Steve Rubin’s Saturday Night At The Movies

Steve interviews author and former journalist Todd S. Purdum all about his concise and fascinating biography Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television.

Steve interviews author, journalist and film historian Bruce Handy who discusses his new book, Hollywood High, covering the history of teen movies, from Andy Hardy to The Hunger Games.

  In 1950, as Hollywood was roiled by the investigations of the House Committee on Un-American Activities and the Hollywood 10 were fresh in memory, a war broke out between legendary director Cecil B. DeMille and relative director newcomer Joseph L. Mankiewicz, whom DeMille had practically appointed as president of the Screen Directors Guild. The object of that war was DeMille's demand that SDG adopt a compulsory loyalty oath. Mankiewicz refused and subsequently DeMille organized a recall campaign that led to one of the most celebrated union hall meetings in history at the Beverly Hills Hotel.  This week, Steve is joined by former Showtime President of Programming Jerry Offsay, screenwriter/author Steve Molton and film historian Avie Hern as they talk about their film project, currently in development, which details this dramatic "Battle for Hollywood." 

Steve interviews producer, director, and actor Jack Lucarelli whose most recent film is the atmospheric horror western "Silent Thunder," and who explains the route he took to become an indie filmmaker in Southern California. 

This week Steve interviews author Bob Herzberg about his book Revolutionary Mexico on Film: A Critical History 1914-2014, covering such memorable titles as “The Wild Bunch,” “The Professionals,” “Juarez,” “Viva Zapata,” “Bandido,” Villa Rides” and more.      

Steve interviews writer/director John Herzfeld all about his cool 1996 crime drama "2 Days in the Valley," his award-winning HBO bio-pic "Don King," and other key credits. 

Steve is joined by Emmy award-winning screenwriter Brooks Wachtel and screenwriter and producer Steve Mitchell as they discuss their favorite guilty pleasures. - movie wise, including such gems as "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules," "The Beach Girls," "Rocketship XM," "The Private LIfe of Sherlock Holmes," "The Quiller Memorandum" and others. What's your guilty pleasure movie?

Steve interviews Marcia Clark, former lead prosecutor in the OJ Simpson trial, all about the 1953 Barbara Graham case, depicted in the 1958 film, "I Want to Live," which netted Susan Hayward the Best Actress Oscar that year, and revealed in fascinating detail in Clark's terrific new book, Trial by Ambush.  

Steve goes into his Interview files to retrieve a 1980 interview with Academy Award-winning director Robert Wise who discusses the making of "The Sound of Music," the Best Picture Oscar winner of 1965.

Steve interviews author/producers Fred Fox, Jr and Brian Levant, both veteran television writers, story editors and show runners, all about their book,  "50 Years of Happy Days: A Visual History of an American Television Classic." 

Steve interviews author and film historian Bob Herzberg, all about his book Hollywood and the Military Bureaucracy, focusing on the historical underpinnings and context of such immortal classics as Bataan, Attack, From Here to Eternity, The Young Lions and Patton.  

Steve interviews former heavyweight boxing champion/turned actor Jack O'Halloran ("Superman," "King Kong," "Hero and the Terror")

Steve and fellow film historian Avie Hern discuss the staying power of the 1964 Cold War Thriller "Seven Days in May," which starred Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Martin Balsam, a solid all-star cast in a riveting story written by Rod Serling, based on the terrific novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II and directed by John Frankenheimer.

This week Steve goes into his personal research files and features an interview he did with 007 movie producer Albert R. Broccoli, conducted in Mr. Broccoli's office in MGM's Thalberg Building in the summer of 1977. They discuss the origins of the James Bond movie series, the dealmaking, the casting, the obstacles and challenges, and Mr. Broccoli discusses his early day, from farming broccoli on Long Island to arriving in Hollywood.     

Steve speaks with Deadline reviewer and awards season analyst Pete Hammond all about this year's Oscar contenders, including "Wicked," "Anora," "The Brutalist," "Conclave," Emilia Perez" and much more. 

Steve is joined by his writing partner Billy Riback (a two-time Emmy and Globe nominated writer) to discuss this year's crop of potential Oscar-winning films, including "Wicked," "A Complete Unknown," "Anora," "Dune 2," "Emilia Perez" and much more.

Steve once again is joined by author Robert Florczak (Errol Flynn: The Illustrated Life Chronology), as they discuss the final decade of Flynn's work, including such titles as his last western "Rocky Mountain," "The Sun Also Rises," "The Roots of Heaven" and the little-seen "Cuban Rebel Girls."  

In time for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Steve is joined by cultural historian and author Jud Newborn (Sophie Scholl and The White Rose) as they discuss the films that have documented the Holocaust - both foreign and domestic - including "Night and Fog" "Schindler's List," "The Diary of Anne Frank" and many more.     

Steve interviews film and television producer and former production executive Marc Charles Rosen  (Threshold) who gets into an insightful discussion on producing dynamics today    

Steve interviews writer/director Mark Rosman whose career began with the cult horror film "The House on Sorority Row," later settling nicely into family films like "A Cinderella Story," "The Perfect Man" and "Life Size" and the upcoming personal drama "Keep Coming Back." 

Steve interviews Australian filmmaker Bruce Hunt all about his supernatural horror/thriller "The Cave," which co-stars Cole Hauser ("Yellowstone") and Lena Headey ("Game of Thrones")

Steve is joined by fellow film historians John Trafton and Avie Hern to discuss the prodigious career of widescreen icon Charlton Heston, covering everything from his early work in The Greatest Show on Earth, to his biblical epics The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur, to his science fiction spectacular Planet of the Apes. 

Steve interviews Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman, who won his Academy Award for "The Dead Poet's Society," but also wrote the comedy classics "What About Bob?" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."

Steve interviews writer/director Kerry Bellessa and his producer/wife Summer all about their taut 2024 thriller "Amber Alert."

This week Steve interviews renown film and television music historian Jon Burlingame about TV themes and the impact they've made over the years, referencing such classics as "Gilligan's Island," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Game of Thrones," "Friends," "Cheers", "Mission Impossible," "Hawaii 5-0," "Combat" and many more. 

Steve interviews Geno Cuddy, a walking encyclopedia of B Western lore.  Through Geno, we learn about the product of Hollywood's Poverty Row studios, and cowboy actor legends Roy Rogers, William S. Hart, Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Buck Jones, Sunset Carson, Buster Crabbe, Lash Larue and others, in a spirited discussion about a little known but vital part of early Hollywood history. 

Steve interviews retired publicity executive Marvin Levy who started his career publicizing Best Picture Oscar winners "Gigi," "Ben-Hur," and "Lawrence of Arabia," eventually becoming director Steven Spielberg's top PR exec, where he was involved in everything from "Jaws" to "West Side Story," with stops along the way with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan" and many more. 

Steve interviews three-time Academy Award nominee Dyan Cannon on her lengthy career in television and film, including her Oscar-nominated performances in "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" and "Heaven Can Wait," her marriage to Cary Grant, and her friendship with Peter Sellers and Charles Grodin.    

Steve interviews former president of 20th Century Fox Television Harris Katleman, who also served in the top TV spot at MGM Television, Columbia Pictures Television and Goodson Todman Productions. In a career spanning over 50 years, Mr. Katleman takes us from the early days of working for Lew Wasserman at the the MCA agency to getting Rupert Murdoch to greenlight "The Simpsons," much of which is detailed in his excellent autobiography "You Can't Fall Off the Floor," which he co-wrote with his grandson, Nick. 

Steve interviews Academy Award-nominated actor/dancer and now author Russ Tamblyn about his autobiography Dancing on the Edge, and his long film career, which includes such classics as "West Side Story," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "The Long Ships," "The Haunting," "Don't Go Near the Water" and many more.       

This week Steve brings back author, producer, writer, former studio executive, distributor and broadcaster Julian Schlossberg, whose latest book "My First Book Part 2" continues diving into his eclectic entertainment resume, with stops along the way with John Cassavetes, Elaine May, Charles Grodin, Elia Kazan, Marlo Thomas and many more.        

Steve interviews writer/director/producer and former studio executive/distributor Mark Amin all about his directorial debut - the pre-Civil War epic drama "Emperor"       

Steve continues his conversation with former Showtime president of programming Jerry Offsay, discussing such films as "Bastard out of Carolina," "Riot," "Alone," "Dirty Pictures," "Laughter on the 23rd Floor," how they were financed and much more.

Steve interviews film director, author, journalist, and historian Sam Irvin about his early career as a fanzine editor, journalist and programmer, his position as assistant to Brian De Palma, and his eclectic genre films, which include, amongst many others, "Elvira's Haunted Hills."      

This week Steve interviews Academy Award-winning actor George Chakiris ("West Side Story") about his career, his films and his new book, "My West Side Story: A Memoir."

As part of a Cinefantastique retrospective back in the 70s, Steve returns to an interview he conducted with Alfred Hitchcock, where the master of suspense discusses the making of his classic end-of-the-world story: "The Birds." 

This week Steve interviews eclectic writer/producer Dimitri Villard whose credits include the sci-fi comedy “Flight of the Navigator,” Jim Carrey's first starring role in “Once Bitten,” and the Sandra Bullock/Chris O'Donnell starrer “In Love and War.” He has great war stories in the Hollywood trenches.  

Steve brings author Robert Florczak back to discuss the war films Errol Flynn starred in during the Second World War, including "Desperate Journey," "Edge of Darkness" and "Objective Burma."      

This week, Steve interviews Oscar-nominated screenwriter Douglas Day Stewart all about his 1982 classic "An Officer and a Gentleman." He also discusses the sequel novel he has written, "An Officer and a Gentleman's Daughter."      

This week, Steve interviews former Showtime president of programming Jerry Offsay, who engineered one of the biggest original motion picture movie development slates in history, green lighting over 300 films over a ten-year period.  In Part One of a two parter, we learn all about Jerry's early life, and how he transitioned from lawyer to top studio executive.

This week Steve interviews filmmaker Ron Maxwell all about his epic film "Gettysburg" and the challenges of putting the decisive Civil War battle on film

Carolyn Pfeiffer has enjoyed a long and prolific career in motion pictures. Her new autobiography "Chasing the Panther" intimately charts her rise from executive star assistant in Europe to leading publicity agency owner to studio executive, producer, educator and author. This week Steve interviews her all about her formative years in show business.

Alan Gasmer was legendary at the William Morris Agency as a top film packaging agent and all around great guy. Turning to producing, one of his first hits was the action packed "Vikings" television series.  This week, Steve interviews Mr. Gasme, learning all about how he came to be such an effective Hollywood player.  

This week, three-time Emmy nominated actor Robert Walden returns for the conclusion of his interview with Steve, wherein he shares fascinating behind the scenes insight into his feature film debut in "Bloody Mama," plus "All the President's Men" and "Capricorn One."        

This week, Steve interviews author/film historian Michael F. Blake who has written a wonderful new book, The Cavalry Trilogy: John Ford, John Wayne and the Making of Three Classic Westerns. If you're a fan of those iconic films, you'll love this interview where Blake goes deep behind-the-scenes.        

This week on Saturday Night at the Movies, Steve speaks with screenwriter Matt Redd, digging deep into the cool Welsh comedy thriller "Tollbooth." 

This week Steve interviews filmmaker David Lee Miller and author Alessandra Seggi, who has written the important book "Youth and Suicide in American Film." Together they discuss the history of how suicide has been featured in our cinema history, dating back to "It's a Wonderful Life," "Rebel Without a Cause," and including Miller's game changing teen dramedy "My Suicide," which was recently renewed for five more years by Netflix. 

To help celebrate the 18th Anniversary of the clever 2006 comedy fantasy "Night at the Museum," Steve interviews the delightful Jake Cherry, who played Ben Stiller's son, Nick.

This week, Steve interviews author/film historian Manny Pacheco (Forgotten Hollywood, Forgotten HIstory) who has wonderful behind-the-scenes stories about such iconic American character actors as Frank Morgan ("The Wizard of Oz"), Lionel Barrymore ("It's a Wonderful Life"), Peter Lorre ("Casablanca"), Arthur Lake ("Blondie"), Van Heflin ("Patterns") and more.

This week, Steve speaks with veteran character actor Robert Walden about his origins and his experience working with writer Paddy Chayefsky and actor George C. Scott on the classic dark comedy "The Hospital" (1971)

From the Dead End Kids to the East Side Kids to "The Bowery Boys," this week Steve interviews journalist and film historian Craig Edwards about the history of Slip, Satch and the rest of those wacky Bowery Boys whose 48 films form one helluva comedy legacy.