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In Cineversary podcast episode #82, host Erik Martin hunts on horseback for the perfect film and finds it in Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter, which celebrates a 70th birthday this year. Joining him on this journey is Imogen Sara Smith, author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City, editor-in-chief of Noir City Magazine, and frequent contributor to the Criterion Collection. Together, they travel upriver to explore what makes this movie a masterpiece, the filmmakers it inspired, key thematic takeaways, and much more.Learn more about the Cineversary podcast at www.cineversary.com and email show comments or suggestions to cineversarypodcast@gmail.com.
"FORGOTTEN LEADING LADIES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD" - 11/18/2024 A friend of mine once said that in Hollywood the toilet flushes every seven years. Meaning after about seven years, no one remembers who you are. Whether that's true or not, there are many classic film stars who were once popular, who have faded away into obscurity. We covered men a few months go, and now we are giving the ladies their due. Join us as we talk about four fabulous actresses who deserve to be remembered — LIZABETH SCOTT, MARIE WINDSOR, ELLA RAINES, and GERALDINE FITZGERALD. SHOW NOTES: Sources: “Biography of Lizabeth Scott,” August 1951, Paramount Pictures; “Liz Scott Slaps Libel Suit on Confidential Mag,” July 26, 1955, Variety; “Cut Actress Lizabeth Scott Out of Texan's Will,” May 12, 1971, Variety; "Geraldine's Long Journey,” June 13, 1971, New York Times; “Lizabeth Scott,” November 1971, by Don Stanke, Film Fan Magazine; Merv Griffin Interview with Geraldine Fitzgerald, 1977; Arlene Francis Interview with Geraldine Fitzgerald, 1985; Katie Kelly Interview with Geraldine Fitzgerald, 1985; “The Alluring Lizabeth Scott,” February 1993, by David M. Goodspeed, American Movie Classic magazine; “In Search of Lisabeth Scott: The Sphinx from Scranton,” Summer 2002, by Max Pierce, Films of the Golden Ages; “Marie Windsor A Shining Light,” piute.org; “Marie Windsor Tales of Noir and B Movies,” October 31. 1997, by Jerry Renshaw, The Austin Chronicle; “Marie Windsor, Femme Fatale And Queen of the B's, Dies at 80,” Dec. 14, 2000, New York Times; “Geraldine Fitzgerald, 91, Star of Stage and Film, Dies,” July 19, 2005, New York Times; “Lizabeth Scott: Sultry Woman of Film Noir (Obit),” February 8, 2015, Los Angeles Times; “A Light In the Dark: Ella Raines and Film Noirs Working Girls,” Fall 2015, by Imogen Sara Smith, Noir City magazine; “A Centenary Celebration of Ella Raines: Radiant Film Stars Daughter Reflects on Her Mother's Career,” August 6, 2020, by Leticia Magalhães, Cine Suffragette; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Movies Mentioned: LIZABETH SCOTT: You Came Along (1945); The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946); Dead Reckoning (1946); Desert Fury (1947); I Walk Alone (1947); Pitfall (1948); Too Late for Tears (1949); Paid In Full (1950); Dark City (1950); The Company She Keeps (1951); Red Mountain (1951); The Racket (1951); Stolen Face (1952); Bad For Each Other (1953); Scared Stiff (1953); Loving You (1957) Pulp (1972); MARIE WINDSOR: Unexpected Uncle (1941); Weekend For Three (1941); All American Co-ed (1941); The Hucksters (1947); Song of the Thin Man (1947); Three Musketeers (1948); The Kissing Bandit (1948); Force of Evil (1948); Outpost in Morocco (1949); Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend (1949); Hellfire (1949); The Fighting Kentuckian (1949); Dakota Lil (1950); Little Big Horn (1951); The Narrow Margin (1952); Cat Women of the Moon (1953); Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955); The Killing (1956); ELLA RAINES: Corvette K-225 (1943); Cry Havoc (1943); The Phantom Lady (1944); Hail The Conquering Hero (1944); Tall In The Saddle (1944); The Suspect (1944); The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945); White Tie and Tails (1945) Brute Force (1947); The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947); The Walking Hills (1949); Impact (1949); The Man In The Road (1956); GERALDINE FITZGERALD: Blind Justice (1934); Dark Victory (1939); Wuthering Heights (1939); The Gay Sisters (1942); Watch on the Rhine (1943); Wilson (1944); Nobody Lives Forever (1946); Three Strangers (1946); Ten North Frederick (1958); The Pawnbroker (1964); Rachel, Rachel (1968); Harry and Tonto (1974); Arthur (1981); Do You Remember Love (1985); Arthur 2: On The Rocks (1988); --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact sales@advertisecast.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Description: Imogen Sara Smith joins for our special episode 150, which we recorded without interruptions. We talk about a number of subjects including the thrill and rarity of seeing a repertory nitrate screening. She talks about her craft process, and how she approaches writing about film. We talk about modern French film and specifically how Celine Sciamma has pushed the boundaries of telling a visual story. We talk about the 2024 October Criterion announcements, including the Val Lewton set which features an Imogen interview. Finally, Imogen weighs in our Jill and Aaron's choices for the upcoming #Noirvember Blogathon. Thanks Imogen for helping us celebrate this milestone episode! Links: Criterion Now - Episode 150 - Video Film Noir Foundation Maine Media - Imogen Sara Smith Criterion Collection - Imogen Sara Smith - Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons Follow Us: Cinejourneys - Website | YouTube Channel | Discord Server Jill Blake - BlueSky Aaron West - Letterboxd
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
Bill speaks to author and film historian Imogen Sara Smith about her various endeavors, from writing books like BUSTER KEATON: THE PERSISTENCE OF COMEDY and IN LONELY PLACES: FILM NOIR BEYOND THE CITY to contributing audio commentaries, booklet essays and on-camera interviews to home video releases from The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, Eureka!, Imprint, Flicker Alley, Arrow and Indicator. Topics include: John Bengtson's SILENT ECHOES, Eddie Muller, writing techniques, The Criterion Channel, Courtney Stephens' TERRA FEMME, her Phantom Light column for Film Comment, THE WELL, film lists/ranking and stumbling upon old W.C. Fields locations. Read Sinners' Holiday: An Ode to Pre-Code”https://brightlightsfilm.com/sinners-holiday-an-ode-to-pre-code/#.Ylfx8i2ZOqA Read Imogen Sara Smith on SWING TIME:https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6424-swing-time-heaven-can-t-wait Read Ghost Town: Nights on Bunker Hill:https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7734-ghost-town-nights-on-bunker-hill Buy the Kino Lorber 4K UHD for KILLER'S KISS:https://www.kinolorber.com/product/killers-kiss-4kuhd-blu-ray Read Imogen Sara Smith on the Criterion Current site:https://www.criterion.com/current/author/572-imogen-sara-smith Register for Imogen Sara Smith's online course, French Cinema: The Language of Light 1895-1960 https://www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/item/french-film-history-online/ Register for Imogen Sara Smith's online course, French Cinema: Breaking Rules & Boundaries 1960-2022 https://www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/item/french-cinema-breaking-rules-boundaries-1960-2022-online/ Pre-order El vampiro negro (The Black Vampire):https://www.flickeralley.com/classic-movies-2/#!/El-vampiro-negro-The-Black-Vampire/p/478619443/category=0 Buy The Guilty / High Tide from Flicker Alley:https://www.flickeralley.com/classic-movies-2/#!/The-Guilty-High-Tide/p/442246038 Visit the Film Noir Foundation site: http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org
This week on the Film at Lincoln Center podcast, we're featuring a talk from Camera Man: Dana Stevens on Buster Keaton, a recent FLC event celebrating the new book from author and Slate film critic Dana Stevens, moderated by writer Imogen Sara Smith and FLC Programming Assistant Maddie Whittle. The conversation ranged from the two authors' love of Buster Keaton, the evolution of the filmmaker's filmography, the perception of masculinity in Charles Reisner's Steamboat Bill, Jr., and the legacy of Keaton in Hollywood and beyond. Dana Stevens's new book Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century and Imogen Sara Smith's Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy are both available for purchase.
Film noir Nightmare Alley is released next week. It's director Guillermo del Toro's remake of the 1947 film - a baroque tale of carnival hucksters, psychiatrists and betrayal. Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the connections sparked by Nightmare Alley and film noir. Mark speaks to Guillermo del Toro about his five favourite classic noir films, including Fallen Angel and Born to Kill. And Ellen looks at how neo-noir movies subverted and reframed the genre from the 1970s onwards, with the help of critics Imogen Sara Smith and Amon Warmann. Screenshot is Radio 4's guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years. Producer: Jane Long A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
Imogen Sara Smith joins to talk about noir, especially international noir, and other topics.
Imogen Sara Smith joins to talk about noir, especially international noir, and other topics.
Imogen Sara Smith joins to talk about noir, especially international noir, and other topics.
Louis Valray was born in 1896 and died in 1972. Beyond that, little is known of the man except what we can glean from his two marvelous feature films, La belle de nuit (1934) and Escale (aka Thirteen Days of Love, 1935), works that combine the visual invention of Jean Vigo and the humanism of Marcel Pagnol. Both movies, each clocking in at a neat 84 minutes, display a confident and expressive style that seems to take particular inspiration exploring the differences between the soulful rank and file of Marseilles and their more coldly urbane Parisian counterparts. Valray was, above all, a personal filmmaker and these two features evidence an enormous compassion for women, the underprivileged, and society’s outcasts. It seems likely that Valray considered himself a real outsider too, as there was very little printed about him in France when his movies were originally released to disappointing box office returns. Thanks to the heroic film preservation efforts of Serge Bromberg and his distribution company Lobster Films, Escale and La belle de nuit have been made available for the first time in nearly 80 years. The films are also being championed by some of America’s finest film critics like Imogen Sara Smith, who writes in Film Comment that “stylistically the films are startlingly original and rather odd, blending exhilaratingly fresh location shooting, lyrical images, heavy-handed melodrama, and idiosyncratic composition and editing.” Now you can discover these Louis Valray masterpieces for yourself in this special double feature program that allows you to see both Escale and La belle de nuit for one ticket price. (JH)
“The people are all pale as mushrooms, blending in with the ashen cityscapes, sterile white rooms, and drab, half-empty restaurants. Stuck in meticulously composed dioramas, they enact miniature comedies and tragedies—sometimes it is hard to say which—filled with deadpan humor and haunting bleakness. We could only be in a Roy Andersson movie.” Imogen Sara Smith wrote these words about Andersson's latest, About Endlessness, which graced the cover of Film Comment's May-June 2020 issue. The global pandemic was just starting to take hold back then, and the Swedish filmmaker's work seemed to offer an uncannily apt vision of life in 2020. With About Endlessness finally opening in theaters, FC editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute welcomed Imogen and another long-time FC contributor, Jonathan Romney, for a conversation about the film and its place in Andersson's utterly distinctive filmography. Don't forget to sign up for the Film Comment Letter, launching on May 6! It's a free digital newsletter that will deliver original writing by Film Comment contributors directly to your inbox every Thursday. Sign-up today at filmcomment.com and receive a free digital download of a Film Comment back issue of your choice.
This week Denise is joined by writer/performer Nita Cherise (@nitacherise on everything) to discuss 1945's Mildred Pierce! Remember to follow @InfiniteNoire on all of the things. Sources referenced include "A Woman's Work" by Imogen Sara Smith (https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4433-mildred-pierce-a-woman-s-work) and Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Pierce_(film)).
We're always happy to welcome two outstanding scholars to the Film Comment Podcast, and you've probably already read their criticism or heard them on a DVD or streaming commentary. David Bordwell last joined us to discuss his book Reinventing Hollywood, and of course his books are staples of film studies courses and his regular film blog with Kristin Thompson is a sharp and inquisitive resource. Critic Imogen Sara Smith is our other returning guest, a regular contributor to Film Comment and an all-star contributor at Criterion and elsewhere. Among her beautifully composed and observed essays, she's written about Christian Petzold for us and on the podcast, reflected on the phenomenon of ghosts in cinema. Film Comment Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold welcomed David and Imogen back for a discussion that ranges from fascinating rediscoveries in Japanese cinema to the inflammatory film The Hunt. If you're a longtime Film Comment subscriber, listener, or reader, or are just tuning in now, please consider becoming a member or making a donation to our publisher, Film at Lincoln Center, during these unprecedented times: purchase.filmlinc.org/donate/contribute2
Cinema and ghosts both offer the promise of life after death. On the latest Film Comment Podcast, just in time for Halloween, we talked about the fascinating role ghosts play in movies. We start with the 1940s, when ghosts seemed to exert a special hold on Hollywood cinema of wartime and postwar era. From there, it's off to the spooky races, all the way up to the 1970s and Personal Shopper and (the great) beyond. For this haunting discussion, I was joined by Imogen Sara Smith, critic and author of our Phantom Light column; and Michael Koresky, director of editorial and creative strategy at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
A Two-fer! Talking The Boat and The Paleface with Imogen Sara Smith
We're talking THE GOAT with Imogen Sara Smith, author of the indispensable "Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy."
The Film Noir Foundation co-presented an October screening and panel discussion of the 1944 classic Gaslight at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD, as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. We talk with the event's organizer, Aha! Moment Founder Tali Elitzur (aka the Noir Talk host's better half), about the origins of her idea for the event (2:15), as well as how therapists define and deal with the pattern of emotional abuse known as "gaslighting" (4:50). Film writer and historian Imogen Sara Smith, who introduced the screening and participated in the panel discussion, joins us to talk about the 1944 movie and its portrayal of an abuse victim's experience (10:50), how Gaslight fits in as a film noir (17:20), and how the 1940 British movie version compares with the Hollywood version (27:00). Author and domestic violence survivor Paula Lucas, the Founder of Pathways to Safety International, recounts her own experience with gaslighting (44:10) and describes how accurately the patterns of abuse are portrayed in the movie (51:50). We wrap up with how some of the recent high-profile stories of sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement can impact the fight against abuse going forward (53:30). Donate to the FNF to receive a year's subscription to NOIR CITY, including the current issue: http://filmnoirfoundation.org/contribute.html Details on the October screening, including full audio of the post-movie panel discussion, are available here: https://www.ahamomentdc.org/events/gaslight/ Pathways To Safety International: http://pathwaystosafety.org/ Please send us any feedback you have on our show to podcast@filmnoirfoundation.org. Music: Themes from Le Doulos (by Paul Misraki), Gaslight 1944 version (Bronislaw Kaper), and Gaslight 1940 version (Richard Addinsell). Dialogue from Gaslight (1944), with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer.
This week, The Film Comment Podcast welcomes back seminal critic David Bordwell to discuss his new book Reinventing Hollywood: How 1940s Filmmakers Changed Movie Storytelling. Instead of approaching the decade through the lens of one genre or auteur, Bordwell thinks about the stylistic hallmarks that distinguished the decade—for example, screenwriting conventions like flashbacks—and how they paved the way for the classical Hollywood form we might take for granted today. Bordwell joins Imogen Sara Smith, frequent FC and Criterion contributor, and Violet Lucca, FC Digital Producer and podcast moderator, for a journey into (and even Out of) the cinematic past.
The centerpiece retrospective of this year's New York Film Festival celebrates the centenary of Robert Mitchum, paragon of fatalist cool. In her September/October '17 Film Comment feature “Running Deep,” Imogen Sara Smith observes that Mitchum's acting “goes on under the surface: amusement, sadness, anger, or banked-down warmth seep through his face the way coals glow through a layer of ash when you blow on them. To think of him ‘accessing emotion' or ‘creating a character' feels wrong.” This week, each critic—Smith, NYFF Director and Mitchum retrospective co-programmer Kent Jones, and FC Editorial Assistant and frequent TCM Diarist Steven Mears—brings in a Mitchum performance to delve into. Even if Mitchum self-deprecatingly claimed that he favored the Smirnoff method over Stanislavski, every example deepens our sense of the creative skill set that he kept close to the vest throughout his career. As always, FC Digital Producer Violet Lucca hosts and moderates.
Our guest this month is film critic and historian Imogen Sara Smith. We start by discussing her background as a film writer and how she started writing about noir in particular (1:40). Then we discuss her commentary track for the new DVD/Blu-ray release of The Scar (aka Hollow Triumph), including the central role of star/producer/director Paul Henreid (5:30), the movie's theme of people not noticing things right in front of them and how that relates to film noir in general (10:25), the great cinematography by John Alton and expressionism in noir (13:40), and one quote from the movie that sums up film noir all in one phrase (18:35). Then we discuss Imogen's NOIR CITY e-magazine article "Wanted Man: The Fugitive" from the Fall 2016 issue about noir transitioning to TV in the 1960s: how The Fugitive exemplified themes and style common to film noir (20:20), older TV shows not being designed for binge-watching (28:50), and the influence of the show's creator Roy Huggins in designing TV concepts that sustain suspense and interest from one episode to the next (31:05). Next up is Imogen's article "A Light In The Dark: Ella Raines and Film Noir's Working Girls" from the Fall 2015 issue of NOIR CITY. We talk about the background and career of 1940s leading lady Ella Raines (35:40) and how she epitomized the working girl character that briefly flourished in film noir, a positive companion to the more widely known femme fatale character (40:00). Then we play a game of hypotheticals: Raines was discovered and groomed by Howard Hawks, but she never appeared in any movies he directed, so which "Hawksian women" would have been good parts for her? (45:35) We also talk about Imogen's book "In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond The City." We discuss its overall theme of classic noir films taking place in settings outside cities, and how that reflected post-war trends in the US (56:15), plus just what is it that makes film noir so interesting: we all love the style and the iconography, but there's way more to it that keeps us coming back to these movies that still resonate today (59:55). We conclude with the film series that Imogen programmed in connection with her book (1:08:00). NOIR CITY Austin takes place from Friday May 19 through Sunday May 21 at Austin's Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, with FNF founder and president Eddie Muller introducing the movies. Schedule and tickets available here: https://drafthouse.com/austin/program/noir-city-austin-2017 The new Blu-ray release of The Scar (aka Hollow Triumph), with commentary track by Imogen Sara Smith, is available from Kino Lorber: https://www.kinolorber.com/product/view/id/4033 Imogen's article "Wanted Man: The Fugitive" is in the Fall 2016 issue of the NOIR CITY e-magazine. Subscribe with a donation to the Film Noir Foundation: http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noircityemag.html The article "A Light In The Dark: Ella Raines and Film Noir's Working Girls" is from the Women In Film Noir issue of NOIR CITY, available for back-order here: http://www.noircitymag.com/noir_city_16.html The book "In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond The City" is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Places-Film-Noir-Beyond/dp/0786463058 Feedback: podcast@filmnoirfoundation.org Music: Themes from The Killers (by Miklos Rozsa) and On Dangerous Ground (Bernard Herrmann). "One For My Baby (and One More For The Road)" by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, sung by Ida Lupino in Roadhouse. Dialogue from The Scar, with Paul Henreid and Joan Bennett. Opening credits from The Fugitive narrated by William Conrad.
The September/October issue of Film Comment re-envisioned the magazine's style and sharpened its focus, celebrating the vibrancy of cinema as well as delving into tough critical issues. As part of the 54th New York Film Festival's free talks series sponsored by HBO, critics whose work appears in the current issue—Farihah Zaman, Nick Pinkerton, Imogen Sara Smith, and Shonni Enelow—joined Film Comment Editor Nicolas Rapold and Film Society Editorial Director Michael Koresky before a live audience to discuss their ideas and find points of comparison between the big films of the season and the pressing issues facing the medium.
Great works of art transcend the passage of time, but the cinema of years past has its own special qualities of transcendence and immersion. This episode of The Film Comment Podcast explores how we relate to older films in the modern era, and examines the culture that surrounds their appreciation in an era of revival runs, film festivals, and restoration efforts. The discussion, led by Film Comment Digital Editor Violet Lucca, touches on modern audiences' emotional distance from older works, the enduring power of the film medium, and the particular experience of younger generations of cinephiles. Rounding out the panel are Vulture critic Mark Harris; FC columnist Farran Smith Nehme; and critic Imogen Sara Smith, whose September/October feature on classical cinema and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival inspired this conversation.
While it can be fun to talk to critics who spend their time keeping up with contemporary cinema, Peter is glad to bring on Imogen Sara Smith, who has always dived into cinema's past worlds. The author of Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy and In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City talks about her initial love of film via the Great Stoneface, her desire to write long in order to thoroughly engage with a topic, and her love of Pre-Code's subversive pleasures. The two also dive deeply into the many ends and odds of the strange cycle of film noir, engaging with questions of genre, psychology, and some underrated hits, before ending with one of noir's canonical masterpieces: Nicholas Ray's In A Lonely Place, a film so brutal in its depiction of love by being at first so intoxicating. 0:00-1:24 Opening2:15-5:12 Establishing Shots - In The Mouth of Madness5:28-10:18 Listener Feedback11:03-1:12:57 Deep Focus - Imogen Sara Smith1:13:56-1:36:45 Double Exposure - In A Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray)1:36:47-1:39:19 Close / Outtake