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.
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/
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.
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)
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!
My guest is Christopher S. Connelly, author of Helen Morgan: The Original Torch Singer and Ziegfeld’s Last Star. Morgan was a hugely popular singer and actress who set the template for musical theater performance style. We talked about Morgan’s big heart, her deeply emotional connection with audiences, and how her approach to life was more Auntie Mame than as the downtrodden songstress she has been typically rumored to be.
Learn more about Christopher's book and where to buy it here:
https://www.kentuckypress.com/9781985900592/helen-morgan/
The show is available on— Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, PocketCasts, Google, and Radio Public
Like the podcast?
Subscriptions are as low as 99 cents a month:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/k-cruver/support
You can also support my work on ko-fi:
https://ko-fi.com/watchingclassicmovies
Listen Here
Robert Bellissimo has had me as his guest on his excellent Robert Bellissimo at the Movies video podcast two times: once to discuss the sci-fi/film noir Repeat Performance (1947) and recently to talk about Joan Crawford in Autumn Leaves (1956). In this episode we discuss Sudden Fear (1952) which has the noir and theater world characteristics of that first film and the star of the second. We talked in detail about this fascinating independent production that served as a perfectly noirish backdrop for one of Crawford’s best performances.
Robert Bellissimo at the Movies YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@RobertBellissimoAtTheMovies
It is rare to find a new film book that is destined to be a
classic, but Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness
in Cinema is just that. Co-written by Willow Catelyn Maclay and Caden Mark
Gardner this well-curated mix of films, criticism, and history covers the highs
and lows of trans representation both in front of and behind the camera and
celebrates the wealth of trans talent now making films. I spoke with Willow
about some of the stand-out films from the book, what it was like to write and
research such a complex project, and what trans filmmakers need to thrive as
they expand their presence in the movies.
Buy Corpses, Fools and Monsters:
The History and Future of Transness in Cinema:
With a collection of nearly 150,000 titles, Scarecrow Video in Seattle, Washington is one of the largest, if not the largest publicly available archives of film in the world. US customers can rent in the store or by mail and anyone can purchase all sorts of amazing items from its official website. Open since 1988, and a not-for-profit run by its employees since 2014, it had never been easy to keep the store going, but this collective has set a goal to raise 1.8 million dollars in order to keep its doors open and to build a sustainable structure so that its employees can focus on what they do best: sharing the amazing world of movies with its loyal customers.
I spoke with Scarecrow Social Media Manager and Development Assistant Malakie Peters about the progress the not-for-profit has made in its fundraising efforts, how anyone can benefit from and support Scarecrow, and what her current favorite flicks are in a collection so massive that even as an employee she finds new treasures all the time.
Direct donation link:
https://scarecrowvideo.org/sos
Official Site:
https://scarecrowvideo.org
The Scarecrow Video Shop:
https://sv-archive.square.site/
The show is available on— Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, PocketCasts, Google, and Radio Public
Like the podcast?
Subscriptions are as low as 99 cents a month: https://podcasters.spo...
You can also support my work on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/watc...
My guest is John DiLeo, author of eight film books, including his latest, Not Even Nominated: 40 Overlooked Costars of Oscar-Winning Performances. We talked about the common characteristics of great performances that nevertheless get overlooked for awards attention, some of our favorite deserving performances, and the way perception makes a movie a unique experience for each viewer.
Learn more about John DiLeo’s many film books, including Not Even Nominated: 40 Overlooked Costars of Oscar-Winning Performances here:
https://www.johndileo.com/works.htm
Follow John on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/john.dileo.12/
Listen to our previous chat about his book There Are No Small Parts: 100 Outstanding Film Performances with Screen Time of 10 Minutes or Less:
http://www.watchingclassicmovies.com/2022/07/watching-classic-movies-podcast-john.html
The show is available on— Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, PocketCasts, Google, and Radio Public
Podcast subscriptions are as low as 99 cents a month:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/k-cruver/support
You can also support my work on ko-fi:
https://ko-fi.com/watchingclassicmovies
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.
Melodrama, it’s much more than Douglas Sirk-directed mid-century dramas, I had a great talk with writer, film programmer, podcaster, and teacher Millie De Chirico about what melodrama really means, what we love about it, and the surprising places you can find melodrama, from horror to action flicks.
There are few stars who have reached the heights that Joan Crawford did. In his book Ferocious Ambition: Joan Crawford’s March to Stardom my guest Robert Dance explores how she rose from childhood poverty to the top of her industry where she maintained a successful career for over four decades. We talked about her drive and talent for business and how she was a surprising feminist presence in mid-century cinema.
The two cinematic versions of Scarface were influential films which reflected their times, the thirties and eighties respectively. The prolific Nat Segaloff explores their legacy in Say Hello to My Little Friend: A Century of Scarface, a fascinating book that draws on Nat’s industry experience and considerable research skills. We talked about the effect these movies had, the people who made them remarkable, and what it was like to meet Scarface director Brian De Palma.
Film critic Odie Henderson has applied his vast film knowledge and solid storytelling skills to the writing of an excellent new book Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras: A History of Blaxploitation Cinema. We discussed the stars, creators, triumphs, and key films of this rich period in cinematic history.
%20(2).jpg)
%20(3)%20(5)%20(2)%20(2)%20(4).jpg)
%20(3)%20(5)%20(2)%20(2)%20(3).jpg)
%20(3)%20(5)%20(2)%20(2).jpg)
