Lions, Towers & Shields

AUDIO FIXED: Join us for peak 1950s MGM musical. If that doesn’t interest you, I can’t help. Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse dance their hearts out, Oscar Levant levants, and Vincente Minnelli does his usual excellent job as director. We take issue with the plot and at least one of the main characters, but it’s entertaining. And I like the triplets number.

The Band Wagon

Shelly Brisbin with David Almeida, Micheline Maynard, Randy Dotinga and David J. Loehr

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The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we’ll watch

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Susan Hayward won an Oscar. Susan Hayward was a protégé and fan of Barbara Stanwyck. Susan Hayward would like NOT to be put to death for her part in murder, please. Robert Wise (Star Trek: The Motion Picture AND The Sound of Music) directs. And this film showcases not only Miss Hayward, but a crazy intense jazz score. Unlike the usual “women in prison” pictures, this one features a protagonist who is not misunderstood, or innocent of all charges. She’s a hooker, and a lifelong criminal. But does she deserve the death penalty? Based, as they say, on a true story.

I Want To Live

Shelly Brisbin with Micheline Maynard

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Previously, on Lions, Towers & Shields, we’ve talked about one western. It was an unusual one, and included themes a modern audience tends to read as gay. Well guess what? We’re doing it again. Desert Fury puts Lizbeth Scott, Bert Lancaster and John Hodiak into a love triangle. Film noir expert Eddie Muller says this is the gayest movie ever produced in classic Hollywood. But is it? Please enjoy the lush color, and the Miklos Rosza score. And look, there’s Mary Astor and Kristine Miller, too. So we have a very noir cast getting together to ride a present-day version of the range.

Desert Fury

Shelly Brisbin with Randy Dotinga, Nathan Alderman and Micheline Maynard

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The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

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An entertainer from the rural south rises to become a political demagogue. And he’s played by Andy Griffith. This is all kinds of messed up! It’s actually a great film, with A LOT to say to us in the 21st Century. It’s directed by Elia Kazan, and also stars Patricia Neal.

A Face in the Crowd

Shelly Brisbin with Micheline Maynard, Brandon Rottinghaus and Monty Ashley

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In 1970, Arthur Hailey’s blockbuster book, Airport, became the first film in that decade’s disaster movie cycle. It also led to three more Airport films, and the adaptation of Zero Hour (also a Hailey story) into Airplane!. This second installment, Airport 1975, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It straddles the line between big budget, all-star A picture (the original), and implausible 70s schlock, as observed in the final two Airport films. Here, we’re also treated to appearances by classic stars, including Gloria Swanson and Myrna Loy. I am contractually obliged to say that Charlton Heston is the hero.

Airport 1975

Shelly Brisbin with Micheline Maynard and David J. Loehr

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We close out International Summer Vacation with a film most of us haven’t seen, or even heard of. It comes to us from Argentina, and director Carlos Hugo Christensen. It’s based on a story by noir stalwart, Cornell Woolrich, and consists of two stories involving the door of the title. It’s also notable for incredible cinematography from Pablo Tabernero. The Film Noir Foundation restored, and is showing the film around the country at FNF’s Noir City festivals this year.

Never Open That Door

Shelly Brisbin with Micheline Maynard, Nathan Alderman and Randy Dotinga

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The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

The fall season of LTS begins in October.

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We return to France for King of Hearts, directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Alan Bates and Geneviève Bujold. The suggestion to see this film comes from our own Erika Ensign, who praises its anti-war message, among other attributes. The film is set in a small French town during World War I, after the locals have fled the battle. Residents of a nearby asylum escape and take over the town. The film was made in 1966, in the shadow of French involvement in the Vietnam War.

King of Hearts

Shelly Brisbin with Erika Ensign, Nathan Alderman, Randy Dotinga and Micheline Maynard

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The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we’ll watch

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Tokyo Story is on numerous lists of the best films of all time. It’s in my personal top five. This movie is considered the masterpiece by legendary filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu, and it stars his luminous muse, Setsuko Hara. Tokyo Story is a black and white time capsule of life in Japan after World War II and depicts how the war and Japan’s modernization disrupted its family dynamic. Compared with the boldness of Akira Kurosawa’s movies, it’s sedate and thoughtful, and you may easily find yourself shedding a tear or two.

Tokyo Story

Micheline Maynard with Shelly Brisbin and Nathan Alderman

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The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

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Next time, we’ll watch

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Starring Joan Crawford is Samuel Garza Bernstein’s new appreciation of the screen queen. It’s a great book, and I wanted you to meet the author, Samuel Garza Bernstein. We’ve known each other since I was 16. These two things are only partially related.

Starring Jaon Crawford

Shelly Brisbin with Samuel Garza Bernstein

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Author Interview

The Self-Referential LTS

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Forgive a film noir detour during our international vacation season. This is episode 100, and so I’ve picked a movie I love, and that feels right in the collective LTS wheelhouse. James M. Cain’s story of betrayal and murder was directed by Billy Wilder, and stars Barbara Stanwyck (natch), Fred McMurray and Edward G. Robinson. This film is full of dynamite lines, crazy sexual chemistry, and noir lighting for days.

Double Indemnity

Shelly Brisbin with David J. Loehr, Nathan Alderman, Micheline Maynard, Annette Wierstra and Randy Dotinga

Get in touch with the show at [email protected] or on the socials.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

**Next time, we’ll talk to the author of a new film book!

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