POPULARITY
[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!
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!
It's our season finale, and the end of the pre-code era! To celebrate, Tim Brayton returns to discuss THE MERRY WIDOW. We effuse about the film's infectious energy, the many incredible ‘Lubitsch Touch' moments and gestures, discuss Lubitsch's extremely loose adaptation of the Lehar operetta, the French-language version, Edward Everett Horton's greatest role, the film's relationship with love and death, the more “conservative” nature of the film's resolution, and much more! With that, Season 4 of HOW WOULD LUBITSCH DO IT comes to a close, and with it the pre-code era. Oh how we'll miss you, lax Hays office overseers. Thanks to the guests who lent their time and support to this season: Jennifer Fleeger, Katharine Coldiron, Jonathan Mackris, Will Sloan, Matt Severson, Lea Jacobs, Tanya Goldman, Willa Ross, Krin Gabbard, Molly Rasberry, Jordan Fish, Ray Tintori, Z Behl, Eric Dienstfrey and Tim Brayton. Our editors: Gloria Mercer, Griffin Sheel, Sophia Yoon, & Rylee Cronin. Our location sound engineer, Anna Citak-Scott. And others who lent valuable counsel and support: Peter Labuza, Jose Arroyo, the Margaret Herrick Library, Dave Kehr and the Museum of Modern Art, Dara Jaffe and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Patrick Keating, Scott Eyman, Paul Cuff, David Cairns, and all the members of our Discord. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT SEASON: The censor's hammer falls, and Lubitsch's career comes to a close in grand fashion in Season 5. WORKS CITED: MPAA Production Code Administration Records for THE MERRY WIDOW The Merry Widow Blog Entry by Jose Arroyo
Ursinus College professor Jennifer Fleeger joins us to discuss THE LOVE PARADE. In this episode, we cover the operetta form, the divergent singing styles of Jeanette Macdonald and Maurice Chevalier, how those styles interact with the recording technology of the time, as well as this film's fascinating and sometimes uneasy ways of dealing with both class and gender roles. Edited by Griffin Sheel. NEXT WEEK: Katharine Coldiron joins us to discuss MONTE CARLO. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: The MPAA Production Come Administration Records for THE LOVE PARADE courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library Paris and the Musical: The City of Lights on Stage and Screen edited by Olaf Jubin Eclipse Series: Lubitsch Musicals essay on The Love Parade by Michael Koresky Pre-Code.com's list of Essential Pre-Code Hollywood Films Sound American by Jennifer Fleeger Mismatched Women: The Siren Song Through the Machine by Jennifer Fleeger Media Ventriloquism by Jennifer Fleeger
How Would Lubitsch Do It returns for a fourth season! It's an exciting time for Ernst Lubitsch and, therefore, the podcast: this season, we'll be covering the years between the introduction of synchronized sound in Hollywood and the establishment of the Production Code Administration in 1934. Ahead of us lie the years of Lubitsch's greatest influence in Hollywood: by the end of this season, he'll have gone from a prominent silent film director to being the first (and only!) director to have ever been given the reins of a major Hollywood studio. In between lie many of his greatest and most celebrated works. Aside from our film-by-film coverage of Lubitsch's work in this period, this season will feature a number of experts in the field of early sound cinema who have lent their time and knowledge so as to help paint a clearer picture of the evolving state of both technology and artistry in Hollywood cinema throughout this era. The first of these guests is Patrick Keating, professor of Communication at Trinity University and author of Hollywood Lighting from the Silent Era to Film Noir as well as The Dynamic Frame: Camera Movement in Classical Hollywood, among others. In this episode, Patrick and I discuss the history and ideology of early camera movement: why do directors choose to move, and how do they theorize the motivations behind this movement? We also discuss the dimensions of visible labor behind camera operation, the many differences between dollies, cranes, gimbals, and steadicams, aspect ratio shifts, and the many misconceptions floating around regarding early film camera movement. Edited by Griffin Sheel. NEXT WEEK: Ursinus College professor Jennifer Fleeger joins us to discuss THE LOVE PARADE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Hollywood Lighting from the Silent Era to Film Noir by Patrick Keating The Dynamic Frame: Camera Movement in Classical Hollywood by Patrick Keating
Host and KYW Newsradio community affairs reporter Cherri Gregg takes a look back at some of the "best of" Flashpoint. Since Nike made headlines after pulling it's Max Air 1's from the shelves after Colin Kaepernick argued that the Betsy Ross era flag featured on the shoe is a racist symbol-- we at Flashpoint were reminded of the Kate Smith controversy. Lou Scheinfeld, a former VP with the Flyers, Dr. Chad Dion Lassiter, executive director of Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations and Jennifer Fleeger, associate professor of media and communication studies at Ursinus College are debaters. The best of newsmaker is Luis Berrios, who was shot in the back during a robbery outside of his North Philadelphia home last November and set out on a crusade for forgiveness. The "best of" changemaker of the week is Patricia Gallagher aka "The Flower Lady," founder of the Happy Flowers Project.
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren’s Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger’s book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio; Deanna Durbin, whose soprano voice allegedly saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy, Susan Boyle the woman who shocked Britain’s Got Talent jury and public to the point of tears, amongst many others. Fleeger’s approach broadens the traditionally cinematic context of feminist psychoanalytic film theory to account for literary, animated, televisual, and virtual influences.All the songs played in this episode are available on the books companion website, available here.
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren's Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger's book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio;... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren’s Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger’s book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio; Deanna Durbin, whose soprano voice allegedly saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy, Susan Boyle the woman who shocked Britain’s Got Talent jury and public to the point of tears, amongst many others. Fleeger’s approach broadens the traditionally cinematic context of feminist psychoanalytic film theory to account for literary, animated, televisual, and virtual influences. All the songs played in this episode are available on the books companion website, available here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren’s Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger’s book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio; Deanna Durbin, whose soprano voice allegedly saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy, Susan Boyle the woman who shocked Britain’s Got Talent jury and public to the point of tears, amongst many others. Fleeger’s approach broadens the traditionally cinematic context of feminist psychoanalytic film theory to account for literary, animated, televisual, and virtual influences. All the songs played in this episode are available on the books companion website, available here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren’s Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger’s book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio;... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren’s Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger’s book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio;... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren’s Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger’s book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio; Deanna Durbin, whose soprano voice allegedly saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy, Susan Boyle the woman who shocked Britain’s Got Talent jury and public to the point of tears, amongst many others. Fleeger’s approach broadens the traditionally cinematic context of feminist psychoanalytic film theory to account for literary, animated, televisual, and virtual influences. All the songs played in this episode are available on the books companion website, available here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren’s Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger’s book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio; Deanna Durbin, whose soprano voice allegedly saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy, Susan Boyle the woman who shocked Britain’s Got Talent jury and public to the point of tears, amongst many others. Fleeger’s approach broadens the traditionally cinematic context of feminist psychoanalytic film theory to account for literary, animated, televisual, and virtual influences. All the songs played in this episode are available on the books companion website, available here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jennifer Fleeger‘s Mismatched Women: The Siren's Song Through the Machine (Oxford University Press, 2014) tells the story of women in film and their representation as aberrations, but also as moments of emancipation and agency. Fleeger's book discusses exceptional voices such as Kate Smith, known as the First Lady of Radio; Deanna Durbin, whose soprano voice allegedly saved Universal Studios from bankruptcy, Susan Boyle the woman who shocked Britain's Got Talent jury and public to the point of tears, amongst many others. Fleeger's approach broadens the traditionally cinematic context of feminist psychoanalytic film theory to account for literary, animated, televisual, and virtual influences. All the songs played in this episode are available on the books companion website, available here.