The Holiday Show

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

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We return surprisingly often to the Hitchcock well, but his 1940s films are so interesting. Here is a gothic romantic mystery, with poor Joan Fontaine just trying to get her bearings in an old, dark house. Why are her new husband, Laurence Olivier, and his housekeeper, Judith Anderson, so mean to Joan, and what’s become of the cupid in the morning room? Join us and find out.

Rebecca

Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra, Micheline Maynard and Randy Dotinga

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The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

The Self-Referential LTS

Next time, we present

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A new film tells the story of Humphrey Bogart through the lens of the women who were most important in his life - his mother and his four wives. Shelly talks with Bogey’s son, Stephen Humphrey Bogart, about the new film.

Shelly Brisbin

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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

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

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

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 watch

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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

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 watch

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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

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 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.

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

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 watch

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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

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

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

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 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.