1 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: What's happening everybody. It's seth Lundy, writer and showrunner here 2 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 1: at Double Elvis, and this is the podcast all about 3 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: the intersection of movie history and true crime Hollywood Land. 4 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: More specifically our weekly bonus episode called the Screening Room, 5 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: in which we dimm the lights, pop a tape in 6 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: our old VCR, adjust the tracking, and que up one 7 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: movie in particular that really ties the room together, as 8 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: the dude would say, the room, of course, being what 9 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: we've been talking about this week in Hollywood Land. Back 10 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: on Monday, we had our fully scripted sound design episode 11 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: on the actor Robert Blake, and so it only made sense, 12 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 1: again given what we do here in the show, that 13 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: we take a deep dive into one of Blake's most 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: iconic performances, one that's also ground zero of sorts for 15 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: what we think about when we think about true crime 16 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: in movies and in books. I'm talking, of course, about 17 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixty seven film In Cold Blood, directed by 18 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: Richard Brooks with a script also written by Brooks, which 19 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: was adapted from the legendary nonfiction novel by Truman Capoti. 20 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: The book came out in January of sixty six, and 21 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: then the movie was in theaters by December of the 22 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: following year, which seems completely nuts given how long of 23 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: a gestation period there is in Hollywood these days. But 24 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: remember this is the nineteen sixties. The Beatles put out 25 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: three albums, and the span of time between when the 26 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: book came out and the movie came out, it was 27 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: just a different time. And in order to really get 28 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: into what this movie is all about and why it 29 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: is an essential component of a quote unquote starter pack, 30 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: if you will, for true crime in popular culture and entertainment, 31 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: let's set the scene for how this film came to be. 32 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty nine, the Clutter family in Holcombe, Kansas. 33 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: That's Herb Clutter, the father, his wife, Bonnie, and two 34 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: of their children, both teenagers, Nancy and Kenyon, were brutally 35 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: murdered inside their home by a pair of recently paroled 36 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: ex convicts. Richard Hitcock aka Dick Hitcock and Perry Smith 37 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: had both done time at the Kansas State Penitentiary and 38 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: when they got out, they drove more than four hundred 39 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: miles to the clutterhouse. They did so because while Dick 40 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: Hitcock was on the inside, a cellmate of his told 41 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: him all about how well off Herb Clutter was the 42 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: patriarch of this family, and how he kept ten thousand 43 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: dollars in a safe inside the house. So Dick and 44 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: Perry drive they break into the clutterhouse in the middle 45 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: of the night. They bound and gagged the family, only 46 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: to realize that there is no safe, There is no 47 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars. All they find is fifty bucks. Perry 48 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: Smith then slit Herbcutter's throat and shot him in the 49 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: head with a shotgun, and then the remaining members of 50 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: the family were then killed one by one the single 51 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 1: shotgun blast to the head, and then Dick and Perry 52 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: won on the lamb for a little over a month 53 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: before they were finally apprehended. And while they were on 54 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: the lamb, the New York Times published a story about 55 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: the murders. Truman Capoti read the story and he felt 56 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: compelled to travel to Kansas while the investigation was ongoing 57 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: and sidebar. He brought along with him his good friend, 58 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: his childhood friend, Harper Lee, the author who would soon 59 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: write to Kill a Mockingbird, but I Digress. Capoti was 60 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,239 Speaker 1: a known quantity at this point. He had published bestsellers. 61 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: Like other voices, other rooms, and breakfast at Tiffany's. For 62 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: this book, once the killers were caught, he actually sat 63 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: down and conducted extensive interviews with them, both after they 64 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: were tried and convicted and were waiting to be executed. 65 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: It's hard to overstate how pioneering the subsequent nonfiction novel 66 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: was when it was published, in large part because it 67 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: gave readers unprecedented access into the psychology of the killers. 68 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: It humanized them as people, as complicated and fucked up 69 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: as they were with their own complicated pasts and trauma 70 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: and all that. Capoti also removed himself from the narrative, 71 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: so it felt less like a reporter going through the 72 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: motions and more like you were inside the narrative itself, 73 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: and that's what the film adaptation does so well. In 74 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: Cold Blood is not the first true crime story to 75 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: be shown on screen. Hollywood has been obsessed with true 76 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: crime since the beginning. It's a tale as old as time. 77 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: We talked a few months back about the Great Train 78 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: Robbery in nineteen o three. Movies have always delivered the 79 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,119 Speaker 1: thrill of crime, but In Cold Blood is the first 80 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: true crime film that doesn't keep the audience at a 81 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: safe distance. This is the moment when the audience is 82 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: no longer observing the true crime world, the audience is 83 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: inhabiting the true crime world. And it's also the moment 84 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: when the rules of Hollywood movie making are shattered. Before 85 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: this violence on screen had a motivation, and the audience 86 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: was clearly told where they stood on that violence. Let's 87 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: take Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho for example, not a beat for 88 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: beat adaptation of a real story like in Cold Blood, 89 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: but a film that is based on a true story. Nonetheless, 90 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: at the very end of Psycho, we get explained to 91 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: us why Norman Bates is the way he is. You 92 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: get the psychiatrist breaking it all down for you. Psycho 93 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: is nearly a perfect film. If not for this last scene, 94 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: I would have cut it. I mean, I'm not Alfred Hitchcock, 95 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: but I'm just saying we don't need to be told 96 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: why Norman Bates did what he did. But I don't know. 97 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: Audiences wanted that. Audience has expected that they wanted to 98 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: know the why of it all. They still do to 99 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: this day. We need these answers enclosure, right, But what 100 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: in Cold Blood did that differed from Psycho and all 101 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: the rest was it didn't give you a clean why. 102 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: There's a There's a chilling scene in this film when 103 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: when the two killers are in a car and they're 104 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:00,040 Speaker 1: talking about things that they've done in the past, and 105 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: Dick Hickock played by Scott Wilson, he asked Perry Smith 106 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: played by Robert Blake why he killed a man. Perry responds, 107 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: no good reason, just for the hell of it, to 108 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: which Dick says to him, that's the best reason of all. 109 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 1: I can only imagine how shocking this kind of dialogue 110 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,839 Speaker 1: was to moviegoing audiences in nineteen sixty seven. And there's 111 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: a lot more than language here that shocked people. There 112 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: was the violence, the absence of morality, the black and white, 113 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: almost documentary style of the film, which makes it feel 114 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: even more real and more intimate. This is a film 115 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: about what it feels like to commit a crime, to 116 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: sit with a murderer's interior life, and to come face 117 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 1: to face with modern crime and modern evil, which, to 118 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,919 Speaker 1: quote a line from the Coen Brothers No Country for 119 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: Old Men, one of the many many films indebted in 120 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: some way to this one. This kind of crime, it's 121 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: hard to take its measure, and this film arrives at 122 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: the right time. It's nineteen sixty seven, the year of 123 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: Bonnie and Clyde and the Graduate, the year in which 124 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: the infamous, long running Hayes Code in Hollywood, the production Code, 125 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: which tamps down on sex and violence for decades, was 126 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: coming to an end. Change was in the air, Transgression 127 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: was in the air, and the culture, movie going culture 128 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: would never be the same again. I'm going to take 129 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: a quick break and we'll get into it all right 130 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: after this. In cold Blood was directed by Richard Brooks, 131 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: who I'm guessing is not a director that you're super 132 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: familiar with. I personally couldn't have told you what films 133 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: Richard Brooks made before or after In cold Blood, not 134 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: until I got into the research here. But man, he 135 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: contributed a lot to movie history here. He was a 136 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: writer as well as a director. He was an uncredited 137 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: writer for The Killers, starring Burt Lancaster. I think that 138 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: was Burt Lancaster's first role, first big role. He also 139 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: co wrote Key Largo with John Houston. As a director, 140 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: Richard Brooks made Blackboard, Jungle Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 141 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: Elmer Gantry, and Sweetbird of Youth. The latter with Paul Newman. 142 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: Brooks was personally chosen by Truman Capoti to adapt and 143 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: film his book, and I believe Capodi was sharing early 144 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: drafts of it with the director, almost working in tandem 145 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: for a bit, which explains a little why the movie 146 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: came out so closely to the books publication. Capoti said 147 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: that Brooks was the only director he trusted with the material. 148 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: He trusted that Brooks wouldn't water down the story or 149 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: shy away from the moral ambiguity or humanizing the monster. 150 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: And they also both agreed that it should be shot 151 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: in black and white, shot in real locations, and that 152 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 1: the studio Columbia shouldn't get their way with casting. Columbia 153 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: wanted Paul Newman and Steve McQueen for the two lead roles, 154 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: but what Brooks understood was that those two lead roles, 155 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: the two killers, They had to be played by virtual 156 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: unknowns because to cast them otherwise would betray the hard 157 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: earned sense of realism here in the film. So Brooks 158 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: cast Scott Wilson as Dick. You probably know Scott Wilson 159 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: best these days from his role on the TV show 160 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: The Walking Dead. He played the veterinarian herschel Green on 161 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: that show passed away a few years ago, and then 162 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: Robert Blake was cast to play Perry, who was the 163 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: more sensitive of the two, the character whose head we 164 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: really get into. There's all this family trauma from his 165 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: past that often invades his thoughts, and Brooks does this 166 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: in a kind of an ingenious way where his past 167 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: is sort of with him in the present and the 168 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: way it's shot, it's in the same romans, in the 169 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: same car or whatever, and kind of like recedes from 170 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,679 Speaker 1: focus a bit. It's very clever how it's done. Robert 171 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,439 Speaker 1: Blake was a child actor who had starred in MGM's 172 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: hour game shorts back in the early forties, but as 173 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: he got older he was drafted into the Army. He 174 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: took a break from showbiz for a while, so he 175 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: was largely unknown when he was cast in this film, 176 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: the adult Robert Blake, that is, and you can hear 177 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: more about his background and all of this in our 178 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: scripted episode on him from earlier this week. The first 179 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 1: time we see Robert Blake, I believe it's the first 180 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,679 Speaker 1: time he's on a bus, sitting in the back of 181 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: the bus, and the whole thing is shot in this 182 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: very expressionist style, lots of shadows, very very noir, and 183 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 1: Blake is hidden in those shadows. He's playing a guitar 184 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,319 Speaker 1: and we can just make out the detail on the 185 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,720 Speaker 1: bottom of his boot, which will come in handy later 186 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: for the detectives. And then he strikes a match to 187 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: light a cigarette, and suddenly you see his face very 188 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: much as visual foreshadow of what's to come when Perry 189 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: and Dick enter the Clutter's house in the middle of 190 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: the night in darkness. But immediately I thought of another 191 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: true crime film based on another true crime story that 192 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: came out fourteen years before this one, when I saw 193 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: this shot. The Hitchhiker is this film from nineteen fifty three. 194 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: It was an independent film, It didn't really do much 195 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: at all at theaters, directed by idol Apino, and it 196 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: was based on the real life spree killer Billy Cook, 197 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: cock Eyed Billy Cook, and it has this incredible shot 198 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: early on, when these guys realized they picked up the 199 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: wrong man. They picked up somebody who means to do 200 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: them harm. He's this hitchhiker sitting in the backseat of 201 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: the car. He's sitting in shadows. He pulls out a 202 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: gun and tells them to drive, and as he does so, 203 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: the camera pushes in as the guy leans forward and 204 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: his face comes out of the darkness into the light. 205 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: It's an incredibly striking shot. And I've got to think 206 00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: this inspired Brooks and his DP co d Hall, and 207 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: they're very similar introduction of their killer here in this movie. Obviously, 208 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: Brooks and Hall are able to do things that Idolapino 209 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: could not, largely because of the Hays Code in the fifties, 210 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: also because of the budget here in the studio backing 211 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: and everything. Conrad Hall, by the way, super accomplished, influential DP. 212 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,800 Speaker 1: He shot Cool Hand, Luke, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, 213 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: Fat City, marathon Man. He had a career that went 214 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,320 Speaker 1: all the way into the early two thousands with his 215 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 1: two final films, American Beauty and Road to Perdition, which 216 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: he shot for Sam Mendes. His style here is so striking. 217 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: There's so much symmetry in the shots, but he's also 218 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 1: free to move the camera around, and the way the 219 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: film is cut, you're constantly being sent down the wrong path. 220 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: It reminds me so much of how you know, how 221 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: the silence of Lambs is cut in that last third 222 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: when you think the Feds are going to go to 223 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: the same house that Jodie Foster is going to, but 224 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: in fact you find out at the last minute that 225 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,079 Speaker 1: they're both at different houses. There's a lot of that here, 226 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,840 Speaker 1: a lot of this visual misdirection, and I guess the 227 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: misdirection also functions as this device to show you how 228 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: intertwined these two paths really are, the path of the 229 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: killers and the path of the soon to be slaughtered family. 230 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: But Conrad Hall serves up a visual feast here. There's 231 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: an incredible shot in the second half of the film 232 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: when they're finally showing you the murders. The way the 233 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: narrative of the film works if you haven't seen it, 234 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: they don't show the murders when they happen at the beginning, 235 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: what they do later on once the guy's been caught. 236 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: There's this incredible moment in the basement of the Clutter's house. 237 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,839 Speaker 1: There the two killers are sharing this one big flashlight 238 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 1: and it's on Parry as he goes to cut the 239 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,439 Speaker 1: father's throat with a knife, and the flashlight is knocked 240 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 1: away as it happens, and it rolls away so as 241 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:48,680 Speaker 1: it does, Perry is submerged in darkness, and the camera 242 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 1: quickly pans with the rolling flashlight, which then stops and 243 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: lands on Dick's face as he's reacting to what Perry 244 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: is doing. It's simply amazing. You might remember the super 245 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: icon shot from this film, which, like many great moments 246 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: in art, in film, and music, was a total accident. 247 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: The shot of Robert Blake standing next to a window 248 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: recalling this childhood trauma, and it's raining outside and the 249 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,319 Speaker 1: rain is running down the window pane. But then Blake 250 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: turns slightly and you can see the rain drops reflected 251 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: on his face and it looks like he's crying as 252 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: he's talking, but he's not crying. It's just the rain, 253 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: and it's just just optical illusion we're seeing. But the 254 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: thing of it all is that it's wild to me 255 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: that such an iconic shot wasn't planned out in advance. 256 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: You know, this is the kind of thing that Rick 257 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: Rubin talks about in his book about creativity. You prepare 258 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: for these moments. You do what you can as an artist. 259 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: You make yourself available, open yourself up, and be present 260 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: enough to capture these things when they happen now watching 261 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: Robert Blake in this moment, the audience sees this killer, 262 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: this monster who has trauma. As I said, he has memories, 263 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: he has dreams and desires, and he is vulnerable. And 264 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: the audience has could fronted with this idea of understanding 265 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: without necessarily forgiving, not understanding why he did what he did, 266 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 1: but understanding or acknowledging the humanity. And then it gives 267 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: you this stark, big fat period on the end of 268 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: the sentence, kind of ending. You know, Perry hangs for 269 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: his crimes. You hear the beating of his heart, the 270 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: floor drops out, he falls, he swings on the end 271 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 1: of the rope, and boom. That's it. Movie's over. There's 272 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: no psychiatrist that comes in to give us a reason 273 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 1: for it all. He did it for the hell of it. 274 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: Or he did it, as he says to the cops 275 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: at one point, because the clutters just happened to be there. 276 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: They were unlucky. That's the whole story. It's nineteen sixty 277 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: seven and Hollywood has brought you inside the head of 278 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: a killer, and it's not anything like you expected. It's messy, 279 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: it's impossible to explain. And now that you're in there's 280 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: no getting out. More on In cold Blood right after 281 00:15:52,560 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: this quick Break. Richard Brooks nineteen sixty seven film adaptation 282 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: of Truman Capote's non fiction novel In Cold Blood was 283 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: nominated for four Academy Awards, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, 284 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. It did not win 285 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: any of those. Mike Nichols won Best Director for the Graduate. 286 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: Best Adapted Screenplay went to Sterling's Silliphant for In the 287 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: Heat of the Night. Cinematography went to Burnet Guffey for 288 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: Bonnie and clyde. An Original score went to Elmer Bernstein 289 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: for Thoroughly Modern Millie. The nominated score for In Cold Blood, 290 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: by the way, was composed by none other than Quincy Jones, 291 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: who scored no less than five films that year in 292 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven, Can you Believe It? Including In the 293 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 1: Heat of the Night. He would go on to score many, 294 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: many more, including lots of crime films, The Italian Job, 295 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: The Anderson Tapes, The Hot Rock, The Getaway, Wait a Minute. 296 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,439 Speaker 1: Was c the pre eminent composer of crime films in 297 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies. You always hear about Lalo Schiffrin and 298 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 1: any more cony for this kind of thing. But Quincy Jones, 299 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,360 Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe because his legacy is often more 300 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: about Michael Jackson or even Sinatra or Ray Charles, we 301 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: just don't think of him this way. But the dude 302 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 1: was scoring the shit out of true crime movies, man, 303 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: and in this score in particular, it's really incredible. And 304 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: how it merges this kind of weirdo jazz vibe with 305 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 1: something far more cynical, something in line with the Bernard 306 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: Hermann score. So let's not forget Quincy Jones here, and 307 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: how his more modernist take on a film score is 308 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: part of the whole package. It's part of what gets 309 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: you through the door and into that interiority I keep 310 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,119 Speaker 1: talking about. And then once you once the audience is inside, 311 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 1: as I said earlier, there's no getting out. This is 312 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: where the obsession begins. The one to two punch of 313 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: the book in sixty six and the film in sixty 314 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: seven in America is hooked. This is where true crime 315 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: stops becoming something that we solve and instead becomes something 316 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 1: that we return to. From here you get Terrence Malick's 317 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 1: bad Lands in nineteen seventy three real life inspiration in 318 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 1: Charles Starkweather Detach violence an inward gazing killer. You get 319 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: Dog Day Afternoon in nineteen seventy five, also based on 320 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: a real life story. It's a crime story as character study. 321 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,400 Speaker 1: It smashes together violence, criminality with the media with our 322 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 1: roles as spectators, and also again shot through with humanity. 323 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy six, you get Taxi Driver, super radical interiority, 324 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,120 Speaker 1: so much so that the camera has to pan away 325 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: during a phone call at one point just to give 326 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: you a break from it. All. The violence in this 327 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: one is just as inevitable as it was nine years 328 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,159 Speaker 1: earlier in Cold Blood, and it's still playing by the 329 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 1: new rules that in cold Blood's set up when it 330 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,960 Speaker 1: broke the old rules. Martin Scuss says, he doesn't explain 331 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: Travis Bikele, He just has you in habit his head 332 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,360 Speaker 1: for two hours. Crime isn't compelling because it's violent. It's 333 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,719 Speaker 1: compelling because of how intimate it is. But once crime 334 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: becomes intimate in cinema, it becomes morally dangerous as well. 335 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: So there's this backlash in Hollywood after In cold Blood 336 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: is released, This desire to sort of re establish some 337 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: of that distance that's been lost, right, and in these 338 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:47,360 Speaker 1: cases criminals become these abstractions. Authority, force, and certainty are 339 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,440 Speaker 1: back in focus. In Dirty Harry, for instance, the killer 340 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: doesn't even have a name. In Cold Blood, wants to 341 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: know who is this person, and Dirty Harry replies, it 342 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 1: doesn't matter. Dirty Harry says, you don't have to understand. 343 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: Instead you punish or take death Wish. Death Wish says 344 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,920 Speaker 1: you don't have to understand. Instead, you avenge. The French 345 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,639 Speaker 1: Connection has a very similar gritty realism and how it's shot, 346 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: but it's emotionally distant, it's cold. That's not to say 347 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: these films aren't cutting into their own ways, because they are, 348 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: and The French Connection is one of my favorite films 349 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: of all time. It's fascinating to see how the constrictions 350 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:25,199 Speaker 1: of the Hayes Code once these are flung aside in 351 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 1: the late sixties, It's fascinating to see how exactly different 352 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,440 Speaker 1: filmmakers responded differently. And all these movies I've talked about, 353 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 1: they use the newfound freedom of expression to their advantage, 354 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: but their goal or aim can differ, of course, even 355 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: more so than these examples. However, in Cold Blood has 356 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,399 Speaker 1: rippled out and inspired other movies that came after it 357 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,200 Speaker 1: in other ways. There's a scene in this film where 358 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 1: Robert Blake is taking what one of my friends would 359 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: call hooker shower. That's when you essentially are bathing in 360 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,880 Speaker 1: a sink at a bus stop restroom. There's Robert Blake 361 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 1: in his underwear and he's looking in the mirror and 362 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: he's taking in this reflection of himself. I think he 363 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,639 Speaker 1: flexes his bicep and he starts to indulge in this 364 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:12,120 Speaker 1: fantasy that he's a famous singer working a club in Vegas. 365 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: This is one hundred percent echoed first in Raging Bull, 366 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,920 Speaker 1: with Robert de Niro working his nightclub routine in from 367 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,720 Speaker 1: a mirror in his dressing room, and then later in 368 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 1: Boogie Nights, when Mark Wahlberg is essentially doing a riff 369 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:27,639 Speaker 1: on Raging Bull when he's doing his own thing in 370 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 1: the mirror. In between those two movies, two you get 371 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: Dead Man Walking, the Tim Robbins film starring Sean Penn 372 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: as a guy on death row, a film that challenges 373 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,120 Speaker 1: the audience to empathize with a murderer. And then earlier 374 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: I mentioned No Country for Old Men, The Coen Brothers 375 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: film based on a Cornmick McCarthy novel. Their film doesn't 376 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,440 Speaker 1: give you access to the interiority of the villain Anton Shagor, 377 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,360 Speaker 1: played brilliantly by Jabier bardin By the Way. But where 378 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,359 Speaker 1: I think it is clearly a descendant of In Cold 379 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: Blood is how it approaches this idea of crime of 380 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: evil as being something and it just exists among us. 381 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: You know, when the cops are investigating the murders of 382 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,479 Speaker 1: In Cold Blood, you hear them say things like, we 383 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:09,639 Speaker 1: know how this happened, we just don't have a why. 384 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: They spend so much time trying to piece together the why. 385 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,120 Speaker 1: We know why they drove all that way. They drove 386 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 1: thinking there was a pot of gold at the end 387 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,199 Speaker 1: of the proverbial rainbow, But that's got nothing to do 388 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: with the why they brought weapons with them in the 389 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 1: first place, why they are prepared to do what they did, 390 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: and why they did what they did. Forty years later, 391 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: in No Country for Old Men, Tommy Lee Jones has 392 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,640 Speaker 1: the answer, there is no why, you know. Twenty years 393 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: or so before that, give or take, Bruce Springsteen had 394 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: that same answer in the opening track of his Incredible 395 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,359 Speaker 1: record Nebraska. They want to know why I did what 396 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: I did. He sings, well, sir, I guess there's just 397 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 1: a meanness in this world. What in Cold Blood does 398 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: have that no other film in history has, at least 399 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: that I'm not aware of, is an actor who portrayed 400 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,640 Speaker 1: a murderer and then who years later was himself arrested 401 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: and charged with murder in real life, some real life 402 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 1: imitating art kind of stuff. It is a striking juxtaposition, 403 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 1: a polished cinematic portrayal of a murderer and an actor 404 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: accused of a violent crime. When Robert Blake was arrested 405 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: in two thousand and two, the story became this meta 406 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: true crime case. You know, Hollywood and real life were blurring, 407 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:27,880 Speaker 1: and news headlines at the time didn't just call out 408 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: the fact that Blake had so convincingly portrayed a killer 409 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,480 Speaker 1: years earlier, they led with it. Journalists pointed to the 410 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,679 Speaker 1: role as if the actor's most haunting screen performance had 411 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: somehow bled into real life, as if it could help 412 00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: us start to get to the why of it all. 413 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,199 Speaker 1: That's the kind of story that only this confluence of 414 00:23:47,240 --> 00:24:04,960 Speaker 1: Hollywood and true crime could invent. More Right after this Okay, 415 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:10,159 Speaker 1: we are back in Cold Blood nineteen sixty seven, a 416 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:15,800 Speaker 1: true ground zero of true crime. Unbelievably, perhaps this was 417 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: my first time ever watching this film. Isn't that wild? 418 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:23,239 Speaker 1: I don't know. I think it's wild. I remember a 419 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: long time ago I was in high school and PBS 420 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: ran this like ten episode series on the history of 421 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: American film. I recorded it on a couple of VHS tapes. 422 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: It was a very formative series for me. I watched 423 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,400 Speaker 1: it over and over again. I can't even recall its 424 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: name now or who narrated it or whatever, but it 425 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: was one of those things you watch, at least for me, 426 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 1: and it just got me so fired up to check 427 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: out a lot of the films that they talked about, 428 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,160 Speaker 1: or get into the filmographies of a lot of directors 429 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,919 Speaker 1: I didn't really know much about. And I remember very clearly, 430 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 1: and I forget the context here, but it was probably 431 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: has something to do with with this era of films, 432 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,680 Speaker 1: like I was talking about before, Bonnie and Clyde, the Graduate, 433 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: the Breakdown of the Hayes Code. It's probably a section 434 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: about that, but I remember very very clearly they featured 435 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:19,479 Speaker 1: that iconic shot I was talking about earlier. From in 436 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,360 Speaker 1: Cold Blood, the shot where Robert Blake is standing by 437 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: the window and the reflection of the rain is bouncing 438 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,439 Speaker 1: off his face. And yet despite all that, despite my 439 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,680 Speaker 1: own appetite for movies and true crime, I was never 440 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: compelled to seek it out. I don't know why. I 441 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: think perhaps for as great as that one shot is, 442 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:40,639 Speaker 1: and as great as it is when you watch the 443 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: film and its entirety, in that moment, seeing that clip, 444 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: it kind of struck me as like performative or super 445 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: staged or hokey, like this movie's going to hit me 446 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: over the head with everything, you know. But what a 447 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: trip to find out that shot wasn't planned. You know, 448 00:25:55,600 --> 00:26:00,840 Speaker 1: We've all got these movies or albums or artists or 449 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: actors or directors or whatever, the ones that we don't 450 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: see forever for some unknown reason, maybe that's known only 451 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: to us, or that we can't even known why. But 452 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 1: why is the big question today? But we already determined 453 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:16,199 Speaker 1: we can't answer that question right, We can't answer the 454 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 1: why of it, So we're just going to let it go. 455 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,639 Speaker 1: Next week, however, we'll be asking ourselves new questions. What 456 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:24,959 Speaker 1: are they we shall see? But seeing as it's our 457 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: last week of January. It's also the end of our 458 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 1: month of La Nightmares, which brings us to our fully 459 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: scripted sound design episode about Heath Ledger, who tragically passed 460 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: away this month back in two thousand and eight. Actually, 461 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: I think it was yesterday, January twenty second. That was 462 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: the day. We're going to pair that episode with a 463 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: screening run episode next Friday, all about The Dark Knight, 464 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 1: Christopher Nolan's second Batman film, also from two thousand and eight, 465 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 1: in which of course features what many people agree is 466 00:26:55,359 --> 00:27:00,879 Speaker 1: Heath Ledger's greatest performance as Batman's nemesis, the Joker. Incidentally, 467 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:03,600 Speaker 1: this is the first movie I ever saw on an 468 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:07,119 Speaker 1: Imax screen. I actually saw it with Matt here at 469 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 1: Double Evis, remember that, dude, the Jordan's Furniture Imax wherever 470 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: that is outside Boston. So we go to see this 471 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 1: movie and it was a combination of the size of 472 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: the screen and also probably where we were sitting. I 473 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: don't know, but I remember we left the movie just 474 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: being like, what the fuck happens? Like it was so 475 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: hard to follow the action. But when I watched it 476 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: at home, it was like watching it again for the 477 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: first time. So I don't know. Imax failed me that day. 478 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: Christopher Nolan did not. This was long before they were 479 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 1: using Imax cameras to shoot these films too, so maybe 480 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:40,680 Speaker 1: that's part of it. I don't know. But anyway, we've 481 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 1: taken the Dark Knight back from the tyranny of large 482 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: format screens, and we're gonna use our little backclaw tool 483 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:51,200 Speaker 1: here to to dive deep into the You know what 484 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 1: I'm talking about. It's like the Batman's version of that. 485 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: You got that ID card on a retractable string thing 486 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: on your belt and you hook you hook onto something 487 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: and you can shit me down or shoot me. I mean, 488 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: and don't You can't shiit me down or up with 489 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 1: an ID card on your belt. But I'm saying, if 490 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: you were Batman and it was actually this backclaw thing 491 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,000 Speaker 1: that was powerful and strong enough to hold you, you 492 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: could theoretically metaphorically shimmy down into a deep dive of 493 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 1: a film. And I'm completely not making any sense anymore. 494 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: I don't have the correct bat terminology, but I'll figure 495 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: it out before next Friday, okay, as it is relevant 496 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 1: to our conversation. In the meantime, I've got a question 497 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: of the Week for you all that is related to this, 498 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: and it does make sense. What is your favorite Batman gadget? 499 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: I'm just kidding, just kidding, although if you've got one, 500 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: let me know. This movie. Making this movie, The Dark Knight, 501 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: it changed Heath Ledger. He talked about it, others talked 502 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: about it, and obviously it's forever associated with his untimely death. 503 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: So what I want to know is what movie changed you? 504 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: What movie did you go into as one person and 505 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: emerge from as somebody else? I want to know Text 506 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: or call me six one seven nine oh six six 507 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: six three eight, Email me disgraceslampod at gmail dot com. 508 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: You can hit me up on the socials at Disgrace 509 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: slam Pod, or if you're an All Access member over 510 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: on Patreon, you can jump in the conversation there and 511 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: let me know. Maybe I'll read or play your response 512 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: next week in the Rap Party on Wednesday. Speaking of 513 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: All Access, by the way, for both current members as 514 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: well as those who are not currently members, we are 515 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: at the end of running this special discount on annual 516 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: memberships for our Sound and Fury tier. Right now, that's 517 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: our ten dollars a month tier, and next week we 518 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 1: are dropping the latest episode of our Patreon exclusive video podcast. 519 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: This film should be played loud. This episode is all 520 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: about the killer music at the heart of the film Trainspotting. 521 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: But also starting next week with that new episode, you're 522 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: gonna have to be a member at the sound in 523 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 1: Fury Tier to see episodes of this film should be 524 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: played loud going forward. Typically it's like one hundred and 525 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: twenty bucks for an annual subscription, but right now through 526 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: this weekend, you can save thirty three percent, which is 527 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: like saving like forty bucks. And by the way, you 528 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: may not see the discount until you actually go to 529 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: the checkout screen, but then you'll see it there for 530 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: the annual option. But whether you're a member already or 531 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 1: you're new here, you should see that discount pop up. 532 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:23,680 Speaker 1: And this offer will self destruct in a few days. 533 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: It expires, I think at the end of the day, 534 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:29,240 Speaker 1: this coming Sunday, So get it while the getting's good. 535 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,840 Speaker 1: Speaking of getting, I'm getting out of here. So I'll 536 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: leave you with this a list of what America was 537 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: watching at the movies in the year nineteen sixty seven, 538 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: the year that In Cold Blood was released in theaters. 539 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:50,240 Speaker 1: Number one, the graduate directed by Mike Nichols. Number two 540 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Directed by Stanley Kramer. Number 541 00:30:54,960 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: three Bonnie and Clyde directed by Arthur Penn Robson. Number four, 542 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: Number six, The Dirty Devils George directed by Robert Walter 543 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: by James Cloud. Number five, Number seven Valley of the 544 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: Dolls directed by Martin Robson, Louis Gilberts. Number six To 545 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,640 Speaker 1: Sir With Love George directed by James Clave. Ultimate George. 546 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: Number seven Direct You Only Twice directed by Louis Gilbert. 547 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: Quit talking and start mixing. Could