It's a Wonderful State Mr. Smith Ep. 44

Frank Capra's films defined Americana in the 1930's and early 40's. An immigrant, Capra films would mimic his own rags to riches life story. He was one of the most powerful directors pre-WWII, only to come back and suffer through the HUAC activity and eventually abandon Hollywood altogether.

This episode I cover the life of Frank Capra and his films Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life and State of the Union. I covered Arsenic and Old Lace on the Julius Epstien episode and It Happened One Night on the Oscar Special episode, so be sure to check those out.


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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

It's a Wonderful Life

State of the Union

Montage of Soviet cinema Ep. 43

Soviet silent cinema form the theories of film that we still use today. Directors like Dziga Vertov and Sergei Eisenstein create documentaries and the theory of montage.

Because of the limited availability of film stock, filmmakers were forced to work out editing concepts on paper before getting equipment and film stock.

In episode 43, I cover Soviet silent cinema and the theory of montage as well as the films The Man with a Movie Camera and Battleship Potemkin.

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Man with a Movie Camera

Battleship Potemkin

Evil drags Darkman to Hell Ep. 42

Sam Raimi is one of the modern voices of horror. But he hasn't limited himself to just one genre. Having played with horror, fantasy, westerns, thrillers and love stories, he isn't afraid to move beyond his comfort zone.

With the release of Oz the Great and Powerful and the remake of The Evil Dead, I thought it was time to look at this interesting director and his work. This episode I cover 1981's The Evil Dead, his comic book monster hero Darkman and the disturbing curse movie Drag Me to Hell. Find out he got his start and what drives him.


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The Evil Dead (1981)

Darkman

Drag Me to Hell

Eve's dark baby Ep. 41

Bette Davis was one of the most influential women in cinema history. She was nominated for 11 Oscars and won 2. Her mark on cinema was huge. Davis set trends and railed against the machine in order to advance women in cinema.

She was the top actress of the 40's. In the 50's, she would fall out of favor with the public only to come roaring back in the 60's playing matrons and crazed women. She lived on her terms and episode 41 celebrates her life and the films Dark Victory, All About Eve and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?.


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Dark Victory

All About Eve

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Un Napoleon Andalou Ep. 40

Celebrating the first year of 15 Minute Movie podcast, I jump into French Impressionist Cinema and Surrealist Cinema. It's an amazing time in film history. The films from 1930's France couldn't compete with big Hollywood productions. So they would have to compete on innovation.

The films from this time would create cinematic innovations that would advance technology. Some of the advances wouldn't be recreated for 25 years.

This episode I cover the films Napoleon and Un Chien Andalou.


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Napoleon

Un Chien Andalou

Advise the anatomy of a man Ep. 39

Director Otto Preminger helped bring about the end of the production code by dealing with controversial topics. His films delt with rape, sex, drug addiction and other topics that challenged audiences in the 1950's. This episode covers The Man with the Golden Arm, Anatomy of a Murder and Advise and Consent.

He defied the Hollywood blacklist by hiring blacklisted actors and screenwriters. He changed the way Hollywood worked and advanced what could be subject matter for a film by years. The next time you are watching an R rated film, you can thank Otto Preminger.

I covered Preminger's Laura in episode 7 about Film Noir so be sure to check it out.


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The Man with the Golden Arm

Anatomy of a Murder

Advise & Consent

Singin on the Town in Fair Weather Ep. 38

Way back in episode 17, I cover the life and films of Stanley Donen. In the episode, I skipped over some of his biggest films. I did that for a good reason because Donen teamed up with Gene Kelly for some great movies.

Donen and Kelly started a choreography team that created amazing dance routines. Eventually they would partner on the films On the Town and Singin in the Rain where they reshaped cinema. Then on It's Always Fair Weather, things fell apart and when the film ended, they weren't on speaking terms.

In episode 38, I cover this amazing and interesting partnership and the three films the worked on together.

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On the Town

Singin in the Rain

It's Always Fair Weather