When Movies Were Good

There was only one person in Hollywood who could pull off a top hat and tuxedo as good as Fred Astaire and that was Marlene Dietrich. Despite the fame of Marlene's black tie ensemble, the two movies we will be discussing in this episode will feature the legendary actress in much less formal outfits. The first film, Destry Rides Again (1939), is a Western with equal combination of slapstick and gun toting. Dietrich portrays a cabaret singer in a corrupt saloon in the Wild West where if you just lose your money you've done ok. Jimmy Stewart is also in this film doing a fantastic job as the new sheriff in town who spends more time whittling than shooting. The next film is Touch of Evil (1958), a film noir directed and starred in by Orson Welles as well as Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. The film begins with what is perhaps the greatest single-take scene in history. Marlene Dietrich, portraying the long-term owner of a brothel frequented by Welles' character, only makes a relatively short appearance in this film. But those few minutes are all she needs to make a glamorous entrance and exit. Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We apologise for any disruptions in audio caused by our needing to record remotely to comply with COVID conditions.

After one dose of the original Frankenstein movie series we could not help coming back for more. After looking at the original Frankenstein movie (1931), we decided to finish watching the original Boris Karloff Frankenstein trilogy. So it is with great pleasure that we now present to you our thoughts on the two Frankenstein sequels that followed a few years after the original. These are The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). They include some impressive cast members including Bela Lugosi, famous for portraying Dracula, as well as Basil Rathbone, who would go on to star in one of the most famous series of Sherlock Holmes films. We advise that the Marlene Dietrich episode which was intended to be aired as episode 33 will now be released as episode 34.

Frankenstein (1931) and Dracula (1931), two of the most iconic horror movies in history. These motion pictures by Universal cemented the identity of their title characters in the popular imagination. They also changed forever how people dressed for Halloween. It took more than just a costume though to create a great character. Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi made these roles their own and all who followed them had big shoes to fill.

In this episode we talk about the iconic 'girl next door' Doris Day. We have selected two very contrasting movies in order to highlight the breadth of Day's talent. The first, Storm Warning (1951), features Doris alongside Ginger Rogers, Steve Cochran and Ronald Reagan. Day portrays the newly-wed wife of a man who she finds out too late is a member of the Ku Klux Klan. What's worse is that they have committed a vicious killing that her sister, played by Ginger Rogers, has witnessed. Next we discuss the very different Pillow Talk (1959), a romantic comedy in glamorous New York. In one of her most well-known roles Doris is caught in a romantic wild goose chase with her regular screen partner Rock Hudson.

From the Household Cavalry to Hollywood, Ray Milland is without doubt one of the great treasures of British screen acting. We look at two defining moments of his career. First we discuss his Oscar winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder’s noir drama The Lost Weekend (1945). Next we look at his superb portrayal of the cunning Tony Wendis in Alfred Hitchcock’s legendary adaptation of Frederick Knott’s play Dial M for Murder.

We were very excited to make this episode discussing two iconic movies by Rita Hayworth. Gilda (1946) with its sensuous musical number performed by Rita in a strapless ballroom gown with long gloves, is for many the most iconic and beautiful moment of the golden age of Hollywood. The second film, The Lady from Shanghai (1947), directed by and starring Rita’s then husband Orson Welles, is the epitome of Film Noir and also turned the appearance of Rita Hayworth on its head when she dyed her famous red hair blonde. We hope you enjoy hearing this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.

In this episode we look at two movies by a titan of English theatre and film. Rex Harrison is perhaps best known to modern audiences for his portrayal of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady as well as being the original Doctor Dolittle . In recent years he has become equally well known as a provocative individual who caused great conflict with crew members, co-stars, directors, ex-wives, current wives and waiters alike. At the end of the day he was at least still a very gifted actor and we had great joy watching two of his early films. The first we look at is a famous technicolor adaptation of Noel Coward's play Blithe Spirit (1945) when Charles becomes haunted, literally, by his ex-wife at a seance. In the second movie Rex himself has the chance to be a ghost, playing a deceased sea captain who is not keen on Gene Tierney moving into his old home in The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947). As always thank you for listening!

In honour of the passing of Prince Philip just shy of his 100th birthday we have decided to do an episode involving movies about royalty. The first film we examine is The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) starring Charles Laughton who was lauded worldwide for his performance as the iconic English monarch on the film’s release. Next we examine Norma Shearer in the 1938 movie Marie Antoinette which was one of her favourite roles of all time. It was fascinating to discuss the variety of characters at play who like Prince Philip were strong willed and brought highly unique personalities to their station in life.

At the time of recording one of the major films in theatres is Kong v Godzilla. We decided it was an ideal opportunity to do a horror/monster episode for which we chose the original King Kong (1933) as well as the enthralling and creepy Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).

This was an episode of biblical proportions, pun intended. Even if you are not religious no one can doubt that the bible gives room for incredibly ambitious storytelling and has encouraged many filmmakers to create films of great scope and extravagance. First we discuss 1953’s The Robe starring Richard Burton followed by the 1956 farewell of legendary filmmaker Cecil B DeMille The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner. We hope you enjoy our discussion of these incredible depictions of Ancient Rome and Egypt as they played out in biblical times.