Foibles: A Mother-Daughter Podcast

Foibles Episode 32: Barbara Stanwyck- The Incomparable Babs

Barbara Stanwyck nee Ruby Stephens (1907 - 1990) She had a 64 year show business career! 

 

Must-see Stanwyck in chronological order:

Night Nurse (1931) - Starred with newcomer Clark Gable who became a lifelong friend

 

The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932) - There are some elements that did not age well but it is still a touching romance that defied the laws of anti-miscegenation.

 

Baby Face (1933) - Pre-code, gritty depiction of a woman who claws her way to the top using the only asset that the Patriarchy values. Theresa Harris has a prominent role, and unusually for a black actor, gets significant screen time and her character is as fleshed out as Stanwyck’s is.

 

The Lady Eve (1941) - Transcendent Preston Sturges comedy. Stanwyck’s comedic timing and her sensuality had never been given full rein. Henry Fonda who stars with her never stood a chance.

 

Ball of Fire (1941) - Her character’s name is Sugarpuss O’Shea. Need I say more?

 

Double Indemnity (1944) - The ultimate femme fatale. 

 

Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!

Foibles Episode 31: Narcissists, Assassins, and Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov (1899 - 1977)

 

Recommended:

Pale Fire (1962) - Parallel stories told through an epic poem and the annotation to the poem. Brilliant layering of clues, leaving the reader to decide how unreliable the narrator is - and who he is

 

Pnin (1957) - Pnin is a professor at the same college where John Shade and Charles Kinbote for Pale Fire teach. Pnin is mentioned in Pale Fire. 

 

Lolita (1958) - The novel that made Nabokov wealthy and famous. The Stanley Kubrick movie adaptation is marvelous - Lolita (1962). The 1998 film version lacks the spark of Kubrick’s vision. 

 

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (2003) - compelling memoir of stolen pleasure in literature

 

Thank you to Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind" listen here!

Foibles Episode 30: All That Heaven Allows/ Far From Heaven/ Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Douglas Sirk (1897 - 1987) - All That Heaven Allows (1955)

Sirk was a Dane born in Germany and became very successful in Germany as a theater director. His 1st wife joined the Nazi Party. He left Germany primarily because of the danger the rise of the Nazi Party created for his 2nd wife who was a Jew. 

The core and substance of Sirk’s oeuvre was created in Hollywood in the 1950’s in so-called women’s films. Sirk’s greatest works depicted social constraints from the woman’s point of view and offered full-bodied characters to his female stars. Sirk uses sweeping music, vivid technicolor, and lush scenery in opposition to emotional suppression and the heavy hand of systemic oppression. He hides his true anti-fascist message behind the tissue-thin glamor of Hollywood. 

 

At the time of their release, Sirk’s movies were critically sneered at for their swollen emotions and woman-centric themes. It was, per usual, the French New Wave directors and Cahiers du Cinema who embraced, lauded, and raised to the pantheon Douglas Sirk’s 1950’s films. Perhaps, the French could appreciate the films in depth because they were not afraid of the romantic stylistic grandeur and the anti-bourgeoises subtext. 

 

ATHA stars the almost forgotten Jane Wyman (Ronald Reagan’s 1st wife in real life) opposite the younger Rock Hudson. Wyman is an upper class widow in love with a younger, working class man. And all the forces of her class, family, and larger social circle put pressure on her to forego an alliance with an “unsuitable” man. Her family and society’s discomfort come from her crossing the class barrier and more, fundamentally, her implicitly asserting her sexual desire by making this choice. Sirk uses lighting, imagery, and mise en scene to evoke Wyman’s inner life, which she keeps buttoned up as required by her training and social position.

 

To my mind, Sirk’s greatest film is his last, Imitation of Life (1959). It is a remake of the equally good 1934 black-and-white version starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers as two women whose lives are bound together. They are bonded emotionally and economically, yet divided by race and class. Sirk’s remake starring Lana Turner and Juanita Moore is more stylish and emotionally febrile as he builds an edifice of intersectional inequality with gowns by Jean Louis. The major difference between the films is that in the 1934 version Louise Beaver’s black maid character plays a major role in raising the family’s fortunes by her own talents.

Sirk retired in 1959 after Imitation of Life. But continues to influence and inspire filmmakers, particularly male filmmakers.

 

Todd Haynes (b. 1961) - Far From Heaven (2002) 

Todd Haynes has a strong sympathy and insight into the female point of view. He has directed films in many genres but he brings a complex compassion no matter the form he is using. Far From Heaven is a remake of All That Heaven Allows (1955) with a large dollop of Imitation of Life (1959) folded in. 

 

In FFH, Julianne Moore is not a widow but a woman married to a closeted gay man, who falls in love with a straight, working-class, black man; thereby, challenging all the taboos. Haynes adopts all the hallmarks of Sirk’s style - oceanic musical score, colors so rich you can taste them, and pulsating, barely expressed emotions shifting the tectonic plates of the character’s lives. 

 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945 - 1982) Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)

This is one of the best out of Fassbinder’s enormous catalog of 44 films directed during his 18-year career. Fassbinder lived an openly queer lifestyle, indulged in, and eventually died from drugs. Basically, Fassbinder did not give shit what conventional and middle-class morality dictated. All of his films were political in that they spit in the face of the establishment. 

 

In Ali, Fassbinder has the courage to cast a man and woman whose demographics really challenges normative attitudes about heterosexual relationships. Brigitte Mira is actually 25 years older than her love interest played by El Hedi Ben Salem. She is not cosmetically enhanced with surgery, weight-loss, or special undergarments. Salem is a man of color, originally from Morocco, making him an immigrant and non-white. Every element is spectacularly transgressive in the 1970’s and still challenging today. 

Unlike Douglas Sirk and Todd Haynes, Fassbinder had no ties to the filmmaking establishment. He rebels stridently in his raw, unlovely mise en scene. Yet, at the same time, he pays homage to Sirk’s visual vocabulary.

 

Foibles Episode 29: ”That Demmed Elusive Pimpernel” The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

Book:

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, published 1905.

11 sequels plus numerous short stories

 

Movie adaptations:

Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon- The BEST adaptation

Pimpernel Smith (1941), Leslie Howard- Meh.

The Elusive Pimpernel (1950), David Niven and Margaret Leighton- Rita hated, Xoe loved the surreal sets.

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour- Solid adaptation.

 

TV:

Scarlet Pimpernel (1999)- Not very good.

 

Foibles Episode 28: The Prior Brothers, Genre Film‘s Born Killers

Experiences the child-like joy of gleaming muscles, flashing teeth, ill-timed explosions, and mayhem by the best of the worst.

 

Link to Ted's IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0697961/

 

Xoe and Rita's Top 7 Ted Prior Movies:

Sledgehammer (1983)

KILLZONE (1985)

Born Killer (1989)

Future Zone (1990)

Raw Nerve (1991)

Possessed by the Night (1994)**

Day of the Warrior (1996)*

 

Honorable Mentions:

Hardcase and Fist (1989)

Raw Justice (1994)

The Last House (2015)

 

*Xoe's unique pick

**Rita's pick

 

Thanks as always to Powerbleeder for our theme song "Future Mind". Listen Here

Foibles Episode 27: Archy and Mehitable- Toujours Gai

archy and mehitabel by don marquis is a collection of newspaper columns in verse without kapitalization or punctuation except occasionally  published between 1916 and 1936

 

filled with social and politikal commentary along with a very wry perspective on human foibles and the vagaries of life for all life forms

 

wonderful stylized illustrations by george herriman who wuz also the author of the krazy kat comics

 

first half of the full collection is highly recommended interest peters out in the second half

 

marquis's hit play old soak wuz definitely of it time its humor does not hold up at all

 

always speshial thanks to david plell and powerbleeder for our muzak

Foibles Episode 26: The Murderbot Diaries

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

 

All Systems Red - 2018 Nebula Award for Best Novella; 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novella; & 2018 American Library Association’s Alex Award; nominated for 2017 Philip K Dick Award

 

Artificial Condition - 2019 Hugo Award

 

Rogue Protocol

 

Exit Strategy

 

Network Effect

 

Fugitive Telemetry - Published in 2021. We have not read it yet

 

Read these in order!

The 1st three following novellas had enough votes for the 2019 Hugo Award final ballot but Wells declined all nominations except for Artificial Condition, which won.

 

Thanks to David Plell with Powerbleeder for our theme Future Mind.

Foibles Episode 24: The Silver Prose of Mary Mapes Dodge

Thanks for listening to the long saga of visionary film producer Val Lewton! This episode is a one-off, and the author only wrote two novels.

 

Mary Mapes Dodge (1831-1905)  Writer, editor, widow, single mother

 

She was instrumental in encouraging Rudyard Kipling to write The Jungle Book. She also published books of sketches and poems.

 

Novels:

Donald and Dorothy (1883)

Hans Brinker; or the Silver Skates (1865)

 

Special thanks to David Plell and Powerbleeder for the theme song "Future Mind"!

Foibles Episode 23 Pt. IV: Val Lewton- Fadeout

Special Thanks to Adam Roche for his excellently researched podcast The Secret History of Hollywood - Shadows. This is a multi-hour epic documentary about Val Lewton's life and work. https://www.attaboyclarence.com/the-secret-history-of-hollywood

Val Lewton (1904-1951) (nee Vladimir Ivanovich Hofschneider in Imperial Russia; mother's maiden name was Leventon)

 

Top Four Must-See Val Lewton movies:

1) I Walked with Zombie

2) Cat People

3) Rita: The Ghost Ship; Xoe: The 7th Victim

 

Universal Studios horror classics:

Frankenstein (1931) - starring Boris Karloff

Dracula (1931) - starring Bela Lugosi

The Black Cat (1941) - exemplar of Universal formula mixing equal parts of suspense/horror and comedy; directed by Albert Rogell, brother of Sid Rogell who was Val Lewton's boss for during his early career.

 

Lewton's filmography as producer:

Cat People (1942) (Jacques Tourneur)

I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Tourneur)

The Leopard Man (1943) (Tourneur) 

7th Victim (1943) (Mark Robson)  

The Ghost Ship (1943) (Robson) - Theme: Corruption caused by power/authority

Curse of the Cat People (1944 (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise)

Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) (Wise) 

Youth Runs Wild (1944) (Robson)

The Body Snatcher (1945) (Wise) 

Isle of the Dead (1945) (Wise) 

Bedlam (1946) (Robson) 

My Own True Love (1948) (Paramount)

Please Believe Me (1950) (MGM)

Apache Drums (1951) (Universal)

 

Intro and extro music: "Future mind" by Powerbleeder. Thanks David!

Foibles Episode 23 Pt. III: Val Lewton- The End of the Golden Age

Special Thanks to Adam Roche for his excellently researched podcast The Secret History of Hollywood - Shadows. This is a multi-hour epic documentary about Val Lewton's life and work. https://www.attaboyclarence.com/the-secret-history-of-hollywood

Val Lewton (1904-1951) (nee Vladimir Ivanovich Hofschneider in Imperial Russia; mother's maiden name was Leventon)

 

Top Four Must-See Val Lewton movies:

1) I Walked with Zombie

2) Cat People

3) Rita: The Ghost Ship; Xoe: The 7th Victim

 

Universal Studios horror classics:

Frankenstein (1931) - starring Boris Karloff

Dracula (1931) - starring Bela Lugosi

The Black Cat (1941) - exemplar of Universal formula mixing equal parts of suspense/horror and comedy; directed by Albert Rogell, brother of Sid Rogell who was Val Lewton's boss for during his early career.

 

Lewton's filmography as producer:

Cat People (1942) (Jacques Tourneur)

I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (Tourneur)

The Leopard Man (1943) (Tourneur) 

7th Victim (1943) (Mark Robson)  

The Ghost Ship (1943) (Robson) - Theme: Corruption caused by power/authority

Curse of the Cat People (1944 (Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise)

Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) (Wise) 

Youth Runs Wild (1944) (Robson)

The Body Snatcher (1945) (Wise) 

Isle of the Dead (1945) (Wise) 

Bedlam (1946) (Robson) 

My Own True Love (1948) (Paramount)

Please Believe Me (1950) (MGM)

Apache Drums (1951) (Universal)

 

Intro and extro music: "Future mind" by Powerbleeder. Thanks David!