Get Apeter Hally here. Welcome to you Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, the Movie Podcast, where we chat to movie lovers about classic or beloved the movies they haven't quite got around to watching until now. And today's guest actor comedian Susie Yusuf.
Do you know how to whistle? Interesting?
You just put your lips together and love.
There's not crying.
There's not crying in baseball. Go to the trouble. You haven't any right, You ain't seen nothing here. I've known Susie Yusaf for quite a few years now, and she is a bloody delight and there's not much she cannot do. She appears as a co host on The Sunday Project. I've worked with her on the Weekday Project. She has starred in rose Haven, the Great ABC comedy starring our
good friends Luke McGregor and Celia Paccuola. She has has stormed the stage, both in the plays with the NTC and also comedy stages around the country and the world. And she's a joy to be around, a joy to listen to. She's a smart, warm, clever and bloody hilarious and I was so stoked that she chose this film to talk to me about today.
Hi, I'm Susie Yusif and some of my favorite films are The Princess Bride, Inconceivable, It's Wonderful Life. I'll give you them all Dead Pot Society. I love Indiana and James in the Last Crusade, But honestly, I've probably watched The Devil West Pritor about a thousand times on every plane I've ever been on, and everybody wants to be But up until last week, I had never seen Rebel without a Cause.
Rebel Without a Course nineteen fifty five, set over twenty four hours. James Dean plays Jim Stark, no relation to the other Starks, and he's arrived and yet another new town. He's had trouble making friends, and he doesn't like being called chicken. And he may be a rebel, but all he really wants is love, and he falls in with Judy played by Natalie Wood and Plateau played by Salmon Neo, who are also looking for love, family and meeting. But when a car game goes deadly, it turns their night
and their lives upside down. Welcome Susie Yousa, Hey, Peter Helly, how are you I'm very good. So let's talk about some of the other movies that you love. First of all, what was the first movie you saw? It was your first experience, do you remember?
I think the first movie I ever saw at the cinemas was Rescuers Down Under. Oh, I think it was. But I also have a vague memory of seeing It's a Wonderful Life, even as a kid. My dad was a huge James Stewart fan, and we watched I've watched that movie at least one hundred times.
You want the moon, just say the word and I'll throw a lash all around and pullug down.
Do you watch it every Christmas?
I watch it a couple of times a year. Yeah, it's so I know it Back to Front. I completely adore it, And then we all kind of became you know. I've come from a family of sisters, and we all take pride in being able to accurately quote movies, and so we would quote both that and mister Smith goes to Washington, which is a little bit obscure as far as the James Stewart film goes. But yeah, I love him so much, so I do have a vague memory of seeing it as a kid.
As well. That's amazing. I watched it. He's a great film.
Oh so good.
Frank Capra did that, and it's a wonderful laugh in these Yes, yeah, so, and that's some of the other films you mentioned. Princess brag Gets mentioned quite a bit. Yes, in this podcast. I remember seeing it quite not late. It would have been in my twenties when I saw it, which it feels quite like considering a lot of.
My how did you find it?
Though, I kind of really I really enjoyed it. I don't have the absolute reverence like Row for example. Yeah, it's his favorite film. Yeah, he just loves it, And so I feel like maybe I would have enjoyed it if I saw it, you know, maybe yeah, eight years earlier.
Yeah, definitely. I was about seven or eight when I saw it, and my cousins were obsessed with it. They had quoted it for months before I saw it. And then you know, when you see a film like another one was Napoleon Dynamite. I remember I knew all of the quotes from that film before I saw it, and then I was so freaked out by so I was like, is everyone mad?
This is nuts?
Like this is the weirdest film I've ever seen, and then it grows on you and then you kind of love it. But The Princess Bride was definitely quoted to me far earlier than when I saw it. But I was obsessed. And my sister and I shared a bedroom when we were kids, and we would quote it back forward to each other until we fell asleep. That was like how we fell asleep from were kids.
We had many for thinking on the projects.
Oh my gosh, what was he like?
He was wonderful and I think before as well, actually, but it was it was quite funny because we had him on and he was on the fifth segment there's six, yeah, and doing the show for eight years, and we in the final segment, Lisa mchun is coming on to promote How to Stay Married, the show that I wrote, and starting with her and thank you, and so I was really keen to make sure, you know, we got a good chunk of time with Lisa, so we could do the best job promoting the show which was coming up
that night. And you know, we're trying to wind many for thinking up, and there was a gap and I think it was while lead that said something that was kind of like you know, half gone, trying to wrap up, but also kind of you know, just you know in that it's a very it's a real skill.
It's a delicate balance.
It is.
Yeah, I like doing a hard kind of cut, cutting somebody off and trying to kind of like make it part of the conversation. And he tried to kind of make it part of the conversation, and Manny Patinka just took the lead and this and like lamped back in his chair and put his fingers on his finger, like close his fingers, and this went, and he told this story about this Afghani refugee, and it's just like about that he was wanting to take this kid's message to
the world. And it's like it's really it's hard enough to wrap up Manny Patinka when he's talking about the Princess Bright let alone, when he's talking about in the f game refugee. His message is going to take to the world. But whenever I think I'm many for thinking that, I don't think of him leaning back into it in the on the project chair and it's like putting his fingers and like he was he was settling in to tell a big story.
And you're like that's it.
Marriage starts to night thirty.
My name.
You killed my father?
My name you killed my father? Prepared to stop saying that.
My name is you killed?
To die? Offered me money?
Yes, power to promise me all that I have. Please offer me everything I asked for. Anything you want.
I won my.
Father back, and well the devil ways proud of you, said, I just watched.
I think I've just seen it on planes. It's one of those. It's such a great movie.
Very easy to watch.
It's so easy to watch because it's basically like looking through a magazine. You know, the fashion is incredible, and Meryl is incredible. And that's when I fell in love with Emily Blunt as well.
She's so great.
I have seen it way too many times.
I think.
The other one I said to you was Indiana and Chains in the Last Crusade, Huge Harrison Ford Crush forever.
Why why that one? Why Crusader not Raiders or Temple Doom.
That's the one that we had taped. So that's we had that on a vhs'.
Such like I have such fond memories of the shows, the movies that you had on tape.
And I think it was on TV a lot. I think it was on TV more. Temple of Doom is on TV a lot now, but I think growing up Last Crusade was always on TV, kind of like Overboard, which was always on TV. I've seen that so many times. Yeah, goldihod, but I think it's just so good that and I love that the history of that as well. So I was studying history before I started doing comedy and the Authurian Cycle and all of the you know, the the Chalice that it's just you know, it's such a great story.
It is great. Yeah, it is great. I think my favorite. In fact, I remember Temple Doom being my favorite. After I saw it, I remember it like being very very I knew like my top ten movies. Yeah, like they're like, you know, tennis players. I just knew who was what was one? What was two? What was three? And Temple are Doing for a long time was my favorite movie. But the I got, I might say Raiders kind of took over when you kind of when I saw how
I think technically perfect that film is. That opening sequence is just is kind of stunning, and I think it's a pretty perfect film. But last week there's also Yeah, it is brilliant.
It's excellent and.
The leap from the lane head. Will he prove his worth? Does that mean? I don't know. We will find out.
What's your number?
One?
Have you? Have you announced.
That my favorite film of all time is Godfather Part two?
Oh?
Never seen the Godfather movies? I really should have done that.
Well, Luke McGregor beat you to it. Luke has watched The Godfather and he enjoyed immensely and he's hopefully coming back to do part two. We don't need to do part three. You mentioned also Dead Part Society. Yes, that's a beautiful.
Film, Absolutely beautiful film. The cast in that film are incredible. I don't think I couldn't imagine anyone else doing it. I hope no one ever touches it. Yeah, and obviously it's one of Robert Williams. It's the perfect balance of
Robert Williams. He's got so much heart, he's so incredible, he's so funny in it, and he has all of those scenes where the where he's playing the teacher and all the students just sitting around and he's doing voices, and you just think, oh, they would have just let him run wild on that set and it would have been so worth it.
There are so many films about the teacher who comes in and kind of like, you know, influences the kids in a really positive way. But I can't think of a film that does it better than Dead Pelts Society.
Absolutely not.
And it's so you talk about iconic moments, the ripping up of the books that's been you know, whether it's satire or jokes. You know, I'm trying to think that where somebody's trying to but it might have been the office, or think it some trying to rip they can't standing on the desk.
I actually saw someone with a tattoo that said I sound my barbaric yop and but it had a picture of Robert Williams beneath it, and I was like, this is that's a pretty That's a great tattoo. But it's it's also a mixture of genres there. You've got like poetry of what whitmen and all of that. And I thought he was so great. I couldn't stop staring at this guy. It was on a plane and he turned around and on the other side he just had Batman and I was like, okay, well, it's a mixture of this.
I'm not to say there's nothing wrong with that, man. I love the Batman films, but it just it was there was a mixed going on there.
And Ethan Hawk. That was the first time I'd seen Ethan Hawk. I'm not sure if it was actually his first film or not, but that was one of those things. It was such a great performance. But I remember still thinking afterwards, I had no idea if that's just who that guy is, if he can act or not. I think he's proved himself to be a wonderful like that.
I had the same thought with Chris O'Donnell Inside of a Woman, Yes, and kind of thinking, and they're kind of almost similar kind of characters, and they look a little bit similar. They kind of thinking, it's a great performance. I have no idea if you can act or not.
No, I thought exactly the same way Ethan Hawk in that film. You were just like he was it his life and they were all these actors were following him around because he just was the standout. He was so vulnerable and so raw and green and excellent.
Yeah. Yeah, why haven't you seen Rebel without a Cause?
I think that the mystery of James Dean was just too delicious, So I just wanted to keep him very far away from his actual films. Yeah, such a hoty scene him in all the posters. Just never seen a film that he.
Was in I had. Yeah, there's that famous Giant poster and I had that on my wall for so long and I thought, eventually I should actually go and watch it. And so I've seen he made three films, East of Eden, Red without a Cause, and Giant in that order, and yeah, they're all he's a remarkable talent.
You've seen them all, I've seen them are okay?
Yeah, yeah, So it's just the only James Zen film you've seen, the only one. He's the only one. Yeah, And what your thoughts?
My first thought was, you can't tell how someone laughs through a poster. That is, he's an interesting laugh, doesn't he.
Yeah, So that was the first thing that struck me, is that he's got this kind of like childlike giggle that he does that doesn't always suit the scene or his expressions or whatever.
It's a little bit spooky. But I think that it's really hard for me now to watch his films and disassociate his life story. Yes, but yeah, he's extraordinary. You know, very passionate actor. The fifties is such an interesting time for film. Yeah, a lot of camera angles that twist around, and yeah, I really enjoyed it. But I had a kind of sick fascination with watching him going, You're so much bigger than this.
Yeah. I find him really great in these quieter moments, Yes, and then when he kind of often bursts out into you know, you're tearing me apart, which has become like a quite iconic moment from this film. But I find that one of his weaker moments when he's being loud.
And that specific quote I didn't realize. And this is the thing when you don't you haven't seen all the iconic films that's referenced in so many films, in so many TV shows. I've obviously seen that clip. It's a gift, like you know, I've seen it a thousand times, but just didn't know, didn't quite know the context of it. The Room is a whole different film to me now, which obviously have you seen The Room?
Yes?
So that just gets funnier and funnier for me. And the more that I watched, the more I see that he references so much in it, which is very yeah, frefuty.
Yeah. So there's a lot going on in this film, even off off screen. It was directed by a guy called Nicholas Ray. Yeah, okay, who's a bit of a sleeez back. I've heard some stories. You've heard some stories. Yes, So he's forty three years old. Natalie Wood is sixteen. She auditions for the film, doesn't get it, but then comes back and re auditions and dresses herself up a
little bit, does her hair. Her hair. It's a little bit older than a sixteen year old where even the nine fifty I suspect she gets a role because now she looks a little bit older.
Gosh, I'm going to take that a note out of her book for all my future. It's about the hair.
He's in the hair. He has a Nicholas Ray has an affair with Natalie Wood on set. He also has an affair with sal Mineo who played Plato.
Oh I didn't know this, And.
Dennis Hopper, who's in the film, yeah, also has is one of the thugs. He also has an affair with Natalie Wood.
Okay, so it's a pretty hot set.
It's a hot set. As a result of that affair, Nicholas Ray cuts most of Dennis Hopper's lines. Oh my god, and James Dean stays out of it. From what we understand and what we know, he's twenty four. He has a touch of the Luke Perry. Yes about all the other kids, Yeah, sixteen seventeen, James Dean was twenty four, he was seventy eight. I love so hard my headphones came.
Don't you think it's strange to watch this film knowing Dennis Hopper and just seeing his face on this young man's body just kind of floating around the film. It's so odd for me because I didn't I didn't know that he was supposed to have a bigger role, but it was such an odd casting.
Retrospectively, yes, yeah, and he's I always find it weird when you are not weird fascinating when you see actors who I think Dennis the older Dennis Hoppers, Yeah, you know, and I still remember an easy Rider, but he's even years younger.
In this film. But you kind of go, oh, that's why their movie stars exactly, because look a look at those eyes.
He's stunning. He looks like a painting. He's just absolutely beautiful. But he doesn't say very much in this at all.
No, because he cut the lines. Ye, so what do you think. Let's start kind of at the start, he got Plato who they are all in the police station, and I think James Dean is pulling off some reasonable drunk acting.
Yes, you know, I don't know that it's acting. He was might have picked. It's very good. It's very good. Even before that, even before we get into the police station, you've got him kind of on the ground playing with this toy. The credits are going over him, and it reminds you that nineteen fifties films really ease you in. It's kind of ten minutes of lovely titles and not really knowing what's happening. I guess people were walking into the cinemas at that point and.
Full credits, you know, like that at the beginning, at the beginning, and it's there's an interesting story behind that. They shot a scene with a man being mugged by a gang, okay, and he was taking these Christmas gifts to his family, and that toy kind of fell out and roll into the gutter, and James Dean at some point comes along and drunk and lies down next to it. So there was a scene that was supposed to go with it at the very beginning. Yeah, and James Dean
kind of I'm not sure. I think you kind of improvised that idea of lying on the road and playing with the toy, and they kept it in. When I saw that shot, I thought, this is not what I was expecting from a filming nine fifty five. This kind of feels a bit arty.
Yeah, very much.
And then you go into this so he gets taken into the police station and there's the chief and gets smart.
That was, yes, very distracting, just waiting for that music.
Where's a shoe phone? Yeah, I think it does some pretty good drunk acting. We met Plano in the police station who has just killed six dogs, six puppies. I thought that's a bold move.
It's so it's such an awful story, and he's got this little smile on his face every now and again. And the music that that orchestral fifties cinematic music, I'm always like someone's going to die, like it just it just scares me. So it's we've been trained to think that if there's this beautiful orchestral music, that maybe some sudden like symbol clash will happen and someone will die. So I was on edge this whole film starting there, and.
It was that'score played through most of the film.
Yeah, yeah, totally.
Yeah. But it's such a bold move and I wonder if anyone would You wouldn't don't think you'd see it. Now they have one of your your main characters who you're supposed to empathize with it. Yeah, just killing six puppies so awful.
So he that's his crime. That's why he's down there, and they're basically just saying to him, why did you do it? Kid? And he's like very quiet, self spoken, very eerie character.
Yeah he got he got the that we need to talk about Kevin coming.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And Natalie Woods down there because.
She miss curfew.
Yes, yeah, yeah, I found that Natalie would when you think of the Natalie would father oh man.
The whole parental dynamics in this are very distressing. So she is you expect that maybe there's something going on at home with her, yes, and then when you see her with her dad, it's kind of her desire to be closer to her father, and he's trying to push her away because she's getting older and it's very It's just so did it freak you out?
I thought it was very weird. I thought there there other ways you could demonstrate her not getting that love at home.
Yeah, kiss her father on the It's just like, I don't want to be judgmental of this film because it is a different time, but also it's so weird.
It is really and there's weirdness, and there's brilliant parts in this movie. And I do, I really love it. But but I think that if you're watching a film now, you would go, these are the things that are wrong with it and rate it, you know, lose a star or two. But because it's nine fifty five, if you forgive some things, I think it's a really it's a
really great film. And but that is I mean, I would have if I was the family counselor, I probably would have said, Okay, okay, guys, how about you don't kiss you down the mouth?
Yeah, let's go with hugs.
Let's go hugs. You know, this is all pre COVID nineteen two.
Get those hugs.
You don't know what's ahead of you. And and maybe, but you know, if she happens to slip up and kiss you on the mouth, dad, maybe don't over reax so you know, like have a word.
Yeah it just maybe let's not do that anymore instead of a very vicious slap across the face. But again, it's the fifties, we're not judging. So that's her crime. She's miss Curfew and she's this gorgeous little like she's absolutely stunning out of He would, I couldn't, and I was a bit distracted by the fact that I know the films that she's been in, but I hadn't seen
this one yet. But James Steen has this like the way his whole like he is drunk in this scene, but it's like the camera follows him around.
Yeah.
Yeah, he commands the space like no one else. And I was really taken by him until he giggled, and then I was freaked out.
He does have a moment, and this is where I might suggest I'm not sure if he was actually drunk, because he does have a moment where often that happens when people are drunk acting, Especially they're drunk drunk acting for a while the scene's long, or it's multiple scenes, you always watch out for a bit where they sound
like they sober up at the point where they're supposed to. Like, you know, he has a moment with the chief where he kind of actually kind of comes around and he kind of says, you know, some things about I forget what it was, but you know when he takes me into his office and he just sounds all of a sudden, he sounds sober for like two lines, and then he went back to being drunk.
Yeah, and then he kind of stumbles off his chair.
Yeah, and then he offers his jacket to the public killer. He's often come up in this podcast signs of and I think it's really important for characters that have setting up a sense of nobility about them. And I think, you know, you could write James, you know, the character Jim Off as an idiot if you wanted to. But him offering the jacket to the young boy is, you know, is his sense of nobility. Yeah.
He's a very kind character and you can tell he's very troubled. You don't know exactly why. The title kind of clues you into the fact that there's probably no reason except that he just hasn't really found his identity. And I did. I did keep thinking, I mean, I'm going to sound like I'm studying this school. But which you did?
I did?
He did?
Yes.
I kept thinking, what is it that he is rebelling against? And I think it's just he doesn't have a sense of self. Yeah, he doesn't know who he is. He hasn't had roots anywhere in his childhood. You just see that his parents, as soon as anything goes wrong, they pick up and leave. So he's just rebelling against this system that won't let him be himself. Which if I was writing an essay, that would be the sweetest line.
And it isn't so frustrating because he's such a you can tell he's a kind character.
Yeah, yeah, Yeah. And the whole chicken thing, I mean, that's very nine to fifty five, isn't it. I Mean, if one of my kids came home and the worst thing that was happening is that somebody called him chicken and you've had to move towns, like, come on, grow.
Up some And also, do you do a drag race just because someone.
Calls the drag race, we're skipping ahead of bit, that's okay, the drag race happens. Buzz dies. Yeah, And then for a while he felt like nobody cared, like he felt like they just went home and he gave he gives her a wink. He has a glass of milk.
This is the whole the whole time that the smile and the smiling, the laughing and the music confused me throughout the film. I could because it's a huge death. There is this dramatic looking over the cliff. No one cries. They all just start to back away from the cliff, and then some flirting starts.
Out straight away. So the Week from the Car was so that was so strange.
And is that a directorial thing? Like this is what I keep wondering. It's like, come on, we've got it. We've had a really dramatic moment. Let's just seize the matter of that moment and we'll start the love story right now.
Yeah, I know it was there had to be a period of grief, a period of shock, but there really there really wasn't like it all starts because I thought I did study it, like in year seven when I say study it, we watch it and then we wrote an essay about it. So I kind of had forgotten what was happening, and so it was like watching it again really that I was expecting when they kind of went home and the wink happened, and then the drinking
the milk. I thought, oh, maybe they just don't get shit, and maybe that doesn't happen any impact on the rest of the film, But it does, it does, but it is that weird couple of minutes afterwards.
It's probably the weirdest part of the film. And that's saying something, but we've gone too far. We've gone too far. We were opening up.
We were So let's talk about also Plata. Yeah, the young the puppy killer, because he's more than, he's more than just about so much more, he's so much more. So what what what were your thoughts on on on his character?
So he is obviously a neglected child. You see that he's got this, he's got a like a baby says, she's a housemaid. She's kind of his care essentially. And then you never see his parents, and at some point you see him come home and he opens up what he thinks is a letter from his dad and ends up being like child support or something like that, a check. So you just get this vibe from seeing him that he is. Yeah, there's a touch of the when you
talking about Kevin vibe to end. Yes, we know that he's killed these puppies, but he's a really young kid, and he's just got this longing face the whole time, like he just whenever anyone kind of walks past, he just wants to connect with someone. It actually made me feel really sad. It made me think of all those kids that you grew up with who would spend a lot of time in the library by themselves, or would
kind of hang around corners like it. Just this brought up so many emotions for me as a teenager just looking back at the specifically the three main characters. But Plato is I didn't know. I couldn't really read his vibe if there was like a sexuality thing going on here, if he was trying to come out and maybe he hadn't.
Well I can I can answer a little bit of that because in my research of the filmy Nicholas Ray, a sleazy director, got together with James Deen and sol Mineo and who played Plato, and they discussed the idea that he is he was gay okay, and that he kind of basually had a crush on Gym yep. But they would never It's ninety fifty five, so they kind
of had everything had to be kind of subtle. Yes, so he actually went on open and to score I think the Best Supporting Actor nominate nomination, which you know, this the bit of research I said would actually make in the first LGBTQI. Yeah, character to be nominated. But when he opens the first clue is when he is at school and he opens the locker, there's are's a
picture like of a mate idol locker. Okay, yeah, so and there's all these I mean, you know, it's the longing he has, the way he looks, and I think James Dean said to him, you need to look at me the way I look at Natalie would.
Yeah, which he definitely does, maybe even more so. Yeah, And there's there's a couple of references. I think he says at one point, do you want to come home with me? And he just goes, this is not just so can we hang out? Like he's he just so badly wants to connect.
Yeah. Yeah. I mentioned earlier that I think James Dean is at his best when he's doing the quieter yes acting, and there's a combination of this. We might play a scene now this is James staying on the stairs when he's kind of caught between his two parents metaphorically and in the actual action, and confess to the crime to his parents, and he's wanting to go to the police station. Then this happens.
Well, it doesn't matter anyway, because we're moving.
I'm not tearing me loose again. Well, this is news to me.
Just why are we moving?
Do I have to spell on?
I'm not going to use me as.
An excuse again.
I don't.
Every time you can't face yourself, you'll blame it on me.
That is not true.
You say it's because of me.
You say it's because of the neighborhood.
No, you use every other funny excuse.
Mom.
I just once I want to do something right and I don't want.
You to run away from me again.
This is all going too fast.
You're gotter give me something.
You better give me something fast.
Jimmy, you're very young at least decision not gond wreck your whole life in ten years.
You'll never know this even.
Had to answer.
Tell her ten years.
Sad.
Let me hear you answer her. Okay, Dad, stand up for me.
Stand if you want.
To get your own father.
Varies the music.
Uh, that's a good saying.
Such a great scene and he's absolutely at his best when in those quiet moments, that bit where he goes, Dad, I need something, Yeah, you need to show me something.
I forgot how like weak the father character is. He's so it's so frustrating to watch that. Yeah, he's amazing actually.
In an apron Yeah, you know when he's watching.
It, he's completely emaculated.
Absolutely. Yeah, and yeah, it's such a great scene. And the mum is it's funny because they're not trying to get us to empathize with the mum really at all. It's just only at the end do you just kind of show any kind of you know, it's that whole it's that almost sitcomedy kind of thing of going okay, arms around and let's all go off and then we're all happy families. Yeah again, But I also wanted to ask you about the what do you think of the chemistry with Natalie Wood and James Dean.
It It doesn't really strike me as as chemistry at all. I found it. I don't feel like they looked at each other a great deal. There wasn't heaps of eye contact. I felt more emotion between Plato and Jim. I definitely felt like there was more of a connection there. But then between the duty and Jim character, like she turned
she turned quite quickly towards him. You know, her boyfriend was killed essentially not by him, but because of something that they agreed to do, and she pretty much watches his car blow up over a cliff and then turns around and is like, well, you're the closest person here. That's the vibe that I got from it.
Yeah, there was no there was no real effort to build that relationship because she had been you know, even to be honest when they met and she was kind of still hanging out with the Tough gang and with the buzz. Do you think the feeling that she was kind of looking over at him, kind of going, oh that maybe I should be over there with that guy.
Not at all. She was kind of mean to him the whole time. And she references that she says at some point, you know, sorry, I don't listen to me when I'm with the other kids, and you're like, you're still a piece of shit. Is not really the other kids?
And I have to say I thought the kissing scenes between them were like there were like there was no job movement last Sunder. It's like kids, kind of like eight year olds, you're kissing for the first time behind their grands back.
It was triggering. It was triggering to watch those kissing scenes and to think back to those awkward kisses that you have where you don't know if you're going to lean in or not properly, and then you connect, but
you don't know when you're going to disconnect. It was just at one point, there's this really big close up of them and I think they're in the house towards the end of the film, and she's like trying to make contacts with his lips, and I think it goes for about two minutes before they actually kiss, and I found myself just creeping to the edge of my chair. Is it gonna happen or not? Guys, what's going on here? Very awkward?
So so going into this film, what were the things so you basically knew James Dean that that was the shadow that loomed over this production or did you know any scenes or did you know much about what the film was about or I.
Thought it would be footloose, right, I really did. I was like the clues in the title, I think it's going to be Footloose, you know, but except in Footlooth, they kind of had more to rebel against. And I knew just from clips that I had seen of James Deen that he did have a bit of the Jimmy Stewarts about him. That he was, you know, he had, like you said, in this quiet moments, he's really compelling,
he's exciting to watch, and he's so handsome. But then in those melodramatic moments, you just feel like, I didn't know whether it's the director needing to say, hey, maybe don't do that, or whether they just let him do anything. And I'm really curious as well if they knew how big he was going to be at the time.
Well this is instinct because he came off. This was supposed to be shot in black and white, and then they came well, they came on. He came off East of Eden and it was a huge hit, and the head of the studio just thought, oh, we have a genuine superstar on our hands here. They invested more money.
They'd already shot some scenes in but they shot the fighting, the fight scene in black and white, and they had like three times the amount of extras in the in the gang and like the crowd around, and they invested all the money into the reshoots and the color. So they kind of then made They saved the money. They lost half the extras and then they had you know, eight extras around around the fight.
But they saved teams of money because they canceled all of Dennis Hopper's line. I can't get over.
So then he so he made and then he made this, and then he made and he died before this film was released, and he made Giant. He must have gone straight onto the set of Giant. Speaking of which he did an interview which is available on the Rebel with Our Cause DVD for those who are still by DVDs and you watch it online, will play for you. Now, this is an interview with James Dean to promote Without Cause. But he's in his is just walk from the set
of Giant. He's in his cowboy gear and obviously we know what happens to James James Dean not long after this interview happen. It's a little speaking.
We probably have a great many young people watching our short night and for their benefit, I'd like your opinion about fast driving on the highway.
Do you think it's a good idea, A good point. I used to fly around quite a bit, you know, I took a lot of unnecessary chances on the highways and I started racing. And now I drive on the highways. I'm extra cautious because no one knows what they're doing.
Half the time.
You don't know what this guy is going to do with that one. On a track, there are a lot of men who spend a lot of time developing rules and ways of safety, and I find myself being very cautious on the highway. I don't have the urge to speed on the highway. People say racing is dangerous, but I'll take my chances on the track any day. Then on a highway, gig, I think a better take off. One more question.
Do you have any special advice for the young people who drive?
Take it easy to drive in life? You might say it might be mine.
Oh my gosh, yeah, it would have been weeks if not, yeah, weeks after that.
Oh that's eerie.
Yeah, that's yeah, it is. It's funny. When you watch any any of the three films, you may you can't help, but like you said earlier, you can't watch without actually kind of having that or that knowing what happened.
Yeah, the culture of James scene is bigger than James. That's so scary just to hear that, and also just to think of his like that, so much talent, such a young guy, a beautiful voice, and yeah, I mean I'm obviously smitten, but he is his gorgeous and you can just see if you know, it happens with so many, so many people that die young, you know, like Jeff Buckley. It was the same things that you listen to that
voice and then you it really is. It's so affecting and you can't help it being affecting if you do try and take away like I tried to watch. I watched the second half of it twice because I just thought, I just want to not be distracted by seeing it for the first time. And he I think they must have just let him run loose and do whatever he wanted on that set, Like he really looks untethered.
It's interesting because all the research that suggests that he was. Some people said he pretty much directed it, like he had months of working with Sleees Bag Nicholas Ray leading into it, and then often on set, you know, he would have ideas and be allowed to do things and yeah, so I know one of the actors. I'm not sure I might have been. Denis Hoppers said he felt like actually James Dean was directing.
Yeah, it just had He looked like he commanded the whole set. It really had that vibe about it. It's so sad because all three of them, Summoner and Natalie Wood all died young.
From what I've read some I died with stabs, yeah, and Natalie Wood was it a drug over?
Do I think it might have been?
Yeah, yeah, so she died. They all yeah, three of them died quite young. And yeah, so fun fact before we move on to some of the other movies that you love that you mentioned earlier. The character Philip J. Fright in Futurama is his wardrobe is based on, as I said, Nicholas James Dean, James Dean. So there's a fun fact as we move on from the fact that James Dean died in the car knash and all of his co stars. This movie was obviously cursed, definitely rebel
without a curse. Great film, Susie. Thank you so much for joining us. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Thank you for having me.
Just before we go. Is there anything you've seen with a movie or a TV show that you want to kind of let everybody know about.
Okay, I have two things to say here. The first is I loved Parasite, but I have not seen the last ten minutes because I watched it on two flights and the entertainment system cut out and I have somehow managed not to find out what the last minutes. But what a cliffhanger. I don't know what's going to happen.
So what bit did you get up to?
I got up to the older couple downstairs. I think the old man is dying and the old woman is escaping, but she's got a severe concussion. So yeah, and that there's a party going on. They haven't been caught yet, but I assume they're just about to. Right, So you've got maybe it's twenty minutes.
I think it's closer to thirty.
Okay.
Wow, Yeah, there's a bit that happened.
I can't wait to see that.
I've seen it twice. Yeah, I loved it. Okay, I loved it, so okay, So Parasite.
Yes, And the most recent film that I've seen that I completely loved it is Jojo Rabbit.
It was great, wasn't it. Yeah, my kids to go see it, gosh and.
Some dark stuff.
Yes, I'll be your kids.
Yeah.
My youngest is eleven, and you know I've spoken about the Nazis and the Rabbits chat the chat, and but they all love. They all really loved it. Like sometimes you know, I drag my kids film. Sometimes it's dragging. Sometimes they're really keen to see it. But they looked over it and they were all kind of like smiling through out and as much you know, obviously not the darker bits, but the a lot of fun.
It's so funny.
Yeah.
Oh that just reminds me who plays the the officer, Sam Roll? How much do you love Sam Rockwell?
Sam Rockwell? I just saw him in I was over there load Fringe and I saw him in Clint Eastwood's film Richard Jewel and he I saw that with Tom Gileison and Will Anderson and we were just all saying, how great Sam Rockwell is. And I was like Kathy bateses in that film and we love and it's great because the leading that film in rich George is I really I really enjoyed. It's about the Atlanta bombing. At the Olympics is and I forget the actor's name, but
it was in Itonia. He can't play the dipshit who wanted to be a CIA, you know. And but he actually, weirdly, he plays a similar character. He's actually it's everything he's seen is kind of true. He is a security guard. He does want to be more like a working with the police. But it's a really lovely performance. But it's so good that they have these really great actors around him and Sam Rockwell, have you seen Fossy Verdon? No,
that's amazing, Okay, I love him. That's about Bob Fossey and Gwen Verdon and they made like cabre on Stay to the First Time and a few other famous musicals. And it is. It's an eight part six or eight part series HBO Michelle Williams, and it's a masterclass for everything, for performance, for directing, for writing, for cinematography. It is. You'll love it. Thank you for the recommendation, my pleasure, Susie. Thank you so much. Now let's all go in the lockdown and.
See you at the end of the podcast.
What a delight, Susie yusuf is that was such a fun film to watch again. Like I said, I had studied that in year ten. And when I say studied that, we watched it. It was rolled at the front of the class in VHS and we watched it and wrote some things about it. It was great to reminisce about a nostalgic classic, Jimmy Dean at his best and how creepy is that interview before he sadly passed, So thanks
Susie for doing that. I really appreciate all the comics and all the guests who come on Most podcasts, you just rock up and talk shit. This actually podcast does ask our guests to put some time into to watch the movie and to come with some thoughts. So Susie did that in space. Thanks sus for doing that. You can catch Susie on the Sunday Project and of course Rose Haven and when the world opens back up again, she'll be storming the stages once again next week on
the show. Before we get to next week on next episode. Thank you to my podcast manager, Derek Meiers Castaway Studios dot com dot au. If you're looking to get a podcast off the ground or just continue your podcast, Derek is the man to talk to who will take care of you. He's done a fantastic job on you. Ain't seen nothing yet. Also Circus Tree Sounds, Jimmy and Tommy
will take care of you. If you need any boutique audio needs for your short film, your feature film, your tvc whatever it may be, Tommy and Jimmy will take care of you. Thanks to our sponsors Dan Movies, Damn Movies dot com dot au. Nobody beat stands on price, So thanks everyone. Keep the letters coming in. I'm loving the emails at Yasney podcast dot com dot au from all around the world. I do appreciate it. Next week
is an app slute cracker. I get to sit down face to face at his apartment with my great mate Tommy Little who Ozsie Listeners will know from many things, but the project he is on and he is quite the character. Is a great mate. And I was shocked when Tommy told me he had never seen die Hard. I basically chased him down after I heard that and made him do this podcast. We do it over a couple of drinks. This is where being sponsored by Dan Murphy is really paid off. So that is next week
Tommy Little chatting about die Hard. If you haven't seen it, check it out. I'm sure many many of you have that will be coming up next on You ain't seen nothing yet.
And so we leave all Pete see man sal and to our friends of the radio audience, we've been a pleasant, good time m hm.