flynn, et. al. are aided by better lighting, better sound and a more fluid directorial style. Talkies had only been around for about a year when the first version was filmed, so the eight years of technical advancement between the 2 versions accounts for some the 1938’s enhanced vivacity and glamour. Rathbone, who was a decorated WWI veteran, is a more commanding actor that Neil Hamilton. Rathbone dominates the screen as the twitchy, cold-eyed officer who is forced to send untested pilots to their certain deaths. His style is more theatrically grand in comparison to Flynn and Niven’s naturalistic, casual acting but it works to convey the intensity of his pain at being stuck in the rotten job he was given. Both films have an exciting battle sequence at the end, using much of the same footage shot by Hawkes. I think the 1938 version squeaks ahead on this final battle just a little because Flynn is so doggone handsome. Double feature with Porco Rosso (1992).
Theme: "Future Mind" by Powerbeeder
Errol Flynn Podcast Notes
Bibliography: My Days with Errol Flynn by Buster Wiles, 1988. (Mostly about Wiles and a few anecdotes about Flynn. Not very well written.) Errol Flynn: A Memoir by Earl Conrad, 1978. (Written by the ghost writer of Flynn's autobiography, My Wicked Wicked Ways. Mostly covers the sad, decadent last year of Flynn's life.) The Two Lives of Errol Flynn by Michael Freedland, 1978. (Contains a few unique anedotes from co-stars such as Ida Lupino.) The Life and Work of Errol Flynn: A Psycholanalytical Biography by B. Dramov, 2005. (Very sympathetic to Flynn and finger-pointing at his mother and other women - it's true they were pretty rough. But let's him off the hook for his behavior.) My Wicked, Wicked Ways by Errol Flynn, 1959. (This came out just after Flynn's death. It's sad that he had to rely on a ghost writer because Flynn had been a writer in his younger, healthier days.) The Films of Errol Flynn by Tony Thomas, et. al., 1969.
Documentaries: Errol Flynn: Portait of a Swashbuckler, Kultur, 1993. The Adventures of Errol Flynn, Turner Entertainment Co, 2005.
Best Errol Flynn Movies: Flynn had a lot of box office success in dozens of mediocre or worst quality films. But, particularly, early in his career he starred in a come gems. Xoe and I agree that the two best by far are
1) Captain Blood (1935) Here's my 5-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more.
Blood! Blood!! Blood!!!
When I first saw this in my 20's, I could not believe that such a wonderful thing existed. Absolutely witty, action -packed and joyous.
I immediately fell in love with Basil Rathbone, the greatest fencer in Hollywood. My friend was the Errol Flynn fan. Though he was one of the prettiest humans to ever live, he was too good-looking for me. Luckily, his success in this role emanates from an earnest insouciance and obvious intelligence, as well as, a bouncy charm - not just good looks.
As I watch this again for the 20th time, it is easy to see that Flynn is, by far, a better actor than Rathbone. And Flynn's immediate star status is understandable. Honestly, I don't think anyone else in the history of cinema could actually carry off the line, "Bedad, that's queer!"
But the script and direction would made this film a hit anyway. Based on Rafael Sabatini's novel Captain Blood, there is ready-made witty dialogue that the screenwriters had the good sense to retain. Director Michael Curtiz is a powerful action stylist, who proves verisimilitude tempered
This is the first pairing of Flynn with 17-year-old Olivia de Haviland. Her character Arabella Bishop is a good match for Peter Blood because she has agency, which she exercises to the frustration and ultimate delight of Captain Blood.
There are so many wonderful studio character actors here that I can't start or I would never stop. Peruse the IMDB page to see all great actors in this (Guy Kibbee, Henry Stephenson...) One tidbit I read in Basil Rathbone's biography: He thought it would a cool idea if he kept his eyes open after he died during a duel, like a real corpse. Unfortunately for him, the duel took place on a beach and he fell into the ocean. The saltwater stung his eyes like the bejesus. Watch the scene as see how hard it is for him to keep his eyes open.
The best double feature for this is The Adventures of Robin Hood, with essentially the same cast.
2) The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Here's my 5-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more.
In 80 years, no one has done the story of Robin Hood better or even as well. And in 80 years, there has been no one who is a better Robin Hood than Errol Flynn.
Flynn and the rest of the cast attack the centuries old myth of Robin Hood with a joie de vivre that is impossible to resist. Critical judgment is put on hold until the last hearty laugh echoes away. And there are as many laughs, chortles, chuckles and guffaws as there are stars in the sky.
Yes, everything is Hollywood -ized and glamorized but what a tale, what fun! This is a film that is so chock-full of studio contract players that if I started I would go on and on. So I will pick a very few, warning you that I am leaving large painful holes in this review: Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) (FYI- She still alive and 101 in 2018!!) - I must speak about her performance because I have overlooked her intelligent approach to a fairly thin role. You can see behind her eyes that Marian is no dope, though she has been duped by her class and privilege about the plight of the English. It is easy to believe that once she sees the truth that her intelligence and compassion will force her to act against her class (sort of).
Basil Rathbone - who I love so much I once names my cat Rasil Bathbone. One of the greatest fencer in Hollywood. He is magnificent in his role as the evil Guy of Gisbourne. He is as dashing as Robin Hood, though less merry.
I'll stay my hand here and suggest a couple of good double features: Captain Blood with almost the same cast filmed 3 years earlier; or, The silent Robin Hood (1922) with Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Fact: Alan Hale Sr play LIttle John in both the 1922 and 1938 versions! He's the father of Alan Hale Jr who was the Skipper on Gilligan's Island.
3) Rita's number 3 is Dawn Patrol (1938). Here's my 4-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more.
There were two The Dawn Patrols made in the 1930’s: the original in 1930 and a remake in 1938. This is study in how different equally good talents synergize in different ways. The same script is used in both (judiciously tweaked for the remake),a very similar set and a lot of the same aerial and bombing footage. But a different director and cast. What a difference! The remake wins – hands down.
The 1930 Howard Hawks version stars Richard Barthelmess, Douglas Fairbanks Jr (both of whom had affairs with Marlene Dietrich) and Neil Hamilton (whose enduring fame will be as Commissioner Gordon in the original Batman TV show). Despite their similar romantic background, Barthelmess and Fairbanks don't exhibit the easy, uninhibited camaraderie of the later cast.
They can't stand up in comparison to the 1938 mega-watt stars Errol Flynn, David Niven and Basil Rathbone. Flynn, Niven and Rathbone fairly pop their buttons with energy and charisma. Flynn and Niven were also good friends, which cemented their chemistry on film.
In addition, Flynn, et. al. are aided by better lighting, better sound and a more fluid directorial style. Talkies had only been around for about a year when the first version was filmed, so the eight years of technical advancement between the 2 versions accounts for some the 1938’s enhanced vivacity and glamour.
Rathbone, who was a decorated WWI veteran, is a more commanding actor that Neil Hamilton. Rathbone dominates the screen as the twitchy, cold-eyed officer who is forced to send untested pilots to their certain deaths. His style is more theatrically grand in comparison to Flynn and Niven’s naturalistic, casual acting but it works to convey the intensity of his pain at being stuck in the rotten job he was given.
Both films have an exciting battle sequence at the end, using much of the same footage shot by Hawkes. I think the 1938 version squeaks ahead on this final battle just a little because Flynn is so doggone handsome. Double feature with Porco Rosso (1992).
Errol Flynn Podcast Notes
Bibliography:
My Days with Errol Flynn by Buster Wiles, 1988. (Mostly about Wiles and a few anecdotes about Flynn. Not very well written.) Errol Flynn: A Memoir by Earl Conrad, 1978. (Written by the ghost writer of Flynn's autobiography, My Wicked Wicked Ways. Mostly covers the sad, decadent last year of Flynn's life.) The Two Lives of Errol Flynn by Michael Freedland, 1978. (Contains a few unique anedotes from co-stars such as Ida Lupino.) The Life and Work of Errol Flynn: A Psycholanalytical Biography by B. Dramov, 2005. (Very sympathetic to Flynn and finger-pointing at his mother and other women - it's true they were pretty rough. But let's him off the hook for his behavior.) My Wicked, Wicked Ways by Errol Flynn, 1959. (This came out just after Flynn's death. It's sad that he had to rely on a ghost writer because Flynn had been a writer in his younger, healthier days.) The Films of Errol Flynn by Tony Thomas, et. al., 1969.
Documentaries:
Errol Flynn: Portait of a Swashbuckler, Kultur, 1993. The Adventures of Errol Flynn, Turner Entertainment Co, 2005.
Best Errol Flynn Movies:
Flynn had a lot of box office success in dozens of mediocre or worst quality films. But, particularly, early in his career he starred in a come gems. Xoe and I agree that the two best by far are 1) Captain Blood (1935) Here's my 5-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more. Blood! Blood!! Blood!!! When I first saw this in my 20's, I could not believe that such a wonderful thing existed. Absolutely witty, action -packed and joyous. I immediately fell in love with Basil Rathbone, the greatest fencer in Hollywood. My friend was the Errol Flynn fan. Though he was one of the prettiest humans to ever live, he was too good-looking for me. Luckily, his success in this role emanates from an earnest insouciance and obvious intelligence, as well as, a bouncy charm - not just good looks. As I watch this again for the 20th time, it is easy to see that Flynn is, by far, a better actor than Rathbone. And Flynn's immediate star status is understandable. Honestly, I don't think anyone else in the history of cinema could actually carry off the line, "Bedad, that's queer!" But the script and direction would made this film a hit anyway. Based on Rafael Sabatini's novel Captain Blood, there is ready-made witty dialogue that the screenwriters had the good sense to retain. Director Michael Curtiz is a powerful action stylist, who proves verisimilitude tempered with human pathos or humor, as needed. This is the first pairing of Flynn with 17-year-old Olivia de Haviland. Her character Arabella Bishop is a good match for Peter Blood because she has agency, which she exercises to the frustration and ultimate delight of Captain Blood. There are so many wonderful studio character actors here that I can't start or I would never stop. Peruse the IMDB page to see all great actors in this (Guy Kibbee, Henry Stephenson...) One tidbit I read in Basil Rathbone's biography: He thought it would a cool idea if he kept his eyes open after he died during a duel, like a real corpse. Unfortunately for him, the duel took place on a beach and he fell into the ocean. The saltwater stung his eyes like the bejesus. Watch the scene as see how hard it is for him to keep his eyes open. The best double feature for this is The Adventures of Robin Hood, with essentially the same cast.
2) The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Here's my 5-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more. In 80 years, no one has done the story of Robin Hood better or even as well. And in 80 years, there has been no one who is a better Robin Hood than Errol Flynn. Flynn and the rest of the cast attack the centuries old myth of Robin Hood with a joie de vivre that is impossible to resist. Critical judgment is put on hold until the last hearty laugh echoes away. And there are as many laughs, chortles, chuckles and guffaws as there are stars in the sky. Yes, everything is Hollywood -ized and glamorized but what a tale, what fun! This is a film that is so chock-full of studio contract players that if I started I would go on and on. So I will pick a very few, warning you that I am leaving large painful holes in this review: Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) (FYI- She still alive and 101 in 2018!!) - I must speak about her performance because I have overlooked her intelligent approach to a fairly thin role. You can see behind her eyes that Marian is no dope, though she has been duped by her class and privilege about the plight of the English. It is easy to believe that once she sees the truth that her intelligence and compassion will force her to act against her class (sort of). Basil Rathbone - who I love so much I once names my cat Rasil Bathbone. One of the greatest fencer in Hollywood. He is magnificent in his role as the evil Guy of Gisbourne. He is as dashing as Robin Hood, though less merry. I'll stay my hand here and suggest a couple of good double features: Captain Blood with almost the same cast filmed 3 years earlier; or, The silent Robin Hood (1922) with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Fact: Alan Hale Sr play LIttle John in both the 1922 and 1938 versions! He's the father of Alan Hale Jr who was the Skipper on Gilligan's Island.
3) Rita's number 3 is Dawn Patrol (1938). Here's my 4-star review from Letterboxd - My user name is Rema if you want to read more. There were two The Dawn Patrols made in the 1930’s: the original in 1930 and a remake in 1938. This is study in how different equally good talents synergize in different ways. The same script is used in both (judiciously tweaked for the remake),a very similar set and a lot of the same aerial and bombing footage. But a different director and cast. What a difference! The remake wins – hands down. The 1930 Howard Hawks version stars Richard Barthelmess, Douglas Fairbanks Jr (both of whom had affairs with Marlene Dietrich) and Neil Hamilton (whose enduring fame will be as Commissioner Gordon in the original Batman TV show). Despite their similar romantic background, Barthelmess and Fairbanks don't exhibit the easy, uninhibited camaraderie of the later cast. They can't stand up in comparison to the 1938 mega-watt stars Errol Flynn, David Niven and Basil Rathbone. Flynn, Niven and Rathbone fairly pop their buttons with energy and charisma. Flynn and Niven were also good friends, which cemented their chemistry on film. In addition, Flynn, et. al. are aided by better lighting, better sound and a more fluid directorial style. Talkies had only been around for about a year when the first version was filmed, so the eight years of technical advancement between the 2 versions accounts for some the 1938’s enhanced vivacity and glamour. Rathbone, who was a decorated WWI veteran, is a more commanding actor that Neil Hamilton. Rathbone dominates the screen as the twitchy, cold-eyed officer who is forced to send untested pilots to their certain deaths. His style is more theatrically grand in comparison to Flynn and Niven’s naturalistic, casual acting but it works to convey the intensity of his pain at being stuck in the rotten job he was given. Both films have an exciting battle sequence at the end, using much of the same footage shot by Hawkes. I think the 1938 version squeaks ahead on this final battle just a little because Flynn is so doggone handsome. Double feature with Porco Rosso (1992).
We discuss the classic noir The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor, the performances, the book, and some blatant queer-coding in the film. It's a masterpiece.
A full version of the shownotes coming soon
Best Worst Movies: 1. Laser Mission (1989) 2. Road House (1989) 3. Ninja III: The Domination (1984)- with Sho Kusugi and Linda Dickey. A sexy aeorobic instrocutor/linewoman is possesed by the spirit of a vengeful ninja. 4. Blind (2017) 5. Doppelganger (1993) 6. The Instructor (1981)- Bob Cheney, martial arts instructor and second-rate Burt Reynolds mixes a hallmark card with exploitation elements and chain saw battles in Akron, Ohio. 7. Hard Target (1993) 8. The Visitor (1979)- John Huston, Glenn Ford, Lance Henriksen among others in this odd mashup of The Exorcist, The Birds, and Starwars set in the Guggenheim 9. Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) 10. Flashdance (1983) 11. The Naked Jungle (1954) 12. Signs (2002) 13. Pompeii (2014)
Music- Future Mind by Powerbleeder
Our next full episode "Top Ten Worst Movies" will be out soon. In the meantime, send us any questions or requests via email. We're accepting suggestions for future topics!
foiblespodcast@gmail.com
Episode 9 "Lord Peter Wimsey Novels" Shownotes
Links to Pictures of Dorothy's Crushes and Flames:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cournos http://www.writeopinions.com/eric-whelpton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Allen_(conductor)
Music:
Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E minor Op. 44/2- 3. Andante
Wimsey novels in chronological order:
Whose Body? (1923) Clouds of Witness (1926) Unnatural Death (1927) The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928) Strong Poison (1931)- Xoe's Fav The Five Red Herrings (1931) Have His Carcase (1932) - Rita's favorite Murder Must Advertise (1933) - Rita and Xoe's favorite The Nine Tailors (1934)- Xoe's favorite Gaudy Night (1935) Busman's Honeymoon (1937)
Bibliography:
Brabazon, James. Dorothy L. Sayers: A Biography, 1981. Coomes, David. Dorothy L. Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life, 1992. Dale, Alzina Stone. The Story of Dorothy L. Sayers, 1978. Hitchman, Janet. Such a Strange Lady, 1975. Kenney, Catherine McGehee. The Remarkable Case of Dorothy L. Sayers, 1990. (A scholarly look at the themes of social criticism in Sayers' work.) Reynolds, Barbara. Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul, 1993. (The best one in my opinion. It is writen in an open, modern style and contain many more pictures than than the others.)
Video:
The best series - A Dorothy L Sayers Mystery. BBC, 1987. This cover 3 out 4 of the Wimsey/Vane books - Strong Poison (in which they meet and Peter saves Harriet from the gallows), Have His Carcase (in which Harriet finds a body, which subsequently disappears, and partners with Peter in investigating and solving the murder), Gaudy Night (in which Harriet goes back Oxford for a reunion and runs into a mystery about a vicious vandal; while the plots thickens, so does their romance). Best Wimsey is Edward Petherbridge and best Vane is Harriet Walter, both of whom are in this series.
The other series was made by the BBC in 1970. It starred Ian Carmichel as Wimsey. Carmichel looks nothing like Wimsey and, to my mind, does not act like Wimsey either. This series includes: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club The Nine Tailors Murder Must Advertise Five Red Herrings Clouds of Witness
There were also a couple films made, both of which Sayers absolutely hated. They are: The Silent Passenger, 1935, British, starring John Loden and Peter Haddon. Busman's Honeymoon (US: The Haunted Honeymoon), starring Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings, 1940.
A short Interview with Edward Petherbridge on playing Lord Peter Wimsey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsMOMbCpBFU
Link to an article illustration about Sayer's advertisment for Guiness:
https://vinepair.com/articles/history-guinness-toucan-ads/
Music: Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E minor Op. 44/2- 3. Andante
Wimsey novels in chronological order: Whose Body? (1923) Clouds of Witness (1926) Unnatural Death (1927) The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928) Strong Poison (1931)- Xoe's Fav The Five Red Herrings (1931) Have His Carcase (1932) - Rita's favorite Murder Must Advertise (1933) - Rita and Xoe's favorite The Nine Tailors (1934)- Xoe's favorite Gaudy Night (1935) Busman's Honeymoon (1937)
Bibliography: Brabazon, James. Dorothy L. Sayers: A Biography, 1981. Coomes, David. Dorothy L. Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life, 1992. Dale, Alzina Stone. The Story of Dorothy L. Sayers, 1978. Hitchman, Janet. Such a Strange Lady, 1975. Kenney, Catherine McGehee. The Remarkable Case of Dorothy L. Sayers, 1990. (A scholarly look at the themes of social criticism in Sayers' work.) Reynolds, Barbara. Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul, 1993. (The best one in my opinion. It is writen in an open, modern style and contain many more pictures than than the others.)
Video: The best series - A Dorothy L Sayers Mystery. BBC, 1987. This cover 3 out 4 of the Wimsey/Vane books - Strong Poison (in which they meet and Peter saves Harriet from the gallows), Have His Carcase (in which Harriet finds a body, which subsequently disappears, and partners with Peter in investigating and solving the murder), Gaudy Night (in which Harriet goes back Oxford for a reunion and runs into a mystery about a vicious vandal; while the plots thickens, so does their romance). Best Wimsey is Edward Petherbridge and best Vane is Harriet Walter, both of whom are in this series. The other series was made by the BBC in 1970. It starred Ian Carmichel as Wimsey. Carmichel looks nothing like Wimsey and, to my mind, does not act like Wimsey either.
This series includes: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club The Nine Tailors Murder Must Advertise Five Red Herrings Clouds of Witness
There were also a couple films made, both of which Sayers absolutely hated. They are: The Silent Passenger, 1935, British, starring John Loden and Peter Haddon. Busman's Honeymoon (US: The Haunted Honeymoon), starring Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings, 1940.
A short Interview with Edward Patherbridge on playing Lord Peter Wimsey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsMOMbCpBFU
Link to an article illustration about Sayer's advertisment for Guiness:
https://vinepair.com/articles/history-guinness-toucan-ads/
The Perry Mason Drinking Game
Drink when:
-Someone says the title of the episode -There’s a very famous actor e.g. Robert Redford -when someone pours an alcoholic drink -There’s a Dabbs Greer sighting -Della demonstrates sisterhood solidarity -Anytime Paul Drake says “Hi, beautiful.” -A secretary has an affair with her boss -Anyone sniffs a piece of evidence (drink twice if Perry sniffs a gun) -Perry holds a woman’s elbow -Someone flings themselves onto Perry’s chest- drink twice -Paul loses someone he’s tailing -Someone checks a car’s registration -You first see a shot of Peaches “Boom-Boom” Burger (Hamilton Burger’s mother, usually an extra in courtroom scenes)
-A lawyer claims a question is “Immaterial, incompetent, and irrelevant.” (All or any) - Burger whines something like “Your honor, Mason is up to his old tricks!” -A motion is ruled against Perry -when there’s a woman judge -Someone breaks down dramatically on the stand/in court -If Perry loses a case, finish the bottle -Finish your drink for any change in Perry’s office decor -Finish your drink if any dates that are mentioned fall on your birthday -Everyone takes bets on the murderer by the 35 minute mark, if you’re right, finish your drink
Other Prompts:
-Call out when you see a familiar secondary actor or prop -William Hopper first appears, yell his name in falsetto -When Della wears a nice outfit tell her how cute she looks -When a judge calls a recess for lunch, or because it is “getting late,” ring a bell
EPISODE 7 Trip to S. Korea Notes
-On our trip we stayed in the Seoul neighborhood Hyehwa, netdoor to Sungkyunkwan University. The name of the Palcae/garden complex we describe in the episode is Changgyeonggung Palace. From here you can easily walk to Bukcheon and Insadong, the neighborhoods where the tradition architecture of houses and shops has been preserved.
-Nami Island: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264244
-Other fun things to do in S. Korea: watch street performers, drink beer in the park, visit a jimjilbang- a nude spa where you can spend the night, eat street food, visit street markets (fish markets highly recommended), go hiking.
"Hallyu Wave" is the name of the S. Korean pop culture movement that encompasses t.v. dramas to k-pop music. Check out 'trot' music if you're intrigued by the kinds of old-school ballads that influenced pop music in the 70s and 80s.
Our Top Dramas: -Coffee Prince (2007) -Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010) -Secret Garden (2010) -My Beautiful Sam-Soon (2005) -My Love From Another Star (2013)
- Females stars we love: Ha Ji-Wan (Secret Garden) Yoon Yoo-Sun (My Girlfriend is a Gumiho) Kim Sun-A (My Beautiful Sam Soon) Jun Ji-hyun (My Love from Another Star) Yoon Eun-hye (Coffee Prince)
Male stars we love: Hyun Bin (Binny) (Several dramas) Sung Dong-Il (My Girlfriend is a Gumiho) Song Joong-Ki (Fan Boy) (Several dramas) Park Yoochun (Sungkyunkwan Scandal) Kim Soo-hyun (My Love from Another Star) Gong Yoo (Coffee Prince)
Music in this Episode: -"Let's Get Out of this Country" by Camera Obscura -"Devil" by SUPER JUNIOR (K-pop group) -"Curtain Call" by Taeyeon
The almost-final episode in the life of of Marlene Dietrich. We discuss her entire filmography, the best and worst.
Pt. 2 in the life of Marlene Dietrich, her middle career and affairs.
Songs:
You Will Always Bring Me Flowers- Shannon and the Clams
Auf Der Mundharmonika- Marlene Dietrich
Where Have All the Flowers Gone- Marlene Dietrich
The early life and career of actrss and singer Marlene Dietrich.
Marlene: Marlene Dietrich, A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler (2011). (hagiographic) The Films of Marlene Dietrich by Homer Dickens (1971). Marlene Dietrich: Photographs and Memories by Jean-Jaques Naudet (2001). (a plethora of beautiful photos) Blue Angel: The Life of Marlene Dietrich by Donald Spoto (1992). (tries to psychologically analyze the films vis a vis Marlene's life; also there a several factual errors) Marlene Dietrich by Her Daughter by Maria Riva (1993).
Music: "Honey Pie" by The Beatles "Blowing in The Wind" sung by Marlene Dietrich "Lili Marleen" sung by Marlene Dietrich "Ich Bin Die Fesche Lola"sung by Marlene Dietrich "Give Me the Man" sung by Marlene Dietrich
Movies You Must Love To Date My Daughter Shout-outs to Michael, Anthony, and David for being the best sports!
We just did a brief summary of these films - there is so much more to say. We'll cover more in subsequent episodes. 1) Captain Blood (1935) - Errol Flynn (sexiest man dead), Olivia DeHaviland (bosom-heaver), Basil "Ratters" Rathbone (worst French accent ever). This magnificent swashbuckler was nominated for 5 Academy awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Michael Curtiz, and Best Score. Book: Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini (1922). First filmed in 1924 but only 30 minutes of the film still exist. 2) Laura (1944) - Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Dame Judith Anderson, Vincent Price (as the boy toy) This dark, intense thriller epitomizes all that noir is meant to be. In fact, it won an Academy award for Black and White Cinematography. Also, was nominated for 4 other Oscars, including Best Director (Otto Preminger) and Best Supporting Actor (Clifton Webb). Book: Laura by Vera Caspary (1943). The book is quite different from the film. The plot of Sharkey's Machine (1981) is very similar, though Sharkey's Machine is based ot a novel by the same name. Could someone have been inspired by Caspary's original story? 3) The Warriors (1979) - Michael Beck, James Remar, David Harris, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, David Patrick Kelly Archetypal adventure of the gang The Warriors traveling through the mean New York streets, trying to reach safety at Coney Island. Wonderful adaptation of the tale of Anabasis by Xenophon (370 BCE). No awards. Boo!
Book: The Warriors by Sol Yurok (1965).
Music featured in this episode: "I Wanna Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart"- The White Stripes "Etiole Polaire: Little Dipper"- Philip Glass/Silver Alert "Laura (Theme)"- David Raksin "Way To Your Heart"- Persephone's Bees
"Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann
Rita and Xoe describe the worst things they have ever tasted and the resultant PTSD.
By the way, the salt substitute that Rita could not remember is potassium chloride.
Cookbook: Broccoli by Tyler Kord, short stack editions v.7, 2014. Recipe: No. 7 Broccoli Sandwiches
Notes: The canned lychees will be in sweet syrup. Don't do like I did and search every store and online for unsweetened lychees. The sweetness works well with the vinegar. Roasting pine nuts is a tricky business. I put them in skillet over medium heat and shake the pan the whole time. Pine nuts will sit there and sit there for minutes on end then when you look away for a second, they burn. Another way to roast pine nuts is to put them on a pizza pan in a 300 degree oven and check them very frequently, shake the pan too. As soon as they start to brown, pull them out. Don't wait like I did and have to throw them in the garbage. I like feta cheese better than the ricotta salada called for in the recipe. Homemade fried shallots are much tastier and crunchier than the store-bought but they are also oilier. Take your choice.
Other recipes from this book I've tried and liked:
Double-Decker Broccoli Tacos and Grilled Broccoli with Mashed Potatoes and Bacon Gravy
Harold and Maude (1971) Directed by Hal Ashby Actors: Harold - Bud Cort Maude - Ruth Gordon Harold's Mother - Vivian Pickles
Book Review: Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins, 1971. This novelization is terrible. But reading it (thankfully it was short) showed me that the brilliance of H & M is due to the way Hal Ashby transferred Harold and Maude onto the screen and into life. The novel gives a few more details about the characters, such as Maude's real name and what happened to Harold's father. There are also a few scenes that were cut from the film like where Harold serves his severed head on a platter to his mother. Otherwise, all that the novelization adds is information that undercuts the magical realism of the film, like expaining how Harold creates his death scenes, such as the complicated breathing apparatus for the pool scene. The more you like the film, the less you'll like the book.
This episode contains clips from the following songs, all by Cat Stevens/Yusuf:
If You Wanna Sing Out, Sing Out (in film) Trouble (in film) The Hurt (off Foreigner) Tuesday's Dead (off Teaser and the Firecat) Can't Keep It In (off Catch Bull at Four)
Portrayers of Perry in order of goodness (cut out of the podcast - I was accused of being boring):
The peerless Raymond Burr
Richardo Cortez - this guy is lively but he lacks the gravitas of Burr. Generally, as an actor he has verve without subtlety. He starred in the original 1931 The Maltese Falcon. Fun to watch how it is different from the classic of the same name shot in 1941, starring the best cast ever assembled.
Donald Woods - Bland.
Warren William - Warren has the most Perry appearances after Burr. His Perry is most un-Perry-like. His Perry is interchangable with his Philo Vance. William has an old-timey, stagey acting style that I don't like. But you may.
Non-Burr Perry Mason films:
The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) -Warren William The Case of the Curious Bride (1935) -Warren William FYI: 1st film appearance by Errol Flynn in a bit part! The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935) - Warren William The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936) - Warren William The Case of the Black Cat (1936) - Ricardo Cortez The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937) - Donald Woods
Books: Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the Real Perry Mason by Dorothy B. Hughes, 1978. Secrets of the World's Best-selling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner by Francis L. and Roberta B. Fugate, 1980. The Case of the Screaming Woman by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1957.
Video: The Case of the Screaming Woman, Perry Mason TV series, season 1, episode 30, 1958.
Music: "Perry Mason Theme"- Royal Philharmonic Orchestra "Perry Mason"- Ozzy Osbourne
Perry Mason Song - to the tune of Frere Jacques:
"Perry Mason, Perry Mason Della Street, Della Street Paul-ha-haul-haul Drake, Paul-ha-haul-haul Drake Lt. Tragg, Lt. Tragg Hamilton Burger, Hamilton Burger This verse is improvised. Diss the The Burg as much as possible. Such as: You will lose. You will lose. Perry will -hill quash you. Perry will-hill quash you. Everytime! Everytime!"
Welcome to Foibles, a mother-daughter podcast where we discuss film, literature, and miscellaneous topics.
Thank you to Rob Tunstall for early help and inspiration, check out his comedy podcast Mouth Feels.
Music: "Mother and Child Reunion" -Paul Simon