Jan 13, 2023
For our Paramount 1942 episode, we hit the road with a comedy with a lot on its mind, Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels, and a comedy without any mind, the Hope/Crosby road movie Road to Morocco. We debate just how much deep thinking a comedy should do and consider what kind of thinking comedy itself can do without any help from an auteur. We also isolate some of the unusual features of the Hope/Crosby double act that lend Road to Morocco an invigorating unpleasantness. And then, in our Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto segment, we start off the TIFF Cinematheque Delphine Seyrig retrospective with a feminist documentary directed by the actress, Be Pretty and Shut Up!, and a couple of mind-bending European art films about the leisure class, Marguerite Duras' India Song and Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad.
Time Codes:
0h 01m 00s: SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS [dir. Preston Sturges]
0h 35m 39s: ROAD TO MOROCCO [dir. David Butler]
0h 55m 34s: FEAR & MOVIEGOING IN TORONTO – Delphine Seyrig series at TIFF: Sois belle et tais-toi (1981), India Song (1975) and L’année dernière à Marienbad (1961)
Studio Film Capsules provided by The Paramount Story by John Douglas Eames
Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler
+++
* 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 latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating.
* Check out Dave’s new 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!