Forgotten Hollywood

Doug Hess talks with the author!
James Mason (1909–1984) was born to be an actor. He just didn’t know it. A Cambridge graduate with a degree in architecture, he arrived in London at a time when nothing was being built. With few prospects, he turned to the stage, where his modest experience proved enough to land him a spot in repertory theater. Those early performances led to film roles in which he was initially deemed “adequate” before finding his niche as a brooding, sophisticated villain―an identity that made him a star in British cinema.
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From the author of the beloved Fifth Avenue, Five A.M. and The Big Goodbye comes the definitive account of one of the quintessential American artists, Frank Capra, visionary behind the iconic and timeless It’s a Wonderful Life.Frank Capra, the director of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It Happened One Night, and, supremely, It’s a Wonderful Life remains one of the great chroniclers of the American heart, how we love, lead, dream, hope, and fight for our individuality. But Frank Capra was a more complex artist than is usually reckoned and a more complicated man than anyone knows. As his most famous collaborator Jimmy Stewart put it, “the best Frank Capra story is the story of his own life. It’s got more highs and lows than a roller coaster. It’s heartwarming. It’s kind of hard to believe, really. And it could only happen in America.”Like many great American stories, this story begins in Ellis Island where a penniless family of Sicilian immigrants arrives in 1903. Frank Capra’s life goes on to take in the explosive growth of Southern California and the film industry, the depths of the Depression, the enormity of the Second World War, and America’s uneasy post-war as an empire riven by a loss of unity. It is a life as shot through with both “moonbeams” and melancholy as that of his greatest creation, George Bailey. Capra is both the exemplar of American ideals, as in his truly vital work for Roosevelt’s war effort, and of American failings, as in his informing during the McCarthy period.This extraordinary book, making full use for the first time of Capra’s own archives, including deeply personal writings from his later years, has brought this seminal artist into urgent life. At the same time, in its epic richness, it offers a dazzling portrait of both a lost America and an enduring one.
Doug Hess is the host.

In honor of Columbus Day/Indiginous Peoples Day, James Lott Jr talks about two films that came out in 1992 that depicted Christopher C's journey to America. Included is some of the music from Vangelis for one of the films, 1492. (We do not own the rights)
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He won his Oscar in 1996 for Braveheart and died on March 2, 2022, at age 84. His daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones made the documentary Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies about his career. And more.....
James Lott Jr is the host.
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looking at the two ends of Eva Marie Saint's extraordinary acting career, there are a few ways to define “first” and “last”:First professional screen work: Saint appeared on NBC's early live television program Campus Hoopla (1946–47), where she worked as a performer/commercial spokeswoman. This was during television's infancy. WikipediaFirst movie: On the Waterfront (1954) — Saint made her feature-film debut as Edie Doyle, opposite Marlon Brando. Remarkably, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her very first movie. Turner Classic MoviesLast theatrical movie: Winter's Tale (2014) — she played the older Willa Penn, appearing at age 89. It is generally identified as her final newly produced theatrical film role. WikipediaHowever, she continued acting afterward. Her later credits include voice work as Katara in The Legend of Korra and podcast/audio drama performances. Her last credited acting performance appears to be the 2022 Radio Play Revival podcast, in which she voiced Osric Dane. People.comSo her professional screen/audio career effectively stretches from 1946 to 2022 — about 76 years. That's an astonishing run.
At the beginning of this episode is (I do not own the rights): Wonderful scene between Terry (Marlon Brando) and Edie (Eva Marie Saint) from On the Waterfront.
James Lott Jr is the guest host.
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