Lions, Towers & Shields
Hosted by Shelly Brisbin
A celebration of films from the classic Hollywood era. Shelly Brisbin leads a merry band through recaps and reviews of great old movies from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.
150 Tell the Sofa Story
Is this the first LTS episode during which one panelist offered to smack another? Let me know in the comments.
The 1940s were, among other things, the era of the composer biopic. Most were sanitized depictions of their subjects, but “Night and Day” works extra hard not to be truthful about its subject, Cole Porter. All this, while still doing him the enormous favor of casting Cary Grant to play him. Oh, did I mention that the film has been restored by Warner Archive, so we’ll have a pretty print to see?
Previous Episodes
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October 22, 2026 Letty Lynton149 The Zendaya of Her Time
In 1932, Joan Crawford made Letty Lynton, a film that represented a milestone in her career. But it’s barely been seen since the 1930s. That’s because of a thorny legal dispute over a story that the movie’s only partially based on. Thanks to one of her grandsons and the Warner Archive, Letty is now available to view on disc or steaming. We’ll tell you the story of its long journey back to the screen, and all about “that dress”.
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August 21, 2026 They Live By Night
148 Priced to Move for Criminals
Nicholas Ray makes his film debut directing “They Live By Night,” a noir love story. Not your usual, noir dude obsessed by a bad woman, but an actual relationship, conducted under trying circumstances. Kathy O’Donnell and Farley Granger made a couple of films together, but this is the best. Enjoy Howard de Silva as a mean gangster. He has no dance numbers. The film is based on the novel, “hieves Like Us”. It’s genuinely one of my favorites, and so it becomes my birthday pick.
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August 16, 2026 Roddy McDowall
147 Roddy McDowall: An Actor’s Life
Author (and friend of the show) Samuel Garza Bernstein is back with a story about a character who was central to Hollywood’s Golden Age and beyond. His new book, Roddy McDowall: An Actor’s Life - From “How Green Was My Valley” to “Lassie” to “Planet of the Apes” is the story of a child star who became a beloved friend to many in the Hollywood community. We last spoke with Sam in 2024 when his book about Joan Crawford book was published.
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August 2, 2026 Brief Encounter
146 I Think They Did It!
Here is an early film by David Lean about a chance encounter at a train station that leads to complicated feelings for both parties. It’s “Brief Encounter.” Ceilia Johnson (ever heard of ‘er?) gives a nuanced, emotional performance. And the film is very real and down-to-earth, despite the intensity of the relationships depicted. It’s a love story, if you’re interested in genre things, but there’s plenty for cinephiles to appreciate as well.
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July 31, 2026 Notorious
145 Hungry Like The Wolf
Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock. OK, I’m pretty much done. What else shall I say? WWII intrigue, a love story, a well-played villain. These are also things I could say. Also, the length of the kiss between Grant and Bergman put the Production Code office all in a tizzy.
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July 23, 2026 Fear in the Night
144 Cut-Rate Hitchcock
It’s the final edition of Lions, Towers & Trek, wherein we feature someone from Star Trek: The Original Series in a film they made before the show. Here’s DeForest Kelley’s film debut; a rare lead role for him. DK is a man suspected of a crime, who must rely on his disjointed memories and his cop brother-in-law to learn what happened.
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July 16, 2026 On An Island With You
143 There is no Leather in Corinth
If you’ve watched Star Trek, you’ve probably had your share of “I know that person” moments, when it comes to guest stars. So let us consider Ricardo Montalbån, long before he was Khan in Star Trek’s “Space Seed” episode, or the same character in the best of all Trek movies, “Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan”. Ricardo had a career in MGM musicals, though not primarily as a singer. Here is one, about the meta of making a movie that’s not too dissimilar from the movie we’re watching.
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July 10, 2026 The Brothers Karamazov
142 Shatner Makes A Good Vulcan
William Shatner made his film debut in this Richard Brooks adaptation of the Dostoevsky novel. Bill is the youngest of the brothers, and he’s fourth-billed, behind Yul Brynner and some other people we’ve seen before on LTS.
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July 2, 2026 The Searchers
141 The Neighborhood Is Monument Valley
This summer we celebrate the intersection of classic film and Star Trek. And Lions, Towers & Trek begins with a big one. John Ford’s classic western is an uncomfortable masterpiece. There, that takes in those who admire the film, and those who don’t like what it seems to represent, or how women and natives fare in the hands of this director. Also, how do you feel about John Wayne, eh? We’re also here to speak about Jeffrey Hunter, Star Trek’s original Captain Pike. None of this was his fault!
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April 25, 2026 Funny Face
140 Say More. Say It Now. Tell Us Everything!
By request, we take on this late-50s musical, directed by Stanley Donan. Our stars are Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn and Kay Thompson. (I’ll have lots to say about Kay.) Revolving, as it does around the fashion industry in Paris, Funny Face is pretty to look at, including many great costumes. It also features songs by the Gershwins and some better ones that are not by them.