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The winner of our recent Listener Choice Lottery was our friend Monique (of Monique's Movie Madness, @moniques_movie_madness on TikTok). Her movie? The Legend of Billie Jean (1985). Not only had neither of us ever seen this movie, we'd barely even heard of it. But boy is it a hidden gem. Pure sleazy '80s goodness. Helen Slater plays our hero: Billie Jean, a 17-year-old resident of Corpus Christi, Texas. The year is 1985, and she's going up against the many injustices life throws at her, with the help of her spunky younger brother Binx (Christian Slater), the live-action Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith), and a hunky movie nerd named Lloyd (Keith Gordon). Spoiler alert: She wins. But the real winner is YOU, the viewing public. Bonus video: We each name an actor we just can't stand. Who can't you stand?? Watch it on our Twitter, BlueSky, Instagram, or TikTok. Next week: Feb. 12 - The Truman Show exclusively on Patreon! Feb. 14 - Twilight with special guests, Rose and Courtney from the Fiction Fixation podcast! Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! patreon.com/loadbearingbeams Time stamps: 00:03:05 — Monique's history with The Legend of Billie Jean 00:13:00 — History segment: A brief history of The Legend of Billie Jean via original screenwriter Walter Bernstein, director Matthew Robbins, and star Helen Slater 00:20:16 — In-depth movie discussion 01:26:22 — Final thoughts and star ratings Artwork by Laci Roth. Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC). Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM “Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ Follow the show! Twitter: @LoadBearingPod | @MattStokes9 | @LRothConcepts Instagram: @loadbearingbeams TikTok: @load.bearing.beams | @mattstokes9 Letterboxd: @loadbearinglaci | @mattstokes9 Bluesky: @loadbearingbeams.bsky.social
Il difficile periodo del maccartismo, quando negli anni ‘50 la "caccia alle streghe" ha sconvolto Hollywood sin nelle fondamenta, distruggendo carriere, amicizie e intere esistenze. Nel cupo clima generale, Hollywood ha rappresentato il luogo di maggiore visibilità del fenomeno, per via della popolarità dei nomi coinvolti. Molte le vittime, come Walter Bernstein, e molti coloro che hanno aiutato i perseguitati mettendo a repentaglio la propria carriera, come i registi Sidney Lumet e Arthur Penn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On today's Flame we're going to look at a particular movie that some see as being one of the greatest westerns of all time when in reality, it's a very subtle form of socialist indoctrination.
Benvenuti nella raccolta in formato Podcast delle puntate di #CloseUp, a cura di Matteo Righi, aka Houssy. #CloseUp è la rubrica di recensioni cinematografiche in onda su Radio Italia Anni 60 Emilia-Romagna.
In part 2 of their annual In Memoriam episode, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Michael H. Weber joins Gilbert and Frank for a fond look back at the lives and careers of Norm MacDonald, Sidney Poitier, Stephen Sondheim, Lina Wertmuller and Betty White as well as GGACP guests Ed Asner, Sonny Fox, Gavin MacLeod, Michael Nesmith and Bob Saget. Also in this episode: Cloris Leachman crushes on John Stamos, Joan Micklin Silver directs a "thinking man's" rom-com, Anne Beatts becomes the first female editor of National Lampoon and Allan Burns creates Cap'n Crunch and "My Mother the Car." PLUS: Cousin Itt! Hermey the Elf! The screenplays of Walter Bernstein! The musical stylings of Leslie Bricusse! Paul Mooney writes a classic SNL sketch! And the boys remember character actors Michael Constantine, Arlene Golonka, Gregory Sierra and Clarence Williams III! Start hiring RIGHT NOW with a SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com/GILBERT. Offer valid through March 31st. Visit athleticgreens.com/GILBERT for a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. Take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance! Shop now at solostove.com and get up to 30% off fire pits all month long, AND use promo code GILBERT at checkout to get an extra $10 off. Plus a lifetime warranty and FREE 30-day returns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A film from 1976 about the anti-Communist blacklist. Written, directed and acted by formerly blacklisted artists, and starring Woody Allen. Featuring guest co-host Aaron Leonard author of “The Folksingers & The Bureau”. Directed by by Martin Ritt (blacklisted 1951), written by Walter Bernstein (blacklisted 1950) and co-starring Michael Murphy, Andrea Marcovicci & Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernard, Loyd Gough & Joshua Shelly (blacklisted in 1950, 53, 52 and 52, respectively). Starring Woody Allen. How is the world wrong about this movie? From Andras: The world is wrong about Woody Allen. The world is wrong about 20th century anti-Communism. And the world is wrong about anti-semitism. Danny Peary chose “The Front” as his best picture of 1976 in his book “The Alternate Oscars” and it feels like a big influence of Larry David, but for reasons that are probably obvious this film, which has so much to say to us at this particular cultural moment is not a part of the cultural dialogue. Let’s change that. Find all of our episodes at www.theworldiswrongpodcast.com Follow us on Instagram @theworldiswrongpodcast Check out: The Director's Wall with Bryan Connolly & AJ Gonzalez & The Radio8Ball Show hosted by Andras Jones See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The recent death of screenwriter Walter Bernstein has WNYC's Sara Fishko ruminating on the subject of dissent, protest and the movies, in this edition of Fishko Files. Walter Bernstein is memorialized in many obituaries, including this one in The New York Times. MLK/FBI and The Front are available on Amazon Prime. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is now streaming on Netflix. Judas and the Black Messiah comes to theatres and HBO Max on Friday, February 12. The United States vs. Billie Holiday begins streaming on Hulu on Friday, February 26. Minamata is set for release later this year, with the date to be determined. Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia BrileyMix Engineer: Ed HaberEditor: Karen Frillmann
The acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter Walter Bernstein died recently at the age of 101. His films included "Fail-Safe," "Paris Blues," "The Molly Maguires," "Semi-Tough," and lastly, to cite a 1976 classic starring Woody Allen that was based on Bernstein's own experiences as a blacklisted writer in Fifties Hollywood, "The Front." On this edition of ST, we listen back to our 1997 conversation with Walter Bernstein. At that time, he'd just put out a book called "Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist."
Rupert Murdoch, of all people, whines about being cancelled. That sparks Ben to reflect on the life of Walter Bernstein, who really was cancelled. Also, if it's so important that we reopen the schools, why won't the mayor see to it that school employees are immediately vaccinated?
Qui puoi recuperare le puntate di CLOSE UP, rubrica quotidiana di recensioni cinematografiche a cura di Matteo Righi, in onda su Radio Italia Anni 60 Emilia-Romagna.
St. Valentine's Day: A gut-punch of a story of class and sex and privilege and college days. -The Voice before the Void “Houseparty” Walter Bernstein Fair use of copyrighted material is claimed under United States copyright law for not-for-profit purposes … Continue reading →
It's finally here: Election Day. After you've cast your vote, hopefully this new episode of the Film Comment podcast will help you relax as the results come in. This week, we spotlight two writers whose work has never shied away from the political: blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein, whose numerous credits include The Front, Fail-Safe, and The House on Carroll Street; and Cuban novelist Edmundo Desnoes, whose seminal work Memories of Underdevelopment investigated the bourgeois mindset during the Cuban revolution and was subsequently adapted into the 1968 film by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. Each talks with Digital Editor Violet Lucca about exploring different forms of subjective experience within objective political realities, as well as harnessing their art to provoke further questioning from viewers.
My guest for this month is West Anthony, and he’s joined me to discuss the film he chose for me, the 1976 comedy-drama film The Front. You can follow the show on Twitter @cinemagadfly. Show notes: Not sure what happened to the audio in the introduction, apologies! The Hollywood blacklist is a term for the treatment of people in the entertainment industry who refused to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee from 1947 to 1960 For a more in depth take on the blacklist, check out the latest season of the phenomenal You Must Remember This podcast WonderCon is a comic book convention that was held annually in SF until it was cruelly moved to the LA area in 2012. Yes I’m still bitter about it. West also recommends the Gabrielle de Cuir directed Thirty Years of Treason by Eric Bentley Among the people famously blacklisted were Lillian Hellman, Lionel Stander, Paul Robeson, and Zero Mostel This film was directed by blacklisted director Martin Ritt, who also directed the film from our third episode, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold I’m just not a fan of Woody Allen. He’s too painfully neurotic for me, even before I start thinking about whatever the hell happened with his daughter and step-daughter Another Woody film where he only acts is the Paul Mazursky film Scenes from a Mall I’ve been a huge fan of Fiddler on the Roof, and Zero Mostel in it, since I was a little kid Elia Kazan is one of the more interesting stories of directors and the blacklist The writer of this film, Walter Bernstein, was also blacklisted As were many of its stars, including Herschel Bernardi and Lloyd Gough So was the father of actress Julie Garfield, actor John Garfield, which may have contributed to his death from heart problems West’s reference to bodily fluids is, of course, from the excellent Dr. Strangelove Hallie Flanagan ran the Federal Theatre Project, as part of FDR’s WPA program She gave Orson Welles the money to make his Voodoo Macbeth She also gave Marc Blitzstein the money to make The Cradle Will Rock Which was remade in 1999 by Tim Robbins LBJ said in 1966 “I do not believe that this generation of Americans is willing to resign itself to going to bed each night by the light of a Communist moon” Red Channels named 151 entertainers it claimed were communists Trumbo is a 2015 film about Hollywood Ten member Dalton Trumbo Another film about the blacklist is 1991s Guilty by Suspicion, directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Robert De Niro One of the co-writers of Guilty by Suspicion was Abraham Polonsky, who also wrote and directed Force of Evil with John Garfield, but he was so offended by what Irwin Winkler did that he had his name removed from it Guilty by Suspicion also stars Annette Bening Good Night and Good Luck by George Clooney is about McCarthyism, not the blacklist, but it’s also a great film about government overreach Panic in the Streets is a 1950 film, directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Zero Mostel Both West and I think that On the Waterfront, written by Budd Schulberg, was a justification for Kazan’s willingness to name names Lee J. Cobb was also forced to testify in front of the committee Leonard Bernstein wrote the score for On the Waterfront, and the film featured incredible performances from Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Eva Marie Saint I still haven’t seen Hail, Caesar! yet, which is a damn shame Nothing better than comparing the work of the Coen brothers to that of fellow Criterion Collection auteur Michael Bay Paranoid American films from the 70s include Three Days of the Condor, Klute, The Parallax View, and All the President’s Men Everyone who reads this needs to go subscribe to Musical Notation with West Anthony. Right now. I’ll wait It’s part of the awesome Battleship Pretension Podcast Fleet You can also follow West’s amazing show on twitter @notationpod Rent or buy the film from Amazon Rent or buy the film on iTunes
Walter Bernstein was born in Brooklyn in 1919. For the next 94 years he wrote and co-wrote terrific movies for big stars: Fail Safe with Henry Fonda, The Train with Burt Lancaster, The Magnificent Seven with everybody – Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson. The Front, with Woody Allen and Zero Mostel, is based on his own experience as a blacklisted writer. We talked about all of this and more at the Writers Guild East.
During screenwriter Walter Bernstein's visit in 2003 as a Kelly Writers House Fellow, Al Filreis interviewed him, and here is a 20-min. excerpt from that 70-minute interview.
A list of radicals in Hollywood and the entertainment industry was published by US anti-communists more than 60 years ago. The list was known as Red Channels and people whose names were on it found their careers in jeopardy. Walter Bernstein was a young screenwriter at the time.