A Pod Too Far

We're back with a brand new name but the same doughty, never-say-die attitude, to watch the war movies that made us the men* we are today. Every week authors Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon gather under the blackout curtain to view a classic war film – and now they're joined by equally battle-fixated chums too. This time on the podcast formerly known as A Pod Too Far: Darryl F. Zanuck's 1962 D-Day mega-epic The Longest Day with comedian, WWII buff and tank fan Al Murray. What are the best bits? Did your favourite moments really happen? Would you want to be commanded by ‘Pine Coffin'? And how much did John Wayne demand to appear in it? Up the Ox and Bucks! * and occasionally women Written and presented by Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Simon Williams. Art by Jim Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. War Movie Theatre is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If it's December 1941 in the podcast, what time is it in New York? Rob Hutton sticks his neck out for no one. Duncan Weldon's killed two German couriers in an effort to impress him. But of all the gin joints in all the world, who's this walking into theirs? For our Christmas special, we're joined by the journalist and author Hadley Freeman as we watch Casablanca, a war movie disguised as a romance. But who's Humphrey Bogart's real love interest - Ingrid Bergman or Claude Rains? And what's it like to see the film through the eyes of a refugee? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's Christmas 1944, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon are in a muddy, frozen POW camp, dreaming of Betty Grable. But is one of them a rat? We're watching Billy Wilder's Stalag 17, the film that won William Holden an Oscar and may have inspired the sitcom Hogan's Heroes. Comedy? Drama? Escape movie? Or a mix of all three? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon are fighting seasickness and dodging torpedoes as they take the podcast on a submarine hunt. We're watching the 1953 classic The Cruel Sea, a frank picture of the terror and exhaustion of convoy duty, and the toll it took on the men and women of the Navy. Was Donald Sinden ever better, and did Jack Hawkins organise the worst pub quiz ever? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's 1944, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon are trying to take the podcast 750 miles through the Burmese jungle for reasons that no one can really explain to them. This week we're watching the 1962 movie Merrill's Marauders, the tale of a heroic American unit going through hell. Who will win Best Death? Who won't?! A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's 1916, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon have failed to capture an impossible target in the trenches of France. One of them must now be shot for cowardice, but who? (Duncan, obviously.) We're watching Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece Paths of Glory. But is it a war movie or a courtroom drama, or is it really a film about office life? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's 1815, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon have liberated the podcast from Elba in a final bid for glory. But first they must face the Duke of Wellington. With Ridley Scott's Napoleon in the cinemas, we've wheeled the TV into the classroom to watch Waterloo. Has there ever been a better movie of cavalry charges? Does any of the first hour matter? And just how many Soviet soldiers were involved in making it? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's 1943, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon have realised that the only way to save their podcast is to blow up a dam in Yugoslavia. It's time for Force 10 From Navarone, the first war movie Rob can remember watching. Does any part of it make sense? Any part of it at all? And could Harrison Ford find a single nice thing to say about it? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's late 1944, and as the Allies advance through France, Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon have spotted a lucrative business opportunity. There's a bank vault full of podcasts for the taking. The only problem is that it's 30 miles behind enemy lines. This week, we're talking about Kelly's Heroes. Is it based on a true story? Was a Tiger tank really a piece of junk? And did anyone tell Clint Eastwood he was in a comedy? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. https://twitter.com/PodTooFar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's 1945, and as the war draws to a close, Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon are just trying to stay alive in a Japanese POW camp by trading pieces of the podcast for food. We're watching King Rat, the 1965 film based on James Clavell's novel-memoir about his own years in a camp. It's a film about hunger, class, desperation and survival, but it's also a key moment in the James Donald Extended Universe. Ultimately, is it Not Bad, or Bloody Marvellous? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. https://twitter.com/PodTooFar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June 1942. Tobruk has fallen, Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon struggle to get their podcast back through the desert to Alexandria where a barman is keeping a chilled bottle of Carlsberg for them. This week, we're watching Ice Cold In Alex, undoubtedly the best movie ever to be used as a beer commercial. Did Sylvia Syms ever have a better role? Has there been a worse spy than Anthony Quayle? And does anyone know where we can find a copy of the butchered American version? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production and sound design by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. https://twitter.com/PodTooFar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June 1940, and the podcast stands alone, facing a Nazi horde just across the Channel. A Pod Too Far returns with a new series, and this week, Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon are joined by historian James Holland in his trusty Spitfire as they watch 1969's Battle of Britain. Is it simply a series of brilliant aerial sequences mashed together with some composite characters? What's the real claim to fame of the beach that plays Dunkirk? And would it be worse to be married to Christopher Plummer or Susannah York? Never in the field of human podcasting have so many movie memes been discussed by so few. A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production and sound design by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. https://twitter.com/PodTooFar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Rob and Duncan are washing up on the shores of Spain with The Man Who Never Was! This 1956 spy thriller is the first cinematic telling of the story of Operation Mincemeat – popularised, of late, in a Ben Macintyre book and a subsequent movie version – and starred Clifton Webb and Gloria Grahame. What was the best death in a film about a corpse? What was Noël Coward's epitaph for Clifford Webb's mother? And it's Rob's turn to decide whether this was the operation that changed the course of the war... NB: This is the final episode of SEASON ONE of A Pod Too Far. We are now looking for a funding partner to keep the show on the road. Email nick@podotpods.com to discuss anything related to the show. Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Rob and Duncan are marching through Europe, led by a certifiable madman. It's Patton! Franklin J. Shaffner's 1970 film (from a Francis Ford Coppola script) won George C. Scott an Oscar for his portrayal of the WWII general (an Oscar that he turned down) but how much did Richard Nixon like this film? How much did Patton hate Montie? And, finally, have be arrived at the operation that changed the course of the war?? Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Produced and edited by Podot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Rob and Duncan are venturing out with twelve of the nastiest sods the Allies had to offer – it's The Dirty Dozen. This 1967 film, directed by Robert Aldrich and adapted from E.M.Nathanson's novel, featured an all-star cast playing a squadron of death row reprobates sent to bomb a chateau full of Nazi generals (an inspiration for later films like Inglourious Basterds and The Suicide Squad). Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland all star in this, A Pod Too Far's first properly American film! Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Produced and edited by Podot. This is a Podot podcast: for sales an advertising, email nick@podotpods.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Rob and Duncan are telling the story of a ship... or, at least, the story of Noël Coward's story of a ship. It's In Which We Serve! Directed by Coward and David Lean (shipped in, no pun intended, for the action sequences) and starring Coward, John Mills, Bernard Miles, Celia Johnson and Richard Attenborough, this 1942 movie (yes, the war is still raging) tells what was then a very fresh story of the 1941 exploits of Lord Louis Mountbatten (here referred to as Captain Kinross) and the HMS Torrin. A good film? A good ship? And did this change the course of the war? Presented by Duncan Weldon and Robert Hutton. Executive produced by Nick Hilton for Podot. Produced by Ewan Cameron. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode, Rob and Duncan are hobnobbing with stars including Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall for The Eagle Has Landed! Based on the 1975 novel by Jack Higgins (and released only a year later) John Sturges' film tells the story of a fiendish German plot to kidnap Winston Churchill. Michael Caine is a German! Donald Sutherland is an Irishman! The whole world is topsy-turvy: but, crucially, was this the operation that changed the course of the war? Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Executive produced by Nick Hilton for Podot. Produced and edited by Ewan Cameron. For sales and advertising, please visit podotpods.com or email nick@podotpods.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Rob and Duncan are fighting back against the ruthless German paratroopers with the 1942 (yes, mid-war) film, Went the Day Well? Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti and adapted from a Graham Greene story, this is Ealing Studios at its war propaganda finest. Leslie Banks, Mervyn Johns and Basil Sydney both star *and* offer viewers the greatest array of 1940s men's names ever assembled on screen. Presented by Duncan Weldon and Robert Hutton. Executive produced by Nick Hilton for Podot. Produced by Ewan Cameron. For sales and advertising please contact nick@podotpods.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Rob and Duncan are off to Argentina, a strange, exotic land where the only thing they talk about more than Lionel Messi, is the 1956 movie The Battle of the River Plate (known to our American listeners as Pursuit of the Graf Spee). Is this the only film in history where battleships are given full acting credits? Does it have the nicest of all the Nazis? And – crucially – is this the operation that changed the course of the war? Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Executive produced by Nick Hilton. Edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot. This is a Podot podcast. For sales and advertising please visit podotpods.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Rob and Duncan are flying in low and back to 1955 for The Dam Busters! The true story of Guy Gibson, Barnes Wallis and the famous bouncing bomb – brought to life by director Michael Anderson and a cast including Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave. How did The Dam Busters inspire Star Wars? Were the men in suits the real antagonists? And did they really have to keep saying the dog's name?! Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Executive produced by Nick Hilton for Podot. Produced by Ewan Cameron. This is a Podot podcast. For sales and advertising visit podotpods.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode of A Pod Too Far, Rob and Duncan are going to Greece for The Guns of Navarone! J. Lee Thompson's 1961 thriller, loosely set around the Dodecanese campaign and the fictional German fortress on the island of Navarone, brought together an all-star cast including Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Richard Harris and Stanley Baker. So, how big were these big guns? Why were the radio codes so damn obvious? And was this the operation that changed the course of the war? A Pod Too Far is presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Executive produced by Nick Hilton for Podot. Production by Ewan Cameron. For sales and advertising email nick@podotpods.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ho ho ho! It's Christmas, and what is more festive and merry than The Great Escape? A perennial Boxing Day favourite (except for Rob, who was forced on family walks), John Sturges' 1963 prisoner of war caper featured one of the great ensemble casts in cinema history: Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance and many more. They were all trying to break out of Stalag Luft III – but can the film break out of the doldrums of mediocre moviemaking? Why is there an unhelpful American stuck in the cooler? How miserable was the ending in reality? And – repeat after me – is this the mission that changed the course of the war? Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Executive produced by Nick Hilton for Podot. Edited by Ewan Cameron. This is a Podot podcast. For sales and advertising, please visit podotpods.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you've missed it, there's a World Cup going on in Qatar. And there's only one place that football and war movies collide: Escape to Victory (known to our cousins in America as just Victory!). With Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone providing the acting chops, and Pele and Bobby Moore keeping the football end up, is Escape to Victory a successful fusion of these genres? Rob and Duncan sit down to talk through the movie's highs and lows, including whether Gordon Banks could teach Sly to keep goal, if they should've bailed out at half-time, and how much John Huston was paid to direct the film... Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Executive produced by Nick Hilton for Podot. Production by Ewan Cameron. For sales and advertising please email nick@podotpods.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to A Pod Too Far, where authors Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon sit down each week to rewatch a classic war movie. Today, it's the big one: Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far. The big budget depiction of Operation Market Garden – the Allied forces' failed attempt to seize the bridges at Arnhem – had one of the great casts of cinema history. Sean Connery and Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford and Dirk Bogarde, Michael Caine, Gene Hackman, Laurence Olivier, James Caan, the list goes on. But is it actually any good as a movie? Let us know what you think by tweeting @podtoofar. Next week we're watching Escape to Victory – please watch along too if you want to be in on the action! Presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Executive produced by Nick Hilton. Produced by Ewan Cameron. A Pod Too Far is a Podot podcast. For sales and advertising visit podotpods.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join authors Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon on their journey through the good, the bad and the ugly of old war movies – basically, anything that was on the telly during the Saturday afternoons of their youth! First episode: A Bridge Too Far (watch along in advance, or enjoy from memory!). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices