This week, I was so pleased to welcome one of the best film writers currently working today - the wonderful Sheila O'Malley - to the podcast. A regular film critic for RogerEbert.com and a member of the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle, Sheila's work has also appeared in Film Comment, The New York Times, The L.A. Times, Criterion Collection, Sight & Sound, and other outlets.

Additionally, a scene from her full-length script July and Half of August was turned into a short film, which played at the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience, as well as at EbertFest. She's also written the narration scripts for two tribute reels played at the Lifetime Achievement Oscar ceremony, one for recipient Gena Rowlands (read by Angelina Jolie) and one for recipient Anne V. Coates (read by Diane Lane). Always a must-read, when she isn't doing everything else, Sheila writes about actors, movies, and Elvis at her outstanding personal site, The Sheila Variations.

Extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the art of acting and classic film, in this richly researched episode, Sheila joins me to dissect the movies (and mores!) of Hollywood's notorious pre-code era, including The Public Enemy, the original Scarface, Three on a Match, Baby Face, and Design for Living.

Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

Originally Posted on Patreon (7/21/21) with links to items discussed here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/53958553