What might happen to a crew member if required to jump, without a parachute, from a badly damaged British plane during World War II. This is the situation presented in "A Matter of Life and Death" 1946 a film selected by our guest Arthur Sculco. The duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger wrote, produced and directed this beautifully photographed film. Squadron Leader Peter David Carter played by David Niven exits the plane and free falls to a beach on the English coast. Conductor 71 played...
Aug 21, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 170
Director Michael Powell brings us the 1941 film "49th Parallel". Thanks to our guest Arthur Sculco who selected this excellent film for the podcast. Emeric Pressburger developed the original story and wrote the screenplay. Mr. Pressburger said, "Goebbels considered himself an expert on propaganda, but I thought I'd show him a thing or two." The film accomplishes this as it shows the treachery of most of the raiding party of six Kriegsmarine sailors from the German submarine compared to the stron...
Aug 06, 2020•56 min•Ep. 168
Maggie Smith gives the performance of a lifetime in "The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie". She plays the titular character backed up by an outstanding supporting cast led by Pamela Franklin, Robert Stephens, Gordon Jackson and Celia Johnson. The "Brodie Set" or "Brodie Girls" are played to perfection by Pamela Franklin, Diane Grayson, Jane Carr and Shirley Steedman. ***SPOILER ALERT*** We highly recommend that you watch this film before listening to the podcast. We talk about the ending, and if you ha...
Jul 30, 2020•59 min•Ep. 166
From the 1952 short story by Daphne du Maurier, "The Birds" 1963 is a film that centers on surprising and aggressive bird attacks in and around the seacoast town of Bodega Bay, California. The movie also deals with complex family relationships and the growing romance between the wealthy and sophisticated Melanie Daniels played by Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor as the handsome and eligible bachelor Mitch Brenner. Director Alfred Hitchcock uses the characters, location, music and special effects to u...
Jul 17, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 164
"The Stranger" 1946 is a film noir involving the United Nations War Crimes Commission search for the notorious Nazi Franz Kindler, also know as Professor Charles Rankin, as played be Orson Welles. Mr. Welles is also the Director of the movie. For the first time in a Hollywood commercial movie documentary footage of the Holocaust death camps is shown and the horrific scenes play a pivotal role in the film. Edward G. Robinson plays Mr. Wilson the War Crimes Commission Detective who successfully lo...
Jul 03, 2020•52 min•Ep. 162
"Taxi Driver" from 1976 is a film noir drama set in New York City with some foreboding scenes occurring at night and in the rain. Director Martin Scorsese created a movie that is a success both critically and financially. Paul Schrader wrote the movie. Bernard Hermann did the score, his very last film before passing away prior to the film’s release. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Supporting Actress (Jodie Foster) and Best Original ...
Jun 18, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 160
We conclude our review of "Blade Runner" from 1982. Wow, what a great film. Also, I apologize for pronouncing "Brion James" as "Biron James" the whole time. Not sure what I was thinking - Matt
Jun 04, 2020•52 min•Ep. 158
"Blade Runner" opened in theaters in 1982. Director Ridley Scott creates a cityscape of Los Angeles in 2019. The film has many aspects of film noir blended into a future where synthetic humans or replicants are produced to work on planets, asteroids and other objects scattered throughout space. These replicants are prohibited from being on Earth. When four Nexus-6 replicants escape back to Earth, Rick Deckard played by Harrison Ford is persuaded to hunt them. Deckard is a former police officer a...
May 28, 2020•50 min•Ep. 158
Frederick Forsyth's 1971 novel "Day of the Jackal" is brought to life in Director Fred Zinnemann's 1973 film of the same name. The fast paced political drama starts with the 1962 failed assassination attempt of French President Charles de Gaulle. Subsequently the Secret Army Organization (OAS) hires an independent assassin with the code name "Jackal". He may or may not be British, but it is clear that he is an effective and deadly sociopath who stops at nothing to achieve the President's death. ...
May 15, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 156
In the 1951 movie "The Lavender Hill Mob" four men, led by Alec Guinness as Henry "Dutch" Holland, plan and carry out the robbery of a load of gold bullion worth several million pounds. Director Charles Crichton has created one of the best British films as ranked by the British Film Institute. This heist movie is brought to life by the marvelous acting of Alex Guinness and Stanley Holloway as Alfred "Al" Pendlebury. Contributing to the action are Sid James as Lackery Wood, Marjorie Fielding as M...
May 01, 2020•45 min•Ep. 154
“Bawarchi” (The Chef) 1972 takes us to Shanti Niwas (abode of peace) where we meet the large Sharma family. Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film tells the story of the squabbling Sharma family headed by the eccentric Daduji played by Harindranath Chattopadhyay. Daduji’s personality leads to frequent turnover in the cook job. Moreover, the family difficulties also add to the problem of retaining staff. The situation is changed when Raghu played by Rajesh Khanna (the first superstar of India cinem...
Apr 17, 2020•26 min•Ep. 152
Hello! We have some exciting announcements. The first announcement is that we are offering a new Patreon Tier 4. Join us on the show! Become an Associate Programmer! In addition to all the benefits of Tiers 1 through 3, you'll be an Associate Programmer for the show. Once every three months you'll: Choose a theme for the show Choose one movie that we'll review in that theme Be interviewed, either over phone or FaceTime, or in writing over email. We'll include clips from the interview in the epis...
Apr 03, 2020•7 min
Gwen Terasaki’s 1957 autobiography is the basis for “Bridge to the Sun” 1961. Director Etienne Perier creates a realistic film of the marriage and life of Gwen Harold from Tennessee and Hidenari Terasaki a Japanese diplomat stationed in Washington, D.C. Against the advise of several people Gwen and Hidenari marry in 1935. They have a daughter Mako. Following the 1941 attack at Pearl Harbor. Japanese and U.S. diplomatic staffs are exchanged. Gwen with Mako decides to go to Japan and be reunited w...
Apr 03, 2020•53 min•Ep. 150
“Farewell to Manzanar” is an excellent NBC television movie from 1976. The film is based on an autobiography written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston. The movie tells the story of seven-year-old Jeanne Wakasuki and her family’s internment at Manzanar in 1942 following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. That order authorized the creation of the War Relocation Authority and subsequently many internm...
Mar 26, 2020•55 min•Ep. 149
“Cover Girl” released in 1944 is a Technicolor musical that highlights the beautiful dancing of Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly’s choreography and dancing genius. Director Charles Vidor gives Mr. Kelly the opportunity to create several wonderful dance sequences including the “Alter-Ego Dance” and a sound stage dance along an entire street that was accomplished in one take. It was a foreshadowing of the marvelous rain scene in “Singin’ in the Rain” from 1952 Episode 20. In addition, the movie gives ...
Mar 20, 2020•38 min•Ep. 148
”Farewell to Manzanar” from 1976 is our upcoming podcast Episode 150. Prior to that podcast we provide some background on the internment of people during World War II. On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 – Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas – to prevent possible acts of espionage and sabotage. Executive Order 9066 empowered the military to determine what people and areas to include and the ways to accomplish the goal. Based on the Execut...
Mar 12, 2020•42 min•Ep. 147
“An American in Paris” from 1951 is one of the many excellent films starring Gene Kelly. The movie won six Academy Awards including Best Picture. We reviewed two other Gene Kelly films “On the Town” 1949, Episode 2 and “Singin’ in the Rain” 1952, Episode 20. Director Vincent Minnelli had a long and productive career and his leadership shows in this film and the musical numbers. Gene Kelly as the war veteran and artist Jerry Mulligan, Leslie Caron, in her first movie role, as Lise Bouvier, Oscar ...
Mar 06, 2020•58 min•Ep. 146
We take a virtual tour of Astoria and discuss some of the 400 films made in Oregon. Astoria is our starting point and there is much to cover in this beautiful city of 10,000 on the banks of the Columbia River and near the Pacific Ocean. The Astoria Oregon Tourist Bureau at www.travelastoria.com has information on the area. A special place is the Oregon Film Museum www.oregonfilmmuseum.org located in the old Clatsop County Jail. There are many interesting places to visit in and around Astoria suc...
Feb 27, 2020•38 min•Ep. 145
1939 was the year when many of the finest films were made. Films from that year include “Gone with the Wind”; “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”; “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”; “Stagecoach”; and “Dark Victory”. For our podcast we discuss another of the excellent films from 1939, “The Wizard of Oz”. Director Victor Fleming did a masterful job bringing L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s fantasy to the screen. King Vidor took over some of the work when Mr. Fleming was called to direct “Gone with the Wind”. Togethe...
Feb 20, 2020•56 min•Ep. 144
This is a bit different than our regular show and we go into quite a bit of depth on our feelings about race and nationalism in film. The episode consists of an opening by Matt followed by an excerpt from our "Yankee Doodle Dandy" episode and the closes out with some comments by Matt. In our recent podcasts we have reviewed films that began the long and continuing journey to broaden diversity in movies. In our view this shift is welcome, overdue and needs to continue. In Episode 143 we have a di...
Feb 13, 2020•36 min•Ep. 143
With its theatrical release a few months after the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, “Yankee Doodle Dandy” from 1942 is a tribute to the musical career of George M. Cohan. This is a well-crafted and patriotic film. Michael Curtiz had a career as Director of over 150 films in Europe and then the U.S. He left no stone unturned when it came to putting this movie together. James Cagney as George M. Cohan embodies the patriotic fervor of the time and gives a performance that earned him the Aca...
Feb 07, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 142
“Sounder” the 1972 film is set in 1933 during the Great Depression. The Morgan’s are a family of sharecroppers in Louisiana who face the devastating effects of a scarcity of food. Director Martin Ritt is masterful in telling this story and it is one of his many excellent films. Arrest, prison time, segregation, unrelenting work demands and low crop prices are all factors for the family. Through all of this the family shares a strong bound of love and survival to keep their farm. Together Cicely ...
Feb 06, 2020•50 min•Ep. 141
From 1959 “Odds Against Tomorrow” is a taut and foreboding film about a bank robbery, racial hatred and human weakness that many people think is also an allegory for the cold war tension at that time between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. Director Robert Wise selected early spring of March 1959 and creative cinematography using black and white film to successfully capture a cold, bleak feel of impending doom. This is film noir at a high level. Burke played by Ed Begley is the ruined, former police office...
Jan 23, 2020•47 min•Ep. 140
We go back in time to 1939 to watch “Harlem Rides the Range”. The Producer and Director Richard C. Kahn made low budget films as the second movie on a double feature. “Harlem Rides the Range” is among a small group of movies featuring an all black cast. Riding together, Herb Jeffries as Bob Blake and Lucius Brooks as Dusty fight crime on the range. A catchphrase was “men of action blaze a trail of love and lead as law and order comes to the old west”. Mr. Jeffries’ movie career was from the 1930...
Jan 17, 2020•39 min•Ep. 139
In the Heat of the Night” from 1967 takes us to the small town of Sparta, Mississippi and the suspicion, tension and conflict surrounding the murder of Phillip Colbert a wealthy business owner who is building a manufacturing facility in the community. Director Norman Jewison weaves together a drama of mystery, race relations, dangerous misunderstandings, statutory rape, abortion and resistance to change against the backdrop of the 1960’s in the U.S. Virgil Tibbs played by Sidney Poitier and Rod ...
Jan 09, 2020•57 min•Ep. 140
This podcast we take time to discuss some of the many comments we have received from listeners to our Classic Movie Reviews podcasts. We love getting comments and they are helpful as we refine our approach and strive to improve the content and quality of the podcasts. We appreciate all the comments and encourage people to keep letting us know how we are doing. We hope you enjoy our discussion. Thanks for listening and we wish everyone a happy holiday. You can leave comments on our website, on Ap...
Jan 03, 2020•32 min•Ep. 137
This podcast takes us to “Christmas in Connecticut” from 1945. We find Elizabeth Lane played by Barbara Stanwyck embroiled in hijinks surrounding her supposed expertise in food and home matters, her nonexistent marriage, a baby (or two), an imagined home in Connecticut and fast paced comedy and a budding romance all deftly put together by Director Peter Godfrey. Participants in this freewheeling and delightful film are Dennis Morgan as Jefferson Jones the returning war hero, Sydney Greenstreet t...
Dec 25, 2019•52 min•Ep. 136
In this Patron Tier 2 and 3 only episode, Matt and I visit about a favorite holiday movie “A Christmas Carol” aka "Scrooge" from 1951. Charles Dickens’ story from 1843 has been told on film and television several times. The 1951 film was adapted and crafted by Director Brian Desmond Hurst and Screenwriter Noel Langley. The result of their collaboration is a wonderful movie that contains many themes that are as relevant today as they were long ago. Alastair Sim is the perfect Ebenezer Scrooge alo...
Dec 19, 2019•55 min•Ep. 135
“Giant” from 1956 is the sprawling, multiple decades story of the Benedict family, Jeff Rink, strong women, oil, cattle, conflict in race relations, power, political influence and the gulf between wealth and poverty. Edna Ferber’s 1952 novel is brought to life on a large, 3 hour 18 minute Academy Award winning, scale by Director George Stevens. “Shane” 1953 is another award winning film from Mr. Stevens and is discussed in our Episodes 91 and 92. Elizabeth Taylor as Leslie Benedict, Rock Hudson ...
Dec 12, 2019•59 min•Ep. 136
The ground-breaking " The Twilight Zone " television series turns 60 this year and to celebrate Fathom Events brought six episodes to the big screen. I went to the screening and recorded some audio on my way there and right after the showing. Then Bob and I spent some time talking about the show and the impact it had on us and to television and movies in general. "The Twilight Zone" is available to watch on Hulu and Netflix and probably other places like CBS All Access. If you're interested in l...
Dec 05, 2019•42 min•Ep. 133
