Biopic: A Podcast Story

• Episode 66: Ken Russell’s The Devils, with Special Guest Star Elana Levin of the Graphic Policy Podcast!

  The Devils is a lot of things: a wholesome look at what happens when people believe in weird provincial nonsense instead of actual facts; a star vehicle for unlikely pin-up Oliver Reed; the most Catholic movie ever made; and the only time (so far, at least) we’ve used the phrase “Holy Water Enema.”   We’re SO excited to welcome back our show’s official Ken Russell sherpa, the still-brilliant Elana Levin from the Graphic Policy Podcast (https://graphicpolicy.com/radio/, on Bluesky @Levin), to take us through the not-at-all-relevant-in-present-day tale of a town’s one rational, science-trusting dude battling the floods of insanity, stupidity and mob rule led by religious maniacs.    Just a few of the topics we cover are the not-at-all-coded Klan hoods, Sara’s history with the Jesuits, where crocodiles fit into healthcare protocols, Jefferson Airplane, the musical Hair, and so much more. Also in this episode: Another “Road to Korda.”    The Devils is directed by Ken Russell, and stars Oliver Reed as Urbain Grandier, Vanessa Regrave as Sister Jeanne, Dudley Sutton as Baron De Laubardemont, Gemma Jones as Madeleine, Michael Gothard as Father Barre, Georgina Hale as Phillippe, Christopher Logue as Cardinal Richelieu, Max Adrian as Ibert, and Graham Armitage as Louis XIII.    Find Elana here: https://graphicpolicy.com/radio/  Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.   Sources used in the episode include…   Books:   The Devils of Loudon by Aldous Huxley   The Possession at Loudun by Michel de Certeau   Podcasts:   Bad Ideas, “The Devils of Loudon — Urbain Grandier and the Possessions of Loudon”   Battle Royale episode on Louis XIII   Not Just the Tudors episode on Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu.   Online:    Interview with Ken Russell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySbsO_9d3ls    https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/looking-back-possessions-loudun   Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: [email protected]

  --------  

  2:01:09

  --------

  2:01:09
• Episode 65, Part 2: Tombstone, the Best Wyatt Earp Movie, Starring Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp!

  PART 2 of the most epic and definitive discussion of the greatest movie ever made: 1993’s Tombstone, a film we loved so much that we could not shut up about it and had to make our first two-parter.    There’s more talk about costumes and sets and history, but also a LOT more talk about the perfection of Val Kilmer, the one way America could be made great again (over-the-counter laudanum), continued hatred of 1994’s Wyatt Earp (known as “Boring Tombstone”),  what is not Charlton Heston’s final acting role.    This movie is perfect and that is settled law.    Tombstone stars Kurt Riussell as Wyatt Earp, Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday, Sam Elliott as Virgil Earp, Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp, Powers Boothe as Curly Bill Brocius, Michael Biehn as Johnny Ringo, Charlton Heston as Henry Hooker, Jason Priestley as Billy Breckinridge,  Jon Tenney as Behan, Stephen Lang as Ike Clanton, Thomas Haden Church as Billy Clanton,  Dana Delany as Josephine Marcus, Paula Malcomson as Allie Earp, Lisa Collins as Louisa Earp, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Mattie Earp, Joanna Pacula as Kate, Michael Rooker as Sherman McMasters, and Harry Carey Jr. as Marshal Fred White.   Sources used in the episode include…   Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell By Tom Clavin   The Last Gunfight : The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral—and How it Changed the American West By Jeff Guinn   Lady at the O.K. Corral : The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp by Ann Kirschner   Ride the Devil's Herd : Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang By John Boessenecker   The Making of Tombstone by John Farkis, and a note on John Farkis who is life goals—his bio: “Retired automotive executive John Farkis, is an historian and lifelong fan of the cinema.” He’s basically like, I am a fan of this movie and I am going to write a book and he DID.    Also a podcast that Sara would recommend highly, It was a Shit Show, which did an episode about the behind of the scenes of this film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCN_JF1kN-g  Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: [email protected]

  --------  

  1:03:39

  --------

  1:03:39
• Episode 65, Part 1: Tombstone, the Best Wyatt Earp Movie, Starring Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp!

  Get in, losers, we’re going to Tombstone. We’re back from hiatus, and we love this movie so much that it gets pretty embarrassing. But what are you supposed to do when gazing upon the majesty of Kurt Russell with ALL the eyeliner on, Sam Elliot and his magical moustache, Powers Boothe’s goofy, over-the-top Curly Bill, and, of course, the miraculous Val Kilmer’s virtuoso turn as Doc Holliday?  Kevin Costner and “Boring Tombstone” catch plenty of strays as we praise this film’s costumes (no, seriously), the screenplay’s avoidance of clever subtext, it’s sort-of-a-scientology audit meet-cute scene between Wyatt and his eventual wife Josie, and so much more.  Also, we loved this so much that we had to do this episode as a two-parter!   Sources used in the episode include… Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell By Tom Clavin The Last Gunfight : The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral—and How it Changed the American West By Jeff Guinn Lady at the O.K. Corral : The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp by Ann Kirschner   Ride the Devil's Herd : Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang By John Boessenecker The Making of Tombstone by John Farkis, and a note on John Farkis who is life goals - his bio: “Retired automotive executive John Farkis, is an historian and lifelong fan of the cinema.” He’s basically like, I am a fan of this movie and I am going to write a book and he DID.  Also a podcast that I would recommend highly, It was a Shit Show, which did an episode about the behind of the scenes of this film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCN_JF1kN-g  Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q   Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: [email protected]

  --------  

  1:32:16

  --------

  1:32:16
• Why There Is No Episode This Week, and Why We’re Going on Hiatus During August

  Sara and Rena have an announcement to make about why there is no episode new this week, and why we'll be taking a hiatus for the month of August, 2025. We will be back on September 2 with Tombstone. Until then, we have over sixty official episode plus bonuses that we're hoping you'll check out. See you in September!   Love,  Rena & Sara

  --------  

  2:57

  --------

  2:57
• Episode 64: The Rise of Catherine the Great, Produced by Alexander Korda

  We return to the depression era to watch the rise of a delightful, curly-haired naif who charms everyone — the help, the military, and her cynical, wealthy new family. No, we’re not doing John Huston’s noted biopic Annie, we’re doing 1935’s The Rise of Catherine the Great. We explore the many, many links back to the godfather of international cinema Alexander Korda, lavender marriages, Peter the Great’s descendant Peter the Meh, OG nepo baby Douglas Fairbanks Jr., German expressionism, and so much more as we watch this very, very, very old movie.  The Rise of Catherine the Great was produced by Alexander Korda, directed by Paul Czinner, and stars Elisabeth Bergner as Catherine the Great of Russia, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., as Grand Duke Peter (later Peter III), Dorothy Hale as Countess Olga, Flora Robson as Empress Elizabeth, Gerald du Maurier as Lecocq, Irene Vanbrugh as Princess Johanna von Anhalt-Zerbst, Diana Napier as Countess Vorontzova, Griffith Jones as Grigory Orlov, and Gibb McLaughlin as Bestujhev.   Sources used in the episode include… Elizabeth and Catherine: Empresses of all the Russias, by Robert Coughlan. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert Massie.   Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it. Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q   Follow us! Instagram: @biopicapodcaststory Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social Threads: @biopicapodcaststory Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory Contact us: [email protected]

  --------  

  59:20

  --------

  59:20

More Comedy podcasts

Trending Comedy podcasts

About Biopic: A Podcast Story