This week's Lilli Palmer Acteurist Oeuvre-view sees Lilli in two small but crucial roles: Sebastian (1968), starring Dirk Bogarde as a Cold War cryptanalyst of divided political loyalties, and Oedipus Rex (1968), starring Christopher Plummer as Freud's favourite plaything of the gods. We discuss Cold War politics, the Swinging Sixties New Woman, free will, and the perils of adapting ancient Greek tragedy. And in our Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto segment, we briefly discuss the final Powell Pressburgers of TIFF cinematheque's retrospective, A Matter of Life and Death and Canadiana curiosity 49th Parallel, as well as Elise's first big-screen Cassavetes, A Woman Under the Influence, and how no one should ever have parties.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 30s: SEBASTIAN (1968) [dir. David Greene]

0h 23m 17s: OEDIPUS THE KING (1968) [dir. Philip Saville]

0h 44m 11s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and 49th Parallel (1941) by Powell & Pressburger; A Woman Under the Influence (1974) by John Cassavetes

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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!

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For this Universal 1946 episode, we chose a B-movie double bill, The Cat Creeps (directed by Erle C. Kenton, best known for Island of Lost Souls) and She-Wolf of London (directed by Jean Yarbrough, Abbott and Costello specialist), hoping for hidden gems. But did we find any? And in the Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto segment, our Powell and Pressburger retrospective viewing continues with Black Narcissus and Michael Powell's notorious investigation of cinema, voyeurism, and violence, Peeping Tom.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 30s: THE CAT CREEPS [dir. Erle C. Kenton]

0h 12m 00s: SHE-WOLF OF LONDON [dir. Jean Yarbrough]

0h 26m 03s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto – Black Narcissus (1947) by Powell and Pressburger and Peeping Tom (1960) by Michael Powell

Studio Film Capsules provided by The Universal Story by Clive Hirschhorn

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

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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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In this week's Lilli Palmer Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode, we encounter more Nazis in a couple of movies very loosely based on real WWII incidents: Disney's Miracle of the White Stallions (1963), based on Operation Cowboy (but with the equine eugenics shoved into the subtext), and Operation Crossbow (1965), about the attempt by British Intelligence to stop the threat of Nazi rockets. Sophia Loren shares a great scene with Lilli Palmer in the latter, but to say more would be spoilers. In Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto, we discuss our viewings of two more Powell Pressburgers, A Canterbury Tale and The Tales of Hoffman, plus an adjacent film, The Thief of Bagdad (1940), a Korda production co-directed by Powell and starring Sabu and Rex Ingram.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 30s: MIRACLE OF THE WHITE STALLIONS (1963) [dir. Arthur Hiller]

0h 21m 17s: OPERATION CROSSBOW (1965) [dir. Michael Anderson]

0h 35m 04s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: The Thief of Bagdad (1940) by Michael Powell, Tim Whelan & Ludwig Berger and A Canterbury Tale (1944) and Tales of Hoffman (1951) by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

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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!

This week we have a whopping big episode for you: Part 2 of our look at Samuel Goldwyn Productions, dealing with the 1940s; and, in our Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto segment, brief discussions of three Powell and Pressburgers, kicking off TIFF's May retrospective. For this episode we watched The Little Foxes (directed by William Wyler), The Pride of the Yankees (directed by Sam Wood), The Best Years of Our Lives (Wyler again), and My Foolish Heart (directed by Mark Robson). From scheming capitalists to heroic baseball stars to casting a critical eye on post-WWII America to a grown-up soap opera that defies the Production Code, we consider the legacy of the innovative independent producer who not only hired intellectuals but let them do their thing.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 30s: THE LITTLE FOXES (1942) [dir. William Wyler]

0h 26m 57s: THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942) [dir. Sam Wood]

0h 39m 40s: THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) [dir. William Wyler]

1h 01m 00s: MY FOOLISH HEART (1949) [dir. Mark Robson]

1h 19m 38s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: The Red Shoes (1948), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and I Know Where I’m Going (1945) – all by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

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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 RKO 1946 episode we discuss Crack-Up (directed by Irving Reis), an eerie noir with a couple of great Expressionist set pieces. Pat O'Brien oozes vulnerability as a WWII vet and populist art critic who has to find out who's trying to make him look, or go, insane; Claire Trevor plays the love interest who's trying to help him (or is she?). Oh yeah, and we also watched Step By Step (directed by Phil Rosen), a goofy spy drama in which Lawrence Tierney gets to play a nice guy for once. Remember this episode when we watch Tierney and Trevor at their nastiest in Born to Kill, coming soon!

Time Codes:

0h 00m 35s: STEP BY STEP [dir. Phil Rosen]

0h 17m 09s: CRACK-UP [dir. Irving Reis]

Studio Film Capsules provided by The RKO Story by Richard B. Jewell & Vernon Harbin

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

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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!

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!

This week's Lilli Palmer Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode is a George Seaton double feature that once again gives us Lilli the sophisticate and Lilli the saint: in The Pleasure of His Company (1961), she plays the ex-wife of Fred Astaire, an absentee father whose plan to recapture his youth by seducing their daughter into becoming his travelling companion she sets out to foil; while in The Counterfeit Traitor, she's a member of the German anti-Nazi resistance who imparts a conscience to William Holden's reluctant spy. And in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto we cover our final Marguerite Duras viewings: her first film, La Musica, and two from near the end of her filmography, Agatha et les lectures illimitées and the formally radical L'homme atlantique.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 35s: THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY (1961) [dir. George Seaton]

0h 24m 25s: THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR (1962) [dir. George Seaton]

0h 45m 10s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: La Musica (1967), L’homme atlantique (1981) and Agatha et les lectures illimitées (1981) – all by Marguerite Duras

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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!

This week's Fox 1946 Studios Year by Year episode features the strange bedfellows of Henry Hathaway's The Dark Corner, a curiously feminist film noir in which the tormented protagonist is saved by the persistence of a good woman (played by Lucille Ball), and Edmund Goulding's The Razor's Edge, based on a Somerset Maugham novel about spiritual enlightenment and bourgeois ennui, featuring Gene Tierney's best performance, although Anne Baxter won the Oscar. And in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto, the TIFF Cinematheque Duras retrospective continues with Nathalie Granger, Baxter, Vera Baxter, Le Navire Night, and Les Enfants. We discuss comedy, mysticism, nihilism, recalcitrant children, and happy endings in Duras's films.

Time Codes:

0h 00m 35s: THE DARK CORNER [dir. Henry Hathaway]

0h 25m 04s: THE RAZOR’S EDGE [dir. Edmund Goulding]

0h 52m 22s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: Nathalie Granger (1972), Baxter, Vera Baxter (1977), Le Navire Night (1979) and Les Enfants (1984) – all by Marguerite Duras

Studio Film Capsules provided by The Films of 20th Century-Fox by Aubrey Solomon & Tony Thomas

Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joe 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!

Our examination of the film career of Lilli Palmer continues with a couple of excellent films that show us Palmer's range when playing "loveable": But Not for Me, in which she gives a comedic performance as the ex-wife of a Broadway producer played by Clark Gable, benevolently interfering in his budding relationship with young actress Carroll Baker; and Conspiracy of Hearts, in which Palmer plays an Italian Mother Superior who persuades her nuns to help Jewish children escape from a concentration camp. Penned by a couple of American blacklistees, Conspiracy of Hearts has a surprisingly complex view of religion, as But Not for Me does of age difference relationships, offering plenty of fodder for good movie talk!

Time Codes:

0h 00m 35s: BUT NOT FOR ME (1959) [dir. Walter Lang]

0h 24m 25s: CONSPIRACY OF HEARTS (1960) [dir. Ralph Thomas]

+++

* 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!