This 1932 MGM Studios Year by Year episode is a Robert Montgomery double feature, although the spotlight is on his leading ladies: an incandescent Marion Davies in Blondie of the Follies (directed by Edmund Goulding), and a distraught Tallulah Bankhead in Faithless (directed by Harry Beaumont). We discuss the strengths and incoherencies of Anita Loos' and Frances Marion's screenplay for Blondie of the Follies (spoilers: it may have been tampered with by some guy named Hearst) and then turn to our strong reactions to MGM's intense Depression melodrama, in which Hugh Herbert plays a sexual predator so convincingly it gave Elise a nightmare! Speaking of nightmare fuel: in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto we discuss Mike Figgis' Leaving Las Vegas (1995), starring Elisabeth Shue and Nicholas Cage in a kind of reverse Vertigo, which was playing as part of the TIFF Story in 50 Films series.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 25s: 1932 and MGM

0h 05m 41s: BLONDIE OF THE FOLLIES [dir. Edmund Goulding]

0h 37m 26s: FAITHLESS [dir. Harry Beaumont]

01 00m 20s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto – Mike Figgis’ Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

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Studio Film Capsules provided by The MGM Story by John Douglas Eames

Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler

1932 Information from Forgotten Films to Remember by John Springer

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* 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!

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Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com

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Our August Special Subject is Literature vs. Welles vs. Moreau: we discuss the three finished films that Orson Welles made with Jeanne Moreau, whom he considered "the greatest actress in the world." The Trial (1962) stars Anthony Perkins in an adaptation of the Kafka novel; Chimes at Midnight (1965) stars Welles as Falstaff in an adaptation of Shakespeare's Henriad focused on the Prince Hal/Falstaff relationship; and The Immortal Story (1968) stars Welles and Moreau in an adaptation of a Karen Blixen story. Come for Welles' handling of these immortal stories, stay to find out how Moreau assisted the magician.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 25s: THE TRIAL (1962) [dir. Orson Welles]

0h 35m 24s: CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1965) [dir. Orson Welles]

0h 52m 19s: THE IMMORTAL STORY (1968) [dir. Orson Welles]

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* Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring

* 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 piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again”

* Check out Dave’s 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!

In this episode of our Gloria Grahame Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode, our protagonist is rudely shoved into the background of the movies, barely appearing in Josef von Sternberg's Macao (1950) (she would have liked to have appeared in it even less) and playing a rote schemer in David Miller's Sudden Fear (1952). The movies themselves don't make up for her under-use, despite the amiable pairing of Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell in the former and the great Joan Crawford sobbing her way to an Oscar nomination in the latter. We do our best to articulate what went wrong for us, before turning our attention to James Gunn's Superman (2025) in our Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto segment. Gunn's approach triggers Dave's superhero comics nostalgia, but Elise is skeptical.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 25s: MACAO (1952) [dir. Josef von Sternberg]

0h 22m 52s: SUDDEN FEAR (1953) [dir. David Miller]

0h 42m 15s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto – James Gunn’s Superman (2025) at the Scotiabank Theatre on Richmond Street

Excerpt on Macao from Josef von Sternberg’s Fun in a Chinese Laundry

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* Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring

* 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 piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again”

* Check out Dave’s 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!