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Nov 11, 2018

This week on the podcast, a little-seen Pine-Thomas "Far-Easter" that has been identified (by one or two dreamers - i.e. 20% of the living people who've watched it) as an antecedent of the Indiana Jones films. Why? Well, there's the hat. You need more than that to hang a theory on? You might be out of luck. HONG KONG reunites the Gipper with friend of the podcast Rhonda Fleming during the last days of the Maoist revolution. The film takes its name from the British-occupied city, but a lot of the action takes place within civil war-ridden China itself. It's got a bit of a Cold War feel to it (Reagan says "Commies"), but, ultimately, the narrative pulls back from such grandly geopolitical concerns to tell a sub-Hitchcockian story of child-abduction and chicanery perpetrated by a grotesquely caricatured Chinese antique dealer/criminal played by Marvin Miller (later the voice of Robby the Robot and never, incidentally, a person who should be playing Asian characters). 

 
We take a little time to consider the "Solid Citizen" Reagan persona (as it was understood by 1952 audiences) and ponder its long-ranging political impact. Gareth and Dave also take a little detour into the history of the Pine-Thomas production company, while Romy takes a phone call. We close out the 'cast with a review of the 20 films we've covered so far. Quite a clambake!
 

 

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"Driving Reagan theme' by Gareth Hedges