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

Shelly Brisbin with Nathan Alderman, Micheline Maynard and Philip Michaels

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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

Shelly Brisbin with Samuel Garza Bernstein

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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

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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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By request, we take on this late-50s musical, directed by Stanley Donan. Our stars are Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn and Kay Thompson. (I’ll have lots to say about Kay.) Revolving, as it does around the fashion industry in Paris, Funny Face is pretty to look at, including many great costumes. It also features songs by the Gershwins and some better ones that are not by them.

Funny Face

Shelly Brisbin with David Almeida, Lisa Schmeiser, Micheline Maynard, Erika Ensign 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

The Self-Referential LTS

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Fritz Lang directed a pair of noirs in the mid-40s, starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea. The other is Woman in the Window. In Scarlet Street Eddie G. Is a mild-mannered cashier who meets Kitty, a beauty who might not mean him well. And then Dan Duryea gets involved. Like any self-respecting noir classic, this one is nice to look at, and even features twelve paintings created for the film. In real-life, Eddie collected art and Dan Duryea was a nice man.

Scarlet Street

Shelly Brisbin with Philip Michaels, Dr. Drang, 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

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.