Good aim. My name's Peter HELLI you welcome to you Ain't seen Nothing yet the movie podcast where I chat to a movie lover about a classic or beloved movie they haven't quite got around to watching until now. And today's guest actor Stephen Curry, would you give.
Me a hand with the bags? You take the blind and I'll take the one in the table.
Sir, the most you ever lost in the Quantie, go ahead, make my day have a right now, don't see nothing.
If you live in Australia and consume even the slightest amount of and movies, you know who our next guest is. And if you're listening overseas and you've been listening to this podcast, then you would have heard our guest name pop up quite a bit, quite simply. Steve Curry's workers
loomed large in the Australian TV and film landscape. Steve first appeared in two episodes I Believe a Fast Forward in nineteen eighty seven as part of the Whiz Bang Shows, before going on the film sitcom Late for School, but it was not in ninety seven's The Castle that really brought Steve into the hearts of all Ossie movie Lovers. His portrayal of Dale Kerrigan remains one of the great Ossie comedic performances, right up there with mc dundee and
Muriel Hyslops. Steve has pretty much appeared in every Australian TV show you have ever heard of, plus the big screen comedies The Wag Boy, The Nugget Takeaway and Thunderstruck. But something happens around two thousand and seven where Steve decides to take on more and more dramatic roles, winning great acclaim and awards for his the trail of Ossie TV legend Graham Kennedy In The King. He gains further acclaim by playing another legend, joggy Melbourne Cup winning jockey,
that is Damien Oliver in the Cup. He took another turn in twenty sixteen, playing the ultra creepy John White and scaring them for Jesus out of us in the disturbing thriller Hounds of Love, again to much acclaim. As a bloke, Stevee is as hilarious as you would hope, as creative as they come. Check out Humdinger on YouTube and he's most often the most fun bloke in the room. Oh and According to his IMDb, he was also the cinematographer on the A Puppetuy of the Penis movie. I
had no idea about that. We will get to that soon. I'm bloody stoke to have my mate Stephen Curry as my guest today.
Oh my god, Pete, that was really something home week that went into that right.
This is where I introduced myself. Isn't it okay? Hi? My name is Stephen Curry, not the basketballer.
It should be said, even though only our mothers can tell us apart and my favorite three movies as if you can pick three of But anyway, thanks Pete. Number one would have to be This is spinal TAP's such.
A fine line between stupid and clever. Turn about number two dirty rotten scoundrels.
Bro prect May I take your trade?
And sir yes? And number three back to the future.
My calculations are correct.
When this baby hits eighty eight miles per hour, you got to see some serious ship.
But up until I think it was two days ago, I'd never seen the nineteen fifty Joseph L.
Mankovitz classic All About Eve.
The general atmosphere is very mcbethish. What has or is about to happen. What is he talking about? McBeth? We know you, We've seen you like this before.
Is it over?
Is it just beginning? Fasten your seat belts.
It's going to be a bumpy nute.
It certainly is. Star Broadway actress Margo Channing play by icon Betty Davis, forty years before Madonna professed Our love for her is aging and getting paranoid. That paranoia and insecurity rises to the boy Or when fangirl Eve Harrington and Baxter is brought into her world by her best friend Karen. Yes, Karens have been messing things up for
over seventy years, it seems. When even deers herself into the lives of Margo's inner circle, including her younger boyfriend Bill Simpson played by Gary Merrill, Betty Davis soon to be husband and eventually ex husband, and playwright Lloyd Richard Hugh Marlowe, it sends Margo into a theatrical tail spin Pendon, directed by Joseph Mankowitz, brother of Herman, who wrote a little flick eight years earlier called Citizen Kane, from an article by Margaret Or entitled The Wisdom of Eve, inspired by
a true story of Austrian actress who had a fangirl slash stalker weave her way into her life before attempting to steal her career. Nominated for a record equally fourteen oscars, tied with Titanic and La La Land, including the only film ever with four actresses nominated in the same film. Sadly noneer them won. More on that later. All about Eve. It's about ruthless ambition, the fear of aging and what
happens when you let the wolf in the door. Steve Curry, who have you shafted to get a theater gig over the years? There must be there must be a few.
Yeah, it's true, That's very true. Look who shafted?
I met Abba bud Tingwell when I was a younger man, and he took me under his bing and he taught me a lot of things.
And you'll notice he's not around anything, won't you?
Do?
You notice that?
No, his absence has been noted.
Bill Hunter, one of the great stars of Australian screen, played Bart Cummings in the Cup.
Yes, his last performance is no longer last performance ever?
Wow, not no longer.
With little tidbit, here's a little trivia fact here we go. Bart Cummings wig worn by Bill Hunter in that film a rabbized beard, yes, a fake rabbis beard from a costume shop which they chucked on his head to make a look Bart Cummings hair.
Bart Cummings has a very a full ahead of hair.
It's a rabbi's wig of hair.
And the eyebrows was his eyebrows.
They were just borrowed from John Howard. But that's my dad. How about this?
My dad came as it was, he was an extra with my mum on the cup one day at and they were sitting behind Bill Hunter, and Dad said, should I have a chat to Bill? And I said probably not, like, probably not. He's pretty grumpy, especially in the mornings. He was pretty grumpy go legend, but pretty grumpy.
Go in the mornings.
And so Dad just couldn't resist and he tapped him on the shoulder and he said, good day Bill the butler, obviously from Muriel's wedding, right. And Bill's just turned around and Mum told the story Builders looks at him, looks him up and down and just goes. I think old Dad was devastated because he'd done it years earlier. To Eric Banner, right, shooting shooting the nugget. He came, he came, he can? I can I have a quid chat to Eric? All right, Dad, no worries. He walks up, good a chopper.
He's got his strategy, hasn't he.
Yeah?
Yeah, it's like and and Eric, God love him, you know, gives him a nice friendly that's a dad making a joke. Laugh, you know, he goes bang. I now know what I'm going to do every time I get on set with my son. I'll see anyone famous, I'll just you.
I'll just say a crack character they've maade and it should go down.
Eric banners to blame. Thanks for watching all about Eve. And just obviously you haven't seen it before. I'll confess I hadn't seen it either.
Can I be perfectly honest with you?
I texted you last week, right, and because I said, because I looked at you all that you gave me a list of all.
The suggestions of the films.
And he said, you can choose one off the list if you want. But you know, I look through your whole list. It's a very extensive list. I suddenly realized I must be a bit of a nerd because I'd seen every film apart from this one. I genuinely when I texted you saying, I think there are boobs in it, right, Remember I've texted you. I genuinely thought I had in my head. All about Eve was like Deep Throat.
I swear to God, I swear to God, I thought I had in my head.
I went all about Eve. This sounds like there's something in there. I know, I've heard of that film, and you know Deep Throat Linda Lovelace. I thought All about Eve was like some I seriously thought I was going to see boobs, and then I was like nineteen fifty and Betty Davis went ah.
Pretty quickly you would have realized, probably there's no boobs in this.
No, no, but very quickly, you know what, Betty Davis big fan of Betty Davis. I assume you're a big fan of Betty Davis Well, to.
Be honest, yes, But the legend of Betty Davis, I hadn't. I don't think I've seen many of her films. I mean, this is this is perhaps her most iconic role, and I hadn't seen this.
Did you notice, ironically enough, she's got actual Betty Davis size.
That was that occurred to me one of the odds, And I thought, hang on a second, It's like I was.
When I was a kid. I got I got two rabbits for my birthday, boy and a girl. They turned out they bred like actual rabbits.
This is amazing, this is amazing.
So it was it was just this moment I just thought, that's fun, that's weird.
I reckon. Maybe when Betty Davis was born, her parents saw her before they named her. Yeah, I saw her eyes. She got Betty Davis size, you.
Know what.
Davis?
Yeah, yeah, but our sir Anam's Johnson, she's got better data science. But yeah, I a huge found of Bete Davis. And do you know who? I did? A BackStar? I didn't know.
I'd never seen a film and hand backstering. Remember Bill Collins Hollywood, right, So I suddenly realized that I had not seen. My mom and dad used to watch that religiously on Saturday nights, you know, and have all the classic all the golden years of Hollywood stuff. And I thought, I've never seen I don't really know when enough about this and Bax, she's like she just like the camera just eats her up.
She's so strikingly.
Beautiful and kind of captivating and really astonishingly talented actress, and I suddenly thought, I've never seen enough. I haven't
seen enough of these old films. And then you go, of course, I've seen all the Stooges films, and you know Abbot Costello film which are referenced in this film, by the way, and you know whatever, all of all of those kind of Gone with the Wind and the Wizard of Oz and all those sort of things that Bill Collins would love, but precious few of these kind of actual kind of classic I don't know how you described, but I guess I guess a little bit more sort
of straightforward dramatic productions. You know that Bill Collins used to go bananas over. Yeah, and this is like I just thought it was fantastic. I love this film. I can't believe how much I loved this film.
Yeah. I ended up watching it twice this week, which I did with We did Citizen Kane recently, which this that episode will air after this one.
So it rosebud spoiled alert, am I No, we were just in a cafe and you ruined the end of There Will Be Blood by telling the Barista that there will be blood at the end of the movie, and now she basically knows the ending.
They shouldn't record it.
There will be blood. That's their own fault. Well, that's their own fault to teaser, as I said, Revenge of the Nerds. You know the nerds are.
Going to get revenge, revenge, You're going to get the revenge jocks, and you know this is going to be all about Eve. I want to get to talking about the movie very soon.
I didn't even think about that this film is a spoiler alert, and.
Yes, this is all about it. But I mean, you could argue that, you could argue that it's not so your three favorite films, cracking, cracking films three though three. That's it is. You can do some apologies if you like, No, you're okay if you go through that. Yeah, if you think of anything along the way, this is spinal tap.
It's almost in the if Susan Kane and all about It even and these kinds of movies are you know, the heightened classics for you know, drama, and this is spinal tap is somewhere in that realm for comedy.
Look, I think it's the absolute, absolute quintessential mockumentary. This this, this mockumentary which was made in I think I'm going to say eighty two, early eighties, yep, is just every mockumentary that's come since.
Ohs. A debt of Gratitude to Spinal Tap.
Yeah.
Rob Riiner directed this film and plays Marty de Burgie, the director within the film, in the which is effectively, sorry, just a bit of backstory anyone hasn't say it.
It's about a band called Spinal Tap.
And this is a mockumentary which is about, you know, following the sort of the I guess a huge famous hard hard rock band on the on the way out.
Yeah, they're a heavy metal band from England, and that this is an American tour thereon.
Yeah, and they've kind of you know and even funnily enough, you say, you know, the mock shed have come since then.
A dead of gratitude to Spinal Tap.
Christopher Guest, who plays Nigel Tafnell in this film, the guitarist, he of the very famous line but it goes to eleven. He ended up directing films like Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, a Mighty.
Wind, all these incredible.
Ensemble mockumentary with with you know, with his favorite actors like Katherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy, you know, a Parker Posi and a cavalcade of all these really brilliant Yeah, Fred Willard comedic actors who they kind of get together once, you know, once every couple of years. It seemed there for a while, and they would make these classic films. Not the last one, whatever that last one was.
For your consideration, mightn't mind that one. Actually there might have been one after. That's the one where they are basically going for an oscar.
Right, No, No, I think there was one after.
You know, I can't even literally we can't remember what what the topic, what I knew all the people were in it. Yeah, I don't remember what it was about or what happened. I just remember being so thoroughly disappointed. But Christopher Guest, who kind of obviously did a gratitude to Rob Ryaner's genius, but also you know, Waiting for Guffman is kind of up there with almost as highly my regard as as this is Spinal Tap. But Spinal
Tap just it just nailed it. It nailed the in terms of lampooon in a particular industry as well, you know, lampooning that hard rock industry, and the pitfalls and the you know, the the the folly of kind of stardom in particular, fading stardom. And it's just it's a film that I've seen I reckon a hundred times. And it's no exaggeration, it's very It sounds like a lot, but it's I could honestly, I've seen it a hundred times.
And have you listened to the commentary DVD, commicy.
It's a whole new movie.
It's so funny.
Mate, It's and that's the thing.
Anyone out there who has watched a bunch of times, put the commentary on if you haven't done so, because it it's a new movie. It's a brand new movie, and it's amazing. It's like putting it's like putting Tommy on, you know, at the start of the Wizard of Oz or whatever was it Tommy? Was it the Who the Who album? Tommy at the start of the Wizard of Oz. And apparently it's meant to you know, play to the whole thing with that commentary. That's that's that's the Tommy with the Wizard of Ours.
I've never done that, Tommy with the Why haven't they that it might be a complete myth?
I don't know.
Start playing. Okay, computer at the start of Porky's Revenge, it's amazing.
You it was. Police are got to be Mission to Monster.
Come on, always get those films, movies, titty movies, Porky's Revenge, that one and All about It, favor No.
What was the one? And this is? And these are a by going here? Right?
No bikini shot with the two way mirror. You just don't see movies like that anymore?
Is that the one? Tim Robbins was in an early one The Fraternity vakeer Haitian. Yeah he played mother.
Yeah, yeah, yes, yes, you go there, you go, of course, don't forget, don't forget.
Sean Penn as Spacoli in The Fast Time as a Ridgemond High.
Yeah fast, I've ridged on High. Feels like it's it's a notch above some of those.
Okay, right, I think, okay, maybe it is one notch.
It's not, it is one not. Dirty Running Scoundrels is a delightful film. Steve Martin, Michael Kaine.
Going through this, I listened to your to this podcast where you had our mutual friend Phil Lloyd on, and he was talking about planes, Trains and Automobiles being one of his top.
Three and one of my top three.
Well, it was going to be in my top three as well, I thought, you have to Well, no, no, But the thing is is, like I've realized it, probably fairly. I would say, I've got fifty films in my top in my top in my head that I could rattle off as my favorite films. Right, I've noticed seven of them of Steve Martin films. Wow, right, so dirty rotten Scoundrels is a masterpiece. Planes, Trains and Automobiles parenthood amazing, so brilliantly today, like all these films have not dated
a second. Three Megos, three Amigos, The Jerk, the Two Brains.
The Lonely Guy you love, the lonely Guy, lonely guy, only guy.
I've had a blank on the lonely Guy.
The Lonely Guys is a great one. He just plays a lonely guy spoilerer.
Is he a lonely guy? What is going on with these.
Come on guys?
Trying to be a little bit more cryptodata The Man with Two Brains again, right, No, that last was that last Steve Martin anyway.
Another one that Steve Martin, one that more recent more recent ones ever a decade ago that Mark Humphreys absolutely gave a big pump up and I watched it afterwards I already said that both.
Oh, there you go. That's that's it.
That's the film, right, and it's like and then and that was in that period, well, that was in the sort of the start of the period where Eddie Murphy started to go, oh my god, it's like Eddie Murphy was doing about Eddie Murphy impression. But that film is so it's like Eddie Murphy still in his prime kind of did you ever see Chevy Chase is one of my favorite all time actors and you see him now and it's like he's doing a bad Chevy Chase impression.
Yeah, and then all those kinds of things where you just said, they've got that perfect.
I think it was rehab and then going to rehab was bad for Chevy.
Putting I'm putting it out there. I think rehabs good for most people.
Let's be frank, all right, it would have been good for Amy One House but it wasn't.
She didn't go.
Chevy came out of rehab and then just went, I'm going to do Vegas vacation.
Yeah, you know what I mean. Well, and also there were for those who haven't followed Chevy Chase's career and even maybe read some of those books that have been written about apparently quite the asshole. I've heard this, yeah, yes, and I've even heard it with people who have worked with him and this, Yeah, he's tricky.
Yeah yeah, and he I read an article about him and Lawn Michaels at a wedding a couple of years ago, and he basically said to Laura Mark and Law it's so sad for Chevy to actually have this written because someone had quoted Lawn Michaels as telling them that this conversation had happened. Where he turns to Lawn Michaels. They're sitting on the spare dicks at a wedding table, and he goes, Lawn, let's make a movie together. Let's let's
get the let's get the band back together. Let's let's do this, and Lrane had to turn to him and say, the ship sailed right, you know, like that horrible moment where it's kind of like he would probably still feel like, you know, because he's in what's the community community, right, and he's and he's actually, if you didn't know, if you didn't know Chevy Jay, you saw this too.
You got good performance. Like he's good, right, he's not the Chevy from back in the old days, but it's like I think in his head.
Yeah.
Anyway, it was just really interesting thing to read that you kind of almost you kind of you kind of reap what you sew and and that perhaps his attitude when he was at the top of his game might have well.
I think, you know, anyone who's had success in entertainment, you have a certain period of time now to make Hay you while the sunshine it can still last, that can last for decades, yes, but if you squander it through you know, misbehavior or being unprofessional, oh man, then it can disappear and it can most most likely not come back.
And you want to be shipped hot, yeah, like you want to be You want to be robbing down r to get away with You want to be God loving Russell to get away with some of the stuff that Russell's pulled off or whatever. You know, you want to be really, really really great, especially in our country where it's like I often and and you know, there is a common misconception in our game, in our country where there'd be people in a lot of people in the
entertainment industry, a bunch of assholes. I think it's a misconception.
They exist just like they just anywhere, and there might be a few more of them, who knows right, because of ego and all that sort of crap. But but it's fascinating to me when I see them pop up just every now and then you'll see like a star turn, you see a Tangy on set or whatever in a low budget Australian thing where we are pumped for time. There is no coming back tomorrow to reshoot this scene. This is the day we shoot this scene, and you're going to start slowing shit down and storm off.
It fascinates me because.
It's so so short sighted.
Yeah, and so like I just think, always ever think.
And I've only seen it a few times and I'm captivated by it.
I don't get me wrong, I love watching it. Just sit back and grab myself a cup of tea and just check it out. But then you as they walk off. You think you'd want to be good, Yeah, like you want to be real good.
Because you know you have worked on as many film and TV cruises as almost anyone in this country. You know, cruises go from one prage to another, and that shit gets spoken about.
Oh yeah, yeah, there is so much.
Talent in this country. You don't you know, it's part of the conversation when you're.
Casting the and we don't mind a chin wag of all the industries, like oh don't yeah, don't be don't be doing that in many people.
I mean, don't get me started about Lisa I will I will not be drawn into it. And Lloyd show Biz soul mate s b A the worst show massive.
You're not gonna you wouldn't tell him that I said that. You keep that between us.
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, These microphones aren't switched on. Ye all right, but but butg on schedules. As as as a film, it's just it's such, it just moves. It's such a funny, a great pace and it's just funny.
It's beautiful and the revelations in the twists and the turns in the plot. So basically, if anyone who hasn't seen it. It's it's Steve Martin is a small time con man who's basically getting around the French Riviera, ripping off single women by basically being a playboy and doing him over and thinking he's going to make a career out of this. He's just going to happily live his life doing this forever. And it's his turf, this is his Boumont sir, oh no, no, sorry, So his turf
is you know, around the area. So then he finds out he decides to go under Boumont Sumere, which is this place where he you know, hears that there's just all these retire ladies, retired single women. He goes, this is going to be it, and that's when he meets That's when he meets Michael Kain who's basically, if he thought he was good at being a connor man, Michael Kinane is the.
Daddy of the entire thing. Steve Martin is poorly sure to Michael Kaine's Robert de Niro. He's like the boss.
Man, and and you know they end up getting in ghurts and yeah, it's it's.
It is honestly one of and in.
Terms of you know, formula bothers me a lot in film and I think in film writing, and I understand that formula is important, but that kind of strict adherence to formula at all costs, without any without any kind of ability to massage the edges of that, it bothers
me a little bit. But I think Dirty Rotten the Scoundrels as an example of a script that does not find itself beholden to those rules, and it's kind of it's got its own rhythm that I don't think I've seen before and I don't think we'll see again executed quite as perfectly as.
That film directed by Yoda.
Directed by Yoda. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, four and seventy. How old Yoda?
Well it wasn't he five hundred in Empire?
Okay, So he's been around.
And he's made some films. I mean, like that's one of his good films. Yeah, you don't hear about the ones that didn't quite work. Making little great movies around the Dagga Bar Swamp.
Yeah, that was like in his form in his formulaic period, you know what I mean, Like, you've got to got to make a few mistakes, got to kiss a few from us.
I mean a bit harsh on Yoda that he never got the director Star Wars movie.
Isn't that shocking? Tiger's just stepped in there.
He's going to direct the next Yeah, playda, that's exciting though, I say, hey, Back to the Future has has popped up a couple of times. What a phenomenal film.
Yeah, it really is.
And you know, if if any of you, you and I of the same milk, of the same of the same vintage. And it was I remember, very distinctly, nine years old Ballwin Cinema. I knew I had seen the best film I would ever see.
When I was nine, I just went I was so.
Dazzled and just perplexed and enthralled and excited and.
Like a little bit horny too, Like I was nine, and he was going to kiss he was going to kiss Jennifer on them.
Well that's funny, No, no, no, son, you know he's about to kiss Jennifer on the park bench and then get in. But that's me his mum. Okay, so one of my favorite films. But let's just break it down a bit. His mom is a sex pets yes right, yeah, yeah, and she like, do we know I don't I know? We weren't big on like enthusiastic consent back in those days.
And we did mention Revenge of the Nerds the other day just before we're in, which the heroes basically break into the sorority house and do what they call panty raid and put in cameras and so basically like they are a bunch of sex pists and they're our protagonists and our heroes. Martin with Fly's mum. She's there with Calvin Klein in the car and basically she's not taking over an hour. She is going to have her way with him, only interrupted by the next rapist, BIV, who
now wants to come and rape her. So it's not the themes of this fellow are not great that, Frank, It's not like I was thinking about the other day. Gree Greece is another one, like we kind of go such a catchy musical, Oh yes, goes really catchy with a theme and the moral of the story is if you don't.
Put out, you areinn't going to be popular. Yeah, you get those leather pants on, let's get clapping, let's get rooten, and let's get popular.
Well the theme, yeah, absolutely, that whole Yeah, that's one of the biggest things about it when you watch it now, I living John kind of you know who's beautiful, tell me about it. It has to basically be sewn into a leather outfit.
Yeah yeah, yeah, while all the little weird little sex pests are behind. They are doing catchy, little catchy little dance moves and little tongue movements.
I know what we're saying is thirty five years ago. So everyone was a sex past and we've come a long way.
I think so, which you know what, And there's quite a seamless little link into all about Eve here too, because this is a This is all about Eve is a is a feminist piece.
It's not. It's I've kind of read up some.
Bits about because I want to sound really intelligent, and now I've told you that I read up, so I'm not going to sound but I can read.
Yeah, I have notes as well. I've done some big.
So so you know, it's a feminist it's a feminist tale, but far out there are some serious problems with calling it a feminist film.
Now yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess I guess everything. Like doing this podcast, I've really learned how things can can Movies are still alive in a way. We spoke about I don't want to stay too much before we actually
get to that episode. But when we spoke about Citizen Kane with Mark Samuel Bernaro from Arni Donner, we've kind of spoke about how watching even Citizen k Now to even like five years ago is different because they've had Trump since then, and we even know more about the Murdock medium and maybe how they work and wet, so we put that filter on it. So the movie is kind of still alive. And I think with the Awakening we're all having about, you know, lots of things about society,
like these films are kind of still the changing. Oh and that doesn't mean we have to you know, discard them. And it's every individual's choice what films they decide to not, you know, visit anymore, revisit.
I thought there was just a couple of people in a room deciding what's going to be canceled and what's not.
Yeah, I did they work a Twitter.
Okay, you're not in that.
I'm not in there. I'm not in there. I applied, Yeah, got back and.
May realized that you wrote I love you too, major bubble.
This is everywhere is every I can't get it because.
I was the cinematographer and the puppetry that it's very very easy to get canceled these.
Days, it's very easy. I it's no, it's really fascinating. I mean this and this Joseph Mankowitz. So we'll move on.
To Yeah, so was I need to do that segue? That wasn't my job to do that.
It wasn't yours. But this is helpful.
This is okay, hugely telling me when I'm helpful, guests, it's gonna be all re edited.
You'll barely appear in the episode.
Mat just get replaced by I don't know what Phil Lloyd bring full back.
Hi, I'm Phil Lloyd and my three favorite film.
Yeah, yeah, really good. If if he hasn't been canceled by then yeah, all about it. So it's written and directed by Joseph macwitzy, as I mentioned in the intro, the brother of Herman macwitz rog Citizen Kane, and he was kind of he was seen as, yeah, a feminist.
And I've actually listened to you know, chatting podcasts even about him and women saying like, you know, they still can't believe how good he was at writing female relationships well, because he wrote he wins the Oscar of the year before this for a Letter to Three Wives, which I think he wrote and directed as well, which is a rare, rare feet I'm not sure how many times that has happened. But and this movie is the only movie with four actresses nominated for uscers.
And very diverse women too.
There was tall ones, there were tall ones and short ones, and you know, he's really diversity.
Was back in nineteen fifty there was different.
But having said that, that is this film is peculiar as a nine m fifty film as something that is that is a such a strong vehicle for these amazing female actors, right the blokes.
The women wipe the floor with the blokes in this film.
There's one bloke. I thought, actually, I'm just like they wipe the floor. But they are the stars. Like, yeah, Betty Davis I think is the star. Yeah. And and Baxter is right behind it. Yeah. But I would also give some even Karen yes less Home played Karen. I will give a bit of kudos to Addison George Saunders, who played Adison de Witch, who wins the Oscar for at spotting actor. Right by the way, none of the women all miss out on oscars for this. They all miss out.
Yeah, right, But the one thing, okay, so Adison de Witt, So Adison do Wit plays the critic, and I love I want to later. I want to read his opening. I've written it down. That's cheating, I know, but I want to read his own.
I'm glad you did, because I actually I wanted to. I wanted to play that. I couldn't actually find it on YouTube where we usually grab that clips from.
It's so good, and he's just he's a critic and he's like the mustache twirling. He's the he's the antagonist right in this film. And but the one thing about his character, and the one I guess the way he chose to play it, or the way he was directed, or the way it was written, or probably a blend
of all of them, is he's not interchangeable. The other blokes are interchangeable, yes, right, And I think this was This is why I say as peculiar for a film of from seventy one years ago, that that often it would have been the other way around. It was the female roles that were kind of interchangeable. That was sort of serving the purpose of all of these male protagonists.
And this film is like you look at the you look at Bill, who's the Who's the writer?
And Bill Simpson is the boyfriend of of Margo.
Yeah yeah.
And then you have Lloyd he's the playwright.
Lloyds the play right, so play Bill and Lay.
You look at those two blokes and they're just like same haircut, months of slightly darker hair, same performance, same dude.
Like they're not.
There is not a great deal of distinction between them. Both egger maniacs, both think that they're kind of, you know, in charge of things when they're actually not.
But I softened with Bill, Like when we first meet Bill, he's gone complaining that Margo's holding him up and he has to get to the app. I actually softened to him. I thought he actually was Like there was an interesting the choices he made as far as as far as not you know when she tried to beduced.
By Eve, so evesuicing. You know what I love in that scene too, and this is you don't get away with this anymore.
You've got Addison deal with the antagonists, and he's he's walking up to the to the dressing room, so Eve's just done.
She's been she's the understudy for Margo. She's just done her first a performance on stage. Everyone has just been absolutely blown away. The critic is about to go and go to her door and basically just have his way with her.
I guess I don't know what.
He's gonna do, but he overhears the conversation between her as Eve is hitting on Bill Simpson, and he uses his cane.
To just gently push the door ajar.
And the staging of the scene is like, hang on, aren't they looking straight at it?
Like you just don't get it over?
Like the logic of it didn't matter, because it was like, ah, I know what he's doing.
He's over hearing something. You know that old chestnut where if you or I submitted a script tomorrow to some funding body, they say, okay, let me guess he just overhears the conversation from outside the room. Lazy that's up there with He woke up and it was all a dream mate.
You don't get away with it anymore. So he's standing there and she's hitting on Bill and Bill, yeah, you're right, he knocks her back.
But what I love about it, well, it's like, yeah, it's.
A feminist film, but Bill knocks her back by saying, what I go after?
I want to go after and wanted to come after me. They're doing a bit. It's not ely fifty, they're doing it. It's just like still like that moment.
It's funny where even you know, I think it's even exists in twenty twenty one. Even when you are trying to be good, whether you're male, female, or otherwise, you don't always get it right, like this is this is something you know, like I'm sure Joseph Mankowich wrote that the best intentions and even that line, you know, but yeah, that line does kind of stand out as like, Okay, you kind of you ruined it with that a little bit.
Yeah, yeah, you know, like you know, Eve is so so just just a bit of backstory. So Eve is, you know, this very very ambitious young woman who basically wants to usurp the big famous star in Margo in Bennie Davis, right, So she basically is from the day from the word go, she is basically planning to take over. She's got this domination thing in her head. And then she goes after Bill. So she goes after the the director Sorry, the right. Oh god, I always mixes up anyway.
The director Bill Simpson, Right, So this is Margo's husband, and so when she's when, she basically gets someone else to ring up and pretend that she's ill, so that Bill has to get out of bed and go over to her place, and we don't see what happens, but we assume nothing happens because Bill's another guy.
He's the same.
Guy as Lloyd, of course, exactly the same character, and basically.
Says no, no, I don't want to do that or whatever.
And then so Eve Tells tells Addison de Witt, the critic, you know that the Bill and I have to be married, you know, makes up this entire ruse, and the resulting scene is basically him just saying, no, you're lying to me, because you're going to be mine, And when she laughs at him, he slaps her across the face and you think he going, oh, like that's kind of enough, and you think, oh, yeah, she gets a revenge. It's like, nah, she just kind of well.
She tries to ask him out of the door, and he says, you're not tall enough for that or something.
And you will be mine. Yes, after tonight, I will own you. That's what he says after it's not I will own you.
And it's like.
I had I had a slightly outside of the slapping across the face and all that, But as far as him saying I will own you, I never kind of saw that as him saying I will own you in a kind of like as you in a sexual kind of way, or like you know, it's like, I'm the biggest critic in town and your career is mine. I am in charge of your right.
Okay, the more sinister because.
Well because he just slapped her right, maybe I'm reading it wrong, but that's how I I took.
It's fine, And you know, with all these things that have changed, it's critics, haven't.
Critics is the last song?
Yeah, and now the problem is everyone's a critic, so everyone thinks that they can now that now destroy it.
It comes back to cancel culture as well, doesn't it's.
Ever been Has there ever been a sympathetic critic betrayed?
Sympathetic critic betray that's really good.
But when it kind of comes to the mind, which is certainly not initially sympathetic, but we kind of grow like him is in the movie Chef oh oh yeah, yeah.
Yeah, right, and you can actually can get the human side of him, yeah.
Eventually, but it takes a fair while.
Yeah, because you have John Favreau, John Favreau who who it's almost seen from his point of view that he hates him straight away and then and then he kind of sucks up and it gets.
About securely because he's a critic, yes, yeah, yeah.
And I've got some that I don't dislike a lot of people, but a couple of them critics in this country, and I just I think they're very negative and very angry, mean people. But that not that's not across the that's not across the bold. It's not because they're critics by any stretch. It's more about the intent and the and the I don't know, there is a genuine some some have a genuine disregard and distaste for anything that's not.
Something that they love.
Effectively, they're either going to love it or they're going to pan the shit out of it and basically talk about what happened in the cinema while they're in the cinema.
Oh yes, when you see any reviews, whether it be for film or live comedy shows or theater, when you when the review is more about what's happening around and appose.
It's about the ego of the person writing it and who can be funnier in their denouncing of someone's work or whatever. And I'm not saying you have to, you don't have to just say you like things to be nice at all, but can get that's that flight of the concord line, be more constructed with your feedback, you know it.
Would be nice.
Yeah, you know, I think I reckon still are the best, the best, the best critic.
Portrayed on film.
Is one of my other favorite films in my top fifty is History of the World, Part one, the mel Brooks film, in which you've got the first artist and he's a caveman and he's doing a drawing of the thing on the on the on the wall, and everyone's going and the first critic and another caveman gets up on the rock and just pisses.
All over it.
It's just like that reminds me of some of the people that I genuine distaste in our industry.
Let's go back to the start of we're talking all about Eve, because it's it's quite interesting because obviously Joseph Makowitch would have seen Citizen Kane, and I feel like
he's taken some of the flare from that. There's so much innovative stuff that happened in Citizen Kane, including that kind of floating camera, And I feel like this movie, across the board, there's not a lot of tricks to it, like this blocking in the staging is quite simple to the fact where Allison Dewitty is just standing in the doorway pretending to.
It's a theater show.
It's you know, that's saying is on sane yes, which is interesting because and in this film is sort of described as that and it's and it's also known as like imember what the actual saying is, like it's, it's, it's it's known as like films undefined saying or whatever, like no one quite.
Knows what it is, but it's.
I think this general sense of it, as far as I understand is is allowing the scene to kind of happen in its natural environment.
Right.
So this film and It's and It's and it's kind of typical of a lot of the films of it's of its era.
They didn't need they didn't need to do.
Twenty setups in for in scenes, they didn't need to cover every single every single angle, and there's some angles which you're kind of confusing because you can't see the face of the person who's like when when Karen, you know, she's reading the review, which is basically having a go at Margo, but it's but it's effectively about about Eve's performance. You don't even see her face when she kind of sees has this, has this? You know, you don't you
don't see that anymore. You don't get that anymore. You're not allowed to do that in film always, you know. But these these scenes can go for, you know, for a minute without a cut, and they hold on a two shot. It makes it very theatri and it relies on the skill of people like you know, Betty Davis and Backstads and'll be able to kind of pull that stuff off, and they do brilliantly.
But yeah, it's not it's it. I like that idea.
I like the fact that it's indefinable because I don't sound as stupid as I probably could sound by not being able to say what Misson's saying is.
But after saying it, you know it.
Means in a very simple way, miss Unsene. This basically means, yes, keeping the camera going less cut spaceically, you know, like you know, very simple to it's almost like a scene. Doing it as a scene, as a one in one shot, Yeah, yeah, it is.
And he'll and he'll pick out those moments.
It'll be like if someone comes through the door, bang, re cutting to the door to see who's coming through the door, and that then that then kind of you know, breaks along into becoming a three shot or whatever. But you know, in this day and age, there are people, there are directors, and there are something in this country who do it really well when they can win the
battle to not have to do every close up. Matt Saville is a really good example of one of our best directors who can just hold on a lonely wide shot with a billowing curtain for a minute where everyone else would be so nervous, and when he's showing the cut to whoever the hell paid for it, they will be sitting there going, where's my close up?
You know, where?
Why aren't I seeing you know, the one hundred mil on Pete's eyes while he's listening to the big information coming to.
It, all that sort of stuff, And I like this.
I like that part of the direction is it makes it for me, so it feels more, a little bit more theatrical and a little bit more kind of allows those those incredible actors to kind of bring that naturalism to.
One of my favorite shots or scenes we ever did and it's a date, which you're a part of that series here we Ga, but it wasn't that that episode.
It was it was a scene with Jimo and their mailman, and that these are these two characters just met on the street Jimo and Savesdeb's character she gets a heel caught in the tram tracks and they go off and one of those before Sunrise style kind of like they go off and almost the day turns into a date kind of thing, and they're at the launch of Matt and they're at the window and they're just chatting about Jim Man's carriage, talking about what the perfect cup of
tea is like. And Jonathan Brow was directing, who's a great comedy director, did a lot of these dates of certainly the first series and Rose Haven more recently, and he he just had this came up behind them, so they're kind of like face I guess forty five degrees kind of looking at each other, but also looking out
the window a bit, and he just stayed. He shot one take, which I guess was the master he was thinking, but he just slowly moved the camera into them, and I remember in the edit he kind of it was slowly moving in and then we kind of cut to the side and we saw their faces. And I remember this being net with him, and I think he said he may have said I wanted to I wanted to go for that, go for longer, but I thought we should come around, and I said, let's just see how
far we can go. And we basically shot almost the entire scene that's moving closer to them, yes, from behind, and it made it so much more interesting and powerful, I think.
But also it also trusts the audience, you know, to be able to be absorbed in that, and trust the trust the actors to be able to hold that. It's kind of that big sort of level of trust where you don't have to you know. The edit points are great because it gives you the fluidity to be able to time your things as you want to time them. You want to get the scissors in there, and you want to be able to tighten it to your specifications.
If you've got a symbiosis between the you know, the writing and the director and the actors and the dop you should be able to hypothetically be able to hold these things, these things that lend themselves to to being in that moment and to being able to for the audience to be able to just absorb the connection between the two people.
You should be able to do that.
But it's more often than not, someone like Matt sam As I say, we'll get to go back to whatever network or whatever, you know, production company that he's working for, and they'll go, yeah, yeah, it's good, but can we just.
See the we want to see the singles. We want to see that.
We're paying for these stars. Let's let's see them. Let's see their faces on camera.
That's it.
And I don't know, and I'm not saying that that's that's what you should always do it it's not at all, but but it's you should be able to have the freedom to choose to do that when the scene demanded, exactly.
If you're shooting every scene from.
Behind and you're boring the out of everyone.
Yes, And I also I think because audiences they become you know, we talk about attention. Spans are getting shorter and shorter and shorter, and you can't you know, this film couldn't be directed by this anymore because people.
Can't be going, oh, it feels like it's taken forever or whatever.
I think you can I think audiences get very easily trained and could be can be. You know, you look at the way Tarantino will direct some of his scenes, which he can hold and I think you guys talked about because you with Phil did once upon a time
in Hollywood, and he can hold these scenes. And pulp fiction is a great example of it, where he's got those high, high level, top of their game actors that can actually just keep you engrossed despite what you're expecting the camera to go to, you know, or what your I don't know what your what your what your what? Your brain has been has been has been accustomed to it, or has been has been kind of cajoled into expecting.
Yeah, I want to talk about the what I like about the opening and you want of them? I think we talk about the voice over. There's a few things happening in that from the get go. It's it's so it's the an Awards ceremony, the Sarah Simmons Siddons Award, which is a fictional as a matter of fact, and then became nonfictional because two years later they actually started presenting I didn't know that for Chicago Theater Actors they
started and Betty. They gave Betty Davis an honorary one despite the fact that I don't think she was in a.
So that is so I think.
The Tony started maybe two years and in forty eight or something, so that it could have been the Tonys this this kind of award, but maybe that didn't, you know, for whatever reasons they didn't. That wasn't maybe big enough.
At that, like the Olivier Awards or whatever.
Yeah, at the top of the top of the top, and basically Eve is being presented this but we don't know who Eve is. And we see the shot, but we see the shots of Margo, we see Karen Bill, we see Addison, and we we learn more about what those looks are about, obviously when we come back to him later on. But you can tell that there's something what's nice, You can tell that's something going on. But what I like at this, like the voice over tells you that it's going to be some fun as well.
There's a there's a there's a good joke mate.
The voice over is so funny. That is as funny and opening the voiceover to hear right, and it is and you know it's interesting too. Is you think he's the narrator? He's not the narrator?
Well, because there are three?
Yeah, I think there's there's jewel. There's jewel because because Karen jumps in after Addison, that's narrating.
And also doesn't doesn't Margot hang on what one of the other.
I think later on there's there's.
Right, she's the she's the narrator now or the yeah, protagonist are now or whatever, you know, which happens.
You know, occasionally you get that. I think Good Fellas uh did that, but I think back then that would have been pretty rare to have multiple narrators.
Yeah, okay, so the opening thing, right, I love this. So basically it's it's Addison DeWitt the critic with his kind of sanctimonious, arrogant voice, kind of saying the minor awards, and they're at the ward ceremony and we're going, as you say, going around to all these people that are going to become out.
You know, we're going to know all these characters.
The minor awards have already been presented. Minor awards are for such as the writer and director, since their function is merely to construct a tower so that the world can applaud a light which flashes on top of it. And no brighter light has ever dazzled the.
Eye than that of Eve Harrington. To those of you who do not read, attend the theater, listen to unsponsored radio programs, or know anything of the world in which you live, it is perhaps necessary to introduce myself. My name is Addison de Witt.
My native habitat is the theater in a tight toil not nor do I spin. I am a critic and commentator. I am essential to the theater.
It is, it is so, it is so good. And sif curry is available for voice workers, well, ladies and gentlemen.
Jet Star all day, every day, low firs. Where that comes from?
What if Addison de Witt was was doing.
A Star all day every day loafair?
There you go, He's got range, ladies and gentlemen. I really I spoke to Chris Walker last series. Who's the EP on on the Weekly and Hard Queen's and we did network final edition episode of last season, and I learned something about when I was doing something diving into network, something called the fifth wall, which is almost and I'd never heard that before.
When that comes down, you know, it's the.
Idea, and I think the fifth war is in play in All about Eve, the fifth wall being it's when almost the actors feel like the characters almost referring like there was almost an awareness that they in a movie like that. There's a lot of talk about television and the way that scenes and characters and this is the end of a scene, and this is and there's a bit of that going on on here that in fact, there's an amazing speech given by a Bete Davis in
the car. We might listen to this because I think there's a bit of four playing at the end of this incredible scene.
Funny business. A woman's career.
The things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster, you forget, you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman. So one career or females have in common, whether we like it or not, being a woman. Sooner or later we've got to work out it, no matter how many other careers we've had or wanted. And in the last analysis, nothing's any good unless you can look up just before
dinner or turn around in bed. There he is without that you're not a woman, or something with a French provincial office.
Or a book full of clipiques which you're not a woman. Slow curtain the.
End, Yeah, curtain. Yeah, it's interesting. It's that's a that's an interesting part of it. Isn't that that that that mono is such a beautiful monologue.
But also it's like the feminists who are going to be listening watching this film because they heard it was a feminist film, they just have a problem with that not a woman?
Do you have a man to look over to? And it's like, and there's a line in this film and I know, I know it's written. I hope it's written, you know, with its tongue Felmi plannets treek about you know, when when Margot basically says, you know, now that she's going she's engaged to be married to Bill, she doesn't need to be an actress anymore because she's going to be a married woman.
And it's like, we may have a problem here. You can't again.
You and I write that script and we handed into screen Australia tomorrow.
It's not going to go well. Not going to go well, that's rank but fascinating and.
Beautifully you know, beautifully performed and heartbreaking and you know, as I say, I know, the tongues in the cheek in various parts of it, but it is it's fascinating to kind of to see how that kind of idea, ideal of feminism has has kind of changed in film and the way it can be presented is fascinating.
What's really feels authentic and speaking and and you know, having friends who are women in this industry, is that the getting older for women and hopefully this is changing. That has always been you know, more frightening than the man getting older in this industry, and that it's it's amazing. This film is made in nineteen fifty, so you assume, you know, there's used a couple of years leading into it.
I'm not sure how quickly they turned over scripts into into production, but you know, so the industry is really only about twenty five as far as talking films go, twenty five years old, maybe it's not network network's made in you know, the seventies, so it's like that that's maybe you know, TV's are almost similar twenty five years old, and like some of the issues that are still you know, prevalent in TV now we're spoken about in network and
some of the issues are still prevalent in our industry that are spoken about in All about Eve.
Absolutely, yeah, and there are there are some of those. Yeah, they're shameful kind of things that haven't changed enough. There are in the process of changing. It's and it's and it's a great thing to know that, but there are, Yeah, obviously there are. Maybe this film does kind of refer to those those entrenched traditions that are very hard to shake right and that you know, it's funny she said about how long it took from to turn these films around.
There's a reference to it in this film when Bill.
Margo's husband goes off to Hollywood to make his film, to make his first film, direct his first film, and she goes, how.
Are you daring? Where I need to see?
You need to come over and you need to be here, And it feels like he's been there for a couple of weeks, and I think that's the reference a couple of weeks for a few weeks, and I said, we've just finished shooting and we've just had the previews, so I think, And then I was thinking, I was like, yeah, well, there probably wasn't a lot. There was a lot of
adr going. I would imagine it might have been a little bit of it, like post thinking of dialogue stuff, but it's like, I don't know, I felt like there was.
They were letting us know there was a pretty quick turn around with movies.
Was there a grade do you think or I don't know, we need to get.
Some expert and to talk to it about this, but yeah, it did. It did feel like they were kind of you know, films for being pretty damn quickly.
Yeah. Yeah. How much responsibility do you give your place on Karen for letting eve Eve in? Like if somebody one of your bet mates brought somebody who was a fan into the addressing room. Yeah yeah, the addressing rooms, Yeah, your private space. It's supposed to be you know, a little bit kind of sacred.
Well yeah, I mean, I suppose she's got a fairly plausible tale. She gives a pretty convincing hard luck stories. She makes up her entire backstory.
Did you know? So did you what did you when did you first start going hang on.
Story?
Yeah?
Yeah, And I'm not saying I'm even that intelligent that I.
Sensed not always what it seemed, not knowing. I knew very little about this film going in. Yeah, so as what it was really about.
Also, it's a performance style. Do you know that the
performance style has changed considerably? And this was around about the time in the fifties where where naturalism was really starting to become a not so much the norm, but a sought after commodity because the kind of they'd come out of those silent pictures which were all about the face and emoting one hundred percent without any words, to suddenly get to the fifties where they you got people like Betty Davis, and even Betty Davis in this film, who does a few kind of ott gestures and moments,
but that is affected by the fact that she's been this super famous person who's gotten away with whatever, and she's been this theatrical kind of you know, dominant force in the industry.
But you know, Anne Baxter's performance earlier throughout the whole thing.
Is quite it kind of toes the line of that precipice of melodrama but kind of quite beautifully. But at the same time as that, you sort of go something up there's something up here because she's I can't work out whether she's acting this or not, you know, but yeah, she's.
But isn't that also a big part of this movie that Margo is always acting In fact, so he's So's Eve. We learn that later, but we kind of see Margo doing like whenever she enters the room, she gathers herself, Like when she goes enters down the stairs, she rushes, she almost races down the stairs, she takes her breath, and then she enters.
She entered the scene, and she does that on the stage as well.
When they have that that great that great fight on stage and she come again, she kind of she gathers herself and then she enters the stage.
Exactly exactly and the sparks up a dorry. That's one thing about this film. You forget how often people just smoked.
Darryll it was. It gained some controversy because of the amount of smoking in bed, particularly the smoke smoking smoking about It's like.
I'm so fascinated as I think my character would be smoking. Yeah you're in bed, yeah yeah, and they.
All do it. You already brush your teeth. It's like, what.
Are you're about to go to sleep? Us straight after that, Dirry, It's like a only few actors these days are allowed to get away with it. Mendo, he's allowed to get away with it, you know. In Bloodlines is like, oh god, Menday, take a break off. The Darry's mate what's his name, Matt McConaughey in True Detective. You know, he's sitting there, he's always got in the in the interview room.
He's always got to cannabier and a day and it's like you just you almost feel like you're getting lung cancer watching it. But I just love that thing that I just love that the the you know, the time that's appropriate to spark up a dozzler and I reckon maybe a lot of these actors back then it was like, there's the age old problem of what to do with my hands right on screen?
On stage? You're on screen. I think you and I might be a similar beast if we like a bit of business.
I allowed to be at least holding a forka like, you know, or like just swirling a coffee or something like that.
I don't like to be doing too many things because you got to match.
Ituity problems, something without and go.
You go to eat your forkarture, but you don't actually get a bite of it, so the size of it's always the same.
But I love that.
But the problem with the smoking is you've got continuity issues all over the joint at the level of your sicking.
But it's just I don't know, man, I just love that. I love that thing about you know.
You watch Old Neighbors episodes, right, and I love Alan Dale, Allen Dale, who played Jim. You watch how often he's sitting on a couch opening at canafoses.
It's so funny and I just feel like he just got to a point four years in me when I think my character would be sitting on this couch.
Yeah I know, Al there's a can of fosses next to your for you I kind of thing. He's just like, why are you sitting again? Back then, it was like I think I should be smoking, and was like.
You should, but let's go. I can't see who that is because of the haze of smoke in that bedroom. So I love it.
When I watched all about it the second time this week. I kind of know the dirry. I spaked up a dirry in bed and Bridge was wrapped love that she loved it. She I noticed. I kind of kept an eye on even her intentions, knowing you know where you know where it goes the second time, and when do you think, like, what was her? Who was she targeting?
Like it seems like it's Margo, but then of course she then she she seduces, she tries to reduce Bill, and then she goes on to Addison, and I wonder if if it was actually kind of Lloyd even to begin with, because she mentions Eve mentions that she likes the name of his new play that she's kind of read about or heard about on footsteps on the ceiling, which is, you know, Margo's going to go play Cora
kind of after this run's done. And and when we always about the SCD time, it's almost like she's angling, you know, to bring that up in conversation, and then Lloyd gets her back on track about, oh, so you've really seen every performance of this And I just watched it a second time. I thought, oh, maybe it's actually not Margo. She's necessarily target. She just wants and maybe she just.
Wants to peak it is, I think, And Addison makes a really good comment to us, like I'm not your bunch of whatever. It is like his referenced to like, I'm not your stupid bunch of vidiots. You've just pulled all of this stuff. I'm the one who watches all those people. I'm the one who knows more than all those people.
I know.
I've known you everything about you from the moment that he said what was the name of the theater? So she tells Margot that she saw her in this in this performance in a theater in San Francisco, just.
After her husband had died in the war. And it's like this sob story, and he's overheard it, and he says, what was that theater that you saw her in?
You know that Addison knows right that she's full of whatever. But I don't see her as taking targeting anyone in particular. I see her as targeting. She's targeting fame, isn't she's targeting. She's doing whatever it takes to succeed. She's seen every performance in the standing room area of the theater that Margot has given her. That play purely so that she could so that she can usurp her, so she can
become the understudy and eventually u surp her. Not because she wants to hurt Margo, I don't think, because she just wants to agree.
I agree with that, yeah, And I think the two people who kind of see her for who she is kind of quite early is Addison, whose job it is to kind of critique.
And see through the rubbish of the industry kind of thing, and this is this is a performance that he's critiquing.
Right absolutely, And the other ones the housekeeper Birdie, who kind of she's also nominated, she was one of the four nominated. But yeah, she kind of you know, you know, is not on the stage, but she her job is also to kind of see things.
And and she's kind of a bit vaudevillian, who isn't she like I don't even know who that actor is.
That that's terrible to say that, but.
The ritz putting on the rits. But she's like, yeah, quite her physicality is brilliant. It's it's almost she's almost a bit clownish in this film, but quite beautifully underplayed in that regard. But she's kind of like she's sort of like the comedic fall guy for for Betty davisus Margot. Yeah, and she's but she's so beautifully measured through it, and say, she's just this kind of battle act. She just knows
what's going on. She's across everybody. She's put up with Margo's rubbish for however many decades.
It's got a proto typeing though in that age of movies too, to have that kind of character that that kind.
Of shake the hand, the handmaiden or something like that.
Yeah, like she's there and he just doesn't take ship the dog. Yeah, yeah, straight shooter. Yeah.
Yeah.
You've also kind of mentioned saying about Lloyd's brother Lloyd being in a certain military division. That's why I kind of thought I was just something she's done more. It's almost you can always see this as a slip up. But she's gone just giving away a little bit too much information. Yeah, at that early stage, which I thought was was.
I do love She's but she's nothing if not researched, you know what I mean.
And she's got and she's she's got every little angle covered because the night where she has she has svengalied a situation in which the car that Margo and Karen and Bill are in that breaks, that runs out of petrol out in the middle of nowhere. So they missed the train to get back to Broadway to be able to do wherever they doing the performance. It's bad, wasn't it well? To be able to do the performance? She has she's organized this whole thing. We find out that, oh that's spoiler.
That isn't it if you have much to meat the movie?
But her work, her preparation is something else.
Yes, But is that is that what I took it was Karen who actually organized the running out of the gas.
But no, sorry, I sorry.
I took it that Karen doesn't think about those things, and Eve knew that she doesn't think about those things.
I thought it was established.
Well he had not a spoiler alert, because you can watch for yourself either they've gone and siphoned it.
Well, because Karen has this thing where she's like like she's the society. She's had had a little bit of enough of Margot at some point where she's like, Okay, this is getting She's getting a bit, you know.
And so she.
That I might be right, and I would suggest that Eve is in on this because she's organized and for the critics, yeah, to come back.
Not just Addison DeWitt, but she's basically called, as Margaret says, every critic in every dirty little gin join wherever they wherever they hang out.
They've all just come walking into another movie.
There for a second, whatever whatever that line is.
You know, she basically found a whole bunch of these critics wherever you find critics, and they've all turned up to the one performance in which the understudy is the.
Star and she's and she smashes it. So when so when they're in the in the car and it's run out of gas petrol here in Australia, that was really good. Pat you have you have Margot giving that speech we played earlier. And one of the great powerful things I think is that Karen is next to her and she's she's tearing up. And I don't think it's necessarily because of that speech. It's because she knows she's betrayed her.
And then when later on, when when Eve turns and we'll play that this soon, she uses that they're going to go God, you know you know what you did?
You know what got it?
Because I was saying that as like she had been out smarted by Eve, and which is kind of.
That as well. But I thought what she was doing is you knew what you knew what you did because you let them down by not covering all of your bases kind of thing. And that's what I reckon.
You're completely right. I have not ever been accused of being an intelligent person.
Right at the top, didn't you? Yeah, you mentioned it, so you got on the front foot, which is a smart thing to do, iron mat full circle.
But yeah, okay, but either way, Yeah, she's very whichever way that that that played out. She Eve is the most thorough and machiavellian character I've seen in film for a very very long time. Yeah, and then she We can't really say what happens at the end, can we, because that's a real spoiler alert.
No, you need to watch the film, Like but at some point if you haven't watched some people have said they listened to this and then watched the movie. But if you got to this given anyone, maybe just maybe maybe stop listening now and watched the film.
But I haven't got anything better to say from here on. Ind just so you know, I'm happy for people to.
We'll go. We'll get to the end soon. But what I liked was the way it kind of it wasn't too heavy handed, the way the suspicions started coming in, like when Margo. It was really when Eve says I sent the telegram myself. When when Bill's in Hollywood shooting the movie and she organized the birthday call, which seems to be like a nice enough thing. It's a bit strange, yeah, but she says, I forgot to tell you, and I
would have felt awfully if you forgot Bill's birthday. So she's at the PA, so she's doing a good job. Bernie is a bit suspicious, But it's when she says I sent him a telegram myself that you either see that change in Margot. It's like, oh, it's one thing for you to organize it for me to have a conversation with my boyfriend, but you're sending my boyfriend basically a text message behind my back.
That's it.
And you know what, and genius in the writing, in the fact that you set up Margot. Betty Davis's character
is as this fading star with her own paranoias. I think, as you mentioned at the start, which is just about this you know, as we've been talking about this girl paranoia of the of the of the fading, of the fading limelight, of the kind of inability to see pass the next few years because younger and prettier and whatever is going to come along, and that plays in feeds into her parento because she's one of the early ones who go who smells a rat on this?
And you she doesn't know or anyone else doesn't seem to know at that stage.
That's just Margo, you know, because it's it's probably part of the course for Margo. But she's kind of got this little little inkling that's that's going on. It's beautifully written in that regard years.
And then and then of course Bill returns without heading up to see Eve. And then it really gets fascinating when Eve starts pitching the idea about her being the understudy. Because we haven't seen besides being a thidle lover we know she is, we haven't we haven't heard that she's necessarily been a performer. No, I can remember.
No.
And that's the odd thing, isn't it.
And so we don't even see her audition for to become the understanding what it is is it's oh, we haven't ever mentioned this. It's one of the other female actors in this film. In one of her first ever films, she didn't go on to do much. Her name was Marilyn Monroe. Look it up, look it up.
She's some anyway, she's on the internet and so am I.
Yeah, well so one agree with separation whatever.
That's the end of six degrees or seven ba Kevin Bacon. Isn't that everyone's wanting to gree No? But she but she amazing like that?
That did she?
Yeah? That.
Marilyn Monroe in one of her very early films, plays this young starlet who who has designs on the stage but perhaps doesn't quite have the ability to back it up.
And and it's it's Eve.
Manages to to to Sphingali her way into being the person to read opposite her, thereby getting the role was the understudy.
Let's have a listen to Marilyn Monroe in one of the scenes in one of her very very early films. It wasn't known outside of yeah and she she's great. This is them sitting on the stairs and she's trying to get the waiter's attention because she wants a drink.
O waiter.
That's that's a Butler.
Well, I can't yellow Butler. Can I be? Somebody's name is Butler. You'll have a poet, an idiotic one. I don't want to make trouble. All I want is a drink. I'll get well done.
I can see your career rising at the east like the sun and I.
Did begin rising after all about that's it.
And look, and you know you talk about one note characters and you don't these days, you're not a lot to write characters as such with any point of view that are kind of one note, because they become you know, it's like, hey, can we get a little bit of light and shape in this character. But as far as one note characters go, she's brilliant. That is fantastic. And then but the reaction addison to which you know, reactions that you have a point, my dear and idiotic one the points like you.
Might it's a good point.
Someone's name mighty Butler, That's what I'm saying.
But when when Eve such a pitching beer for this way, I think it goes up another notch and even to the point where like she's she's kind of had this kind of argument. I think with Karen about I forget exactly what it was, but it was like, you kind of feel like she's pitched the idea about the understudy, and then they've kind of got into this thing and she's, oh, maybe I could never be the understudy. But then when Karen leaves, she's like, just remind you you ask about
the understudy. Yeah, yeah, that's rights. Yeah is it lovely thing going on? She goes, I couldn't pass anything else, but yeah, I will.
I feel I feel like I've already asked so much already. Yeah, that kind of thing. It's like, it's great to it's great to be able to, Yeah, put a little precursor in, but yeah you ask.
I'm so sorry. It's like even asking for another cup of tea, isn't it? So now you're not It's like on the plane, you go, come up and you go and I don't about my pa.
I'm so sorry.
Not you ran out of tea. You don't want to make your own tea. You like another cup of team It's like that's why you rang the bell is studying?
Sorry at all?
Well, I love that. And we're getting closer to the end now where where Eve does turn It is quite it's quite chilling in a way. You know, we we have seen her, and we kind of suspect that she know he's got designs on this. But single say that the duplicity of we say the full duplicity of her. In fact, let's have a listen to Abe as she turns, and believe it or not.
If there's anything I can do, there is something I think I know something most important you can do.
You want to play Cora. You want me to tell Lloyd, and I think you should play it if you told him so. He gave me the part. He said he would after all, you said, don't you know that part was written for Margot. It might have been fifteen years ago. It's my part now you talk just as Edison said you did. Cora is my part. You've got to tell Lloyd it's for me. I don't think anything in the world would make me say that. Edison wants me to play it over my dead party.
That won't be necessary. Addison knows how Margo happened to miss that performance, How I happened to know she'd miss it in time to call him and notify every paper in town.
It's quite a story.
Addison could make quite a thing. Imagine how snide and vicious he could get and still tell nothing but the truth.
I had a time persuading him, you better sit down. You look a bit wobbley.
That is the weirdest thing. I just realized something.
That is, word for word, the conversation I have with Nick Genoppolos before The Wog Boy he wanted to cast Budding well Or in the role of the dorky office kid in I said word for word that monologue.
So you must have watched all about it without realizing it said that the Nick Genopolis on the set of The Wog Boys, and then just like it raised it from your mind.
I got to go. I've got to go.
And this means we can't actually play this release this podcast because you're aready.
This is unbelievable.
One of the odds. I went back to, Man, I'm sorry, I don't even know why I even brought that up. I put in a big time, big time sorry.
Oh yeah, that well, I mean that was a revelation. It wasn't. I wasn't expecting.
But sorry. Back to the thing, back to.
It's quite chilling because she before that, she's like being like seemingly genuine sense. I just want my friends back. She seems, you know, she's having a girl adison. I was under his spell and I fell for his tricks and I just want my friends back. And then with that much really prompting, she goes, actually, but with all that said, yeah, I want this job. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Do you know you know, before you mentioned right, you said, what if someone came up backstage and started, you know, how long would it take you two wise up to him? You know what I wouldn't do. I wouldn't invite him to move in that night into the upstairs room. No, you know what I mean, I don't think I would.
I wouldn't invite them to the airport.
I really like your stuff. I'm a poor kid from out the back box.
It's like, I want to move in with me and the Dean and the kids. She'll love it, I don't know. She'll be fine hoping any stuff. No, no, just that knighte oh, come on, come on.
Wake up?
Is Is he bisexual? I would say, by curious, because there's I've seen that discussed where there's there's two instances where it kind of comes up and okay, you know, just back in these days, these things were not you ever explored with a heavy hand. It always had to be you could never get anything through. Even in that one of the first thing in the dressing room, where Margot is talking about the love lives of Southern women, it's actually really she's really talking about the sex lives
of Southern women. So these things are very We've spoken of its use of about rebel without a Cause and the relationship between the younger character and James Dean, the male character, and there he loved it. It was basically he wanted James Dean, you know, the character, but they couldn't. They couldn't go into that. So there's two moments. One on the stairs when Margo is a bit pissed and she wants to go to bed, and she says to Bill, do you want to come up and tuck me in
and turn and then you're going to sneak out? You know, maybe you would like to do that Eve And she says, you know, if you want me to, yeah, right, and he says, no, I do not.
I think that one would be like I will do anything necessary.
You could absolutely read that. The more suggestive one is when the phone call comes in and I wasn't sure that was supposed to be Marylyn. I'm not sure if that was Marilyn. And it looks a bit like Marilyn. I don't think it is, so I don't think it's the same character, Miss missus a, Miss Casswell, No, that's not the same as it.
She looks the one who pretends Eve's sick so they can get she get a bill out of bed.
And then they go up the stairs in their dress gowns with their arms kind of around each other.
Ah okay, I thought they were just thinking hoots. So I think you're back then shown your cards very very strongly. Here you've got a four of gund haven't.
Yeah. Yes, and my next meason, are you by sexually a little bit?
But no, No, Look, I I don't know. I didn't I didn't read I didn't read that. But I think I guess, as I say, I think at all costs. I think maybe maybe she would be whatever anyone wanted her to be in order to get where she wanted to go.
Yes, you know one of my this.
Has a bit off topic, you're talking about Marion Monrogan. One of my favorite lines in the whole thing is when Addison DeWitt, So this is the critic guy.
You know, he's let's say, what would he be, late fifties.
Maybe he comes into the party with Marilyn Monroe, who's all of twenty one, and clearly she's sort of you know, they've got something going on because he's you know, he's the big critic guy that she wants to impress.
So there having somewhat of a relationship.
And and Betty Davis, Betty Davis's Margo turns to someone next to her and says, you've met whatever her name is. She's an old friend of mister DeWitt's mother. This is kind of like, I just love that, you know, twenty one year it's this beautiful throwaway line, as you say, like no one's mentioning anything, no one's talking about. That's basically her saying she's rooting him because she reckons he's going to get her somewhere. She's an old friend of mister DeWitt's mother.
Yeah, you're beauty.
I love.
Also, there's no cutaway of where she's you know, those people off camera, like they just they stay off camera. The camera stays on the stairwell.
Again, this is the thing about that coverage, right, and so that's you know again back that Karen reading the newspaper and what's happened is the review of Eve's performance from the night before, But actually what it is is the supper that they had afterwards, that Eve went out with with de Witt, And whether she said this or whether she didn't, she probably did. And it's basically all about the fading star that is Margot basically rips Margo to shreds this article.
And it's a huge.
Turning point in Karen's in Karen's ark because she realizes what she's done. And you don't come around on her face. It's the back of her head and it's in wide and she sits there and reads it for a while. You don't go over he shoulder like we have to now. You don't go back onto her eyes in one hundred mil like we have to do now. You just kind of like you just see her just like get up and walk out. You never see her face in that
scene again. You know, it's interesting all that stuff that I don't know, it didn't feel Maybe it never time become Yeah, maybe it did only have three rectams.
Maybe get it out into cinema they could afford the restrets. Let the Citizen Kane had reshreats. So we always kind of hear when a movie has researched, it must have been in trouble.
That's like nineteen thirty.
So that's nineteen forty one, okay, And you know what I heard.
You know why the last word in Citizen Kane was originally caravan Park, which is hyphenated, and that's that's get a Rosebud instead.
They said let's make it just Rosebud.
I heard it was Ocean Grove, okay, and they said let's go to the other side of the bay.
Yeah, okay, right well, either way something that maybe that was part of the recess, that's not going to work. Ocean Grove is not going to work. Mccraef.
You know Rosebud.
So we've got a family house a right right, always had it. They used to have the skate rink down there. Did you ever spend time there as a kid?
TALKI was again on the Ocean Grove.
Saturday when they got rid of that skate rink, mate, because it was the best place. Every time we go there. It was someone's birthday, free ice cream. I just wanted to let you know that it was that off topic.
All about ice cream.
Yeah.
So we then Eve invites Addison in. I love this scene because you think Eve thinks she's got the upper hand here and she's going to break some news to Addison and that she is the power in this in this relationship. But Addison quickly flips that. I she tells Addison that she is going to this where we're fred to a couple of times where that she will be
going off with Lloyd's Lloyd. I think the Lloyd the player, right, yeah, the player, right, yeah, and he's going to be writing plays for her and yeah, they're going to be a new power couple. And Addison says, no, no, no, that's what the slapping happens, and the the I own you and a bitually yeah, let us know, Yasney Podcasts at gmail dot com. Did you see that as as Addison saying I own you in a physical Why was it more care her career?
Yeah? I think you know what.
The more the more I think about, the more you're I think you're absolutely right. I think I might have been led a bit by the Marilyn character. Did you get the impression that the Marilyn character and the Addison character were having a sexual relationship or did I make that up?
No?
I can't. You know, I think when you see when you see likes a fifty something guy in this movie power walking in with Me too, if Marilyn between two year old Marilyn Monroe, you kind of think, yeah, that's that's probably happening.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there were Yeah. I mean, and this was back in the day when you know, your.
Harvey Weinsteins were all celebrated, weren't they know, they were sort of lovable rogues who sort of you know, got to abuse their power and all that sort of stuff.
And that's what That's just kind of how I read it for some for some Reaon, But yeah, I reckon. You might be right. You usually are.
Because you went to Parade College and I went to Marsalon College. You learn more about that stuff.
Yeah, they're pretty much almost identical schools. So yeah, the Addison, that's a brilliant, brilliant scene. And then she gets away with it, she wins the award, and then we joy.
Got the classic book end the first scene which was at the at the awards ceremony where now we now It makes perfect sense why all of these people in their singles are all kind of having their moments of kind of.
And and we understand Addison's the only one who's looking on with any kind of joy. We see another little performance from Eve when a fan comes up and she just wants to go home. She's she's kind of cracked the shits a little bit, and then the fan comes on, she turns on, Oh nice, and she's nice and sweet all of a sudden for that two seconds, and then she's back to I do love that Addison's line, I'll drop you off. I have no intention of missing this party.
Yeah, it's funny. That was what I was thinking of too.
It's just like, okay, well that's that's where the chivalry certainly not dead, and that's the sat that's but.
Yeah, so she's she's, she's you know, it's a careful what you wish for a tail?
Isn't that that she's kind of reached this pinnacle of where she wanted to be her all of her machiavellian plans have kind of culminated in this, in this result that she always wanted and that you know kind of yeah, again that careful what you wish for a moment.
Which so we're glad to get people.
Do people tell you they listen to this and they go back to see the movie even though we've given away absolutely interesting.
I love the little community we're building with this podcast. Not had one complaint I say about spoilers, even to be because we advertise, you know, everyone who clicks on
to watch the episode knows what film will be discussing. Okay, but what they don't know and I don't know when when when you know, I don't ask you for your three favorite films, and then we There are times where I have listened back to the podcast going, oh, we kind of gave away a lot about that that that that movie, you know, but not once still like I have I got a you know, as anyone complained that we're spoiling. So here's some other spoilers, some other films.
You watch.
You watch the Avalanche like yet another podcast that was going along swimmingly until Curry turned up.
How many podcasts have ruin.
Sammy Pea's podcast ruined that. I've ruined that one, very very sold.
Actually she comes home and there's it's it's a great reveal. There's there's somebody sleeping on the couch, and she doesn't realized until she kind of sees her. And she turns around and we can see her in the mirror, and it's it's a girl who looks almost identical. It's it's so well cast because it's like almost identical, but she's like five years younger maybe, And it's a girl called Phoebe or is it or is.
It it is?
Well, Eve's name is not Eve.
I think the suggestion is that perhaps Phoebe is completely repeating.
Yes the past.
Yeah, yeah, I think you're right.
And Eve has now become so kind of consumed in her own success that perhaps she's.
Not seeing seeing history repeat itself. And then so she fixes her a drink and she does knock on the door. It's Addison de Witch. She knows his name straight away. Addison knows exactly what's going on. He advites.
She gives him the love eyes, like, you know, like it's like the biggest, big love eyes you've ever seen, and in the same love eyes that she's always given, the same love eyes that Marilyn was giving to the producer she wanted to be fast in his film.
And she takes the trophy she puts on the cloak, the glamorous cloak is what you call it, which.
Is a throwback to what Eve does on stage stage with Margo's costume from earlier on. That catches her and she kind of thinks it's so lovely and sort of so it's so innocent and God love you because you know, if you, if you keep at it, maybe one day.
You will have that, you know, we'll have a cloak on and you will be able.
To And the glorious final shot, which is her in one of those kind of mirrors where there's mirrors and it's like, yeah, so you've got like there's all of a sudden, there's sixty Phoebe's holding in this cloak, holding this trophy, and its just.
Classic Bill Collins the score. At that moment, it's like where did all those violins come? Eighty violin suddenly coming up and it's like this huge hundred piece orchestra there's just dominating, and yeah, she's now duplicity and she's everywhere and she's surrounding you everywhere.
And also that this thing is has been repeated, you know, like this you already mentioned that we Eve did this. We suspect Margo. Uh, Margot may have done it. Yes, I know there's a theory that Bertie may have been like because there's she was a theater act. She she said she opened the second half or something that there is a theory that there might have been some similar kind of thing Margot taking out Bertie.
Oh wow, right, then.
Marilyn's obviously doing this as well. So this is kind of behaved. There's I think that's what that's final saying there. There's not just one of these these human beings. There are a whole bunch of them.
And can I just say to the restraints in Joseph man how are you pronouncing it? Mankowitz, thought Mankovic, So Mankowitz, the restraint. I was so dreading when she's standing there and that and that music swells, and you got a million versions of her in those mirrors, and she looks at one sort of away from us, and then she
looks one ninety degrees from us. I was just dread us, and don't look at us like I thought that that was going to be the thing is like looking at us, I say, and this could happen to you love whatever you know, I don't think subtlety was was the was the most you know, common trait in a lot of the a lot of the directing of the of the time. But it was just nice to just yeah, she's and you can say that last moment of her just kind of side on seeing herself surrounded by herself is so so beautiful.
So yeah, it is. It is amazing. I got some fun facts. Oh great, we love fun facts on this.
I've told some lies in this thing. Anyone to anyone to tell you what they thought. The biggest lie was yes, I think people are going to know.
I'll be well, I know, I know. That conversation you had with Nick Genas on the Long Boy was absolutely yeah. Yeah.
So anything with Bud ding well the truth does they ding Well? Budding? Well, oh, can I tell you quick story? You'll probably of course you can. So when when the when the castle came out? The famous people, well, well Bud was very famous, but he was also like an
elder gentleman, right, so the face missed slight. The younger people like Antennay, you know, she's been in the country practice, Michael Caayton, of course, Michael Kayton, Saphie Lee, Eric Banner, the famous people they got to go to places like Sydney, right, and they got together plays.
Like Brisbane for the premiere, premier, for the just for the for the junk head kind of thing.
Right.
Bud and I got taken on a rex plane to Aubrey.
I know you, and he was so lovely and he'd been I'd known him for a bit beforehand, and he'd always been he was actually quite a very very generous man to meet, but right, and he always he sort of he had, as I mentioned before, took me. It took me on to his wing, and he was he was, you know anyway, I'll always be in his debt.
He we get off the plane and the lady who's there to take us around Aubrey obviously no, it doesn't know who I am, obviously, and obviously doesn't know who Budd is.
Right, But she's done their research because they've given their the sheets of paper with our information on it.
And she goes, oh, guys, oh, come on, great to see.
Wow, Wow, guys, Wow, what a thrill and gets us into this car and then she she's driving the car and she looks back she goes, I just want to say one thing, guys. I never thought I would be lucky enough to share a car with a little pause, Stephen Curry with whose names and Charles bud Tingle.
It's like, oh God, love you, God love that anyway it was, but you can cut that out.
Of it well. In fact, in fact, I might to stop there before I get to the fun facts. Okay, because you have been mentioned in this podcast quite a bit. I mean, hughsy Castle was in three films coming.
Kangy had never even seen it.
Pang had never seen it, but watched it and loved, loved your performance. And Samuel Johnson we had on last week, the last episode, and he got to the stage where where he was saying that he's like intimidated by you, and he just accepts. I just find that out. I did say, I will pass on. Just just go easy on him, mate, go easy.
I'm physically intimidating. It's like, don't take this unlike the rock.
People don't know Stephen Curry is seven foot.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. And I always make sure I'm in the ditch. I'm a reverse time cruise. I like to be suter than all my Okay stars, Wow, but interesting.
Andy Lee. Also it was a top three. That episode is coming up. But mate, that that role and I mentioned in the intro, but that role is as funny today as it was all those years ago. Your I mean, your timing and everything is so good. And what are your memories of making the castle? It's actually so much of it being said about the castle was shot in ten days.
It was so quick, and it was so like, you know what, the overriding thought and memory was, don't muck this up, don't don't like this seemed to me like a really good opportunity.
I know it sounds redundant to say you'd work with the guys on Frontline afterwards.
After Jane Kennedy cast because she saw me in an ad right, and I was just like, all of a sudden, I've gone in for this very quick audition.
It was like a really quick.
One, and I was thinking, oh my god, this is the degeneration. Okay, don't stuff this up.
And then I get the role.
And then a week later I'm in the read through with all of those people and kind of just looking around, going that's Rob Sitch.
That's Rob Sitch.
And Glenn Robbins was at the read He doesn't remember being at the Red two. He was one hundred percent was at the read through of that film, right because I remember he was sitting next to Sophie Lee, and all I was thinking was if she only knew how quickly I got home from school to what to watch The Bugs Bunny Show, not for the cartoons, you know what I mean?
And now she's my sister.
It was weird, but Sophie Lee hosted you know, the Bugs Bunny Show, and it was even controversial because I wasn't commented on, you're doing it shot.
Skimpy likera, lots of like colorful, kind of like and the young teenage like it was whatever.
I don't want to make it a creepy story.
No, no, but it was.
It was a thing of that day.
I had a huge crush, just a huge crush, and it was just like, Oh she's my sister.
Yoah cool and so buddy funny in that in that in that role.
Oh mat and so good. Honestly, that's what it was. It was just basically it was eleven days.
We shot it, and it was an entire experience of just kind of going, I think this is the funniest thing I know, this is the funniest thing I've ever read I think with these dudes too, I've always loved.
This is going to be great. Just do the right thing, you know what I mean.
Just do the job that you need to do and don't mark it up, don't get recasts, because this could be and there's a red hot chance that it's because of that film that I'm even sitting here talking to you on this podcast.
You know, I like it's it really is.
And I know, and I don't mean that in a self deprecating way at all. I don't at all.
It's more about just like you kind of have these things come up in your life sometimes where you just kind of get this little voice in your head that goes, this could be a really great opportunity. And you know, as an actor growing up in school days and I was doing our ads and did a couple of those TV shows that were pretty terrible, and teachers would just constantly tell me get something to fall back on, like you need you, you know.
What I mean?
This guy because almost like personal, almost a bit personal. I was like, don't think that's gonna last because you're not look at you, you're not Bruce Samazan, Like you don't, you don't, You're not going to be here forever, like they.
Often used to throw the often heard ninety percent of actors are out of work. That was always the bit, that.
Was the thing, and the teachers would say that stuff, and it's like, just scratch your little itch, yeah, because doodles, do you little skits, your little comedy skits. And that was it, and it was it still to this day. In some ways it sort of resonates in your brain a bit. You would have had a similar vibe, I'm sure right where it's like, okay, you're kind of a creative.
You were probably a little bit louder than a lot of the kids, you were probably quick witted or whatever.
And it was like great, but that's not really a thing, you know. And I'm sure footy.
Players probably get it as well, like where it's like, if you think about footy players, the average footy career is four years, yeah AFL career, and those people who get four years, they start off on a pretty base rate. Everyone thinks, oh, you've loaded and you can buy a really cool new ut or whatever. Well you do, but then you've got no money left in your first year.
That sort of thing where it's like the castle comes along and and you just kind of go, this could be a chance to just not It's not like a stuff you moment. It's more just like a don't prove the right moment, yes, right, Yeah, And that was that's what it was, because it was like I'd never still to this day, I mean, I'd still do different things within the industry or whatever, writing and whatever, but outside of the things, I've never had any interest, slash ability
to do anything else right professionally. So it's kind of that thing about going, man, you could actually make this could be a thing, You could actually do this for a job. And so that was what Yeah, sorry, it's it's a strong question, a very long but it was very very It was very prominent in my mind.
And the shoot it in eleven days and Robed so Rob directs at Santo shoots it. Sampang that doesn't refer to doesn't say it for twenty five, which is amazing. Go listen to episode two of This This This Podcast season one, So and Sampang last at the idea when Santa called himself the cinematographer, he said that you're a camera man. But it was it was as far as coverage goes, was it shooting for eleven days, you've got to move quickly.
Yeah, Actually, Santo wasn't the cinematographer. Santo was the be camera operator, but he was he was on. But sorry, I don't mean to talk center down, but no, no, I think it's I think Santo would never have called himself the cinemataony.
No, we did laugh at the fact that Santa that that is like he never actually called himself.
But you know, you know, I remember the you know, the family who owned that house that we shot in. They they were obviously going a movie is going to be shot in our house. How cool is that? And they put them up in the como. It's like, we're going to live in the como for like two weeks, right, how cool is this? And the d generation the Late Show dudes are going to make a movie in our house?
How sweet is this? What they didn't tell them, is it because you've only got eleven days to shoot the movie. We're going to shoot it like a sitcom. So every room's going to have its own lighting rig constantly going. So if you finish a scene in the kitchen and the next scene in the movie is in the lounge room, we order to pick up. We go over there and we shoot the next scene in the lounge room. We turn a light on, turn a switch, all the lights come on.
You're making the next scene, right, which is as you know, and if anybody who hasn't sort of I guess, been on a film, you would almost always shoot anything in the kitchen in the two or three days that you need to shoot all that stuff because it's lit, and you get it all done and then you move to the next location. This was not This was just moving
around scene by scene chronologically shooting this thing. But to get this light lighting rig, they had to cut a big hole in each of the ceilings, right, get this big scaffolding rig up into the ceiling with the lights coming down, and you look at you go hole, did you run this past that? And they go that no, no, But but when they come back it will be replaced and they won't even know unless they turn up to check out the filming.
One day.
They rock up, no jokes, the mom, the dad, the kids, they all kind of.
Rock up, all excited, and there's like Uncle Harry from the Sullivans at the head of the table. There's Molly from the Country Practice and some guys I've never seen before. And they kind of walk in and they's like you can see them but really smiling and really looking around. And then one by one they all just look up and it was like you've never seen a smile get wiped off her face?
What?
And then Annie may have had no, no, we need to actually splain something to you, and Rob kind of took them besides, now listen, now, okay, we didn't mention that this was going to happen, but as soon as when you come back here on Tuesday week, that will be all exactly because I was like, I think the magic, the magic of cinema might have been said that the sheene might have come off the Magic of cinema very quickly.
A million dollar budget and most of it went into probably fixing the ceiling.
There you go anyway, but wow, and.
Before before we move on from the coming back the fun facts, because we're going to get a lunch. You're paying, I'm paying.
So good, so I can read the menu from the left and brought me.
I already ordered, already pre ordered. We're having the same thing.
The lunch special special.
Jeraldin Hickey on just one of the mass j Hicky is fantastic. She just won the MAST Outstanding UH Comedy Show Award at Melbourne International Film But.
I just say quickly, she has earned her stripes so brilliantly. Geraldine Hickey is one of those people and if you don't know who she is, go and see her shows. She's so freaking good and she has worked a ass off, yes and done. You know, she's worked it out from these tiny little rooms and kind of playing to know people.
Working her and writing brilliant stuff constantly.
She is.
Honestly, I can't say enough about Geraldine. She's so bloody good and I'm just I'm.
Stoked years such I haven't known a more feel good factor.
You know.
Maxicomedians for Jay's winning that award. She did an episode this podcast called called It's called You Want Say Nothing Yet you're listening to it. Wow, But if you done this before besides the one I did with Jordine, Okay, she did Harold and Maud, Go and listen to that episode one. It's a great movie and she's great. But one of the things she mentioned one of her favorite films is not The Asshole, but was Rogue. And she she said to me whenever she gets an opportunity to
talk to you. I'm not sure she has mentioned it. Yeah, she like, but she kind of nervously goes. So she just wants to know everything about rogue. The next time you do see jazz, just feel free, like you'll make it very happy if you just go up and just say, let's grab a coffee and talk about rogue.
I don't get that very often. I don't get you know, I was in Paris once I've obviously.
Traveled, you've done well, yeah, you're paying for lunch now.
We didn't have any money, I'll be honest.
We were stealing our bagettes from the from the like the buffet table at our shitty hotel to go and eat it out in like bather by the outside the louver, you know. But no, no, and this what this French person came up and said, you know, I'm not going to do the act.
I think you still friend? Is that I think the French one is the one you're allowed to do. That's racist.
So I said, excuse me, but you know I'm doing it now.
No said, pardon me. This is imagine this in a French accent. All right, bother me do it again, pardon me door so softg Are you an actor? And I went yeah, and you're going, where's this going to go? Like a French person in Paris knows I'm an actor, And then they said I love that movie. Cut now, Oh Cat is a terrible horror film that I was in with Molly Ringwald and Kylie Minogue in nineteen ninety nine. Molly Ringwald quite famous in France, and this film opened
at number two in the French box office. It died in the ass here and everywhere else it tried to open, but in France it spent like three days at number two at the French box office because Molly.
Ringwold was in it and this dude.
It was like one of those moments like Geraldine Hickey liking rogue is like you just don't have.
It's like, it's yeah, one of those momors. He's going to go, gee, well, okay, well there you go, it's out there.
I met a guy and his wife with my wife. We were in France and we got yeah, I will be paying for lunch, no trisycle okay, And we were having a chat and he said, you do you play a character called Strawnie.
New York and I say, this was a New York accent. You didn't want to do no, no, nothing.
That's racist?
Yeah, yeah, okay, you that's racist.
Whoa still got Sorry?
That's racist. That that was that was seen in Australia.
A comedy fan who kind of followed comedy around the world a little bit. And it's kind of, you know, like the strange comedy as well, and then stumbled on a bit of Strawnie. Hey, some fun facts before we go. Yeah, we've got a table waiting for us. This is Benny Davis has big comeback Still that's where we go.
Okay, sorry, Betty Davis.
Betty Davis big comeback vehicle. She hadn't had a hit for a while. She wasn't necessarily the hot casting. In fact, we were supposed to go to another actress called Claudette Colbert who's from France, who probably was the woman who came up to you and asked about cut. I thought he was as Kenny, but yeah, okay, And she was originally cast, but she heard herself. I think she met a grizzly end, a grizzly end blast stage at the theater. So she she got recast and it was bet Davis.
There was bet Davis had a massive reputation for being hard to work with and often kind of coming in and rewriting scenes, so everyone was concerned this was going to happen. She gets sent the script and Joseph Makwitz says, she was absolutely She did not change a single word.
She did pour her Betty Davis eyes all over all over, no doubt about that.
Let's be very rolling through it, very clear on that. And she was a delight to work with. Got along with the rest of the crew. Besides Celeste Holm, who played Karen. They apparently they hated each other.
Because Karen was always asking for the manager such as she and that that short blonde hair, classic Karen, Classic Karen Karen.
And so delightful the work with the change of word and describes as one of the best, you know, experiences of her acting acting life.
What was there a problem with Celeste Home?
She I think it seems to me that she was offended by selest homes good manners.
They can be very thank you.
Yeah, like seriously, wasn't It wasn't Betty's style. The original name of the movie was called Best Performance and Performance Producer Darryl Zanich was reading the script and highlighted or circled the line all about it, which is in that voice over, So he said that I think it works the life imitating art here and Baxter played the role of Margo on Broadway. Years later. Thirty three years later, Bet Davis was making a series called Hotel. She fell
ill and Baxter replaced her. Oh my god, totally did.
That's crazy?
So hang on, But also, wasn't there something about the theater production was absolutely trashed by the critics.
It didn't it didn't last. I think they did maybe a couple hundred performances or something.
Okay, right, it was around for years.
It was something about it getting it so wrong because there was the feminist angle of it or something was kind of I think was really.
Diluted in the production. I believe I don't ever ever take anything I say as the truth.
No, this is you know that you've known me a long this gospel, that's true.
Okay.
Feminist thing had been watered down. That's in Wikipedia as we speak.
Yeah, yeah, actually, I think that might be where I and Dave Lawson is Henry Lawson's grands According to Wikipedia.
Davis Bete Davis falls in love with Bill, her younger boyfriend. They get married, don't tell me they get married and then get divorce ten years later. And she says that the idea that they think they married their characters and then eventually they fell in love out of love with their characters. It is that flyne in the notting Hill that Julia Robert says, the Hugh Grant in bed where and I thought when I was, I thought it was bet Davis, But I went back and watched it. It's
Rita Hayworth. She talks about the idea that they go to bed with Gilda and they wake up with Rita Hayworth. So yes, so the Oscars are saying, you know, and Baxter and and bet Davis both nominated for Best Actress, slightly controversial in that, and Baxter lobbied to be also part of the Best.
Actress right, Yeah, okay, so that for your consideration thing too, isn't it. This is where the lobbying, Yes, this is kind of the era where the lobbying really came into its own. Yeah.
And despite being reasonably news, she was in The Magnificent Ambussons with Auston Wells as follow up the Citizen, Kane and Baxter. But she's still making her way. She's a star on the rise, but she has just enough pull to make this happen. She's nominated alongside Bet Davis for Best Actress in nineteen fifty one Oscars and basically splits the vote so it doesn't basically denies Bet Davis. It's commonly believed that she basically split the vote denied her
an Oscar. She probably wins the Best Supporting Actor as well. Judy Holiday for Born Yesterday wins that Oscar. George Saunders wins Best Supporting Actor, wins It wins the Best Motion Picture that year. Santi Boulevard's released that year, another film about more Hollywood than Theater, Father of the Bride, King Sulomon's Minds, and Born Yesterday The Third Man was also released that year. A great film where I hope we cover on this. Yeah, Joseph Golden.
Funny, you're not saying how I haven't seen a lot of those Golden years of Hollywood films. I've seen almost all those films. Said, maybe I've just put them all into the recesses of my mind. Yeah, The Third the Third Third Man, Third Man, Third.
Man is an absolute classic.
That is brilliant.
Yeah, and if we think so, it must be good.
It must be good. Yeah, it must be good because we because we were on radio, we're on a podcast podcast. What we say is gospel Davis. But Davis marriage it was falling apart, so she actually married. The start of this filming, it's falling apart. She's having lots of yelling fights and that's why her voice is actually quite husky.
I just thought she was smashing the dazzlers, yeah, because we saw her smashing her a lot of and I just thought, well, I did notice her voice and it was quite a I think that is so perfect.
For her character that oh it's so good. It's so beautiful.
And it's like this kind of this theater kind of workhorse is just devote her entire life to projecting into emoting into you know, over acting in real life kind of things and respect.
The bet Davis like she like she was playing an aging actress when she was feeling in real life like an aging actress who had passed her best. And maybe she was giving this, you know, she saw this. She was smart enough to see the opportunity than it was like we we know now that actresses, we've seen the transformation. Actresses do often to get oscars, you know, Charlie Sarn's done it, you know.
And then and that's when Oprah says it was a very brave performance, which means she didn't wear makeup.
Amazing performances. But then she's not talking about that with the performance. She's talking about like just to be able to look like that.
Yeah, you can tell that. I think they have done some little tricks to make bet Davis a little bit older than what even is. J Gobor spend a bit of time on set because she's married to the actor who plays Bill. She had Simons her husband.
Seven. I think Lizzie Taylor smashed Hi. No, she smashed six, but Richard Burton was twice.
That's right. They got remarried. She keeps on coming up the set because because so she's married to Addison de Witt. Really, yes, so she's married Edison de Witt, and she she hears about this blonde, young, blonde bombshell who's on set, Marilyn, and it's paranoid, and keeps rocking up to set.
Fisty cuffs because she was she was pretty quick at the fists old Jajar even on her later days.
I think I seem to remember her. She beat up punched a traffic cop in her latter day. Yes, I remember the dad pulled her.
Over for running a red light and she got out of her car and clocked him one in the face. She was don't mess with good on.
Good on, good on her, good on the good on the good. Thank you so much. This movie Country of Homework. You have a movie out June Again. Nony Hazelhurst, Claudia Carves and the biggest names in Australian It's fantastic.
Wayne Blair, Darren Gilshannon, incredible.
You can also see on How to Stay Married right now if you watching a podcast is released. But some great names that door to open. Wayne Blair is not in the house.
What do you know about Wayne Blair is an actor. I know he's not in How to Stay Married? And I don't think he was in I Love You Too, No, no, no.
But Claudia Carban was in the Secret Life of Us and this series about to they made all there are some secrets that get revealed. There are some secrets. It's a June again, fantastic film and it's it's about any Hazerhurst character he has. She's in a home, she's suffering from dementia, but she has a reprieve from her dementia, and she has this like almost window of opportunity to to sort some ship out.
Yeah, and you know, and this is I talked to you about this on your nightly television show, Peter Peter Helly Live. I don't think it's called that. I don't think it's called that in mind.
I thought.
But anyway, that's fine.
And what I've neglected to mention because what I do I as you know, you've known me long enough now, I when I get five minutes on a show like that, I tend to just go like what I need to do is just quickly do seven hit jokes and then hopefully plug the thing at the end. And what I forgot to do was to actually talk quite seriously about the performance that Nani has he gives in this film.
Now she I don't think it's any great state secret that she's a freaking brilliant actor, but this film is like it's kind of it's it's it's I don't want to say to her, Chopper, is that terrible?
Sorry? But this is a film that she absolutely owns this film. And it's a beautiful performance.
It's a heartbreaking performance, it's hilariou is it's kind of like everything that I've always loved about Noni but like, I honestly think it's the best performance she's ever given.
And I just I can't say enough about her.
She's brilliant and that's saying something because she has given brilliant performances her. She breaks my heart and little fish.
A little fish, Oh my god, she's great.
She's great, and this is kind and that's not even her viehicre as such that that's her kind of one of the supporting actors, you know, but but you know, and what a cast that was far out, But yeah, this film is Yeah, wouldn't be percent with her at the center, and she just she just drives it so beautifully.
And I have no idea what Nony where none is in her life or what her ambitions still are. But wouldn't it be great for her to have a Jackie Weaver style eruption? Yes, you know, and Hollywood and ye take notice.
You know what'd be great if she got that?
Then I get a Sullivan Stapleton because I'm not the go over we're talking about.
Mate.
I never couldn't get her. Did you get budging one because he knocked him up? Child's But.
Yeah, look it is it's she's great. And sorry, I don't even mean to sort of just track from that with stupid stupidity.
Let's not undercut, undercout what she's necessary of what you're saying.
It's not just so I hope people go and see a movie that I'm in.
It is genuinely she is absolute rippers.
It's a brilliant film. It's it's fun, it's it's you know, it's a it can sound heavy if described a certain way, but it's not. It's actually really fun. And go see go take your mom to go to your mother's day.
And mother's Day that's right, yeah, yeah, so you take your mom. My mom is going to lose her mind watching.
Oh that's a really bad expression to use when it's a film about Sorry, it's not about to mention my.
Mom is going to be really love.
The film's like contagious.
No no, the laughter yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, it did take the contagious to finish it, but no, but yeah, so it's yeah, anyway, I'm really.
Really proud to be part of it. So I hope you people going.
To say it, check it out and again in cinemas. Now it's going to actually now I've said that I have the stay in cinemas because this podcast is just out there forever forever.
Yeah, so oh yeah yeah, so we'll go and say it down and said if if this if it's twenty twenty three down, see it on iTunes.
ITunes, it's available on iTunes, now available on Netflix formats. They will be yeah, yeah, let's smake up.
So yeah, helly a Vision available. You're going to get a hell A Vision game. Yeah, of course out now on Helly Vision.
Helly Vision.
It's on Hilding It's Carriopolis again.
That would be a good whatsoever? I want or don't want Nick to listen to this episode?
Nick, I did love you? You know I love you, Nick.
Thanks Mat, thanks for doing the homework for this one.
This is my house, not in my house or a guess, not a director. And stop being a star and stop treating your guests as your supporting can Now, let's not get into a big hassle. It's about time we did.
It's about time Margot realized that what's attractive on stage need not necessarily be a track.
All right, Hi, bloody love that chat I did. He's been a great mate for a long time. We knew some friends of ours. We had some mutual friends when we're at high school, and we kind of end up we're bumping into each other at parties occasionally, and we didn't lessarily hang out a whole lot, but we knew each other and we got along really well. And then
I started in entertainment. Steve has already had already made made a few things, and we know we became even closer mates, and that friendship has endured and gotten even closer over there. He's a fantastic guy. I love chatting to him, And that was just fascinating talking about the castle with him and his experience and that as much as long as I've known him, occasionally it might come up, but to actually sit down and actually hear some stories
about his memories of making the castle was great. Did you enjoy that? Derek Meyer's from Castaways Studios dot Com.
Absolutely awesome.
You love the Castle, don't you?
Oh?
It's the best film ever made, best trained film ever made?
Right? Wow? There you go? The greatest trained film ever made. You heard it here first, and you see when it came out, You remember seeing it at the cinema?
Probably, yeah, I would have.
My memory is pretty hazy for that era, but it was.
There actally the life ladies and gentlemen.
It has lived alive, but it was my hearing you people talk about that first experience of being being in the industry, but going in raw it was as a normal punter. It was awesome. It was just absolutely cacked and there were so many references to real life stuff that were hilarious, and.
I loved all about Eve. I really enjoyed watching this film. It's a film that I hadn't seen. I had it on DVD. In fact, that's how I watched it. I watched it on DVD, and for some reason, I hadn't got around to watching it, and I didn't really know really that much about what it was about. Like you said, Derek, did you get a chance to watch it?
No, I don't know the snippets.
So occasionally Derek gets movies ruined for him because he has to sit in while we record this, and he's busy because he does other podcasts as well. He sees other podcasts behind my back here at Casaway Studios dot com. This is where you need to come to record your podcast, and so sometimes occasionally the movie gets ruined for Derek, so sorry about that. I think it's worth some films
you need. I'm glad you're sawing Bruges for example, you know, and that's coming in Because that's coming up next week, we'll announce who's watching in Bruges. But I know you've watched it, and Harold and Maud was another one. I think it's really important for you to watch that before you listen to the podcast All about Eve. If you haven't listen to it and you haven't seen it, including Derek,
it's still worth watching. It's so it's so great. It's a classic fourteen Oscar nominations, tied with Titanic and La La Land. But next week I'm very excited because there's a film which I just mentioned in Bruges. It's one of my favorite films and I saw it at the cinema and I've seen it many times since. I watched it again before in preparation for next week's episode, and seen it for a few years, and it just lived up to every memory I had for In fact, it
was enhances. I got more out of it, and so I would have seen this film. I reckon eight to ten times. I believe you have seen that film. We might talk about it what you thought about next week. But who is coming in to talk about in Bruce?
Tom Ballard?
Tom Ballard, the rebel rouser himself. You're known from Triple J over the years, the Weekly Sorry Tonightly Charlie pickerings The Weekly Tonightly with Tom Ballard, and he's just one of the absolute staples of the Australian comedy scene. He's whip smart.
I know.
I'm as confident about him loving in Bruce as I've been about any other of our guests loving in Bruce. I reckon he's going to be really into it. Where can people send emails if they want to get onto a deck.
It would be yasny podcast at gmail dot com. Y as n Why Podcast at gmail dot com.
It's beautiful, Dunk. I've been accused of saying it too fast, so I'm glad you just pumped the brakes a bit there, Derek, and you got it out so people can write it down. You has any podcast at gmail dot com. If you want to request movies, if there's something we've said that it's wrong. Often we have this riffing in the moment we are talking about films we have only maybe just seen. I don't know which that the guests they got they say that their three favorite films, and I don't ask
him beforehand, so I'm just kind of riffing. And sometimes I get a fact wrong. Feel free to pick it up. But also this request movies that you might like to hear about, and also, guests guess is probably a good starting point. Who do you want to me to try to reach out to to get on You ain't see nothing yet. So next week one a great mate of mind, Tom Bellar talking about Mark mcdonna's two thousand and eight classic with Colin Farrell and Brennan Gleeson and Ray Fines
in Bruges. Have a movie. Check it out. It is an absolute cracker. It's a dark comedy. It's a dark it's not for the fainthearted, but check it out. Until then, bye, And so we leave old Pete safe and soult and to our friends of the radio audience, we've been a pleasant good night