Dec 29, 2023
In this Lilli Palmer Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode, we discuss Palmer's first two Hollywood films, Fritz Lang's anti-fascist spy drama, Cloak and Dagger (1946), and Robert Rossen's socially critical boxing noir, Body and Soul (1947). We dig into the social context of these films, asking why these progressive writers and directors wanted to tell these stories at this moment, and how their political sympathies shaped the stories. We also talk about the persona emerging from Lilli Palmer's wartime British and American films, and her character in Body and Soul as representing the filmmakers' perspective on John Garfield's protagonist. And in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto, our attendance of the Lubitsch retrospective at the TIFF Cinematheque continues with Trouble in Paradise and a Christmas Eve viewing of The Shop Around the Corner, which prompt us to a brief consideration of the underlying (and sometimes overt) social criticism of Lubitsch's Depression-era films.
Time Codes:
0h 00m 45s: CLOAK AND DAGGER (1946) [dir. Fritz Lang]
0h 26m 45s: BODY AND SOUL (1947) [dir. Robert Rossen]
0h 58m 51s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto – Ernst Lubitsch’s Trouble in Paradise (1932) and The Shop Around the Corner (1939)
+++
* Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring
* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s
* Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)
* Read Elise’s piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again”
* Check out Dave’s Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist’s 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!
Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy
Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com
We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!