Podcasts about Ernst Lubitsch

German American actor, screenwriter, producer and film director

  • 223PODCASTS
  • 337EPISODES
  • 1h 2mAVG DURATION
  • 1EPISODE EVERY OTHER WEEK
  • May 27, 2025LATEST
Ernst Lubitsch

POPULARITY

20172018201920202021202220232024


Best podcasts about Ernst Lubitsch

Latest podcast episodes about Ernst Lubitsch

Never Did It
1932: "Trouble in Paradise" and "I am a Fugitive on a Chain Gang"

Never Did It

Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2025 24:07


Ernst Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise" charmed our pants off, while Mervyn LeRoy's "I Am A Fugitive On a Chain Gang" proved to be way ahead of its time. Plus brief reviews of "The Ballad of Wallis Island" and "La Cocina".Connect with us:Never Did It on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/bradgaroon/list/never-did-it-podcast/Brad on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/bradgaroon/Jake on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/jake_ziegler/Never Did It on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neverdiditpodcast Hosted by Brad Garoon & Jake Ziegler

Someone Else's Movie
Daniel Robbins on To Be or Not to Be

Someone Else's Movie

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2025 37:52


This week, director Daniel Robbins – whose new comedy Bad Shabbos is now playing in the US and opening this Thursday in Toronto and Vancouver – steps up for Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be, the pitch-black 1942 farce starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard as married actors in occupied Warsaw who take on the Nazis … and still manage to get laughs. Your genial host Norm Wilner has been waiting forever talk about this one.

Toute une vie
Ernst Lubitsch (1892-1947)

Toute une vie

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2025 58:09


durée : 00:58:09 - Toute une vie - par : Christine Lecerf - Né à Berlin dans une famille de tailleurs juifs, Ernst Lubitsch, au grand désespoir de son père, ne deviendra jamais commerçant. Mais de ces années passées au milieu des tissus, Lubitsch fera un chef d'oeuvre, The Shop Around The Corner, qui le consacrera maître de la "comédie sophistiquée". - réalisation : Lionel Quantin - invités : N.T. Binh Journaliste, critique, enseignant de cinéma (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Manfred Flügge Essayiste, auteur de 'Je me souviens de Berlin' (Grüntal).; Katalyn Por Historienne du cinéma.; Pierre Le Gall Cinéphile, amateur de Lubitsch; Patrick Gree Cinéphile, amateur de Lubitsch.; Christian Viviani Coordinateur et rédacteur de la revue Positif, professeur à l'université de Caen-Basse Normandie; Marc Cerisuelo Professeur en Histoire et esthétique du cinéma à l'université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée

EAM podcast
43. Los toques Lubitsch: «Remordimiento» (1932) + «Una mujer para dos» (1933)

EAM podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2025 148:22


Ernst Lubitsch es conocido, sobre todo, por sus comedias americanas. Por una fórmula alquímica que combina el tono picante con la elegancia verbal y visual para sugerir sin mostrar: el famoso "toque Lubitsch". Pero no olvidemos que esta expresión, que aún perdura, era un eslogan publicitario de la Paramount. Se trataba de fijar al cineasta como creador inconfundible de unas comedias sexuales que barrían en taquilla, especialmente en la era pre-Code. De ellas es un excelente ejemplo «Una mujer para dos» (Design for Living, 1933), cuyo éxito, sumado a su arrollador personaje femenino y su tratamiento desenfadado de un ménage à trois, inspiró la creación de la Liga de la Decencia, el Código Hays y la consiguiente censura que marcó el rumbo moral del cine clásico americano durante décadas. Ahora bien, ¿hay Lubitsch más allá del recurrente "toque"? En su etapa estadounidense, el director austriaco se salió poco de la senda de la comedia romántica. Pero contamos con una valiosa excepción: en 1932, acometió la producción y dirección de «Remordimiento» (Broken Lullaby) como un proyecto personal y libre, adaptando una obra de teatro de Maurice Rostand sobre un excombatiente francés que busca la redención por haber matado a un soldado alemán durante la Gran Guerra. En ella, Lubitsch despliega toda su elegancia e inventiva visual al servicio de un contundente drama posbélico. Podríamos hablar, entonces, de más de un "toque Lubitsch". Y a eso nos dedicamos en este episodio, que cuenta con la participación de José Luis Forte, Lourdes Esqueda y Miguel Muñoz Garnica.

Cult Movies Podcast
To Be Or Not To Be

Cult Movies Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2025 110:33


We're fighting Nazis this week as James Coddington joins the show to discuss Ernst Lubitsch's To Be Or Not To Be (1942).Follow the Cult Movies Podcast on InstagramFollow James on LetterboxdFollow Anthony on Instagram and Letterboxd

Encore!
Arts24 film show: Superhero action, Nicole Kidman and the legacy of Ernst Lubitsch

Encore!

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2025 12:24


Join film critic Emma Jones and presenter Eve Jackson on this week's arts24 film show as we explore the action-comedy "Novocaine" starring Jack Quaid, Nicole Kidman's "Holland" on Amazon Prime and the critically acclaimed "The Grill" by Alonso Ruizpalacios. Plus, we dive into the legacy of German filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch with a retrospective at the Cinemathèque française.

Filmkammer des Schreckens
SPINOFF: Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1941) / Iron Angels (1987)

Filmkammer des Schreckens

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2025 76:51


Marco besucht Heiko, um dem cineastischen Hochgenuss zu frönen – oder einfach nur, um Filme zu glotzen. Doch bevor es ans Eingemachte geht, werfen die beiden feinfühligen Männer einen Blick auf diverse Streifen aller Genres. Von tiefgründigen Meisterwerken bis zu Filmen, die man nur mit einer Tüte Chips und einem Seufzen erträgt – alles ist dabei! Im Double-Feature geht es dann richtig zur Sache:In der Screwball Comedy "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife" (1941) von Ernst Lubitsch lässt Multi-Millionär Brandon (Gary Cooper) seine Ehefrauen hinter sich wie kostspielige Konsumgüter. Um nicht zur achten Exfrau zu werden, macht sich sich sein neuester Schwarm (Claudette Colbert) daran, das Leben ihres Zukünftigen kräftig auf den Kopf zu stellen.In "Iron Angels" (1987) nimmt eine Triaden-Patin Rache an Interpol, nachdem ihre Opium-Felder von den Behörden abgefackelt wurden. Nacheinander werden die Polizisten, die sich ihr in den Weg stellten, ermordet. Nun kann nur noch die Spezialtruppe "Iron Angels" (u.a. Moon Lee) für ausgleichende und ausreichend blutige Gerechtigkeit sorgen!Kurzempfehlungen:Heiko: Nosferatu (2024), The Substance, High Noon, The Demoniacs, The People under the Stairs, Wyatt Earp, Marco: The Greasy Strangler, Bat-Woman, Rawhide, Three-O-Clock-High, 13 Steps of Maki: The Young Aristocrats, American Gigolo, WichitaHört auch unseren Comic Podcast: Im COMIC CAMP Podcast besprechen wir alle vier Wochen die neuesten US-Serienstarts, Neuheiten aus aller Welt und Klassiker aus unserem Comicregal. Jetzt überall wo es Podcasts gibt! Unterstützt uns mit einer Spende oder werdet Mitglied in der Filmkammer des Schreckens! https://ko-fi.com/filmkammerWeitere Links zu unseren Websites und Social Mediahttps://linktr.ee/filmkammerEmails könnt ihr uns an filmkammer@buddelfisch.de sendenHört die Filmkammer überall wo es Podcasts gibt!Music:Intro: "80s Workout Montage", von CrossGateProductions, lizensiert via EnvatoOutro: "Filmkammer Theme Song" Mix von Sebastian Kempke

Dare Daniel Podcast
The Real “To Be or Not to Be” (1942) – Canon Fodder Episode 31

Dare Daniel Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2025 48:57


To Be or Not to Be (1942; Dir.: Ernst Lubitsch) Canon Fodder Episode 31 Daniel and Corky review Jack Benny, Carole Lombard and Robert Stack in Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be. Elsewhere, Daniel offers his thoughts on the recently released Wolf Man, starring Christopher Abbott and Julia […] The post The Real “To Be or Not to Be” (1942) – Canon Fodder Episode 31 appeared first on Dare Daniel & Canon Fodder Podcasts.

Dare Daniel Podcast
To Be or Not to Be (1942) – Canon Fodder Episode 31

Dare Daniel Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2025 47:30


To Be or Not to Be (1942; Dir.: Ernst Lubitsch) Canon Fodder Episode 31 Daniel and Corky review Jack Benny, Carole Lombard and Robert Stack in Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be. Elsewhere, Daniel offers his thoughts on the recently released Wolf Man. TO BE OR NOT TO […] The post To Be or Not to Be (1942) – Canon Fodder Episode 31 appeared first on Dare Daniel & Canon Fodder Podcasts.

Filmerds
Klassieker van de maand: The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Filmerds

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 18:02


Amanda was in onze vorige podcast te gast en dus was het aan haar om op de proppen te komen met een nieuwe titel voor onze klassieker van de maand. Met bevende knietjes dachten we dat we ons op een onvervalste kerstklassieker moesten storten, maar niets bleek minder waar met haar keuze voor The Shop Around the Corner uit 1940. Want ondanks dat de film zich wel degelijk rond de feestdagen afspeelt gaat het uiteindelijk toch vooral over de liefde die zich in allerlei bochten probeert te wringen om succes te hebben. Beluister de gehele aflevering via de welbekende podcast-kanalen of bekijk ‘m met beeld viayoutube.com/filmerds.Podcast, vodcast, filmerds, arnhem, shop around the corner, classic, klassieker, Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Ernst Lubitsch, 1940

Greatest Movie Of All-Time
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) ft. Peterson W. Hill

Greatest Movie Of All-Time

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2025 100:55


Dana and Tom with returning guest and 5x Club member, Peterson W. Hill (Co-Host of the War Starts at Midnight podcast), discuss The Shop Around the Corner (1940) for its 85th anniversary: directed by Ernst Lubitsch, written by Samson Raphaelson and Ben Hecht, music by Werner Heymann, starring James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, and Frank Morgan.Plot Summary: "The Shop Around the Corner" is a charming romantic comedy set in a Budapest gift shop. The story revolves around the antagonistic relationship between the store's manager, Alfred Kralik (James Stewart), and his co-worker, Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan).Unbeknownst to each other, they are anonymous pen pals who have fallen in love through their letter exchanges. When they finally meet in person, their identities come to light, leading to a delightful resolution filled with warmth and humor. It's a delightful tale of mistaken identities, charming misunderstandings, and the magic of love letters.Guest:Peterson W. Hill - Co-Host of the War Starts at Midnight podcast@petersonwhill on IG, Letterboxd, and TwitterPrevious Guest on Gone Girl (2014), Parasite (2019), Fight Club (1999), Ben-Hur (1959), Up in the Air (2009)Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Welcome to Our Guest04:24 Cast and Recognition for The Shop Around the Corner06:24 Relationship(s) with The Shop Around the Corner12:34 What is The Shop Around the Corner About?17:54 Why Has This Movie Been Remade So Often?19:20 Plot Summary for The Shop Around the Corner20:11 Did You Know?22:24 First Break24:24 What's Up with Peterson W. Hill26:01 GMOAT Hall of Fame29:37 Best Performance(s)39:50 Best/Favorite/Indelible Scene(s)47:13 Second Break48:23 In Memoriam56:39 Best/Funniest Lines58:37 The Stanley Rubric - Legacy01:03:45 The Stanley Rubric - Impact/Significance01:08:17 The Stanley Rubric - Novelty01:14:37 The Stanley Rubric - Classicness01:24:49 The Stanley Rubric - Rewatchability01:26:33 The Stanley Rubric - Audience Score and Final Total01:27:56 Remaining Questions01:34:38 Thank You to Our Guest and Remaining Thoughts01:39:43 CreditsYou can also catch this episode in full video on YouTube.You can now follow us on Instagram, Twitter,

Filmwax Radio
Ep 836: Joseph McBride

Filmwax Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2025 69:13


Joseph McBride is a film historian and a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. He is the author of biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg; three books on Orson Welles; and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers. He acted for Welles in The Other Side of the Wind and has won a Writers Guild of America award. His latest book is called "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia University Press, 2025). The director of classic films such as "Sylvia Scarlett", "The Philadelphia Story", "Gaslight", "Adam's Rib", "A Star Is Born", and "My Fair Lady", George Cukor is widely admired but often misunderstood. Reductively stereotyped in his time as a woman's director—a thinly veiled, disparaging code for gay—he brilliantly directed a wide range of iconic actors and actresses, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith. As Katharine Hepburn, the star of ten Cukor films, told the director, “All the people in your pictures are as goddamned good as they can possibly be, and that's your stamp.”

Another Kind of Distance: A Spider-Man, Time Travel, Twin Peaks, Film, Grant Morrison and Nostalgia Podcast
Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – Paramount – 1930: THE LOVE PARADE & THE VAGABOND KING

Another Kind of Distance: A Spider-Man, Time Travel, Twin Peaks, Film, Grant Morrison and Nostalgia Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 68:04


It's time for another round of Studios Year by Year, starting over with Paramount 1930! And this time Dave has brought even more nostalgic reading material to give some context for this studio content. We also launch another new series feature: a review of our favourite movies from the previous 1930-1948 round. Turning to the Paramount movies we watched for this episode, we struggle to come to terms with the pointless battle of the sexes in Lubitsch's The Love Parade, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, who are having a lot of sexy Pre-Code fun until the dictates of storytelling demand conflict; and struggle through a nigh-unwatchable transfer/copy of the sturdy operetta The Vagabond King, starring MacDonald and Dennis King. In both films, the adorable Lillian Roth delights. And finally, as if all of that weren't enough, a New Year's Eve throwback (by the time this is posted) in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: we watched the beloved When Harry Met Sally and the cult classic 200 Cigarettes at the Revue Cinema.  Time Codes: 0h 00m 25s: 1930 in film + Paramount Recap 0h 21m 10s: THE LOVE PARADE [dir. Ernst Lubitsch]          0h 43m 24s: THE VAGABOND KING [dir. Ludwig Berger] 0h 56m 50s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: When Harry Met Sally (1989) by Rob Reiner & 200 Cigarettes (1999) by Risa Bramon Garcia Year in Film information from Forgotten Films to Remember by John Springer Studio Film Capsules provided by The Paramount Story by John Douglas Eames Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler                +++ * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating. * Check out Dave's new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com   We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join! 

New Books Network
Joseph McBride, "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia UP, 2024)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2024 116:31


The director of classic films such as Sylvia Scarlett, The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, Adam's Rib, A Star Is Born, and My Fair Lady, George Cukor is widely admired but often misunderstood. Reductively stereotyped in his time as a "woman's director"-a thinly veiled, disparaging code for "gay"-he brilliantly directed a wide range of iconic actors and actresses, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith. As Katharine Hepburn, the star of ten Cukor films, told the director, "All the people in your pictures are as goddamned good as they can possibly be, and that's your stamp." In this groundbreaking, lavishly illustrated critical study, Joseph McBride provides insightful and revealing essayistic portraits of Cukor's actors in their most memorable roles. The queer filmmaker gravitated to socially adventurous, subversively rule-breaking, audacious dreamers who are often sexually transgressive and gender fluid in ways that seem strikingly modern today. McBride shows that Cukor's seemingly self-effacing body of work is characterized by a discreet way of channeling his feelings through his actors. He expertly cajoled actors, usually gently but sometimes with bracing harshness, to delve deeply into emotional areas they tended to keep safely hidden. Cukor's wry wit, his keen sense of psychological and social observation, his charm and irony, and his toughness and resilience kept him active for more than five decades in Hollywood. George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director (Columbia UP, 2024) gives him the in-depth, multifaceted examination his rich achievement deserves. Joseph McBride is a film historian and a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. He is the author of biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg; three books on Orson Welles; and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers. He acted for Welles in The Other Side of the Wind and has won a Writers Guild of America award. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

New Books in History
Joseph McBride, "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia UP, 2024)

New Books in History

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2024 116:31


The director of classic films such as Sylvia Scarlett, The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, Adam's Rib, A Star Is Born, and My Fair Lady, George Cukor is widely admired but often misunderstood. Reductively stereotyped in his time as a "woman's director"-a thinly veiled, disparaging code for "gay"-he brilliantly directed a wide range of iconic actors and actresses, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith. As Katharine Hepburn, the star of ten Cukor films, told the director, "All the people in your pictures are as goddamned good as they can possibly be, and that's your stamp." In this groundbreaking, lavishly illustrated critical study, Joseph McBride provides insightful and revealing essayistic portraits of Cukor's actors in their most memorable roles. The queer filmmaker gravitated to socially adventurous, subversively rule-breaking, audacious dreamers who are often sexually transgressive and gender fluid in ways that seem strikingly modern today. McBride shows that Cukor's seemingly self-effacing body of work is characterized by a discreet way of channeling his feelings through his actors. He expertly cajoled actors, usually gently but sometimes with bracing harshness, to delve deeply into emotional areas they tended to keep safely hidden. Cukor's wry wit, his keen sense of psychological and social observation, his charm and irony, and his toughness and resilience kept him active for more than five decades in Hollywood. George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director (Columbia UP, 2024) gives him the in-depth, multifaceted examination his rich achievement deserves. Joseph McBride is a film historian and a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. He is the author of biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg; three books on Orson Welles; and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers. He acted for Welles in The Other Side of the Wind and has won a Writers Guild of America award. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

New Books in Film
Joseph McBride, "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia UP, 2024)

New Books in Film

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2024 116:31


The director of classic films such as Sylvia Scarlett, The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, Adam's Rib, A Star Is Born, and My Fair Lady, George Cukor is widely admired but often misunderstood. Reductively stereotyped in his time as a "woman's director"-a thinly veiled, disparaging code for "gay"-he brilliantly directed a wide range of iconic actors and actresses, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith. As Katharine Hepburn, the star of ten Cukor films, told the director, "All the people in your pictures are as goddamned good as they can possibly be, and that's your stamp." In this groundbreaking, lavishly illustrated critical study, Joseph McBride provides insightful and revealing essayistic portraits of Cukor's actors in their most memorable roles. The queer filmmaker gravitated to socially adventurous, subversively rule-breaking, audacious dreamers who are often sexually transgressive and gender fluid in ways that seem strikingly modern today. McBride shows that Cukor's seemingly self-effacing body of work is characterized by a discreet way of channeling his feelings through his actors. He expertly cajoled actors, usually gently but sometimes with bracing harshness, to delve deeply into emotional areas they tended to keep safely hidden. Cukor's wry wit, his keen sense of psychological and social observation, his charm and irony, and his toughness and resilience kept him active for more than five decades in Hollywood. George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director (Columbia UP, 2024) gives him the in-depth, multifaceted examination his rich achievement deserves. Joseph McBride is a film historian and a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. He is the author of biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg; three books on Orson Welles; and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers. He acted for Welles in The Other Side of the Wind and has won a Writers Guild of America award. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film

New Books in Dance
Joseph McBride, "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia UP, 2024)

New Books in Dance

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2024 116:31


The director of classic films such as Sylvia Scarlett, The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, Adam's Rib, A Star Is Born, and My Fair Lady, George Cukor is widely admired but often misunderstood. Reductively stereotyped in his time as a "woman's director"-a thinly veiled, disparaging code for "gay"-he brilliantly directed a wide range of iconic actors and actresses, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith. As Katharine Hepburn, the star of ten Cukor films, told the director, "All the people in your pictures are as goddamned good as they can possibly be, and that's your stamp." In this groundbreaking, lavishly illustrated critical study, Joseph McBride provides insightful and revealing essayistic portraits of Cukor's actors in their most memorable roles. The queer filmmaker gravitated to socially adventurous, subversively rule-breaking, audacious dreamers who are often sexually transgressive and gender fluid in ways that seem strikingly modern today. McBride shows that Cukor's seemingly self-effacing body of work is characterized by a discreet way of channeling his feelings through his actors. He expertly cajoled actors, usually gently but sometimes with bracing harshness, to delve deeply into emotional areas they tended to keep safely hidden. Cukor's wry wit, his keen sense of psychological and social observation, his charm and irony, and his toughness and resilience kept him active for more than five decades in Hollywood. George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director (Columbia UP, 2024) gives him the in-depth, multifaceted examination his rich achievement deserves. Joseph McBride is a film historian and a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. He is the author of biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg; three books on Orson Welles; and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers. He acted for Welles in The Other Side of the Wind and has won a Writers Guild of America award. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

New Books in Biography
Joseph McBride, "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia UP, 2024)

New Books in Biography

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2024 116:31


The director of classic films such as Sylvia Scarlett, The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, Adam's Rib, A Star Is Born, and My Fair Lady, George Cukor is widely admired but often misunderstood. Reductively stereotyped in his time as a "woman's director"-a thinly veiled, disparaging code for "gay"-he brilliantly directed a wide range of iconic actors and actresses, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith. As Katharine Hepburn, the star of ten Cukor films, told the director, "All the people in your pictures are as goddamned good as they can possibly be, and that's your stamp." In this groundbreaking, lavishly illustrated critical study, Joseph McBride provides insightful and revealing essayistic portraits of Cukor's actors in their most memorable roles. The queer filmmaker gravitated to socially adventurous, subversively rule-breaking, audacious dreamers who are often sexually transgressive and gender fluid in ways that seem strikingly modern today. McBride shows that Cukor's seemingly self-effacing body of work is characterized by a discreet way of channeling his feelings through his actors. He expertly cajoled actors, usually gently but sometimes with bracing harshness, to delve deeply into emotional areas they tended to keep safely hidden. Cukor's wry wit, his keen sense of psychological and social observation, his charm and irony, and his toughness and resilience kept him active for more than five decades in Hollywood. George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director (Columbia UP, 2024) gives him the in-depth, multifaceted examination his rich achievement deserves. Joseph McBride is a film historian and a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. He is the author of biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg; three books on Orson Welles; and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers. He acted for Welles in The Other Side of the Wind and has won a Writers Guild of America award. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

New Books in American Studies
Joseph McBride, "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia UP, 2024)

New Books in American Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2024 116:31


The director of classic films such as Sylvia Scarlett, The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, Adam's Rib, A Star Is Born, and My Fair Lady, George Cukor is widely admired but often misunderstood. Reductively stereotyped in his time as a "woman's director"-a thinly veiled, disparaging code for "gay"-he brilliantly directed a wide range of iconic actors and actresses, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith. As Katharine Hepburn, the star of ten Cukor films, told the director, "All the people in your pictures are as goddamned good as they can possibly be, and that's your stamp." In this groundbreaking, lavishly illustrated critical study, Joseph McBride provides insightful and revealing essayistic portraits of Cukor's actors in their most memorable roles. The queer filmmaker gravitated to socially adventurous, subversively rule-breaking, audacious dreamers who are often sexually transgressive and gender fluid in ways that seem strikingly modern today. McBride shows that Cukor's seemingly self-effacing body of work is characterized by a discreet way of channeling his feelings through his actors. He expertly cajoled actors, usually gently but sometimes with bracing harshness, to delve deeply into emotional areas they tended to keep safely hidden. Cukor's wry wit, his keen sense of psychological and social observation, his charm and irony, and his toughness and resilience kept him active for more than five decades in Hollywood. George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director (Columbia UP, 2024) gives him the in-depth, multifaceted examination his rich achievement deserves. Joseph McBride is a film historian and a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. He is the author of biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg; three books on Orson Welles; and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers. He acted for Welles in The Other Side of the Wind and has won a Writers Guild of America award. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Off the Page: A Columbia University Press Podcast
Joseph McBride, "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia UP, 2024)

Off the Page: A Columbia University Press Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2024 116:31


The director of classic films such as Sylvia Scarlett, The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, Adam's Rib, A Star Is Born, and My Fair Lady, George Cukor is widely admired but often misunderstood. Reductively stereotyped in his time as a "woman's director"-a thinly veiled, disparaging code for "gay"-he brilliantly directed a wide range of iconic actors and actresses, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith. As Katharine Hepburn, the star of ten Cukor films, told the director, "All the people in your pictures are as goddamned good as they can possibly be, and that's your stamp." In this groundbreaking, lavishly illustrated critical study, Joseph McBride provides insightful and revealing essayistic portraits of Cukor's actors in their most memorable roles. The queer filmmaker gravitated to socially adventurous, subversively rule-breaking, audacious dreamers who are often sexually transgressive and gender fluid in ways that seem strikingly modern today. McBride shows that Cukor's seemingly self-effacing body of work is characterized by a discreet way of channeling his feelings through his actors. He expertly cajoled actors, usually gently but sometimes with bracing harshness, to delve deeply into emotional areas they tended to keep safely hidden. Cukor's wry wit, his keen sense of psychological and social observation, his charm and irony, and his toughness and resilience kept him active for more than five decades in Hollywood. George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director (Columbia UP, 2024) gives him the in-depth, multifaceted examination his rich achievement deserves. Joseph McBride is a film historian and a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. He is the author of biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, and Steven Spielberg; three books on Orson Welles; and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and the Coen Brothers. He acted for Welles in The Other Side of the Wind and has won a Writers Guild of America award. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter.

Never Did It
1942: "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "To Be Or Not To Be"

Never Did It

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2024 25:47


Ernst Lubitsch brought us the unbelievably funny To Be or Not to Be, starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, while Orson Welles fumbled with his sophomore feature The Magnificent Ambersons. Connect with us: Never Did It on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@neverdiditpod Never Did It on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/bradgaroon/list/never-did-it-podcast/ Brad on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/bradgaroon/ Jake on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/jake_ziegler/ Never Did It on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neverdiditpodcast Hosted by Brad Garoon & Jake Ziegler

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E10 - Cluny Brown [1946] - and our Grand Finale - with Tim Brayton

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2024 96:13


How Would Lubitsch Do It comes to a close with our grand finale. Tim Brayton returns to discuss Cluny Brown and look back on both Ernst Lubitsch's career and the past five seasons of this show. First, we discuss everything Cluny Brown: the film's generosity and humanism, its commentary on British class society, its relationship with the second world war, its full-throated embrace of absurdism, the title character's magnetism, Adam Belinski's status as a revision on a stock villain, and the film's somewhat autobiographical and wonderfully optimistic ending. Second, we close out the show with a look back: we debate our respective rankings (Tim, Devan) of Lubitsch's filmography, highlight our favourite cast members, crew members and collaborators, discuss subsequent filmmakers who bear distinct marks of Lubitsch's influence, discuss whether or not the show's structure accurately reflects the ebbs and flows and our subject's career, and answer the key questions: why Lubitsch? Why a podcast? Edited by Griffin Sheel. A Thanks I started this quixotic project two years ago with the hope of making something that spoke to me and, if anyone else was interested, so be it. Turns out some other people were interested, and if you're reading this now, that's probably you. My endless and sincere thanks for sticking it through. Thanks to the many guests who lent their time and support throughout the show: Lauren Faulkner Rossi, Fran Hoepfner, Bram Ruiter, Luci Marzola, Jaime Rebenal, Maddie Whittle, Paul Cuff, Kristin Thompson, Stefan Droissler, Molly Rasberry, Sarah Shachat, James Penco, Dave Kehr, Julia Sirmons, David Neary, Patrick Keating, Jennifer Fleeger, Katharine Coldiron, Jonathan Mackris, Will Sloan, Lea Jacobs, Tanya Goldman, Krin Gabbard, Jordan Fish, Ray Tintori, Z Behl, Eric Dienstfrey, Scott Eyman, Imogen Sarah Smith, Chris Cassingham, Olympia Kiriakou, Griffin Newman, Kevin Bahr, Whit Stillman, Adrian Martin, Jose Arroyo, Lance St. Laurent, Tim Brayton, William Paul, Dara Jaffe, Gary Jaffe, Peter Labuza, Willa Ross, Eloise Ross, David Cairns, Noah Isenberg, Matt Severson, Mateusz Pacewicz, and Charlotte Garson. Our editors: Griffin Sheel, Gloria Mercer, Willa Ross, Sophia Yoon, Rylee Cronin, Brennen King, & Eden Cote-Foster Our location sound engineer, Anna Citak-Scott. And others who lent valuable counsel and support: the Margaret Herrick Library, the Museum of Modern Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and most of all to Ernst Lubitsch, who taught me more than it could possibly take the sixty-eight episodes of this podcast to describe. This entire experience - hundreds of hours of research, recording, and editing - has been among the great pleasures of my life, and everyone's contributions have meant a great deal to me. Onwards to whatever's next!

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E10 - Cluny Brown [1946] and our Grand Finale with Tim Brayton

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2024 119:27


[Due to our last-minute addition of two episodes, the podcast feed mistakenly had S5E09a queued here for a few hours this morning - it should now be fixed!] How Would Lubitsch Do It comes to a close with a grand finale. Tim Brayton returns to discuss Cluny Brown and look back on both Ernst Lubitsch's career and the past five seasons of this show. First, we discuss everything Cluny Brown: the film's generosity and humanism, its commentary on British class society, its relationship with the second world war, its full-throated embrace of absurdism, the title character's magnetism, Adam Belinski's status as a revision on a stock villain, and the film's somewhat autobiographical and wonderfully optimistic ending. Second, we close out the show with a look back: we debate our respective rankings (Tim, Devan) of Lubitsch's filmography, highlight our favourite cast members, crew members and collaborators, discuss subsequent filmmakers who bear distinct marks of Lubitsch's influence, discuss whether or not the show's structure accurately reflects the ebbs and flows and our subject's career, and answer the key questions: why Lubitsch? Why a podcast? Edited by Griffin Sheel. A Thanks I started this quixotic project two years ago with the hope of making something that spoke to me and, if anyone else was interested, so be it. Turns out some other people were interested, and if you're reading this now, that's probably you. My endless and sincere thanks for sticking it through. Thanks to the many guests who lent their time and support throughout the show: Lauren Faulkner Rossi, Fran Hoepfner, Bram Ruiter, Luci Marzola, Jaime Rebenal, Maddie Whittle, Paul Cuff, Kristin Thompson, Stefan Droissler, Molly Rasberry, Sarah Shachat, James Penco, Dave Kehr, Julia Sirmons, David Neary, Patrick Keating, Jennifer Fleeger, Katharine Coldiron, Jonathan Mackris, Will Sloan, Lea Jacobs, Tanya Goldman, Krin Gabbard, Jordan Fish, Ray Tintori, Z Behl, Eric Dienstfrey, Scott Eyman, Imogen Sarah Smith, Chris Cassingham, Olympia Kiriakou, Griffin Newman, Kevin Bahr, Whit Stillman, Adrian Martin, Jose Arroyo, Lance St. Laurent, Tim Brayton, William Paul, Dara Jaffe, Gary Jaffe, Peter Labuza, Willa Harlow Ross, Eloise Ross, David Cairns, Noah Isenberg, Matt Severson, Mateusz Pacewicz, and Charlotte Garson. Our editors: Griffin Sheel, Gloria Mercer, Willa Harlow Ross, Sophia Yoon, Rylee Cronin, Brennen King, & Eden Cote-Foster Our location sound engineer, Anna Citak-Scott. And others who lent valuable counsel and support: the Margaret Herrick Library, the Museum of Modern Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and most of all to Ernst Lubitsch, who taught me more than it could possibly take the sixty-eight episodes of this podcast to describe. This entire experience - hundreds of hours of research, recording, and editing - has been among the great pleasures of my life, and everyone's contributions have meant a great deal to me. Onwards to whatever's next!

The Love of Cinema
"Saturday Night" mini-review + "The Shop Around The Corner": Films of 1940

The Love of Cinema

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2024 75:16


This week, the boys head back to 1940 to discuss “The Shop Around The Corner” after setting up the film year and discussing some world events- Nylon stockings were invented this year! After Jeff gives his mini-review of “Saturday Night”, the Jason Reitman film about the making of the first episode of “Saturday Night Live”, the boys discuss the Ernst Lubitsch film, adapted from the 1936/1937 play Hungarian Perfumerie, which also inspired the musical She Loves Me and the film “You've Got Mail”. We also drink a lot, Dave gets mad at Thrifty, and Jeff confuses Superman and Captain America like a Beta. Our phone number is 646-484-9298. It accepts texts or voice messages.  0:00 Intro; 5:12 “Saturday Night” mini-review; 10:54 Gripes; 17:48 1940 Year in Review; 32:19 Films of 1940: “The Shop Around The Corner”; 1:06:45 What You Been Watching?; 1:13:51 Next Week's Movie Announcement Additional Cast/Crew: Jimmy Stewart, James Stewart, Margaret Sullivan, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Felix Bressart, William Tracy, Inez Courtney, David O. Selznick, Miklos Laszlo, Samson Raphaelson, Nicholas Braun, Gabrielle LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Willem Dafoe, JK Simmons, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O'Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Finn Folfhard, Kim Matula, Andrew Barth Feldman, Gil Kenan. Hosts: Dave Green, Jeff Ostermueller, John Say Edited & Produced by Dave Green. Beer Sponsor: Carlos Barrozo Music Sponsor: Dasein Dasein on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ 
Dasein on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dasein/1637517407 Additional Tags: The Wizard of Oz, Michigan kicking GM's ass, Michael Moore, Syrian Aramaic, Matilda, The Sopranos, Star Wars, Acolyte, Uncle Buck, Godzilla Minus One, Auckland, New Zealand, Wilhelm Yell, Wilhelm Scream, Prince Charles, King Charles, John Wayne, Charleton Heston, Preparation H, hemorrhoids, Harr yDean Stanton, CVS, Duane Reade, Walgreens, Road Rash, The Lion King, Pivot, Ross, Friends, Couch, NASA, Killers of the Flower Moon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, Martin Scorcese, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemmons, David Ellison, David Zazlav, Al Jolson, Oscars, Academy Awards, BFI, BAFTA, BAFTAS, British Cinema. England, Vienna, Leopoldstadt, The Golden Globes, Past Lives, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, The Holiday, The Crown: Season 6 part 2, Napoleon, Ferrari, Beer, Scotch, Travis Scott, U2, Apple, Apple Podcasts, 101 Dalmatians, The Parent Trap, Switzerland, West Side Story, Wikipedia, Adelaide, Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Melbourne, Indonesia, Java, Jakarta, Bali, Guinea, The British, England, The SEC, Ronald Reagan, Stock Buybacks, Marvel, MCU, DCEU, Film, Movies, Southeast Asia, The Phillippines, Vietnam, America, The US, Academy Awards, WGA Strike, SAG-AFTRA, SAG Strike, Peter Weir.   

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E08 - Dragonwyck, A Royal Scandal, That Lady In Ermine, and the Death of Ernst Lubitsch with David Cairns

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2024 69:35


David Cairns returns to discuss the end of Ernst Lubitsch's career and life: a period in which, after a heart attack left him debilitated, he produced a series of films directed by the likes of Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Otto Preminger. We cover Dragonwyck, cinema's foremost depiction of the Dutch patroonship system in what is now upstate New York; A Royal Scandal, a remake of Forbidden Paradise; andThat Lady in Ermine, Lubitsch's final unfinished project later completed to little effect by Otto Preminger. Throughout the episode, we discuss the gap in worldviews between Lubitsch and Preminger, our dream Lubitsch/actor pairings that never came to pass, Billy Wilder's tall tales, Ernst Lubitsch's death, and what comes next. Edited by Brennen King. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: A reading of Freundschaft, Samson Raphaelson's eulogy for Ernst Lubitsch. WORKS CITED: The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger by Chris Fujiwara

Auf den Tag genau
Arbeiterehre und Schaufenster

Auf den Tag genau

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2024 6:04


Im Filmklassiker „Ninotschka“ aus dem Jahre 1939 von Ernst Lubitsch spielt Greta Garbo eine sowjetische Sonderbeauftragte, eine unterkühlte Technokratin, die nach und nach dem funkelnden Warenhausauslagen der Pariser Kaufhäuser erliegt und damit dem undiskreten Charme der Bourgeoisie und des Kapitalismus. Man könnte verallgemeinern, dass der durch Konsum erreichte Status alle älteren Standesunterschiede ersetzt. Genau diese Gefahr sah bereits 15 Jahre zuvor das sozialdemokratische Hamburger Echo vom 7. September 1924, wenn es über die Arbeiter*innen schrieb, die sich vor den Schaufenstern der Kaufhäuser drängten. Der Artikel appelliert, wie wir heute wissen langfristig vergeblich, an die Arbeiter*innen, dem Standesstolz entsprechend, die unnützen Luxusgegenstände abzulehnen. Rosa Leu regt sich für uns über Schuhe mit hohen Absätzen und Pyjamas auf.

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E07.5 - Otto Preminger's Laura [1944] with Eloise Ross

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2024 52:14


Writer and film historian Eloise Ross joins us to discuss noted Lubitsch disciple Otto Preminger and his 1944 noir Laura. We cover Preminger's past and parallels with Lubitsch, the tumultuous story of Laura's production, the film's highly unusual tone, its memorable characters and dialogue, and the majesty of Clifton Webb. Edited by Brennen King We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: David Cairns returns to discuss A Royal Scandal, Dragonwyck, That Lady in Ermine, and the death of Ernst Lubitsch. WORKS CITED: The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger by Chris Fujiwara

The Front Row Network
CLASSICS-John Ford with Joseph McBride

The Front Row Network

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2024 60:33


Front Row Classics welcomes back author and historian Joseph McBride. Brandon and Joe are discussing the newly revised and expanded edition of his critical study, "John Ford". Co-authored by the late Michael Wilmington, the book takes a look at Ford's key films and recurring themes found throughout his filmography. Brandon and Joe discuss several of these films & themes as well as Ford's directorial style. "John Ford" is available from University Press of Kentucky wherever books are sold. Joseph McBride is the author of twenty-four books, including the biography Searchingfor John Ford (hailed as "definitive" by the New YorkTimes and the IrishTimes), biographies of Capra and Spielberg, three books on Welles, and critical studies of Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder. A former film and television writer as well as a reporter, reviewer, and columnist for Daily Variety in Hollywood, McBride is a professor in the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University

Floating Through Film
Episode 124: Silent Movie Night (The Doll + 3 Bad Men)

Floating Through Film

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2024 87:52


On Episode 124 of Floating Through Film, we're reviewing silent movies from 2 great directors, Ernst Lubitsch and John Ford. We start with Lubitsch's 1919 comedy, The Doll (3:09), before moving two Ford's exciting western, 3 Bad Men (34:19). We hope you enjoy! Episode Next Week: M Night Shyamalan (Trap + Old) Music: - Intro: Early Summer -Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25b5TJFLHwE&ab_channel=danielosky2006 - Outro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU4KojmH3zA&ab_channel=ReedLanger Hosts: Luke Seay (https://letterboxd.com/seayluke/), Blake Tourville (https://letterboxd.com/blaketourville/), and Dany Joshuva (https://letterboxd.com/djoshuva/) Podcast Links (Spotify and Apple): https://linktr.ee/floatingthroughfilm Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/floatingfilm/ Email: floatingthroughfilm@gmail.com

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E05.75 - Ernst Lubitsch's American Comedy with William Paul

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2024 159:53


We return from our brief hiatus with our most in-depth episode yet, culled from five hours of discussions recorded over a period of several months with William Paul, author of the essential critical study Ernst Lubitsch's American Comedy. We discuss Paul's friendship with frequent Lubitsch collaborator Samson Raphaelson, Raphaelson's sometimes-harsh retrospective criticism of his own work, the linguistic tics that unite Lubitsch's filmography, their methods of adapting obscure Hungarian plays, Raphaelson's recollections of Alfred Hitchcock's very different working methods, and Suspicion's shocking alternate ending. Later on, we discuss the neuroscientific mechanisms of comedy, the biological purpose of laughter, the relationship of To Be Or Not To Be and the idea of “passing”, and engage in some record-correction as to whether or not the film was as controversial as is widely believed. Edited by Brennen King and Eden Cote-Foster. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Dara and Ryan Jaffe join us for the first of two discussions on To Be Or Not To Be For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Ernst Lubitsch's American Comedy by William Paul

New Books Network
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

New Books in Literary Studies
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books in Literary Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

New Books in Film
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books in Film

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film

New Books in Dance
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books in Dance

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

New Books in Irish Studies
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books in Irish Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Books in American Studies
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books in American Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

New Books in LGBTQ+ Studies
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books in LGBTQ+ Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/lgbtq-studies

New Books in Popular Culture
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books in Popular Culture

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

New Books in British Studies
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024)

New Books in British Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2024 70:06


Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/british-studies

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E04.5 - Jack Benny is Not Appearing on This Show [1940]

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2024 31:31


This week, we present an episode of the SCREEN GUILD THEATER starring Ernst Lubitsch, Claudette Colbert, and possibly Jack Benny! Originally aired on October 20th, 1940. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Lance St. Laurent joins us to discuss THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING, as well as some comedic theory. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Ernst Lubitsch: The Radio Years (Forum Post) - A list of every Lubitsch-related episode of the Screen Guild Theater.

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E04c - The Shop Around the Corner [1940] with Adrian Martin

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2024 46:50


Critic Adrian Martin joins us for our final episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. In our discussion, we deconstruct some of the film's camera direction, discuss Lubitsch's late-period style and his more subtle (yet still very much present) formalism, his structural methodology, his use of repetition, the dynamics between “art” and “craft”, and Lubitsch's continuing influence. We also, at long last, try to define the Lubitsch “touch”. Or maybe not. Edited by Brennen King We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: We present an episode of THE GULF SCREEN GUILD THEATRE starring Ernst Lubitsch, Claudette Colbert, and possibly Jack Benny. WORKS CITED: Game Space and Play Time: A Partial History of American Screen Comedy (Lubitsch, Sturges, Tashlin) by Adrian Martin Adrian Martin's Review of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER Innuendo by William D. Routt Cinematógrafos - Edgardo Cozarinsky (Buenos Aires: BAFICI, 2010) Acting Ordinary in The Shop Around the Corner - George Tolles

Shea Cinema: The Best Picture Project
S5E9: One Hour With You, 1932

Shea Cinema: The Best Picture Project

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2024 105:49


Welcome to our episode on One Hour With You,  our fourth Ernst Lubitsch film for the project, and our THIRD Lubitsch musical...which also means our third Maurice Chevalier vehicle. Chevalier is joined once again by Jeanette MacDonald. How is this film any different from the others we have reviewed? Well, this one doesn't feature fantasy royalty, and is grounded quite firmly in hoity-toity French upper-crust 1930s society.  It's a frivolous little romp through the ups and downs of one happily married couple as they grapple with infidelity. As always we have our history timeline and top song of the day!Please leave us a review wherever you are listening!Email us rants as well as raves: sheacinema@gmail.comYou can also find us on Instagram (and now Twitter/X): @sheacinema

Cinematic Universe
Episode 164: Design for Living (1933)

Cinematic Universe

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2024 140:10


Joe, James and Rhys take a look at Ernst Lubitsch's 1933 polyamory romcom, Design for Living, based (very loosely) on a Noel Coward play. And for those who prefer stuff released this century, we also have a big old chat about Fallout and the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E0.5 - Desire [1936] with Imogen Sara Smith

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2024 54:56


Film writer and author Imogen Sara Smith joins us to discuss Frank Borzage's DESIRE, produced by Ernst Lubitsch during his tenure as Production Head at Paramount Studios! In this episode, we discuss the state of Lubitsch's career in this time of personal and political upheaval, the state of Hollywood in the Hays Code era, the the careers of Marlene Dietrich and Frank Borzage, the film's relationship with genre, and the code-mandated final beat of the plot. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify Edited by Brennen King NEXT WEEK: Film programmer and curator Chris Cassingham joins us to discuss ANGEL. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: The Motion Picture Production ("Hays") Code [Full Text] Marlene Dietrich: Life and Legend by Steven Bach

How Would Lubitsch Do It?
S5E00 - Scott Eyman, author of 'Laughter in Paradise'

How Would Lubitsch Do It?

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2024 57:54


It's our final season, and much has changed: Lubitsch is production head of Paramount, though not for long. The Production Code administration is enforcing the Hays code with an iron fist and, much worse, the National Socialist German Workers' Party is ruling Germany with a significantly heavier iron first. Over the course of the next ten years, we'll experience another world war, the height of classical Hollywood, and the death of our show's namesake. To kick things off, renowned author Scott Eyman joins us to discuss his definitive biography of Ernst Lubitsch, Laughter in Paradise, as well as Lubitsch's life and career circa the mid-late 1930s. We cover Eyman's research process, Lubitsch's attitudes towards life and art, his tenure as production head of Paramount, and his working methods with actors. Edited by Sophia Yoon. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Author Imogen Sara Smith joins us to discuss DESIRE. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Ernst Lubitsch Made the Hollywood Comedy Sublime by Alex Ross What Makes Lubitsch Lubitsch by Farren Smith Nehme Survival Tactics: German Filmmakers in Hollywood by Joe McElhaney

Shea Cinema: The Best Picture Project
S5E2: The Smiling Lieutenant, 1931

Shea Cinema: The Best Picture Project

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2024 110:27


In our first film review for the season, we cover The Smiling Lieutenant, another Ernst Lubitsch musical comedy. Starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, and newcomer Miriam Hopkins, this jaunty, suggestive film focuses on a love triangle between a lieutenant, his violin virtuoso girlfriend, and a naïve princess. There is lots of innuendo, lots of sexual banter, and ridiculous songs comparing sex to jazz and, yes, breakfast foods.We cover several months on our history timeline, top song of the day, and, as much baseball as we can manage.Please leave us a review wherever you are listening!Email us rants as well as raves: sheacinema@gmail.comYou can also find us on Instagram (and now Twitter/X): @sheacinema

The Last Thing I Saw
Ep. 235: K.J. Relth-Miller on Berlin Retrospectives: Lubitsch, Helke Sander, Carlos Saura, and more

The Last Thing I Saw

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2024 66:35


Ep. 235: K.J. Relth-Miller on Berlin Retrospectives: Lubitsch, Helke Sander, Carlos Saura, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For a number of festivals now, I've been fortunate enough to delve into the retrospective selections with programmer K.J. Relth-Miller from the Academy Museum (who also teaches at CalArts). This time we talked about the special Retrospective selections drawn from the Deutsche Kinemathek and films in the Classics section at the Berlinale. We start with Ernst Lubitsch's 1921 silent comedy Kohlhiesel's Daughters, which screened with live musical accompaniment, and then move on to later selections such as The Germans and Their Men (1989, Helke Sander), Herzsprung (1992, Helke Misselwitz), Angels of Iron (1980, Thomas Brasch), and Deprisa, Deprisa (1981, Carlos Saura). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Real Old Reels
To Be Or Not To Be

Real Old Reels

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2024 28:50


Along with Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, To Be or Not To Be is one of the greatest WWII films to mock Hitler during the war. Made by German director, Ernst Lubitsch and starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, this dark comedy tells the story of a Polish theater troupe on a mission to stop a spy with intel that would spell disaster and death for dozens of fellow Poles. Self-absorbed and jealous though they may be, they ultimately pull together to save the day!https://www.instagram.com/realoldreels/

The Top 100 Project
Ninotchka

The Top 100 Project

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2024 45:29


Ernst Lubitsch is one of the directors of the classic era who hasn't stayed in people's minds as much as others have. He's not as revered as, say, Billy Wilder...who happens to be a co-writer of Ninotchka. But Ernst had the famous "Lubitsch Touch", where he was able to effortlessly blend jokes and romance with a good story as well as anybody ever has. The hook here is that the always-serious Greta Garbo gets to be funny ("Garbo Laughs"). And she's great in this. She's lovable when she softens, but playing it straight as a stern Russian was her route to comic gold. She and Melvyn Douglas are a wonderful rom-com couple. As for Ninotchka's story, it's all about how capitalism is fun while communism is a dreary, almost-cultlike oppression. Politics has rarely resulted in such mirth. So loosen up and put on your ugly hat as the 569th edition of Have You Ever Seen digs into a classic comedy that's---get this---actually funny. And Just To Be Clear: Sig Ruman is German and Alexander Granach was born in what is now Ukraine, while Felix Bressart was born in what was then East Prussia in Germany...but is now Russia. So you could argue that at least he really was Russian. We're sponsored by the capitalists at Sparkplug Coffee. They give our listeners a onetime 20% discount if they just use our "HYES" promo code. Go to "sparkplug.coffee" and add "/ hyes" to enjoy a little savings. You are not bound to secrecy if you want to let us know what you think of our work. Our email address is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". Our Twi-x handles are @moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis. Bev is also on Threads with that same @. Your messages won't be blacked out by the government. And find our shows on YouTube too. Type "@hyesellis" into your browser and you'll be taken to our home page. Rate, review, like, subscribe and all that in your podcast app and/or on YouTube.