Episode description

And...Action! This week Flashback jumps to the more-recent past to discuss (for the first time!) Hollywood history. Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Manchester Naomi Sutton joins to discuss Robert Altman's 1992 film, The Player. This meta, Hollywood thriller-satire follows an anxious studio executive trying to a: save his job and b: get away with murder. Naomi and I discuss how his attempts at both reflect the changing dynamics of the movie business in the 1980s and 90s, Altman's career, how celebrities changed the film industry, and women's place in the production side of Hollywood, with some detours to AI, remakes, and romcoms along the way. And for eagle-eared listeners: thanks for bearing with us as we deal with some light technical issues this week!

You can find more of Naomi's work on women in Hollywood at US Studies Online.

We've moved to bluesky! Please follow us there at @flashbackhistory.bsky.social

Flashback is graciously supported by the University of Oxford's Rothermere American Institute

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