I love talking to classic Hollywood novelist Martin Turnbull, because to research his books, he unearths the most fascinating information about Hollywood, the studio age, and the movies. In our third conversation we discussed Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood in 1939, and the fascinating world of producer David O. Selznick.
I had a wide-ranging talk with Kim of Piercing Pop Culture about the unique appeal of 50s horror and its icons, which yes, somehow included a conversation about Jack Lemmon in the China Syndrome. We covered a lot, to say the least, and had a great time doing it.
Films like Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and The Substance have brought an interesting, more three-dimensional twist to the subgenre of Hagsploitation. I spoke with the brilliant and glamorous Harlow of the fantastic Harlow Harlow Instagram/Tiktok vintage film account about these newer films, the many classics that came before them, and how much we love all the actresses who starred in them.
Josephine Baker was the world’s first black superstar. The USA-born artist had to go to Europe to sidestep racism and achieve the heights of fame. That is not to say that race didn’t affect her roles and the way she was portrayed in film, but she was able to avoid the trap of maid roles and take the full spotlight as a star. This video focuses on her life after she found stardom in Europe. She adopted twelve children from across the world as a comment against racism and called them her Rainbow Tribe. While the way she put her wards on display to the public would be seen as problematic today, she had good intentions in assembling this mini–United Nations. A brilliant and brave dancer, singer, actress, comic, spy, activist, and cultural commentator, there was nobody like her.
From subtext to blatant adoration, classic peplum movies have been queer from the beginning of cinema.
Surrealism can be found in any kind of film from any period, genre, country, or producer, but there’s nothing quite like the way Classic Hollywood embraced this artistic form. Its influence on the themes, imagery, and landscapes of studio age films is both bizarre and striking.
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.
In the twelve years I have covered Seattle International Film Festival for Watching Classic Movies, the event and the number of archival offerings have gotten exponentially smaller. For those who define classic movies as being the studio age of Hollywood, the pickings have become increasingly slim. However, while the archival slate is lighter, there are still many documentary and modern classic offerings for those with an interest in film history and the overall culture behind it. This year's festival takes place May 7-17 at SIFF Cinema and several other venues around the city.
Director Erich von Stroheim was notorious for his grand, impossible cinematic visions. By shooting higher than reality would allow, he never got quite what he wanted, but still succeeded in creating unusual and enduring classics like Greed (1924), Foolish Wives (1922), and The Wedding March (1928). In keeping with his reputation, Queen Kelly is more famous for on-set drama that led to it being incomplete rather than its content. Star Gloria Swanson objected to von Stroheim’s methods, including his instructing an actor to dribble tobacco juice on her hand and excessive multiple takes. She had him fired, leaving future archivists to cobble together the film as best as possible. This new restoration (the first after a 1985 attempt) uses previously unseen material and the director’s shooting script to fill out the end of the story.
Director John Boorman (Deliverance) thought he had the opportunity of a lifetime when after the culture-altering success of The Exorcist (1973), he was offered the job of directing Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). This documentary traces the production from the anticipation of a sure hit to the disaster it would become from beginning to end.
Long-time festival guest DJ NicFit has previously created live soundtracks for flicks like The Dark Crystal(1982) and The NeverEnding Story(1984). While this horror classic might seem like a dramatic departure from previous NicFit productions, it fits neatly into the DJ’s themes of exploring the dread and peril within fantasy. Also of note, Nightmare on Elm Street star John Saxon’s final resting place is in Seattle’s Lake View Cemetery, a few feet north of the graves of his martial arts teacher Bruce Lee and Lee’s son Brandon.
The nineties were a unique time of DIY ethos in music and film. Some of the key bands who were a part of that cultural explosion appear in this found-footage music fest documentary by prolific music video director Tamra Davis. The groups include Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Beck, Pavement, Rancid, The Amps, and Bikini Kill, many of whom continue to mold our culture.
If the nineties were about the intertwining mediums of DIY culture, the sixties were about breaking apart a restrictive culture and mining the pieces for deeper humanity and a new world. With her work in music and film, Marianne Faithfull embodied that rebellion. The film’s unusual structure and framing mechanism of a "Department of Not Forgetting” suits its equally unusual and impactful subject.
The independent filmmaker Barbara Hammer also pushed culture beyond its boundaries with a bold, queer, feminist vision that blasted out intimate truths in 16mm. She worked for five decades, so there’s plenty to unravel in this collection of archival footages, images, and audio interviews. They reveal a prolific, fearless, and influential artist who showed new possibilities to future generations of filmmakers.
A celebration of Mamie Van Doren on posted on her birthday. This smart, gorgeous, funny, tough lady has beaten the odds and thrived, while remaining a bombshell.
Jimmy Stewart is one of the most beloved actors of all time, and you can see that in the affectionate way he has been impersonated over the years. Stewart himself had a sense of humor about being the inspiration for so many impressions. He even acknowledged that part of the reason he was so easy to impersonate was because he knew the persona that appealed to audiences and he stuck to it.
Anthony Perkins was memorable in Psycho because he wasn't the typical movie killer. That clean-cut sweetness, mixed with high-strung anxiety and a bit of awkwardness were a part of the persona he embodied for most of his career, and it looked very different in other genres. The darker horror persona he took on for a lot of his work after he started doing Psycho sequels doesn't characterize most of his career or even his work in the years right after Psycho. These clips are all about the Perkins that audiences saw the most in his long career.
There is no period in film history quite like the so-called pre-Code era, where the new production code put in place to keep the film industry in line didn’t quite do what it was intended to do for a few years. Kim Luperi of I See a Dark Theater and the Pre-Code Instagram account and Danny Reid of Pre-Code.com have studied and written about this cinematic period for several years. We talked about their new book from TCM, Pre-Code Essentials: Must-See Cinema from Hollywood's Untamed Era, 1930-1934, unpacked some of the most intriguing films from their selections, and mulled over why Pre-Codes are endlessly fascinating and popular with classic film fans
Buy a signed book from Larry Edmunds:
https://www.larryedmunds.com/product-page/pre-code-essentials-must-see-cinemafrom-hollywood-s-untamed-era-1930-1934
Book event information:
https://linktr.ee/precodehollywood
Keep up with Kim:
https://www.iseeadarktheater.com/
https://www.instagram.com/precodedotcom/
Keep up with Danny:
https://pre-code.com/
Hard to believe it, but here is the NINTH installment of Saucy Pre-Code Moments!
From fearful, to playful, skeletons make some of the most memorable moments in classic movies and cartoons.
This Classic Movie Cat Video stars a kind of kitty different from the pampered pets you see on social media. Far from the world of cat trees and fancy water fountains, they are often strays, frequently ill-tempered, feared by grown men, and even in some cases are the tiny, furry creatures who bring everything crashing down.
My guest is Esther Bley, creator of the beautifully-curated Queer Animation database and writer for Cartoon Research. We talked about queer images in animation from the pre-Code era to the present day, how cartoon representation differs from live action, and the animation they find most interesting from each era.
The six films that Humphrey Bogart and director John Huston made together are some of the best of Hollywood’s golden age. These men are also complex and endlessly fascinating. I spoke with author Nat Segaloff about their shared legacy and his new book, Bogart and Huston: Their Lives, Their Adventures, and the Classic Movies They Made Together.
Lately I’ve been fascinated by the roles Hayley Mills played in her early adult years. The parts she picked in an effort to shake off the Disney child-star image are a mixed bag, but through it all Mills was always mesmerizing. I could think of no one better to discuss this with than Kate Gabrielle, artist and author of the Scathingly Brilliant blog.
From the first rebellious strains of the title tune by The Red Crayola, I knew Born In Flames (1983) was going to be a special movie. It was an honor to talk about this timeless film with Director Lizzie Borden. She was deeply involved with the production of a new Blu-ray release of the film from Criterion Collection. We had a great talk about how Born in Flames was made, its evolving influence over the years, and how it felt to look back on it all in the production of this remarkable release.
Kristina Dijan and I had so much fun making the giallo episode that closed out my recent season of Watching Classic Movies podcast that we decided to start our own podcast! We'll be talking about our favorite weird, genre, cult films, both classic and current. It's going to be a lot of fun!
The show is available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple iTunes, and PocketCasts. You can also follow us on YouTube, where you can view a preview of the films we're going to discuss at the beginning of each episode.
Learn more and join our mailing list at our official site:
https://psychotronicsisters.wordpress.com/
And take a look at our show trailer for a look at what's to come:
My guest is Kristina Dijan, writer of the longtime blog Speakeasy and a senior writer at the Dark Pages film noir newsletter. Kristina and I met at the TCM Classic Film Festival over
a decade ago, where we quickly discovered a shared love for cult and genre films. In the years since we have shared hundreds of film suggestions with each other. This episode we decided to put down our phones and discuss our favorite underseen Giallos face-to-face.
We had so many ideas for follow-up episodes, that Kristina suggested we start our own podcast, where we could share our conversation with fans of cult and genre films. Get ready for Psychotronic Sisters coming soon wherever you subscribe to podcasts. Stay tuned at the end of the show to learn more!
More about Kristina:
https://hqofk.wordpress.com/
https://www.allthatnoir.com/newsletter/
Films Discussed:
Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971)
Possessed (1965)
The Strangler (1970)
In The Eye of the Hurricane/Fox with a Velvet Tail (1971)
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. These moments were even more playful and creative in cartoons from the era, so much so that I did a part two!
The story of a brooch that made it into four Warner Bros films of the forties. Three of them classics, one of them essentially forgotten. Hollywood is known for recycling and this cloud brooch with its sparkling raindrops was no exception!
My guest is Caroline Young, author of Single & Psycho: How Pop Culture Created the Unstable Single Woman. We talked about the many ways unmarried women are represented in movies and television and how they are often vilified. From Fatal Attraction and its fascinating inspiration Diversion, to Gone Girl and the singletons of Bridget Jones and Sex and the City, we covered a lot of ground.
Also available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, PocketCasts, and wherever else you listen to podcasts!
Though he has appeared in over two hundred films and television shows for generations of fans, Cesar Romero will always be the Joker. While his series of guest appearances in the 1960s Batman show is undeniably memorable, there’s a lot more to both Romero the man and the actor.
My guest is Samuel Garza Bernstein, author of Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild. We discussed the most fascinating performances of this elegant, underrated talent who always maintained the heights of his stardom and lived life to the fullest with remarkable kindness and positivity.
Available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and PocketCasts!
One of the best decisions I ever made was to attend the TCM Classic Film Festival, and there are thousands of movie fans who feel the same way. I've attended for several years. This one-of-a-kind event is as much about the community it draws as it is its films, panels, guests, and welcoming TCM hosts. I have spent many hours at the festival with my guests Aurora Bugallo, who writes the Once Upon A Screen blog and who is active on social media as Citizen Screen and Karen Burroughs Hannsberry who writes the Shadows and Satin blog, is editor of the bi-monthly film noir publication the Dark Pages Newsletter and is author of Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. We had a lot of laughs and even got a bit emotional reminiscing about the many ways our days together in Hollywood were memorable, heartwarming, and even life changing.
Available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and PocketCasts!
There's an intriguing array of films both new and archival that may appeal to classic film fans at Seattle International Film Festival 2025, which takes place in theaters from May 15-25 and online with a selection of films from the main fest May 26-June 1. While the festival doesn't offer nearly as many archival choices as it used to, what it does offer is choice:
Holly Woodlawn of Andy Warhol Factory fame gets a perfectly surreal and wacky showcase for her unusual talents in this long thought to be lost, but now restored film. With a Bette Midler song and an unmistakable voice cameo from Lily Tomlin, this fervently unserious flick revels in its gags and unending goofiness. It’s not for common tastes, but anyone with a love for camp, trash, and unconventional wit and hijinks will love it.
Though lead John Forsythe is typically bland, this noir moves along at a good pace and is a fun watch. Edward G. Robinson blazes with the charisma our protagonist lacks and, in an amusing touch, plays a collector of art just like he was in real life. The film is an odd choice for 3D, and it was more popular in 2D when it was released, but a recent restoration by 3-D Film Archive should bring new life to the format. Whatever the genre, screenings of 3-D Film Archive restorations are always a blast, and this film should be great with a crowd.
While using multi-talented artist Jean Cocteau’s own words and images to explore his work has undeniable power, the execution of this film is orderly and conventional in a way that doesn’t mesh with the spirit of the artist. It is pleasant, beautiful, and works both as a tribute and an as introduction for those who are curious about the French surrealist, but ultimately it lacks inspiration. It is nevertheless a must-see for classic film fans at SIFF.
The documentary Chain Reactions (2024) features five writers and directors reflecting on the influential horror flick The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Ultimately though, the film is about more than one movie. In discussing the effect Tobe Hooper’s grimy masterpiece had on them, Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama also reflect on the power of cinema itself and how a single movie is infinite in the way it affects each viewer in a unique way. A basic set-up is all that is required with minds this brilliant; director Alexandre O. Philippe was wise to let these knowledgeable and insightful participants mold the creative direction of the film. While it will be most rewarding for Chainsaw fans, any film fan can relate to the way a single movie can shift your perspective and even change your life. That said, the plentiful gore will turn away some viewers.
Leni Riefenstahl is notorious for making propaganda films for the Third Reich, with the jarring pictures of her shaking Hitler’s hand evidence of a lasting scar on a legacy of great film craft. The chilling and gripping Riefenstahl is more about the effect of that association on the filmmaker’s legacy than her work. While physically and mentally strong, Riefenstahl’s ego was easily wounded. She is shown to be elated when she views her own work and infuriated that her association with the Reich has blocked her from the praise she feels she deserves. As a result, she falls into denial, and is shown frustrating multiple interviewers who receive rage rather than remorse when they present her with proof of what she supported. Footage of hate-filled speeches from the time and her own stories of abuse at the hands of Nazi men reveal how much the filmmaker was and remained in denial and cold to the suffering with which she was associated. Informed by newly available archival materials, it’s a complex portrait of a complicated woman which provides plenty of food for thought in the present day.
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