Oct 31, 2022

Podcasts for Classic Film Fans: October Roundup

The highlight of my listening this month was a pair of fantastic star interviews, one with Nancy Olson of Sunset Blvd. (1950), the other with Pat Priest, who is best known for playing Marilyn on The Munsters. All episode titles link to the shows: 

Ticklish Business 
September 21, 2022 

Nancy Olson had a major role in one of the most celebrated films of all time, Sunset Blvd. (1950), but there’s so many other fascinating things about her life. This interview brought back all the excitement I felt seeing her before a screening of the film at TCM Classic Film Festival a few years ago. She’s so fresh and modern in her thinking.

That’s Classic! 
September 26, 2022 

This was a great interview with Pat Priest, who played Marilyn, “the normal one” on the original Munsters television show. She had an amazing career beyond that legendary program. I loved her Elvis stories.


Lovers Forever 
September 12, 2022 

Ava Gardner Museum board member Lora Stocker was a favorite guest on my own podcast, so I wasn’t surprised to love this episode about her career and the museum’s Ava Gardner Festival. She has endless passion for Gardner and I can relate.


NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour 
October 4, 2022 

This discussion about Blonde (2022), which featured Marilyn Monroe, but was not a biopic reinforced my decision to never see the controversial film which many fans of the actress found disrespectful and disturbing. Host Aisha Harris knows her classics and after listening to the episode, I felt like I was done with the issue.

Oct 26, 2022

Watching Classic Movies Podcast--Talking Queen of Technicolor: Maria Montez in Hollywood with Author Tom Zimmerman


My guest, Tom Zimmerman is the author of The Queen of Technicolor: Maria Montez in Hollywood

Montez was a unique star, imperious, but warm, not known for her acting ability, but skilled in committing completely to a role, whether in a skimpy costume for the six legendary Neverland films she made for Universal, or in a grittier setting, such as for her more noirish European roles. 

We talked about the magnetism, determination, and integrity of this remarkable woman. 



The Queen of Technicolor: Maria Montez in Hollywood by Tom Zimmerman, is a publication of University Press of Kentucky. There are links to several places where you can purchase the book on their website.


Films discussed: 

Boss of Bullion City (1940) (Maria’s first role) South of Tahiti (1941) (Maria’s breakout sarong role) 

The Universal Studios Neverland Films (not discussed individually): 
Arabian Nights (1942) 
White Savage (1943) 
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944) 
Cobra Woman (1944) 
G*psy Wildcat (1944) 
Sudan (1945) 

Tangier (1946) 
Pirates of Monterey (1947) 
Wicked City (1949) 
Portrait of a Killer (1949)


The show is available on SpotifyPocketCastsBreakerStitcherAnchorGoogleRadio Public, and YouTube.


Watching Classic Movies podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts! If you are enjoying the show, please give it a 5-star review and share it with your friends.

Like the podcast? Want to hear more frequent episodes? Subscriptions are as low as 99 cents a month, click on the Support button here



Oct 19, 2022

Watching Classic Movies Podcast--Talking Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in Film with Author Luis Reyes


 

My guest, Luis Reyes, is the author of Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film. We talked about the changing representation of this varied and vibrant group in Hollywood, and artists from the popular to the underseen, while celebrating the fact that Latin and Hispanic people in film have long been an integral part of the industry with many towering accomplishments and innovations to offer.
 

Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film is available from Running Press

It's out of print, but I also highly recommend Hispanics in Hollywood: A Celebration of 100 Years in Film which Reyes co-wrote with Peter Rubie. It can be hard to find, I had to borrow it from the library, but it is an impressive, extensive reference book and well worth tracking down. 

More books by Luis Reyes: 

Hawaii Movie and Television Book: Celebrating 100 Years of Film Production Throughout the Hawaiian (with Ed Rampell) 

Made in Mexico: Hollywood South of the Border 

Pearl Harbor in the Movies (with Ed Rampell)


The show is available on SpotifyPocketCastsBreakerStitcherAnchorGoogleRadio Public, and YouTube.

Watching Classic Movies podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts! If you are enjoying the show, please give it a 5-star review and share it with your friends.

Like the podcast? Want to hear more frequent episodes? Subscriptions are as low as 99 cents a month, click on the Support button here



Oct 15, 2022

National Hispanic Heritage Month: A YouTube Compilation

 


As National Hispanic American Heritage Month comes to a close in the US, I wanted to share a YouTube compilation I made of all of the Reels/TikToks I made in celebration of the event, in addition to a few others that fit the theme. There's a lot of amazing talent gathered here! You can also view them individually here: 

Oct 12, 2022

On Blu-ray: The Delightful Spooky Season Double Feature of Mark of the Vampire (1935) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

I had a blast watching a pair of spooky season favorites on new Blu-rays from Warner Archive. It was great to see two films I love looking and sounding as good as new. 

Director Tod Browning’s (Dracula, Freaks) Mark of the Vampire (1935) is most famous for an outrageous twist, one that alters the film so dramatically that I thought I’d never be able to watch it again after my first viewing. Instead it has become a favorite spooky season watch, because it has a lot more going for it than plot.

The cast of spooks is top notch, with the moody Carroll Borland an especially striking presence as the ultimate 1930s Goth girl, years before Vampira and Elvira. There’s also Bela Lugosi, still giving everything to his Dracula-style character after finding worldwide fame as the character in the 1930 Universal adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel. 

I also appreciate the creativity behind the set and sound design. The whistling, moaning, ambience of the film’s soundtrack remains chillingly eerie to this day. By using a multi-layered soundscape instead of music, the movie evokes a more timeless feel. There’s also a great juxtaposition between the luxurious estate at the center of the daylight action and the cobweb and animal-filled castle down the road that comes to life at dusk. 

The central plot, about murder, an inheritance, and its beneficiary is essentially something to endure until you can get to the ghouls, though Lionel Barrymore and Leila Bennett contribute a great sense of camp. Mark of the Vampire is at its best when it is dialogue-free, with that creepy soundtrack casting its spell. Even though the meaning of everything is altered in the end, the sight of a moody, ghoulish Carol glowering at passerby and wandering in the dark, Lugosi grimacing, and spiders slithering up the wall are all great fun. I appreciated how well the sound and image were engineered for the Blu-ray, because those elements are especially important in a film like this one. 

Special features on the disc included commentary from Kim Newman and Stephen Jones, a theatrical trailer, the short A Thrill for Thelma, and the cartoon The Calico Dragon.
The 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most beautifully-crafted films of the pre-Code era thanks to the deliberate work of director Rouben Mamoulian (Queen Christina, Silk Stockings). 

It’s a shame that actors are so rarely rewarded for their work in horror. In the title role(s) Fredric March more than earned his Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Though he was at the beginning of a stunning career, it remains one of his most masterful performances, because he shows a deep understanding of the complex duality of his role. 

Maumoulian begins his film by showing the way Dr. Jekyll is perceived by the world. He uses a first person perspective to show him interacting with his deferential servants. Then he dramatically switches the camera to March, capturing his own appreciative self-regard before the look is mirrored in his audience at a lecture. In a few minutes you understand how important his reputation is to him and how much is at stake in this society that reveres him. 

One of Mamoulian’s most effective visual techniques is in the use of superimposition of images to mirror the passions in Jekyll/Hyde. He creates a sort of dreamlike mood as the doctor’s obsessions intertwine with his transformation into Hyde. It effectively puts the viewer both a little on edge and into Hyde/Jekyll’s thoughts. 

March’s acting in the transformation scenes is equally unsettling. In some respects he keeps it low-key, but his quiet, animalistic groans of pain have visceral power. It’s a stunning contrast to the elegance of his public persona; though you can see elements of that pain growing in him no matter how refined he aspires to appear. When the dam bursts and he is fully in Hyde mode, he embraces his newfound freedom with a mixture of joy and relief. 

As the unfortunate showgirl Ivy who is the victim of Hyde’s lustful abuse, Miriam Hopkins balances playful sensuality with tightly-wound terror. She immediately shrinks from Hyde as if from a wild animal, aware of the danger because it is an intensification of the peril in her daily life. It is heartrending to witness her horror of him. While this is an over-the-top performance, it captures pure fear; Hopkins was as deserving of an Oscar as her costar. 

This adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde remains one of the best horror films ever made. Its terror is timelessly potent.  

Special features on the disc include a commentary by Dr. Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr, a second commentary by Greg Monk, the cartoon Hyde and Hare, and a Theatre Guild on the Air radio broadcast of the story. 


Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing copies of the films for review.