SEASON 3, EPISODE 27, THE BIG RED ONE: OVER THERE WITH SAM FULLER AND LEE MARVIN!

SEASON 3, EPISODE 27, THE BIG RED ONE: OVER THERE WITH SAM FULLER AND LEE MARVIN!

Ten-HUT and fall in, class! The Rad Revival House explores one of the greatest yet criminally-underrated war films of all time: Samuel Fuller’s 1980 autobiographical epic, THE BIG RED ONE, starring the incomparable Lee Marvin! Joining us for the first time is Kass Smiley, host of The Big Lee Marvin Fan Podcast and big Lee Marvin superfan. As a first time Special Guest Lecturer on the RRH, Kass brings her significant expertise in the life and work of Lee Marvin as she accompanies host Professor Cesare Augusto in this wild, yet solemn war drama. THE BIG RED ONE focuses on a ragtag group of U.S. Army sharpshooters, led by The Sergeant (Marvin), as he is joined by young, yet already battle-hardened grunts across the WWII battlegrounds of Europe and Northern Africa. Rounding out the ranks as “The Four Horsemen” are Griff (Mark Hamill), Zab (Robert Carradine), Vinci (Bobby DiCicco), and Johnson (Kelly Ward), all of whom are characters equipped with unique backgrounds and idiosyncrasies to accompany the Sergeant’s own gruff mannerisms. From the bloody shores of Normandy to the broiling sands of Tunisia, the Sergeant and his platoon scour the battlegrounds and fight not just to win the war, but to secure their very survival. Being both veterans of World War II, both director Fuller and star Marvin add their own personal authentic personal touches to the film, carrying on with them the scars of their war experiences which make their contributions all the more believable, and convincing. Kass and Cesare discuss the beauty of the performances, especially by that of Marvin (in one of his most excellently heartbreaking roles), Hamill (fresh off his success in STAR WARS), and Carradine, whose role as Zab mirrors that of Fuller’s own wartime experiences.  THE BIG RED ONE is a great example of a war film used to capture the horrors of war, as well as the humanity of the professional soldier. Our reviewers both agree that this film effectively captures the harshness of warfare, as well as proving tough guy actors such as Lee Marvin are also capable of being absolutely talented and multi-layered in their creative craft!

SEASON 3, EPISODE 26, JUNETEENTH/FATHER'S DAY SPECIAL - CLAUDINE

On this dual Juneteenth/Father’s Day Weekend, the Rad Revival House pays tribute to both yearly observances with our review of the great 1970s African-American family drama, CLAUDINE! Returning to provide his excellent cinematic insight is filmmaker and frequent Special Guest Lecturer Mike Dennis of Reelblack. CLAUDINE stars legendary film stars Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones, in a performance of a lifetime. Carroll is the titular character, a working-class African-American mother in Harlem working to provide a suitable life for her large family of six kids. In walks Roop (Jones), a smooth-talking garbage collector who sweeps Diahann off her feet. Together, Claudine and Roop’s initial relationship blossoms into love, much to the unease of her six children, including older siblings Charles (Laurence Hilton-Jacobs) and Charlene (Tamu Blackwell), who are particularly defensive at the idea of their mother bringing home another possible male dead-beat in their lives. Despite their problems, both Claudine and Roop work to overcome the challenges of their difficult world. Both Mike and our host, Professor Cesare Augusto discuss the simple, yet incredible finer things of this week’s film showcase. The film’s performances are believable, realistic, and entertaining at the same time, especially by Carroll, the always excellent Jones, and the intense Hilton-Jacobs and Blackwell. Plus, our reviewers wholly enjoyed the film as a black feature serving as a departure from the era’s ultra-popular Blaxpoitation movement. CLAUDINE is a quieter, simple romantic-comedy, proof that black films at the time could be successful and creatively effective, without the standard Blaxploitation cliches!

SEASON 3, EPISODE 25, PRIDE MONTH SPECIAL - THE CHILDREN'S HOUR & THE WEDDING BANQUET

Happy Pride Month to our LGBTQ class of listeners and aspiring filmmakers! The Rad Revival House embarks on its first-ever Pride Month tributes with a double-feature of great LGBTQ-based films: the gripping 1961 drama THE CHILDREN’S HOUR, and the light-hearted 1993 foreign comedy-drama THE WEDDING BANQUET. Joining our analysis is Sam Levy, co-host of the great Informed Nostalgia Podcast and frequent RRH Special Guest Lecturer, as he sheds light on what these two pictures mean to him as a film lover as well as a gay man. First, Sam and our host, Professor Cesare Augusto, analyze William Wyler’s tragically beautiful film, THE CHILDREN’S HOUR. Based on a play by Lillian Hellman and remade from Wyler’s own film THESE THREE, THE CHILDREN’S HOUR focuses on a near-literal Hell on Earth brought upon by two working teachers, Karen (Audrey Hepburn) and Martha. The two women run an all-girls school, where one student, a bratty, compulsively lying girl named Mary (Karen Balkin), maliciously starts a lie that Karen and Martha are secretly lovers. Mary’s lie escalates into a scandal as the parents of the students begin removing the children from the school, resulting in Karen and Martha’s professional reputations and personal lives being severely damaged. Complicating matters is Martha revealing she did indeed harbor romantic feelings towards Karen, driving a wedge into the latter’s engagement with a local doctor (James Garner). THE CHILDREN’S HOUR is a great socially-driven film, and quite daring in its subject matter for the time (the conservative early 1960s). Both Sam and Cesare celebrate the picture’s excellent performances, (while Sam personally prefers its predecessor, THESE THREE), and enthusiastically acknowledge the film’s fierce stance against society’s ignorant intolerance towards the gay community. On the second film of this Pride Month double-feature, THE WEDDING BANQUET also offers an ahead-of-its-time approach, this time with an ethnic twist. Directed by Ang Lee (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON), THE WEDDING BANQUET features an interracial gay couple (Winston Chao and Mitchel Lichenstein) and their well-intentioned, if trouble-prone attempts at helping a friend. Eager to help his Chinese tenant Wei-Wei (May Chin) to permanently reside in the U.S., Wai-Tung agrees to pose as her fiance, at the suggestion of his boyfriend Simon). The ruse works painfully too well, as Wai-Tung’s parents fly to the U.S. from China to host a wedding ceremony for both Wai-Tung and Wei-Wei. A lavish banquet and an awkward living situation ensues as the newly-married “Couple” inadvertently conceives a child in the chaos. Sam and Cesare analyze what makes THE WEDDING BANQUET so special. Unlike other “gays pretending to be straight” films like LA CAGE AUX FOLLES and its remake, THE BIRDCAGE, THE WEDDING BANQUET offers a more subtle and even sad tones to its otherwise humorous spin. Directly Ang Lee provides a fascinating look at interracial gay couples and how they must contend with traditionalist values thrown upon them. Our reviewers appreciate the film’s positive dignity that it offers towards the LGBTQ community, giving a happier, wittier spin towards their lifestyle!

SEASON 3, EPISODE 24, IF YOU MEET SARTANA, PRAY FOR YOUR DEATH: SARTANA IS YOUR POLLBEARER!

Avanti, pardners! The Rad Revival House returns to the wild and wacky Spaghetti Western with our review of IF YOU MEET SARTANA, PRAY FOR YOUR DEATH. And if that isn’t the coolest damn movie title ever, we don’t know what is! Helping to review this bonkers Spaghetti Western is frequent Special Guest Lecturer and expert analyst Rob of the great podcast The Cinemigos. Together, Rob and our host, Professor Cesare Augusto analyze the first addition of five official movies of the cool-as-hell Sartana series. IF YOU MEET SARTANA, PRAY FOR YOUR DEATH (or as Rob calls it, “Back Stab: The Movie!”) centers on the exploits of greedy players in an isolated Old West town. Outlaws, corrupt city officials, Mexican bandits, and other criminal types seek a fortune in stolen gold, and will betray and even kill each other for the booty. Caught in the middle is Sartana, a sharp-dressed, sharp-shooting avenger, with an agenda of his own towards the gold. Armed with a special derringer, a long-barrelled rifle, and his brilliant instinct, Sartana must outwit and outgun the bad guys to get to the bottom of their greedy chaos! IF YOU MEET SARTANA is a prime example of the Spaghetti Western: gritty, nihilistic, bleak, violent. Both Cesare and Rob agree that Sartana’s grim edge and pulpiness makes for true slam-bang entertainment. They found that star Gianni Garko is one charismatic cat, an actor truly at home playing a Spaghetti Western hero who deservedly earns his spot alongside other SW icons such as Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Franco Nero. Our reviewers also believe aspiring filmmakers who look to revitalize the Western in a Quentin Tarantino-inspired style should watch IF YOU MEET SARTANA as inspiration to recapture that kind of groovy grit of the 1960s Spaghetti Western!

SEASON 3, EPISODE 23, MY DINNER WITH ANDRE: A SURREAL CONVERSATION COME TO LIFE!

This week on The Rad Revival House, we take a visit to the surrealistically simplistic world of Louis Malle’s MY DINNER WITH ANDRE! Returning to the RRH is frequent Special Guest Lecturer, Frank Mandosa of the great cinematic podcast, Reels of Cinema. Together, Frank and our host, Professor Cesare Augusto, analyze this deceptively simple, yet brilliant film from 1981.  On the surface, MY DINNER WITH ANDRE appears experimental. Its premise, a rather bizarre one: two old friends (Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, portraying artistic versions of their real selves), meet for dinner, and chat. And chat they do, for two hours. But these are no ordinary men. These two men are artists: Wally is an actor, and Andre is a playwright. Wally dreads seeing his old friend after years apart. And Andre has supposedly undergone a midlife crisis. They reunite at a fancy Manhattan restaurant, and what follows is a discussion for the ages. Andre reveals during his midlife crisis, he visited the world, met with strange characters, performed in strange rituals in different countries, and found decidedly new looks on reality, which he is more than happy to reveal to his old friend Wally. Wally, on the other hand, is relatively content on his simple life as a New York actor, and is stunned by his friend’s revelations. Shot in the low budget of $450,000, MY DINNER WITH ANDRE looks sparse and may look dull to the untrained eye. But what the film may lack in action, exaggeration, or rapid pace, it makes up with great acting, interesting dialogue, sharp wit, and Malle’s tight direction. Both Shawn and Gregory light the screen with their individual enthusiasms for their topics, enhancing the film with their emotional convictions towards their beliefs. The film looks like a play, shot in only one major setting, and zeroing in on the tiny cast’s dynamite performances. Anyone interested in creating intelligent, character-rich material should explore MY DINNER WITH ANDRE immediately!