This week on THE ELLROY BOYS...

Brendan and Sam are joined by dear friend and honorary Ellroy Boy, jack, the perfume nationalist, to discuss a mutual favorite work, James M. Cain's masterpiece, Mildred Pierce. And while we spend some time talking about the book, its origin, and all of it's adaptations, we concentrate on the best one: the Michael Curtiz version. It's a bizarre and baroque masterpiece and we celebrate it's strange power, the torrid and fascinating life of Joan Crawford, how the film revolves around unspoken & unrequited incestuous lesbian longing, the brilliance of Curtiz, why it's not a feminist picture, Cain's big 3, the madness of actors, and much, much more. Thirtysomething is even talked about. On another note, Blauer is unfortunately not on the episode but he's absolutely there in spirit. This is our second look at a Cain noir, so go ahead and re-listen to the Double Indemnity episode if you need a primer.

featuring jack @lotus__point, brendan @luso_brendan, and sam @rubberwidow