For the next two episodes, we're focusing on the genius that was Peter Sellers! Episode 222 is the film that started a franchise that Star Wars has only just matched: 11 films! We are, of course, talking about 1963's "The Pink Panther." The film was supposed to be a starring vehicle for David Niven, but after Peter Ustinov was replaced with Peter Sellers, things changed. Sellers and director Blake Edwards bonded over a shared love of early silent comedy, and the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau was re-written as a hapless, bumbling detective, and he ended up stealing the film from Niven! Also starring a very young Robert Wagner, Capucine, Brenda de Banzie, and the stunning Claudia Cardinale, the film is, at once, comedy, mystery, bedroom farce, and more!
Episode 221 is the second in our look at the films of Charlie Chaplin with his 1931 hit, "City Lights!" The film Chaplin himself named as his favorite (and the trio agree), this film too stars his famous character known as the Tramp, this time wandering a big, modern city. There, he meets a lovely but blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) and falls in love. He allows her to believe he is a rich man, and shortly thereafter meets an actual rich man, an Eccentric Millionaire (Harry Myers) to be exact who, after being saved from a drunken suicide by the Tramp, declares them fast friends! Unfortunately for the Tramp, this friendship is only felt when the Millionaire is drunk - when he's sober, he doesn't remember his friend at all! More entertaining hijinks occur, but this film also results in a happy ending... maybe. It's left up to the audience's interpretation. And the trio reveal what comedic superstar their next pairing will focus on, who arrived some three decades later!
Episode 220 begins our look at truly classic comedy, with the first of two films from the silent era and one of the founding comedic actors in all of film history, Charlie Chaplin, and his 1925 film "The Gold Rush!" The film follows Chaplin's iconic little Tramp character as he travels to the Yukon to try and find his fortune. He becomes lost and wanders into a cabin that is currently inhabited by the villainous Black Larsen (Tom Murray), and soon after by another explorer of the tundra, Big Jim (Mack Swain). Eventually, after some hijinks in the cabin, Chaplin's self-described "little fellow" finds his way to a mining town. There he spots Georgia, a dance hall girl, and is immediately smitten. Trying to find a way to woo her, the Tramp offers to make dinner for her and her friends on New Year's Eve. The film winds its way to a happy ending, despite the trials and tribulations endured by the Tramp. The trio also delve into the reasons this film is considered a classic, and why Chaplin is an important part of the history of American cinema!
Episode 219 is also the result of a listener request! Tom Barclay asked us to check out "12 Angry Men" (which we talked about in our last episode) and we picked an equally-amazing film to pair it with, from 1962, "To Kill a Mockingbird!" Based on the Pulitzer-winning novel by Harper Lee, this film recalls three summers (and a bit more) in the life of young Scout Finch (Mary Badham), her brother Jem (Phillip Alford), and their friend Dill Harris (John Megna). Their father, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck, in probably his best role ever) is asked by Judge Taylor (Paul Fix) to take on the task of representing an African-American man named Tom Robinson (played by the incredible Brock Peters) who is accused of beating and raping a young girl in the South of the 1930s. But, cast against this story, is the children's fascination with their supposedly violent and captive neighbor Boo Radley (Robert Duvall in his first credited film role). As the summers pass, the stories are told, eventually culminating in an ending that blends both storylines together. Another example of just what American Cinema can be at its finest! Plus, the Geeks and G.I.T. reveal what classic comedian will be the focus of their next two reviews!
Episode 218 comes to you via a listener request! Tom Barclay told us he "would love to hear a '12 Angry Men' episode (my new fave classic film)." Well, ask and ye shall receive! Directed by the legendary Sidney Lumet, and written by Reginald Rose, this is a certified American classic! The film focuses almost solely on 12 men in the jury room, deciding the fate of an 18-year-old boy accused of murder. If convicted, he will be executed. At the beginning, there are 11 for conviction and just one juror who has "reasonable doubt." As the film unwinds, so does the evidence and testimony from the trial as the 12 try to determine what the right thing to do actually is! Starring Martin Balsam (Juror 1), John Fiedler (Juror 2), Lee J. Cobb (Juror 3), E.G. Marshall (Juror 4), Jack Klugman (Juror 5), Edward Binns (Juror 6), Jack Warden (Juror 7), Henry Fonda (Juror 8), Joseph Sweeney (Juror 9), Ed Begley (Juror 10), George Voscovec (Juror 11), and Robert Webber (Juror 12). An absolutely top-notch example of just what film can be, and a not-to-be-missed treasure of American cinema!
For the next two episodes, we're focusing on the genius that was Peter Sellers! Episode 222 is the film that started a franchise that Star Wars has only just matched: 11 films! We are, of course, talking about 1963's "The Pink Panther." The film was supposed to be a starring vehicle for David Niven, but after Peter Ustinov was replaced with Peter Sellers, things changed. Sellers and director Blake Edwards bonded over a shared love of early silent comedy, and the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau was re-written as a hapless, bumbling detective, and he ended up stealing the film from Niven! Also starring a very young Robert Wagner, Capucine, Brenda de Banzie, and the stunning Claudia Cardinale, the film is, at once, comedy, mystery, bedroom farce, and more! 
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