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In the 1950s Alfred Hitchcock was hitting the height of him fame and yet again teaming up with James Stewart and Grace Kelly he made Rear Window a film where a professional photographer is stuck in his apartment, recuperating from a broken leg and this boredom, leads him to spy on his neighbours and comes to the realisation that one of them was responsible for the murder of his wife, and sets out to convince his girlfriend to help him bring justice. It explores neighbourhood paranoia, voyeurism in cinema and the male gaze and cemented Hitchcock as a master of cinema, pathing the way for him to become the worlds best known film maker.
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The only film that Charles Laughton ever directed as 1955's The Night of the Hunter, starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish. The plot focuses on the relentless pursuit of two children from a serial-killing preacher who wants to steal the $10,000 hidden by their executed bank-robbing father. A critical and commercial failure on it's release, it is now considered an incredibly influential and highly accomplished film, taking inspiration from German Expressionism from the silent era, it stands apart and gives it a unique and terrifying fairy-tale aspect to it. We also discuss Zack Snyder Justice League and the DCEU.
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Comedian and Podcaster Lorcan Mullan joins us to discuss the French New Wave classic The 400 Blows starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. The film was directed by former critic and ‘Gravedigger of Cinema’ François Truffaut who directed the film in 1959 after he was banned from Cannes festival for his overly harsh reviews of current French cinema and as a reaction was encouraged to put his theory of the auteur into practice. The result was a sensation which was not only an international success but also set the tone and ushered in the arrival of the French New Wave, which would change world cinema. The film tells the story of Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood adolescent in Paris who struggles with his parents and teachers due to his rebellious behaviour, a wonderful coming of age story which still resonates today.
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Ollie invites James Raynor back on the show to talk about one of the most seminal films of all time in Godzilla, Ishirō Honda didn't just make an iconic monster film he invented a total worldwide pop culture icon, including thirty-two films produced by Toho, four Hollywood films and numerous video games, novels, comic books and television shows. All stemming from this 1954 classic, join us as we are introduced to Godzilla an enormous, destructive, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear weapons and our new best friend.
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Orson is back! 1958's Touch of Evil was considered for a long time the most forgettable film of Orson Welles' career, he had been removed from the final edit of the film and eventually the studio dumped the film into a b-picture release and it was largely forgotten by critics and audiences alike. That is until an earlier cut was found, and a 58 page memo written by Orson at the time detailing the edits he wanted the studio to make for the film. The re-edit of this film, based around Orson Welles' memo, was released in 1998 and the film quickly started being re-evaluated as a forgotten masterpiece and the original being yet another product of studio interference in the auteur's career. Natalie Gardner returns to help us talk about this film and unravel this fascinating film and marvel at one of the best opening shots in a film, ever.
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The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, it has become an icon in cinema becoming a veritable shorthand for arthouse cinema and inspiring countless homages and parodies, meaning it has cemented itself in social consciousness. The film itself tells the story of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow), who after returning from the Crusades finds his homeland devastated from the Black Death, and when finding Death (Bengt Ekerot) waiting for him undergoes a crisis of faith and challenges him to a literal game of chess. We also spend sometime talking about Sound of Metal, the Meg, Sliding Doors, Minari, Adam Curtis and the Lady and the Dale. 
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If there are two names that are synonymous with the western it is John Ford and John Wayne, who over their career together made countless Westerns that came to define the genre, and American film making. The Searchers, from 1956 is possibly not only their most epic but the most defining film of each of their career. It has come to be seen as one of the most influential films of all time, and has a list of accolades sees it on lists for greatest film ever made by the American Film Institute, Entertainment Weekly, The British Film Institute's Sight & Sound and Cahiers du Cinéma, plus many others. This week we try and find out it is it worthy of this accolade and delve into what it actually a rather stark and uncomfortable portrayal of racism on the American frontier. We also talk Golden Girls, Disney and Netflix's The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. 
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The blacklisting and expulsion of Jules Dassin from Hollywood after he was named in the House of Unamerican Activities, meant that the director ended up taking on this adaption of a French crime novel, a turning it into a noir classic that ties French filmmaking with American action, in something quite unique. Rififi was a sensation in 1955, earning Dassin Best Director at Cannes, and earning rave reviews in America which led to Dassin being the first blacklisted director to have a film open in America with his name on it, eventually leading to the end of the blacklist itself. Paul Nadin joins us to helps us prepare for the heist of the century.
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Natalie Gardner joins Liam to discuss the 1950 film All About Eve, a giant film of the 1950's, getting a record amount of Academy Award nominations. Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz starring the amazing Bette Davis (who we particularly gush over in the episode) as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star and Anne Baxter playing Eve Harrington, an ambitious young fan who manoeuvres herself into Channing's life, ultimately threatening Channing's career and her personal relationships in seeking fame and fortune as an actress in Broadway. It also features an early onscreen debut of icon Marilyn Monroe. 
If you can please help support live theatre during the pandemic by supporting these charities:
Theatre Artists Fund
Theatre Support Fund
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We're back! But instead of our scheduled miniseries episode we are taking a a small detour to explore some other films of the 50s, while Ollie is busy with his new music video. Brandon Kahn is here and he has brought along a 1958 French Noir classic which can be seen as a precursor to the French New Wave, Elevator to the Gallows, where two lovers' seemingly perfect murder plan goes awry due to a broken elevator, which sets off a chain of events though one night in Paris. Directed by Louis Malle and stars Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet but is probably best known for a ground-breaking haunting soundtrack which was improvised by Jazz legend Miles Davis. 
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