Lions, Towers & Shields

Is this the first LTS episode during which one panelist offered to smack another? Let me know in the comments.

The 1940s were, among other things, the era of the composer biopic. Most were sanitized depictions of their subjects, but “Night and Day” works extra hard not to be truthful about its subject, Cole Porter. All this, while still doing him the enormous favor of casting Cary Grant to play him. Oh, did I mention that the film has been restored by Warner Archive, so we’ll have a pretty print to see?

Night and Day

Host Shelly Brisbin with David J. Loehr, Micheline Maynard, Nathan Alderman, and Philip Michaels.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our new LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we’ll watch

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In 1932, Joan Crawford made Letty Lynton, a film that represented a milestone in her career. But it’s barely been seen since the 1930s. That’s because of a thorny legal dispute over a story that the movie’s only partially based on. Thanks to one of her grandsons and the Warner Archive, Letty is now available to view on disc or steaming. We’ll tell you the story of its long journey back to the screen, and all about “that dress”.

Letty Lynton

Host Shelly Brisbin with Micheline Maynard, Nathan Alderman, and Randy Dotinga.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our new LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we’ll watch

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Nicholas Ray makes his film debut directing “They Live By Night,” a noir love story. Not your usual, noir dude obsessed by a bad woman, but an actual relationship, conducted under trying circumstances. Kathy O’Donnell and Farley Granger made a couple of films together, but this is the best. Enjoy Howard de Silva as a mean gangster. He has no dance numbers. The film is based on the novel, “hieves Like Us”. It’s genuinely one of my favorites, and so it becomes my birthday pick.

They Live By Night

Host Shelly Brisbin with Nathan Alderman, Micheline Maynard, and Philip Michaels.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our new LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

We’ll be back in October with more classic movie takes.

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Author (and friend of the show) Samuel Garza Bernstein is back with a story about a character who was central to Hollywood’s Golden Age and beyond. His new book, Roddy McDowall: An Actor’s Life - From “How Green Was My Valley” to “Lassie” to “Planet of the Apes” is the story of a child star who became a beloved friend to many in the Hollywood community. We last spoke with Sam in 2024 when his book about Joan Crawford book was published.

Roddy McDowall

Host Shelly Brisbin with Samuel Garza Bernstein.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our new LTS BookShop.org page.

Next time, we’ll watch

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Here is an early film by David Lean about a chance encounter at a train station that leads to complicated feelings for both parties. It’s “Brief Encounter.” Ceilia Johnson (ever heard of ‘er?) gives a nuanced, emotional performance. And the film is very real and down-to-earth, despite the intensity of the relationships depicted. It’s a love story, if you’re interested in genre things, but there’s plenty for cinephiles to appreciate as well.

Brief Encounter

Host Shelly Brisbin with Micheline Maynard and Annette Wierstra.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we’ll watch

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock. OK, I’m pretty much done. What else shall I say? WWII intrigue, a love story, a well-played villain. These are also things I could say. Also, the length of the kiss between Grant and Bergman put the Production Code office all in a tizzy.

Notorious

Host Shelly Brisbin with Micheline Maynard, David J. Loehr, Annette Wierstra, Randy Dotinga, and Philip Mozolak.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our new LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we’ll watch

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

It’s the final edition of Lions, Towers & Trek, wherein we feature someone from Star Trek: The Original Series in a film they made before the show. Here’s DeForest Kelley’s film debut; a rare lead role for him. DK is a man suspected of a crime, who must rely on his disjointed memories and his cop brother-in-law to learn what happened.

Fear in the Night

Host Shelly Brisbin with Nathan Alderman, Micheline Maynard, and David J. Loehr.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our new LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

If you’ve watched Star Trek, you’ve probably had your share of “I know that person” moments, when it comes to guest stars. So let us consider Ricardo Montalbån, long before he was Khan in Star Trek’s “Space Seed” episode, or the same character in the best of all Trek movies, “Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan”. Ricardo had a career in MGM musicals, though not primarily as a singer. Here is one, about the meta of making a movie that’s not too dissimilar from the movie we’re watching.

On An Island With You

Host Shelly Brisbin with Philip Michaels, Micheline Maynard, Nathan Alderman, and David J. Loehr.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our new LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

William Shatner made his film debut in this Richard Brooks adaptation of the Dostoevsky novel. Bill is the youngest of the brothers, and he’s fourth-billed, behind Yul Brynner and some other people we’ve seen before on LTS.

The Brothers Karamazov

Host Shelly Brisbin with David J. Loehr, Nathan Alderman, and Micheline Maynard.

Get in touch with the show at [email protected], Mastodon or Bluesky.

Check out our new LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

This summer we celebrate the intersection of classic film and Star Trek. And Lions, Towers & Trek begins with a big one. John Ford’s classic western is an uncomfortable masterpiece. There, that takes in those who admire the film, and those who don’t like what it seems to represent, or how women and natives fare in the hands of this director. Also, how do you feel about John Wayne, eh? We’re also here to speak about Jeffrey Hunter, Star Trek’s original Captain Pike. None of this was his fault!

The Searchers

Host Shelly Brisbin with Jason Snell, Philip Michaels, and Randy Dotinga.

Check out our LTS BookShop.org page.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.