Oct 25, 2024

Watching Classic Movies Podcast: Nat Segaloff, Author of The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear

My guest is Nat Segaloff, author of The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear. Nat is uniquely qualified to write about this controversial classic. As a publicist working for the film, he was standing guard outside the auditorium doors for the first press screening. He also knew director William Friedkin, and wrote his authorized biography and he knew novelist/screenwriter and director William Peter Blatty. We talked about the many versions and sequels of the Exorcist, the women who were integral to the creation and execution of the story, and how while nothing can match the original film, the movies it inspired have a lot to offer. 


More about the books we discussed: 






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Oct 10, 2024

On YouTube: Mae West Impressions and 'Toons and Saucy Pre-Code Moments Part Six

 

This collection of Mae West impressions in movies, television, and cartoons is only a small sample of the many times this influential funny lady has inspired impersonators and animators. The funny thing about most West impressions is that they have more in common with each other than the actual Mae West, despite typically being good enough that there’s no question who it is. (I think Craig Russell, here in Outrageous! [1977] and Too Outrageous [1987] gets the closest to capturing the true essence of Ms. West.)

   

There are a lot of familiar patterns and themes in classic pre-Code Hollywood movies (the time period roughly between 1930-34), as can be seen in this collection of clips. Censors found it too racy, but these classic films were also honest, humorous, and adult.