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.
109 More Beer!
Join us for peak 1950s MGM musical. If that doesn’t interest you, I can’t help. Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse dance their hearts out, Oscar Levant levants, and Vincente Minnelli does his usual excellent job as director. We take issue with the plot and at least one of the main characters, but it’s entertaining. And I like the triplets number.
Previous Episodes
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November 11, 2024 I Want To Live108 Let Me Tell You A Story About Heroin
Susan Hayward won an Oscar. Susan Hayward was a protégé and fan of Barbara Stanwyck. Susan Hayward would like NOT to be put to death for her part in murder, please. Robert Wise (Star Trek: The Motion Picture AND The Sound of Music) directs. And this film showcases not only Miss Hayward, but a crazy intense jazz score. Unlike the usual “women in prison” pictures, this one features a protagonist who is not misunderstood, or innocent of all charges. She’s a hooker, and a lifelong criminal. But does she deserve the death penalty? Based, as they say, on a true story.
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November 1, 2024 Desert Fury
107 Gayer Than The Cast of Bewitched
Previously, on Lions, Towers & Shields, we’ve talked about one western. It was an unusual one, and included themes a modern audience tends to read as gay. Well guess what? We’re doing it again. Desert Fury puts Lizbeth Scott, Bert Lancaster and John Hodiak into a love triangle. Film noir expert Eddie Muller says this is the gayest movie ever produced in classic Hollywood. But is it? Please enjoy the lush color, and the Miklos Rosza score. And look, there’s Mary Astor and Kristine Miller, too. So we have a very noir cast getting together to ride a present-day version of the range.
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October 24, 2024 A Face in the Crowd
106 I Can Be Demagogued, Apparently
An entertainer from the rural south rises to become a political demagogue. And he’s played by Andy Griffith. This is all kinds of messed up! It’s actually a great film, with A LOT to say to us in the 21st Century. It’s directed by Elia Kazan, and also stars Patricia Neal.
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October 17, 2024 Airport 1975
105 We’re Gonna Digress
In 1970, Arthur Hailey’s blockbuster book, Airport, became the first film in that decade’s disaster movie cycle. It also led to three more Airport films, and the adaptation of Zero Hour (also a Hailey story) into Airplane!. This second installment, Airport 1975, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It straddles the line between big budget, all-star A picture (the original), and implausible 70s schlock, as observed in the final two Airport films. Here, we’re also treated to appearances by classic stars, including Gloria Swanson and Myrna Loy. I am contractually obliged to say that Charlton Heston is the hero.
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August 22, 2024 Never Open That Door
104 Also, Don’t Go Through That Gate
We close out International Summer Vacation with a film most of us haven’t seen, or even heard of. It comes to us from Argentina, and director Carlos Hugo Christensen. It’s based on a story by noir stalwart, Cornell Woolrich, and consists of two stories involving the door of the title. It’s also notable for incredible cinematography from Pablo Tabernero. The Film Noir Foundation restored, and is showing the film around the country at FNF’s Noir City festivals this year.
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August 15, 2024 King of Hearts
103 Very Much About The Vibes
We return to France for King of Hearts, directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Alan Bates and Geneviève Bujold. The suggestion to see this film comes from our own Erika Ensign, who praises its anti-war message, among other attributes. The film is set in a small French town during World War I, after the locals have fled the battle. Residents of a nearby asylum escape and take over the town. The film was made in 1966, in the shadow of French involvement in the Vietnam War.
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August 9, 2024 Tokyo Story
102 Am I A Bad Cinephile?
Tokyo Story is on numerous lists of the best films of all time. It’s in my personal top five. This movie is considered the masterpiece by legendary filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu, and it stars his luminous muse, Setsuko Hara. Tokyo Story is a black and white time capsule of life in Japan after World War II and depicts how the war and Japan’s modernization disrupted its family dynamic. Compared with the boldness of Akira Kurosawa’s movies, it’s sedate and thoughtful, and you may easily find yourself shedding a tear or two.
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August 1, 2024 Starring Jaon Crawford
101 From It Girl to Queen of the Movies, and Beyond
Starring Joan Crawford is Samuel Garza Bernstein’s new appreciation of the screen queen. It’s a great book, and I wanted you to meet the author, Samuel Garza Bernstein. We’ve known each other since I was 16. These two things are only partially related.
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July 25, 2024 Double Indemnity
100 The Smell of Murder
Forgive a film noir detour during our international vacation season. This is episode 100, and so I’ve picked a movie I love, and that feels right in the collective LTS wheelhouse. James M. Cain’s story of betrayal and murder was directed by Billy Wilder, and stars Barbara Stanwyck (natch), Fred McMurray and Edward G. Robinson. This film is full of dynamite lines, crazy sexual chemistry, and noir lighting for days.
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July 18, 2024 La Dolce Vita
99 Jesus versus the Bikini Girls
Our summer travels continue this week to Italy, where Federico Fellini is our guide. The title translates to “the sweet life” in English, and that’s what star Marcello Mastroianni seeks in Rome, over the course of seven days. Mastroianni is a tabloid journalist, and we follow him through seven stories, during the film. Anita Ekberg is the female star probably most known to American film fans. La Dolce Vita ranks among Fellini’s best, and the movie also gives us a glimpse of modern Italy, a generation removed from World War II.