The final podcast on Have You Ever Seen in Black History Month talks for the 4th time about a movie with a primarily black cast. Otto Preminger often directed Issues Movies and here he's dealing with the Gershwin opera that's all about murder, rape, drug addiction, fishing and poverty…with some racism thrown in there too. Porgy And Bess is set-bound and melodramatic though. Bad print aside, the story and the execution often feel phony. The actors DO sell the passion better than the script or maybe even the original opera does. Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Brock Peters, Diahann Carroll and Sammy Davis Jr. actually do a terrific job with this not-always-effective material. So tune in for this 721st episode as I tackle yet another musical here in 2026: Porgy And Bess.

Well, Actually: George Gershwin DID write the song "Summertime" for the 1935 opera, but DuBose Heyward came up with the lyrics. Also, for those interested in my quest to see absolutely, positively everything AFI-related, there are developments on that front (other nominated films on various lists) that will be discussed in future shows.

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As February winds down, I spend a lot of time in this 'un talking about 2 versions of Camille where a courtesan's life is ending because of tuberculosis. The main thrust of this 720th episode is George Cukor's take with Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor, then I zipped through a review of the 1921 Camille with Alla Nazimova and Rudolph Valentino. They're both weeper love stories where the men won't take "no" for an answer from the "lady of the Camellias". One of these is better than the other, but..which one?! So grip the love of your life hard by the shoulders and continue to be handsomely poor as my latest dose of Have You Ever Seen has plenty to say about Garbo et al in Camille(s).

Well, Actually: Luise Rainer won Best Actress for The Great Ziegfeld the year before, while the Oscar win in 1937 was for The Good Earth. Also, Garbo was 5th (not 4th) on the ladies' side of the Top 100 Stars list. Also also, Garbo's co-star in Ninotchka was Melvyn Douglas, not William Powell.

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Black History Month has inspired me to cover 3 (of what will be 4) race-related movies in February, but Pinky is the most overt about that charged topic. Ethel Waters has a key role as Jeanne Crain's granny in Elia Kazan's complicated movie...while Crain plays a mixed-race woman who passes for white, dealing with mean-spirited racism in the south while her boyfriend just wants her to go back up north and be white. Pinky turns into a courtroom movie after the dying Ethel Barrymore's racist rich neighbour decides to leave her house to her nurse (Crain)...and the will ends up being contested. I also spent some time talking earnestly about the evolution of race and racism...and about my own history with it. So don't let me guilt you into doing something you don't want to do. Except I'll collapse and probably DIE if you don't put your ears to the 719th ep on Have You Ever Seen. (now THAT's guilt!)

Well, Actually: the line about "sometimes when you win, you actually lose" is of course not from When Harry Met Sally...it's from White Men Can't Jump. Also, Kazan was nominated 5 times for Best Director, not 6.

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The email address is "[email protected]". The Twitter handle is "@moviefiend51". And the Bluesky nickname is "ryan-ellis".

Presidents' Day? Bah! Let's talk about a movie a certain POTUS would NEVER watch. Stormy Weather is a somewhat biographical musical about the life of dancing legend Bill Robinson...with Lena Horne, Dooley Wilson, Fats Waller & Cab Calloway sharing the screen with Bojangles. Black people dominate director Andrew Stone's canvas, even though race isn't really the point here. Stormy Weather is just about talented people (including The Nicholas Brothers) singing, dancing and being talented. Fun times, good movie. So download the 718th episode of Have You Ever Seen to get the lowdown from this white Canadian.

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Contact options are "@moviefiend51" and "ryan-ellis" on Twi-X and Bluesky, while my email address is "[email protected]".

There's no better way to celebrate both Valentine's Day AND also my birthday than by talking about Hell Or High Water! David Mackenzie's layered Robin Hood-esque modern western was my #1 movie of 2016, partly because entire cast is fantastic. Jeff Bridges was nominated for his supporting work, but Ben Foster is even better. And Taylor Sheridan's Texas-set story they're all in is complex because we're rooting for guys who rob banks…and yet everyone other than the retiring Texas Ranger throw their chips in with the thieves Foster and Chris Pine. I also spent a lot of time in this rehashing the infamous 2016 Oscars, but for GOOD reasons. So what DON'T you want, little brother, as I foot my hat to present the 717th edition of Have You Ever Seen.

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I'd like to know what's buzzin', cousins, as I bring you the 716th podcast on Have You Ever Seen. Preston Sturges was making a lot of hay in the early '40s, releasing The Lady Eve AND Sullivan's Travels the year before The Palm Beach Story came out. Palm Beach isn't as classic or as funny as THOSE two are, but it's an effectively zany, fast-talkin' rom-com. Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea make for a compelling married NYC couple. She tries to divorce him (you'll never guess where), so she can marry a rich man like Rudy Vallee...and then help her ex out by getting him some money out of the deal. If you think THAT'S whacky, wait until the out-of-deep-left-field ending! But The Palm Beach Story IS a fun time and I've got all kinds of stories to tell about it.

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After yesterday's episode about the unchosen 450 actors & actresses who were in fact nominated for the AFI's Top 100 Stars list, now it's time to begin a quest. I will review the films of MANY of the 180-ish folks who this podcast has never discussed. And since Eddie Cantor, Ann Sothern, George Murphy & the Nicholas Brothers are in Kid Millions and the Three Stooges are in Soup To Nuts, I'm knocking 5 names off the "must-cover" list in 1 double episode! This 715th show on Have You Ever Seen digs into the musical-comedy adventure about Cantor inheriting a lot of money (Kid), then it's time for a zany goof about romance & chowderhead firefighters (Nuts). So strap in to hear about these two B&W romps from the '30s as my quest to talk about the previously-unreviewed AFI acting nominees takes flight.

Well, Actually: at around the 16-minute mark, the line should have been "these are white actors playing Muslim Africans", not "Muslim Americans".

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Surprise! I didn't say during Monday's episode that I'd be posting 2 podcasts later in the same week, but here's the first one. Here I'm talking about the American Film Institute's Top 100 Stars list, which was really 50 stars (25 men, 25 women). Although their odd numbering method isn't really the point…and neither is their dumb criteria. No, this 714th Have You Ever Seen podcast is REALLY about the 450 people who were nominated, but didn't make the cut. My plan is to review as many of the 180-ish up-until-now-omitted actors & actresses as I possibly can in the months and years ahead. So if you ever wanted to hear a guy rattling off about 500 names, then this monologue about the AFI's Old-Timey Actors is your dream episode! Oh, and tune in again tomorrow when I begin this quest by talking about 2 B&W '30s comedies: Kid Millions and Soup To Nuts.

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It may be Groundhog Day, but I'm talking about Show Boat, the Hammerstein & Kern Broadway musical that was turned into a big-budget movie. Any film with singing that also has subplots about deadbeat husbands, alcoholism and racism (and a scene with blackface) risks failing to pull off such a tricky balance, but Frankenstein director James Whale DOES make it work. He's got Irene Dunne, Allan Jones and Paul Robeson in key roles in the one where performers on a touring boat in the Deep South…eventually end up in Chicago for about half of the often erroneously-titled movie. So let this ol' man podcaster talk to you about "Ol' Man River" (and so much more) in this 713th dash of Have You Ever Seen podcasting.

Well, Actually: around the 39:00 mark, the line SHOULD have been that Hammerstein and RODGERS (not Kern) were especially big in the '50s.

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Character actor extraordinaire Edmond O'Brien's insurance investigator is actually the focus in Robert Siodmak's The Killers, but Burt Lancaster is quite powerful in his big-screen debut. And then there's the stunning Ava Gardner as the devious femme fatale. The entire cast is solid, the story is layered in its flashback structure (which is similar to Citizen Kane), plus, the main insurance-claim storyline is similar to what happens in Double Indemnity. And it all works really well. So steal money from your fellow thieves as the 712th podcast on Have You Ever Seen looks at the sinister intrigue and sudden violence in The Killers.

Well, Actually: at the 41:00 minute mark, the line should have been "co-starring a WOMAN who doesn't love the main character."

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