WEBVTT - 11 Rules for Box Office Appeal with Amy Nicholson | The Movie Racket

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<v Speaker 2>Off starre is Born. Tonight, I'm going holly hey, folks,

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<v Speaker 2>this is the Movie Racket, and in the first season

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<v Speaker 2>of this Film Spotting affiliated podcast hosted by Moir, we're

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<v Speaker 2>looking at some of the unofficial rules and principles of

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<v Speaker 2>Hollywood and some of the world's great filmmakers' ideas about

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<v Speaker 2>what makes a film, any kind of film work and

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<v Speaker 2>why that sounds pretty grand, doesn't it. Well. As a

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<v Speaker 2>proud holder of an undergraduate degree from a Midwestern state school,

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<v Speaker 2>I can tell you I can do a lot of things.

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<v Speaker 2>I can do accidentally thoughtful. I can do earnestness up

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<v Speaker 2>to five ten minutes at a time. But grand isn't

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<v Speaker 2>really my idea for what the Movie Racket is about.

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<v Speaker 2>We're looking at a century's worth of Hollywood wisdom in

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<v Speaker 2>this program. Often in quip or snappy one line axiom form.

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<v Speaker 2>The pitheist example is probably forever going to be William

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<v Speaker 2>Goldman's line on Hollywood, immortalized at his book Adventures in

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<v Speaker 2>the Screen Trade three words nobody knows anything. Each week

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<v Speaker 2>we're going to stress test a different theory of a

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<v Speaker 2>century's worth of movie making wisdom and see if any

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<v Speaker 2>of it holds water for us here now today. And

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<v Speaker 2>our extraordinarily special guest for episode two is Los Angeles

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<v Speaker 2>Times film critic and longtime podcast veteran Amy Nicholson, and

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<v Speaker 2>topic a as writer director of Preston Sturges used to

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<v Speaker 2>refer obliquely to sex and the of stuff he loves.

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<v Speaker 2>Sneaking past the censors is in fact Preston Sturges himself

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<v Speaker 2>and his own eleven rules for box office appeal. What

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<v Speaker 2>are those eleven rules? Well, sometime in the early nineteen forties,

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<v Speaker 2>after Sturge's won an Oscar for his screenplay for The

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<v Speaker 2>Great McGuinty, Sturges came up with this list as a joke.

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<v Speaker 2>Never really confirmed in terms of where he wrote it

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<v Speaker 2>or exactly when, but some say he scratched it out,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe with friends, maybe alone at the bar of the

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<v Speaker 2>Player's Club, which was a restaurant Sturges owned on Sunset Boulevard.

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<v Speaker 2>This list started circulating around Paramount Pictures, where for a

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<v Speaker 2>time Sturges had a sweetheart picture deal and he did

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<v Speaker 2>not squander it. And you look at his streak as

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<v Speaker 2>writer director from nineteen forty the nineteen forty four The

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<v Speaker 2>Great McGuinty Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, the Palm Beach Story,

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<v Speaker 2>the Miracle of Morgan's Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero.

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<v Speaker 2>And that doesn't even count his beautiful script for one

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<v Speaker 2>of My Face Christmas movies, Remember the Night, Funny, Sweet sad,

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<v Speaker 2>absolutely singular Hollywood studio film that one. Amy and I

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<v Speaker 2>are going to look at Sturge's eleven rules, some funny,

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<v Speaker 2>some trying to be maybe not so funny, But the

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<v Speaker 2>best of them, I think are a little different and

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<v Speaker 2>a little more interesting. That worth thinking about, especially at

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<v Speaker 2>a time when genuinely funny riders are terrifyingly scarce. Then again,

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<v Speaker 2>Sturges himself didn't have a lot of competition in that

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<v Speaker 2>department in his best years. So are this week's unofficial

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<v Speaker 2>laws of Motion Pictures. According to Preston sturges just a joke,

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<v Speaker 2>just another racket or is there something to them, something

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<v Speaker 2>worth thinking about? Let's poke around, Amy Nicholson, it's so

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<v Speaker 2>great that you could be guessed the second the second

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<v Speaker 2>guest on our new podcast Venture the Movie Racket. Thanks

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<v Speaker 2>really appreciating.

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<v Speaker 3>It's such an honor, such an honor. He did my

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<v Speaker 3>favorite actor first, and now I get to come in afterwards.

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<v Speaker 2>Who all, right, hold on, Michael Shannon's your favorite actor? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>well you should have interviewed him. I think why don't

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<v Speaker 2>we We're going to toss out our Yeah, before we

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<v Speaker 2>actually got on, you said that you wish you would

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<v Speaker 2>do more comedies. I think you're probably not alone, you know.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, remember when he played like with the evil Christmas

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<v Speaker 3>elf in that Seth Rogan movie the night before and

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<v Speaker 3>he was just stoner Lex, what's happening right now?

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<v Speaker 2>Just looking into your soul? Man? What are you seeing?

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<v Speaker 2>You need a nice mellow Indica. I got a great

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<v Speaker 2>North Cali bud with a soothing body, high and surprisingly

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<v Speaker 2>accurate visions of the future.

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<v Speaker 3>He's fantastic when he gets menacing and hilarious in the

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<v Speaker 3>same moment. He would also have been my vote for

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<v Speaker 3>Jack Reacher. I always wanted a Jack Reacher with Michael Shannon.

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<v Speaker 2>I love it. I love it. The development wheels are turning.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know. Do development wheels still turn in Hollywood.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know. You live closer to Hollywood than I do.

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<v Speaker 3>They turn as slowly as possible for all the people

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<v Speaker 3>in development to justify keeping their jobs without spending any money.

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<v Speaker 2>Good.

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<v Speaker 3>Does that make sense? At least that's my impression.

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<v Speaker 2>The system's working.

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<v Speaker 3>It got to make sure we keep those exacts salary.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so Amy, These eleven rules of box office appeal

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<v Speaker 2>that Preston Sturges came up with, And as far as

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<v Speaker 2>people can tell, it was nineteen forty one. It was

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<v Speaker 2>after he had written and directed The Great McGuinty and

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<v Speaker 2>this sweetheart deal he had with Paramount, and he was

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<v Speaker 2>already the one of the highest paid screenwriters, certainly in Hollywood,

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<v Speaker 2>and he was about to become one of the highest

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<v Speaker 2>paid filmmakers for a brief period with the string of

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<v Speaker 2>hits he had after McGuinty, including The Lady Eve and

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<v Speaker 2>Sullivan's Travels in the same year. So around that time,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe at his own nightclub after too many drinks, nobody

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<v Speaker 2>really knows for sure. He came up with these eleven rules,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think we should just kind of whip through

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<v Speaker 2>them for people who don't know them. Okay, why don't

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<v Speaker 2>you just take the first one and we're going to

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<v Speaker 2>read these quickly like actors being thrown sides without even

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<v Speaker 2>you know, any prep. So once you do the first

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<v Speaker 2>and I'll do the second, will hit the whole.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, So see if you even listed these in rr GO.

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<v Speaker 3>A pretty girl is better than an ugly.

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<v Speaker 2>One, A leg is better than an arm.

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<v Speaker 3>A bedroom is better than a living room, and.

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<v Speaker 2>An arrival is better than a departure.

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<v Speaker 3>A birth is better than a death.

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<v Speaker 2>A chase is better than a chat.

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<v Speaker 3>A dog is better than a landscape.

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<v Speaker 2>A kitten is better than a dog.

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<v Speaker 3>A baby is better than a kitten.

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<v Speaker 2>A kiss is better than a baby, and a.

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<v Speaker 3>Prep fall is better than anything.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, now some of this is yeah, was he drug? Probably?

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<v Speaker 2>Is it just for laughs? Of course that was the intention.

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<v Speaker 2>Is there any sneaky wisdom in there that actually has

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<v Speaker 2>something to say about what he was up to as

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<v Speaker 2>a filmmaker and what we might actually look at today

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<v Speaker 2>or especially people who don't know sturges from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

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<v Speaker 2>Is there something to learn from what he's about as

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<v Speaker 2>a filmmaker. So that's I guess that's why I thought

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<v Speaker 2>of you, Amy, because you you know, you're a blithe,

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<v Speaker 2>witty character, and I think this idea that it's a joke,

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<v Speaker 2>but you know, maybe a little nugget or to a

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<v Speaker 2>wisdom perhaps. But I just wonder what you think about

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<v Speaker 2>this list and is there anything in there to really

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<v Speaker 2>mess with?

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, I think there's a lot, although it doesn't

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<v Speaker 3>do much for us podcasters that he'd rather be chasing

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<v Speaker 3>each other than chatting right now. Oh well, sorry, Preston.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, if I was looking at the list overall,

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<v Speaker 3>I feel like, get all points in one direction, which

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<v Speaker 3>is make sure you're writing scripts that are open. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>all of these things are sort of opening the door.

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<v Speaker 3>When you have a birth, you're opening the door to

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<v Speaker 3>a new personality, a new life. When you have a bedroom,

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<v Speaker 3>you're opening the door to some sort of excitement. It

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<v Speaker 3>feels like he's continually pushing screenwriters to write in a

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<v Speaker 3>way that like opens up new possibilities of where their

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<v Speaker 3>script is going to go to add excits. I mean,

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<v Speaker 3>that's my impression what about you?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, same, I think so the one that really caught

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<v Speaker 2>my eye looking at this, that feels like, yes, that's

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<v Speaker 2>such a simple thing to remember, but such a good idea,

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<v Speaker 2>and a rival is better than a departure. Oh that's

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<v Speaker 2>my sister, the princess.

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<v Speaker 4>Hello Maude, Hello Noodles.

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<v Speaker 3>Where'd you get the pretty girl?

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<v Speaker 5>She calls me snoodles.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean they're both important, you know, depending on what

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<v Speaker 2>your characters are up to. But I just think the

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<v Speaker 2>idea of the constantly kind of keeping the pressure on

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<v Speaker 2>yourself as a writer to invent new people and new

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<v Speaker 2>interactions and new combinations of characters. Another door, another door,

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<v Speaker 2>and now doors lead to farce right, and to the

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<v Speaker 2>degree he's a far swer Preston sturges and we can

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<v Speaker 2>kind of debate what do you want to call him?

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<v Speaker 2>Is he a screwball comedy? The guy? Is he? You know?

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<v Speaker 2>There's a lot but that I love that one in particular.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, I love a few of them. Don't love

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<v Speaker 2>a pretty girls better than an ugly one. He's a

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<v Speaker 2>wittier writer than that. But maybe he had to get

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<v Speaker 2>one for the boys off quickly.

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<v Speaker 3>I was trying to think of that in a way

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<v Speaker 3>where I could make it good. I was like, well,

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<v Speaker 3>a pretty girl has an effect on a room, maybe

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<v Speaker 3>she could make it hero nervous. I was like, that's

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<v Speaker 3>my most terriable explanation for why that one would work.

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<v Speaker 2>That one. Yeah, now that one's kind of a cringer,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, that's a yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. I mean, I am definitely a pressince. They're just

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<v Speaker 3>not so I'm so happy we're talking about this, like

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<v Speaker 3>he's one of the filmmakers who made me fall in

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<v Speaker 3>love with film from the beginning. I took a film

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<v Speaker 3>class my freshman year. We watched Sullivan's Travels. That's still

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<v Speaker 3>my favorite one.

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<v Speaker 5>I want this picture to be a document I want

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<v Speaker 5>to hold a mirror up to life. I want this

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<v Speaker 5>to be a picture of dignity, a true canvas of

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<v Speaker 5>the suffering of humanity. But with the little six or

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<v Speaker 5>a little sex.

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<v Speaker 6>And how about a nice musical?

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<v Speaker 5>How can you talk about musicals at a time like this,

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<v Speaker 5>with the world committing suicide, with corpses piling up on

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<v Speaker 5>the street, with grim death gargling at you from every corner,

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<v Speaker 5>with people slaughtered.

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<v Speaker 6>Like sheep, Maybe they'd like to forget that.

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<v Speaker 5>And why do they hold this one over for a

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<v Speaker 5>fifth week at the Music Hall for the ushers, and

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<v Speaker 5>dined in Pittsburgh like a dog. Well don't they know

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<v Speaker 5>in pitts been or what they but they know what

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<v Speaker 5>they like. They wouldn't live in Pittsburgh.

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<v Speaker 3>And it just cracked open the door for me of

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<v Speaker 3>how much wit and humor and speed there could be

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<v Speaker 3>in a classic comedy. And yet when I look at

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<v Speaker 3>this list, I really love it because I think I

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<v Speaker 3>can see in myself the formation of my taste, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>like his Preston surgiences will go on to influence the

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<v Speaker 3>people who would make the films that then I would love,

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<v Speaker 3>like the Cohen Brothers. And when I look at the

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<v Speaker 3>at the positive side of the list, that the things

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<v Speaker 3>that are better than the other side of the list.

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<v Speaker 3>I see films full of like action and motion and

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<v Speaker 3>comedy and situations. And when I look at the other

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<v Speaker 3>side of the list, I see films that make me

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<v Speaker 3>sad and depressed and I get restless. Landscapes and departures

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<v Speaker 3>and deaths. And my least favorite type of movie is

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<v Speaker 3>the kind where nothing really happens. When a person sits

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<v Speaker 3>on a bus looking out the window out a landscape

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<v Speaker 3>and you don't know what the ending is. I hate that.

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<v Speaker 3>I hate that. So he's writing in a way that's

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<v Speaker 3>all punctuation, right, I mean, I would much rather look

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<v Speaker 3>at a dog than a landscape, especially now when our

0:11:17.205 --> 0:11:19.525
<v Speaker 3>landscapes like I'm thinking of supergoll that just came out

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<v Speaker 3>totally CG. The dog CG too. But at least he's

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<v Speaker 3>better than looking at a bunch of stars. Hmmm.

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<v Speaker 2>Interesting. Interesting. You just want to live in grieving organism,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, at the center of things.

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<v Speaker 3>Right, I do. I do. I like movies over TV

0:11:36.965 --> 0:11:40.045
<v Speaker 3>because they're like condensed action, you know. I want to

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<v Speaker 3>be watching things happen. I mean, yes, I can be

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<v Speaker 3>in the mood to like sit and soak and absorb.

0:11:45.525 --> 0:11:49.445
<v Speaker 3>You know. I'll definitely watch a Tarkowski absolutely, But he's

0:11:49.485 --> 0:11:52.084
<v Speaker 3>not doing a list to advise Tarkowski's of the world.

0:11:52.165 --> 0:11:53.684
<v Speaker 3>I think he'd make a totally different list for them.

0:11:53.684 --> 0:11:54.765
<v Speaker 3>I don't even know if he'd be able to talk

0:11:54.765 --> 0:11:56.325
<v Speaker 3>to them, maybe if they were dunk enough at players

0:11:56.405 --> 0:11:58.725
<v Speaker 3>or something like that. He's making a list for Hollywood,

0:11:58.845 --> 0:12:01.005
<v Speaker 3>right right, And this is the kind of movie I

0:12:01.045 --> 0:12:06.605
<v Speaker 3>want Hollywood to be making again more steadily, just like entertainment, entertainment,

0:12:06.765 --> 0:12:09.965
<v Speaker 3>entertainment that has in mind the audience's engagement.

0:12:10.285 --> 0:12:12.365
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there's a couple of things I want to jump

0:12:12.405 --> 0:12:14.485
<v Speaker 2>on here. This is a great jumping off point. Your

0:12:14.485 --> 0:12:17.804
<v Speaker 2>point about the speed speed is a tricky prospect because

0:12:17.804 --> 0:12:21.165
<v Speaker 2>it sounds very simple faster. On the other hand, an

0:12:21.325 --> 0:12:25.285
<v Speaker 2>entire generation of performers and filmmakers seem to have forgotten

0:12:25.365 --> 0:12:27.845
<v Speaker 2>the virtues of it, because we have a lot of

0:12:27.885 --> 0:12:31.285
<v Speaker 2>actors who make a lot of movies who actually don't

0:12:31.285 --> 0:12:34.725
<v Speaker 2>have much verbal facility at all. And is that because

0:12:34.725 --> 0:12:37.485
<v Speaker 2>they don't have stage training. Maybe in some cases, but

0:12:37.525 --> 0:12:40.045
<v Speaker 2>I also just think it's like something has fallen out

0:12:40.045 --> 0:12:44.805
<v Speaker 2>of the popular culture that enjoys chasing after these conversations.

0:12:44.804 --> 0:12:48.285
<v Speaker 2>And that was my first impression watching Sturges in high

0:12:48.285 --> 0:12:55.285
<v Speaker 2>school or early college, just about that fantastic, intoxicating, addictive

0:12:55.765 --> 0:13:01.084
<v Speaker 2>sound of overlapping dialogue, almost almost overlapping. His girl Friday

0:13:01.205 --> 0:13:03.205
<v Speaker 2>was probably the first time I heard kind of a

0:13:03.245 --> 0:13:05.925
<v Speaker 2>primo example of that in the kind of comedy. I

0:13:05.965 --> 0:13:08.765
<v Speaker 2>love the Hawks film from right around the same time,

0:13:08.845 --> 0:13:12.485
<v Speaker 2>nineteen forty and actually, when you look at how that

0:13:12.525 --> 0:13:14.165
<v Speaker 2>thing was put together, I mean he spent a lot

0:13:14.205 --> 0:13:18.125
<v Speaker 2>of time in rehearsal, and hawks said simply, okay, fast

0:13:18.165 --> 0:13:21.605
<v Speaker 2>as you can this time. Okay, you up that by

0:13:21.645 --> 0:13:25.525
<v Speaker 2>fifty percent, will shoot. And that's how he got. Even

0:13:25.564 --> 0:13:28.405
<v Speaker 2>with a radically rewritten version of the Front Page, it

0:13:28.485 --> 0:13:30.684
<v Speaker 2>still has basically the whole play in there. That's how

0:13:30.684 --> 0:13:33.325
<v Speaker 2>he got a three hour play down to ninety four

0:13:33.365 --> 0:13:38.245
<v Speaker 2>minutes or something. But also I think maybe to your

0:13:38.285 --> 0:13:41.285
<v Speaker 2>point about who's going to really kind of illuminate a

0:13:41.405 --> 0:13:43.605
<v Speaker 2>room or really sort of like get the room buzzing

0:13:43.645 --> 0:13:48.165
<v Speaker 2>with something other than just money or good looks, but

0:13:48.245 --> 0:13:51.245
<v Speaker 2>maybe both. I mean, Rosalind Russell is such an incredible

0:13:51.285 --> 0:13:54.165
<v Speaker 2>standout in that film. She's i mean fully running fifty

0:13:54.245 --> 0:13:56.405
<v Speaker 2>one percent of that film. And you think of the

0:13:56.445 --> 0:14:00.525
<v Speaker 2>Sturges heroines who really not so much in Sullivan's Travels

0:14:00.525 --> 0:14:03.925
<v Speaker 2>because there's not really a primary I mean Ronica Lake obviously.

0:14:03.725 --> 0:14:06.845
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, she has that slow, magical delivery almost she's like, yeah,

0:14:07.285 --> 0:14:09.765
<v Speaker 3>she's like a snake charmer talker, right right.

0:14:10.445 --> 0:14:13.005
<v Speaker 2>Stan Wick and Lady Eve, I mean, you know, or

0:14:13.285 --> 0:14:16.045
<v Speaker 2>Clauda Colbert and the Palm Each story that's you know,

0:14:16.125 --> 0:14:19.645
<v Speaker 2>that's almost entirely vanished now in terms of a role

0:14:19.725 --> 0:14:25.604
<v Speaker 2>that good played by somebody who's more than just conventionally beautiful,

0:14:26.125 --> 0:14:26.405
<v Speaker 2>do you know.

0:14:27.005 --> 0:14:28.725
<v Speaker 3>I mean, I feel like we've got comedians who could

0:14:28.725 --> 0:14:31.045
<v Speaker 3>do it right. Like Zoey Deutsch is the one I

0:14:31.085 --> 0:14:32.725
<v Speaker 3>always think of when I think of who could be

0:14:32.765 --> 0:14:35.925
<v Speaker 3>today's Rosalind Russell, because she can do that tough girl,

0:14:36.045 --> 0:14:40.165
<v Speaker 3>moxy fast talking comedic thing. All I care about that

0:14:40.245 --> 0:14:42.685
<v Speaker 3>I'm not still an assistant when I'm twenty eight.

0:14:42.725 --> 0:14:43.285
<v Speaker 2>I'm twenty eight.

0:14:43.325 --> 0:14:46.165
<v Speaker 3>Oh my god, I'm so sorry for you. That's very

0:14:46.205 --> 0:14:49.005
<v Speaker 3>sad for you. I think she's incredibly talented, Zoe Ditch.

0:14:49.005 --> 0:14:50.205
<v Speaker 3>I want to see her in everything. I love her

0:14:50.205 --> 0:14:53.445
<v Speaker 3>in romantic comedies especially, I think she's great in those.

0:14:54.045 --> 0:14:55.765
<v Speaker 3>I mean, it is almost like we lost an entire

0:14:55.805 --> 0:14:59.405
<v Speaker 3>way of talking, like that continental accent that these people

0:14:59.405 --> 0:15:02.485
<v Speaker 3>would use to deliver these like dead pan zingers. I

0:15:02.485 --> 0:15:04.005
<v Speaker 3>don't know where that went. I mean, I guess Marlon

0:15:04.045 --> 0:15:06.045
<v Speaker 3>Brando just went boom it like took it all away.

0:15:06.085 --> 0:15:08.085
<v Speaker 3>He's like, we don't talk like that anymore. Now. We mumble,

0:15:08.605 --> 0:15:11.645
<v Speaker 3>which fine, mumbling has its strength. But I wonder if

0:15:11.685 --> 0:15:14.965
<v Speaker 3>we could resurrect some of this. Although I mean, what

0:15:15.045 --> 0:15:17.045
<v Speaker 3>I think is kind of so so funny about this

0:15:17.125 --> 0:15:20.325
<v Speaker 3>list that Preston Surgis is putting out is I believe

0:15:20.365 --> 0:15:22.445
<v Speaker 3>he abides my these things, but I would say his

0:15:22.485 --> 0:15:25.405
<v Speaker 3>films are about ten times more than this, right, Like

0:15:25.805 --> 0:15:29.965
<v Speaker 3>Preston Sturgis movie is about you know, corruption or people

0:15:30.045 --> 0:15:33.565
<v Speaker 3>doing like hilarious dark things for the wrong reasons. Like

0:15:33.645 --> 0:15:36.005
<v Speaker 3>he's leaving out the bleakness here. I think maybe that's

0:15:36.045 --> 0:15:38.885
<v Speaker 3>his secret. I'm going to make fast paced comedies about

0:15:38.885 --> 0:15:40.245
<v Speaker 3>how I think the world's kind of rotten.

0:15:40.645 --> 0:15:43.285
<v Speaker 2>Yes, yeah, that's a great point. And they're not necessarily

0:15:43.525 --> 0:15:45.885
<v Speaker 2>just fast, because that's not the key to comedy.

0:15:45.925 --> 0:15:46.165
<v Speaker 5>Really.

0:15:46.525 --> 0:15:49.725
<v Speaker 2>You look at Remember the Night, which he wrote from

0:15:49.805 --> 0:15:52.805
<v Speaker 2>nineteen forty, and that is not really essentially primarily even

0:15:52.925 --> 0:15:56.405
<v Speaker 2>a comedy comedy. I mean, that's a very bittersweet and

0:15:56.765 --> 0:16:00.605
<v Speaker 2>very kind of like arresting Peace, you know. Fred McMurray

0:16:00.605 --> 0:16:01.485
<v Speaker 2>and Barbarus Stanwick.

0:16:01.725 --> 0:16:02.845
<v Speaker 5>Honor. I want to please Honor.

0:16:02.885 --> 0:16:03.965
<v Speaker 4>I don't believe this young woman as well.

0:16:04.005 --> 0:16:06.605
<v Speaker 5>I think a five minute recess want to recover. I

0:16:06.605 --> 0:16:08.285
<v Speaker 5>am undoubtedly responsible for having made it.

0:16:08.485 --> 0:16:11.085
<v Speaker 4>Please check she's not responsible for what she said.

0:16:11.125 --> 0:16:11.685
<v Speaker 3>I'm all right.

0:16:11.725 --> 0:16:14.725
<v Speaker 5>I just want to peet guilty if you honor what

0:16:14.845 --> 0:16:16.845
<v Speaker 5>kindly grant a five minute recess.

0:16:16.925 --> 0:16:17.445
<v Speaker 2>My child?

0:16:18.365 --> 0:16:22.885
<v Speaker 5>Why do you want to plead guilty? And when you

0:16:22.965 --> 0:16:24.565
<v Speaker 5>make a mistake, you've got to pay for it.

0:16:24.885 --> 0:16:27.085
<v Speaker 2>And it just doesn't work that way. I think, you know.

0:16:27.125 --> 0:16:29.845
<v Speaker 2>I was listening to the local classical station where I

0:16:29.845 --> 0:16:32.685
<v Speaker 2>do a little work, and they played Rossini's Overture to

0:16:32.725 --> 0:16:43.205
<v Speaker 2>Barbara Seville, which is full of like great up tempo. Ajitahi,

0:16:43.285 --> 0:16:45.285
<v Speaker 2>you have beautiful fast stuff. It's not all at the

0:16:45.325 --> 0:16:47.365
<v Speaker 2>same speed. It's in and out and in and out there.

0:16:51.965 --> 0:16:54.645
<v Speaker 2>When I rewatch and re listen to the Sturges stuff

0:16:55.005 --> 0:16:58.285
<v Speaker 2>that I really love, it is not just fast, you know,

0:16:58.805 --> 0:17:00.245
<v Speaker 2>it's much more than that.

0:17:00.245 --> 0:17:02.765
<v Speaker 3>That's true. When it is fast, you feel the fast,

0:17:02.845 --> 0:17:06.245
<v Speaker 3>and when he eases the tempo back, you think why,

0:17:06.325 --> 0:17:08.645
<v Speaker 3>and then you sink into it. Yeah, I mean, I

0:17:08.645 --> 0:17:10.645
<v Speaker 3>think of that, especially Sullivan's travels and moving that I

0:17:10.645 --> 0:17:12.805
<v Speaker 3>think goes very fast and very slow and very fast

0:17:12.845 --> 0:17:15.845
<v Speaker 3>and very slow right, and in that he's even I

0:17:15.845 --> 0:17:18.125
<v Speaker 3>think giving like his grand thesis statement at the end,

0:17:18.205 --> 0:17:19.764
<v Speaker 3>you know, comedy matters.

0:17:19.965 --> 0:17:21.685
<v Speaker 5>I don't want to make o brother. We're art though

0:17:21.845 --> 0:17:23.645
<v Speaker 5>we want to make a brother. We're not. No, and

0:17:23.685 --> 0:17:25.805
<v Speaker 5>I say it with some embarrassment. I want to make

0:17:25.845 --> 0:17:28.525
<v Speaker 5>a comedy. Why don't you want to make Old Brother?

0:17:28.565 --> 0:17:30.725
<v Speaker 5>Where art that is selling? In the first place, I'm

0:17:30.725 --> 0:17:33.525
<v Speaker 5>too happy to make Old Brother, We're art Doo. In

0:17:33.565 --> 0:17:35.885
<v Speaker 5>the second place, I haven't suffered enough to make O Brother,

0:17:35.965 --> 0:17:39.565
<v Speaker 5>We're art doo. You haven't suffered enough. He hasn't suffered enough. No,

0:17:39.765 --> 0:17:42.845
<v Speaker 5>But so I'll tell you something else. There's a lot

0:17:42.845 --> 0:17:45.525
<v Speaker 5>to be said for making people laugh. Did you know?

0:17:45.605 --> 0:17:49.125
<v Speaker 5>That's all some people have. It isn't much, but it's

0:17:49.165 --> 0:17:51.685
<v Speaker 5>better than nothing in this cock eyed caravan.

0:17:52.045 --> 0:17:53.845
<v Speaker 3>That's why I'm excited to talk about this list with

0:17:53.885 --> 0:17:57.725
<v Speaker 3>you is because comedy really matters, I think, especially now,

0:17:58.405 --> 0:18:02.525
<v Speaker 3>and I want to Hollywood to be like anointing back

0:18:02.645 --> 0:18:05.685
<v Speaker 3>on the high platform of like this is a great art.

0:18:05.805 --> 0:18:08.045
<v Speaker 3>You know that this is a great entertainment. I mean,

0:18:08.085 --> 0:18:09.645
<v Speaker 3>have you seen the invite that just came out?

0:18:09.965 --> 0:18:10.605
<v Speaker 2>No? I haven't.

0:18:11.005 --> 0:18:13.645
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's a great adult comedy. I think Sturgis himself

0:18:13.685 --> 0:18:15.205
<v Speaker 3>would really like it, even though people a kind of

0:18:15.205 --> 0:18:17.845
<v Speaker 3>trapped inside chatting the whole time, and they sent the

0:18:17.885 --> 0:18:18.365
<v Speaker 3>kid away.

0:18:18.525 --> 0:18:21.005
<v Speaker 2>This is Olivia Wilds film. It's just now coming to theaters.

0:18:21.325 --> 0:18:25.165
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's Olivia wild Death Brogan, Edward Norton and Milty cruise.

0:18:25.405 --> 0:18:27.645
<v Speaker 3>But I saw that with a crowd twice.

0:18:28.005 --> 0:18:30.485
<v Speaker 6>This is still a good time.

0:18:30.885 --> 0:18:34.885
<v Speaker 4>Yes, yeah, are you sure we are not interrupting something.

0:18:34.885 --> 0:18:37.205
<v Speaker 3>It's great, good, it's good for you. Yes, it's great

0:18:37.245 --> 0:18:38.605
<v Speaker 3>for us. Yeah, we love Yep.

0:18:38.885 --> 0:18:42.445
<v Speaker 6>It took you a while to come to the door,

0:18:43.245 --> 0:18:46.965
<v Speaker 6>and it sounded like you were arguing. No, I just

0:18:47.045 --> 0:18:47.685
<v Speaker 6>want to be honest.

0:18:47.725 --> 0:18:47.965
<v Speaker 5>We were.

0:18:48.085 --> 0:18:50.485
<v Speaker 6>We were at the door before we rang, and we

0:18:50.485 --> 0:18:51.484
<v Speaker 6>could hear you were fighting.

0:18:52.445 --> 0:18:53.525
<v Speaker 5>Oh, we were talking.

0:18:53.565 --> 0:18:56.925
<v Speaker 2>We were we were fighting. We were fighting a bit

0:18:56.925 --> 0:18:59.245
<v Speaker 2>of a contentious environment. And here's what I understand. If

0:18:59.245 --> 0:19:01.925
<v Speaker 2>that's repellent to you, No hard feelings, you know what

0:19:01.925 --> 0:19:03.485
<v Speaker 2>I mean, completely understand.

0:19:03.565 --> 0:19:06.605
<v Speaker 6>You know we love a contentious environment.

0:19:07.205 --> 0:19:10.805
<v Speaker 2>You had the jackpot, then, my friend, you're in for

0:19:10.845 --> 0:19:11.205
<v Speaker 2>a treat.

0:19:11.365 --> 0:19:13.685
<v Speaker 3>To be in a room of people laughing at dialogue

0:19:13.685 --> 0:19:14.725
<v Speaker 3>felt so good.

0:19:16.685 --> 0:19:19.285
<v Speaker 2>That's a sentence we shouldn't have to say out loud.

0:19:20.405 --> 0:19:24.965
<v Speaker 3>You know, we have to take our shoes off. Oh god, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah, okay,

0:19:25.045 --> 0:19:26.405
<v Speaker 3>great you look.

0:19:26.285 --> 0:19:26.925
<v Speaker 5>At this place.

0:19:27.045 --> 0:19:29.405
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, thank you, Joe, tell it be honest, do you

0:19:29.445 --> 0:19:30.365
<v Speaker 6>want us to take him off.

0:19:32.205 --> 0:19:34.405
<v Speaker 2>I don't give it if you take your shoes off. Personally,

0:19:44.965 --> 0:19:49.565
<v Speaker 2>Here's one thing I wouldn't mind arguing with Sturge's reputation.

0:19:49.605 --> 0:19:53.165
<v Speaker 2>A bit about he lands on a pratfall is better

0:19:53.205 --> 0:19:57.405
<v Speaker 2>than anything. That's his rule number eleven. There's a lot

0:19:57.405 --> 0:20:00.365
<v Speaker 2>of pratfalls in his films. You get somebody like William

0:20:00.405 --> 0:20:03.125
<v Speaker 2>Demriest anywhere near and these and most of them, most

0:20:03.125 --> 0:20:07.045
<v Speaker 2>of the great ones, half the pratfiles are almost willfully unmotivated.

0:20:07.125 --> 0:20:08.845
<v Speaker 2>It's like, hey, what the hell you know? I throw

0:20:08.885 --> 0:20:12.605
<v Speaker 2>it in and Demerist can do a pratfall. I don't

0:20:12.685 --> 0:20:18.285
<v Speaker 2>know if Sturge's is as dazzling a physical comedy master

0:20:18.525 --> 0:20:22.685
<v Speaker 2>is he is writing verbal slapstick. What do you think

0:20:22.725 --> 0:20:23.805
<v Speaker 2>of my assessment?

0:20:24.245 --> 0:20:27.285
<v Speaker 3>I mean, I think that's true as fast as it

0:20:27.325 --> 0:20:29.725
<v Speaker 3>goes by. I never do love that scene in Sullivan's

0:20:29.725 --> 0:20:32.365
<v Speaker 3>Travels where suddenly, like the bust that they're on goes

0:20:32.485 --> 0:20:35.485
<v Speaker 3>haywire and everyone's running around and the cook is like

0:20:35.605 --> 0:20:39.525
<v Speaker 3>upside down. I think I've in general, almost never been

0:20:39.525 --> 0:20:44.645
<v Speaker 3>a prat fault person, except when there are emotional stakes

0:20:44.645 --> 0:20:46.645
<v Speaker 3>to it, like I like it when Henry Fonda falls

0:20:46.885 --> 0:20:52.725
<v Speaker 3>in the Lady, Eve, did.

0:20:52.605 --> 0:20:53.565
<v Speaker 4>You hurt yourself?

0:20:54.445 --> 0:20:55.045
<v Speaker 3>I'm fine.

0:20:55.565 --> 0:20:55.925
<v Speaker 5>I just.

0:20:57.445 --> 0:21:03.325
<v Speaker 4>Because his character is just so so together or he

0:21:03.445 --> 0:21:05.925
<v Speaker 4>wants to see it consider himself so together that to

0:21:05.965 --> 0:21:08.485
<v Speaker 4>see that straight faced guy take a prap Faul, great, you.

0:21:08.445 --> 0:21:09.685
<v Speaker 5>Go upstairs and take a bath.

0:21:09.765 --> 0:21:11.925
<v Speaker 3>And I like you just as much as ever.

0:21:12.845 --> 0:21:13.605
<v Speaker 4>There's a good.

0:21:13.445 --> 0:21:19.565
<v Speaker 3>Boy, good lou But messy people falling down has never

0:21:19.645 --> 0:21:22.405
<v Speaker 3>quite been my thing, except for the Jacks movies. They're

0:21:22.445 --> 0:21:24.965
<v Speaker 3>like their own corner of the comedy universe.

0:21:24.645 --> 0:21:30.365
<v Speaker 2>To me, right, yeah, And I think contemporary slapstick tends

0:21:30.365 --> 0:21:33.484
<v Speaker 2>to lean so hard into kind of a much more

0:21:33.565 --> 0:21:37.965
<v Speaker 2>kind of like openly sadistic brand of slapstick. This is

0:21:38.125 --> 0:21:40.525
<v Speaker 2>all flower for our friend Bam.

0:21:40.725 --> 0:21:42.445
<v Speaker 3>We're gonna antiqu him when he gets here.

0:21:45.205 --> 0:21:45.885
<v Speaker 4>Pig five.

0:21:49.085 --> 0:21:52.045
<v Speaker 2>Not my thing. If you're a long way from Keaton

0:21:52.125 --> 0:21:55.045
<v Speaker 2>at that point. Buster Keaton, the media may have peaked

0:21:55.045 --> 0:21:58.685
<v Speaker 2>a little early. Keaton came along when he did. I

0:21:58.685 --> 0:22:00.965
<v Speaker 2>don't know on that front, only on that front, but

0:22:01.445 --> 0:22:05.125
<v Speaker 2>I mean, there are when you see actors in Sturge's films,

0:22:05.725 --> 0:22:08.085
<v Speaker 2>like Palm Beach Story was the one I saw most recently.

0:22:08.085 --> 0:22:10.085
<v Speaker 2>But when when you see Mary aster just sort of

0:22:10.125 --> 0:22:12.365
<v Speaker 2>like swan into this movie at high speed, you know,

0:22:12.485 --> 0:22:15.685
<v Speaker 2>and then just eat these lines alive, you know. And

0:22:15.685 --> 0:22:17.565
<v Speaker 2>and but I mean, god, all money, that's like the

0:22:17.605 --> 0:22:21.165
<v Speaker 2>best high comedy vacation you could take. And just than

0:22:21.205 --> 0:22:24.925
<v Speaker 2>a handful of scenes wonderful. Yeah, And what you said

0:22:24.925 --> 0:22:28.845
<v Speaker 2>earlier just about the sort of the compression quality. Actually,

0:22:28.925 --> 0:22:31.845
<v Speaker 2>that was something that I don't quote Andrew Sarras very

0:22:31.925 --> 0:22:33.725
<v Speaker 2>much because I still don't know if he knows what

0:22:33.805 --> 0:22:36.525
<v Speaker 2>a director does for a living, but he did right

0:22:36.645 --> 0:22:40.405
<v Speaker 2>at one point. What distinguishes Sturges from his contemporaries is

0:22:40.445 --> 0:22:44.925
<v Speaker 2>the frantic congestion of his comedies. Good word, the brugal

0:22:45.325 --> 0:22:48.045
<v Speaker 2>of American comedy directors. Sturge has created a world of

0:22:48.085 --> 0:22:53.485
<v Speaker 2>peripheral professionals, politicians, gangsters, executives, bartenders, cab drivers, secretaries, bookies,

0:22:53.525 --> 0:22:58.525
<v Speaker 2>card sharps, movie producers, doctors, dentists, bodyguards, butlers, inventors, millionaires

0:22:58.565 --> 0:23:05.165
<v Speaker 2>and derelicts. And that is kind of the teeming sense

0:23:05.205 --> 0:23:07.845
<v Speaker 2>of things. I think that you know, when you realized

0:23:07.845 --> 0:23:12.765
<v Speaker 2>he got these cockamamie plots that can barely be diagrammed,

0:23:14.885 --> 0:23:18.005
<v Speaker 2>you know, done in as few as eighty five ninety

0:23:18.085 --> 0:23:22.285
<v Speaker 2>ninety five minutes. It's kind of amazing. And I think

0:23:22.325 --> 0:23:26.605
<v Speaker 2>that's why I love. An arrival is better than a departure,

0:23:26.645 --> 0:23:30.205
<v Speaker 2>because it is always another door for another delight and

0:23:30.325 --> 0:23:33.165
<v Speaker 2>another great actor, right, And that's I guess that's what

0:23:33.205 --> 0:23:35.845
<v Speaker 2>I do. Hope a younger filmmaker would would take a

0:23:35.885 --> 0:23:37.805
<v Speaker 2>look at, like how do you make these? You know?

0:23:38.005 --> 0:23:40.765
<v Speaker 2>I mean, is he an influential filmmaker or just is

0:23:40.765 --> 0:23:43.685
<v Speaker 2>he just like some sort of freakishly talented unicorn that

0:23:43.685 --> 0:23:45.645
<v Speaker 2>we were lucky to get as long as we had him,

0:23:45.725 --> 0:23:47.365
<v Speaker 2>you know, Or that.

0:23:47.325 --> 0:23:49.285
<v Speaker 3>We were lucky to have operating has Peak as long

0:23:49.325 --> 0:23:51.645
<v Speaker 3>as we had I mean, although I do stick up

0:23:51.685 --> 0:23:53.645
<v Speaker 3>for some of his stuff, like Unfaithfully Yours that came

0:23:53.725 --> 0:23:56.525
<v Speaker 3>later in his career, I think he was freakishly talented.

0:23:57.045 --> 0:23:59.685
<v Speaker 3>I think he's at a bar that people haven't quite

0:23:59.845 --> 0:24:02.725
<v Speaker 3>been able to match. But I do think most comedy

0:24:02.765 --> 0:24:06.645
<v Speaker 3>writers working today hold him as like the mechanical rabbit

0:24:06.845 --> 0:24:09.445
<v Speaker 3>on the track, Like can I come up with something

0:24:09.765 --> 0:24:12.485
<v Speaker 3>that makes me laugh like that? At least that's what

0:24:12.525 --> 0:24:14.605
<v Speaker 3>I want to imagine. But you know, what I think

0:24:14.685 --> 0:24:18.165
<v Speaker 3>is interesting is like, not only is he laying down

0:24:18.205 --> 0:24:21.845
<v Speaker 3>these rules and abiding by them. I'm trying to think

0:24:21.845 --> 0:24:23.445
<v Speaker 3>of a scene where he has a kitten that's better

0:24:23.445 --> 0:24:25.805
<v Speaker 3>than a dog, which is the one. I'm a cat person,

0:24:25.805 --> 0:24:27.005
<v Speaker 3>but I'm like, I don't know if I believe it,

0:24:27.045 --> 0:24:29.045
<v Speaker 3>and I feel like dogs are funnier than kittens. I

0:24:29.085 --> 0:24:32.365
<v Speaker 3>love kittens. Eh, that's the one. I'm like as a

0:24:32.405 --> 0:24:34.805
<v Speaker 3>cat person that I quiggle with it. I find kind

0:24:34.845 --> 0:24:39.845
<v Speaker 3>of surprising even by myself. But like he is working,

0:24:39.885 --> 0:24:42.045
<v Speaker 3>he comes to Hollywood, you know, before he's even getting

0:24:42.045 --> 0:24:44.765
<v Speaker 3>to direct on his own, in a time where right

0:24:44.965 --> 0:24:47.805
<v Speaker 3>when the production code is getting serious, when these new

0:24:47.885 --> 0:24:51.405
<v Speaker 3>other rules are being laid down on top of Hollywood,

0:24:52.205 --> 0:24:54.325
<v Speaker 3>you know, where you can't criticize the clergy, where you

0:24:54.365 --> 0:24:57.005
<v Speaker 3>can't criticize anything, you can't allude to all sorts of

0:24:57.525 --> 0:25:00.845
<v Speaker 3>you know, women stepping out. There's so many sexual rules,

0:25:00.965 --> 0:25:03.285
<v Speaker 3>moral rules, ethical rules are suddenly not allowed to break

0:25:03.325 --> 0:25:07.725
<v Speaker 3>on screen because they're trying to be upright citizens in Hollywood,

0:25:07.805 --> 0:25:09.485
<v Speaker 3>or trying to at least convince America that they are.

0:25:10.085 --> 0:25:14.805
<v Speaker 3>And he is making these films that are absolutely criticizing

0:25:14.965 --> 0:25:19.925
<v Speaker 3>American hypocrisy and voter fraud and attitudes towards pregnancy. And

0:25:19.965 --> 0:25:23.805
<v Speaker 3>gold digging at any costs, and like he's getting in

0:25:24.205 --> 0:25:27.485
<v Speaker 3>so many elbows at the American way of life within

0:25:27.645 --> 0:25:31.965
<v Speaker 3>these codes. I think there's something so Paul Grock about,

0:25:31.965 --> 0:25:34.125
<v Speaker 3>like the postcode comedies. I know we talk about pre code.

0:25:34.125 --> 0:25:36.325
<v Speaker 3>I love pre code is like being rebellious and funny.

0:25:36.445 --> 0:25:38.485
<v Speaker 3>But I love the people working right after the code

0:25:38.485 --> 0:25:41.405
<v Speaker 3>who are still getting it across, you know, that are

0:25:41.445 --> 0:25:42.965
<v Speaker 3>figuring out what am I going to do in these

0:25:43.005 --> 0:25:45.885
<v Speaker 3>constrictions to like let you know what we're laughing at.

0:25:46.045 --> 0:25:48.885
<v Speaker 2>And in Surt's case, in war time, I mean it

0:25:48.965 --> 0:25:50.885
<v Speaker 2>was this was no time to make fun of anything.

0:25:50.925 --> 0:25:53.285
<v Speaker 2>And then here he's making Hall a conquering hero, which

0:25:53.325 --> 0:25:57.085
<v Speaker 2>is just very very you know, cynical, kind of like

0:25:57.165 --> 0:26:00.245
<v Speaker 2>zuberant cynicism about patriotism and jingoism.

0:26:00.325 --> 0:26:02.285
<v Speaker 3>Right, I mean right or right now, I'm like, please

0:26:02.325 --> 0:26:04.645
<v Speaker 3>don't let anybody in office know about the great McGuinty.

0:26:04.685 --> 0:26:06.965
<v Speaker 3>Oh no, they'll related. People are going around voting in

0:26:07.005 --> 0:26:08.445
<v Speaker 3>elections thirty times.

0:26:10.805 --> 0:26:12.845
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I read something just this morning. I'd love to

0:26:13.125 --> 0:26:14.765
<v Speaker 2>share the age to see what you think. And it's

0:26:14.805 --> 0:26:18.045
<v Speaker 2>about that sort of not simply what he was getting

0:26:18.085 --> 0:26:22.565
<v Speaker 2>away with miraculously, just frankly out of sheer speed. You know,

0:26:22.925 --> 0:26:24.645
<v Speaker 2>in some of the moments in his films where he

0:26:24.725 --> 0:26:27.245
<v Speaker 2>just sort of came Miracle Morgan's Creek, it's like, wait,

0:26:27.285 --> 0:26:29.565
<v Speaker 2>what are the implications here? You know, A I love

0:26:29.605 --> 0:26:33.045
<v Speaker 2>it that with that film with Betty Huddon as the

0:26:33.405 --> 0:26:36.285
<v Speaker 2>we could just call it mysteriously pregnant home Front woman

0:26:36.325 --> 0:26:39.725
<v Speaker 2>who was for veils kind of like unfurl very quickly

0:26:39.725 --> 0:26:42.565
<v Speaker 2>in this film. But you know, when the brass was saying, well,

0:26:42.565 --> 0:26:44.765
<v Speaker 2>what's this way, what's this film about, it's, oh, it's

0:26:44.845 --> 0:26:47.365
<v Speaker 2>just about, you know, a woman waiting for a man,

0:26:47.445 --> 0:26:50.525
<v Speaker 2>you know, to come back from the war, basically like okay,

0:26:50.565 --> 0:26:53.525
<v Speaker 2>we're fine, you know, we're fine. And then, of course,

0:26:53.605 --> 0:26:56.485
<v Speaker 2>you know, he was always just about ten pages ahead

0:26:56.525 --> 0:26:58.445
<v Speaker 2>of what he had to film the next day, so

0:26:59.045 --> 0:27:01.565
<v Speaker 2>you know, you probably didn't know necessarily where this thing

0:27:01.645 --> 0:27:05.125
<v Speaker 2>was going either. But back in nineteen twenty nine he

0:27:05.165 --> 0:27:07.445
<v Speaker 2>wrote a play, second play on Broadway. He was like

0:27:07.485 --> 0:27:10.885
<v Speaker 2>barely thirty thirty one, I think, strictly dishonorable, and it

0:27:10.925 --> 0:27:14.285
<v Speaker 2>was a huge hit two year run. And in that play,

0:27:14.365 --> 0:27:16.405
<v Speaker 2>it's setting to speak easy. It's just basically a very

0:27:16.445 --> 0:27:20.245
<v Speaker 2>simple romance between a Southern bell who finds yourself in

0:27:20.645 --> 0:27:24.085
<v Speaker 2>manhatt and this Italian opera star who's sort of on

0:27:24.125 --> 0:27:26.085
<v Speaker 2>the make. And that's it. That's the premise, that's the

0:27:26.125 --> 0:27:29.965
<v Speaker 2>setting and all that. But within that, this is Richard

0:27:30.005 --> 0:27:33.525
<v Speaker 2>Nelson here, the director and playwright writing here in a

0:27:33.645 --> 0:27:36.405
<v Speaker 2>collection of plays. He said that this is a writer

0:27:36.525 --> 0:27:41.805
<v Speaker 2>who expresses an international point of view and sympathies, and

0:27:42.005 --> 0:27:45.085
<v Speaker 2>the play, strictly Dishonorable is a wonderful expression of the

0:27:45.125 --> 0:27:48.205
<v Speaker 2>great debate which raged across America in the twenties and

0:27:48.245 --> 0:27:52.605
<v Speaker 2>thirties and still is actually the clash between those urging

0:27:52.605 --> 0:27:56.165
<v Speaker 2>America to remain isolated and those arguing for America to

0:27:56.245 --> 0:28:01.325
<v Speaker 2>accept an international role as an active participant in world affairs.

0:28:01.365 --> 0:28:04.565
<v Speaker 2>I mean, his play turns on this conflict between should

0:28:04.605 --> 0:28:07.725
<v Speaker 2>this young woman who's kind of lost in Manhattan and

0:28:08.405 --> 0:28:12.845
<v Speaker 2>charmed but wary of this Italian opera star. Should she

0:28:13.445 --> 0:28:18.245
<v Speaker 2>The conflict is between staying safe and protected and seeing

0:28:18.285 --> 0:28:21.285
<v Speaker 2>the world and growing. And the play conclude it's on

0:28:21.325 --> 0:28:23.965
<v Speaker 2>the side of expanding one's horizons. And that to me

0:28:24.125 --> 0:28:26.165
<v Speaker 2>is kind of like that struck a bello me. It's like, yeah,

0:28:26.565 --> 0:28:30.205
<v Speaker 2>that's that's The great thing about his Sturge, the Sturge's films,

0:28:30.245 --> 0:28:33.605
<v Speaker 2>It's like, it's not just about protecting the American way

0:28:33.645 --> 0:28:36.165
<v Speaker 2>of life. It's about you know, being sort of like

0:28:36.245 --> 0:28:39.765
<v Speaker 2>thrown for a loop constantly by either the American way

0:28:39.805 --> 0:28:42.965
<v Speaker 2>of life and more's or just like these great sort

0:28:43.005 --> 0:28:45.685
<v Speaker 2>of exotic you know, elements to come in from from nowhere.

0:28:45.725 --> 0:28:45.885
<v Speaker 5>You know.

0:28:46.565 --> 0:28:48.325
<v Speaker 2>That's what feels modern to me about him.

0:28:48.765 --> 0:28:52.765
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's true. His curiosity and his ability to say,

0:28:53.525 --> 0:28:56.005
<v Speaker 3>you might screw up disastrously, maybe you're making a mistake,

0:28:56.085 --> 0:28:59.605
<v Speaker 3>but whatever, let's go on, It'll be fine, Like, let's

0:28:59.605 --> 0:29:02.405
<v Speaker 3>carry on here. I mean, I assume that probably a

0:29:02.405 --> 0:29:04.445
<v Speaker 3>lot of that just came from his childhood, right Like,

0:29:04.645 --> 0:29:07.645
<v Speaker 3>he had a mother who I think was continually falling

0:29:07.685 --> 0:29:10.245
<v Speaker 3>in love, continually getting married. He was being struggled back

0:29:10.245 --> 0:29:13.045
<v Speaker 3>and forth between America and France. I believed a lot

0:29:13.085 --> 0:29:14.805
<v Speaker 3>as a boy. So he grew up I think with

0:29:14.845 --> 0:29:19.885
<v Speaker 3>that international perspective, had kind of a I don't know,

0:29:19.965 --> 0:29:22.165
<v Speaker 3>tumultuous sounds maybe more negative than I think it was.

0:29:22.365 --> 0:29:25.125
<v Speaker 3>It just to me it sounds exciting kind of his lifestyle.

0:29:25.645 --> 0:29:27.245
<v Speaker 3>Who knows, I don't know. I don't know how would

0:29:27.245 --> 0:29:29.205
<v Speaker 3>feel to be eleven? And you're like, what's my mother doing? Now?

0:29:29.285 --> 0:29:32.485
<v Speaker 3>What's happening? Why do I have any stepfather? But he

0:29:32.565 --> 0:29:35.445
<v Speaker 3>got to live at the knees of a woman kind

0:29:35.445 --> 0:29:38.285
<v Speaker 3>of chasing her passions and figuring out how to be happy.

0:29:39.125 --> 0:29:41.405
<v Speaker 3>And I wonder if you like invested a lot of

0:29:41.445 --> 0:29:44.165
<v Speaker 3>that in his script. You know, maybe every decision won't

0:29:44.165 --> 0:29:46.005
<v Speaker 3>be right, but look at her, she's still having fun.

0:29:46.405 --> 0:29:48.765
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the chaos in the films probably comes from a

0:29:48.845 --> 0:29:51.685
<v Speaker 2>more painful sort of chaos he experienced as a kid.

0:29:51.765 --> 0:29:54.485
<v Speaker 2>But he's not There's no reason to necessarily go there.

0:29:55.125 --> 0:29:57.885
<v Speaker 2>There's a guy with a nice deal at the Paramount Studios,

0:29:57.925 --> 0:29:59.765
<v Speaker 2>you know, I mean just but you can find other

0:29:59.845 --> 0:30:03.845
<v Speaker 2>things that led to the female protagus that we love today.

0:30:04.045 --> 0:30:06.485
<v Speaker 2>And I love what you say about the pre code

0:30:06.485 --> 0:30:09.525
<v Speaker 2>era because he looked at something like a few years

0:30:09.525 --> 0:30:14.565
<v Speaker 2>after that, when the Catholic leads into decency triumphed, you know,

0:30:14.645 --> 0:30:18.205
<v Speaker 2>and clamp down on the more brazen examples of ignoring

0:30:18.245 --> 0:30:21.565
<v Speaker 2>the production code. You still have Leo mca harry doing

0:30:21.565 --> 0:30:25.605
<v Speaker 2>the awful truth. You still have My Man Godfrey, and

0:30:25.645 --> 0:30:29.205
<v Speaker 2>you still have these films where it's more about you know,

0:30:29.245 --> 0:30:32.245
<v Speaker 2>if you didn't have work of that level of wit.

0:30:32.565 --> 0:30:35.165
<v Speaker 2>And that's what I love too. The characters are are

0:30:35.205 --> 0:30:38.965
<v Speaker 2>not just smart ass, they are really quick witted people,

0:30:39.125 --> 0:30:41.165
<v Speaker 2>you know. And even the people that aren't supposed to

0:30:41.245 --> 0:30:45.325
<v Speaker 2>be witty. In the Sturges film, they have the weenie

0:30:45.405 --> 0:30:49.365
<v Speaker 2>King in the Palm Beach story is not a guy

0:30:49.405 --> 0:30:51.925
<v Speaker 2>with a sense of humor, but he's hilarious, you know.

0:30:52.085 --> 0:30:54.365
<v Speaker 2>And for those who don't know the Palm be Sorry rented,

0:30:54.445 --> 0:30:55.805
<v Speaker 2>I don't. I can't possibly do.

0:30:55.765 --> 0:30:58.165
<v Speaker 3>It justice in an explanation, I'll just say that that's

0:30:58.205 --> 0:31:00.965
<v Speaker 3>the gold Digger Cobert. I love her in those kind

0:31:00.965 --> 0:31:05.245
<v Speaker 3>of a phase. She's so good at playing oh yeah,

0:31:05.405 --> 0:31:08.765
<v Speaker 3>the money loving girl that your rootings were. Despite all

0:31:09.085 --> 0:31:11.085
<v Speaker 3>this by being like I think I'd hate this person

0:31:11.125 --> 0:31:14.285
<v Speaker 3>in person, but like, you know, I'm thinking about it.

0:31:14.325 --> 0:31:16.765
<v Speaker 3>I mean, I went to a Catholic high school where

0:31:16.805 --> 0:31:19.045
<v Speaker 3>I was always trying to figure out where the rules

0:31:19.565 --> 0:31:23.125
<v Speaker 3>hadn't been written. I guess if that makes sense, you know,

0:31:23.285 --> 0:31:25.765
<v Speaker 3>where I would go through the dress code and it's like, okay,

0:31:25.845 --> 0:31:28.165
<v Speaker 3>so I have to wear this uniform sweater, but nobody

0:31:28.285 --> 0:31:30.605
<v Speaker 3>is saying that I can't cut it into a crop sweater,

0:31:31.245 --> 0:31:33.005
<v Speaker 3>and then I'd get in trouble and then I'd like

0:31:33.285 --> 0:31:34.965
<v Speaker 3>make my case and then they'd have to change the

0:31:35.005 --> 0:31:37.045
<v Speaker 3>rule book. And that was my way of amusing myself,

0:31:37.645 --> 0:31:39.925
<v Speaker 3>you know, like, oh, Okay, I have to wear these shoes,

0:31:39.925 --> 0:31:42.405
<v Speaker 3>but it doesn't say I can't paint them a nail polish. Great,

0:31:42.725 --> 0:31:44.285
<v Speaker 3>I have to do that. Then I get really, yeah,

0:31:44.605 --> 0:31:47.205
<v Speaker 3>just justice for that sake of like knowing that rules

0:31:48.085 --> 0:31:51.085
<v Speaker 3>had flaws in them. And so that's what I'm hearing

0:31:51.085 --> 0:31:52.885
<v Speaker 3>in my head as I'm hearing you talk about all

0:31:52.885 --> 0:31:56.085
<v Speaker 3>of these great postcode comedies. Figuring out how I mean

0:31:56.125 --> 0:31:59.205
<v Speaker 3>Buzby Berkeley has always been my favorite. Where you know,

0:31:59.525 --> 0:32:06.525
<v Speaker 3>he's making the sexiest musical numbers. There's a Webberwell lads calling.

0:32:06.365 --> 0:32:11.405
<v Speaker 5>You buy a waterfall.

0:32:12.005 --> 0:32:20.685
<v Speaker 3>He's dreaming marching body.

0:32:22.085 --> 0:32:24.645
<v Speaker 1>Modern nature change told me.

0:32:26.445 --> 0:32:28.325
<v Speaker 3>And then it cuts to a bunch of baby birds

0:32:28.325 --> 0:32:30.325
<v Speaker 3>in the nest and You're like, oh, I know what

0:32:30.365 --> 0:32:33.765
<v Speaker 3>these people are doing now, they're making baby birds. You know,

0:32:39.925 --> 0:32:42.485
<v Speaker 3>I love that stuff. There's something really punk about it

0:32:42.525 --> 0:32:44.245
<v Speaker 3>that makes me happen, right, I mean.

0:32:44.165 --> 0:32:46.845
<v Speaker 2>It's getting away with murder when not really looking closer

0:32:46.885 --> 0:32:48.085
<v Speaker 2>though looking at the wrong things.

0:32:48.085 --> 0:32:58.565
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, there's anage right now, mother, Nay, it's.

0:32:55.485 --> 0:33:02.685
<v Speaker 2>Not so amy. Let's assume that a lot of people

0:33:02.765 --> 0:33:06.725
<v Speaker 2>reading this list, they're going to say, amusing, whatever, if

0:33:06.725 --> 0:33:09.725
<v Speaker 2>there's something that you could add to this list, And

0:33:09.725 --> 0:33:12.925
<v Speaker 2>the sturge is sort of vein that applies to where

0:33:12.925 --> 0:33:15.565
<v Speaker 2>we are today, not just in the state of comedy,

0:33:16.045 --> 0:33:19.165
<v Speaker 2>which lacks oppressed in sturges, of course, but also just

0:33:19.165 --> 0:33:21.565
<v Speaker 2>with an industry that you know is really even sure,

0:33:21.885 --> 0:33:25.085
<v Speaker 2>which ponied to back on any given quarter of their

0:33:25.125 --> 0:33:29.805
<v Speaker 2>owner's stock reports. Right, are there rules? You think that

0:33:29.925 --> 0:33:33.485
<v Speaker 2>might not be a bad idea to consider in trying

0:33:33.485 --> 0:33:37.485
<v Speaker 2>to make comedies that don't stink in twenty twenty six,

0:33:37.845 --> 0:33:39.165
<v Speaker 2>whether you're a Sturgis fan or.

0:33:39.205 --> 0:33:41.005
<v Speaker 3>Not, you know, I had two, and I think I

0:33:41.085 --> 0:33:45.445
<v Speaker 3>might have just added a third. Maybe maybe the first

0:33:45.445 --> 0:33:49.485
<v Speaker 3>one's really small. A consequence is better than a threat,

0:33:49.725 --> 0:33:53.285
<v Speaker 3>because I love movies where people are trying to you know,

0:33:53.365 --> 0:33:54.645
<v Speaker 3>oh no, this is gonna happen. What am I going

0:33:54.685 --> 0:33:55.965
<v Speaker 3>to do? Got to evade this, got to get this,

0:33:56.005 --> 0:33:58.965
<v Speaker 3>gotta get this done. And when it's one single threat

0:33:59.045 --> 0:34:01.645
<v Speaker 3>kind of dangling over the whole movie, I find it

0:34:01.645 --> 0:34:03.645
<v Speaker 3>really frustrating they're going to solve it or they won't.

0:34:03.885 --> 0:34:06.605
<v Speaker 3>I like it when I'm watching a film and early

0:34:06.645 --> 0:34:09.245
<v Speaker 3>on the threat comes true and it becomes a now

0:34:09.285 --> 0:34:13.525
<v Speaker 3>what ah good. Yeah, So that's one for me. A

0:34:13.565 --> 0:34:17.725
<v Speaker 3>door opens, A door opens. Yeah. Another one I was

0:34:17.725 --> 0:34:20.924
<v Speaker 3>thinking of really recently because of being kind of mom

0:34:21.165 --> 0:34:25.125
<v Speaker 3>during the very stupid stoner comedies that are coming out

0:34:25.125 --> 0:34:27.925
<v Speaker 3>of Hulu. Hulu is making movies that are like throwing

0:34:27.965 --> 0:34:32.285
<v Speaker 3>back to the eighties. They're wonderful, they're like so moronic

0:34:32.845 --> 0:34:35.805
<v Speaker 3>and fantastic, and they're making me excited about comedies again.

0:34:36.485 --> 0:34:39.445
<v Speaker 3>And they're doing something that doesn't quite fit these rules.

0:34:40.125 --> 0:34:43.085
<v Speaker 3>So I would call this rule a surprise is better

0:34:43.125 --> 0:34:46.085
<v Speaker 3>than a rule, because they're breaking stuff that you don't

0:34:46.085 --> 0:34:48.525
<v Speaker 3>expect to get broken. I don't want to give too

0:34:48.565 --> 0:34:50.805
<v Speaker 3>much a way about one, but there's a scene where

0:34:50.805 --> 0:34:52.405
<v Speaker 3>you think, oh, it's going to be a normal like

0:34:52.645 --> 0:34:55.485
<v Speaker 3>escaping this hallway scene to get away from this person.

0:34:55.525 --> 0:34:57.765
<v Speaker 3>They don't these people don't want to see, and suddenly

0:34:57.805 --> 0:35:00.005
<v Speaker 3>people's heads start exploding. Let's do this.

0:35:02.045 --> 0:35:08.805
<v Speaker 4>Ah what oh oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh

0:35:08.845 --> 0:35:09.085
<v Speaker 4>my god.

0:35:09.125 --> 0:35:16.285
<v Speaker 3>So you don't change it. I think I think I think, oh, okay, okay, well,

0:35:16.485 --> 0:35:18.965
<v Speaker 3>I think our heads explode if we say curse words.

0:35:19.765 --> 0:35:20.605
<v Speaker 4>God damn it.

0:35:23.525 --> 0:35:25.884
<v Speaker 3>And it was the last thing I expected to see

0:35:25.885 --> 0:35:29.485
<v Speaker 3>in this film was heads exploding. But the shock of

0:35:29.605 --> 0:35:33.005
<v Speaker 3>that it made a comedy feel completely alive to me again,

0:35:33.085 --> 0:35:37.765
<v Speaker 3>like anything could happen in this movie. And so, yeah,

0:35:38.005 --> 0:35:40.085
<v Speaker 3>I don't want to make the same old comedies. I

0:35:40.085 --> 0:35:42.285
<v Speaker 3>want to make comedies that somehow figure out something new

0:35:42.325 --> 0:35:42.565
<v Speaker 3>to do.

0:35:42.925 --> 0:35:45.165
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, i'd like that. Do you have a third one?

0:35:45.165 --> 0:35:46.485
<v Speaker 3>Did you say I have a third one? I think

0:35:46.485 --> 0:35:49.685
<v Speaker 3>it's just really minor. But because I suddenly thought, oh,

0:35:49.685 --> 0:35:52.925
<v Speaker 3>if I can just get in a rule for Hollywood overall, ah,

0:35:53.005 --> 0:35:56.525
<v Speaker 3>then I will say this one, thinking in mind of

0:35:56.605 --> 0:35:58.605
<v Speaker 3>Preston sturg just no how much he stuck up for

0:35:58.645 --> 0:36:02.845
<v Speaker 3>his ensemble, keeping them together. I will say that the

0:36:03.005 --> 0:36:06.485
<v Speaker 3>right comic is better than the famous comic, because I

0:36:06.485 --> 0:36:10.165
<v Speaker 3>think too many movies right now are cast dependent not

0:36:10.205 --> 0:36:12.565
<v Speaker 3>getting even made because you can't get I don't know,

0:36:12.765 --> 0:36:16.285
<v Speaker 3>freaking Kevin Hart to star in them. Terrible. I want

0:36:16.285 --> 0:36:19.125
<v Speaker 3>comedies are where you get to discover new talents, and

0:36:19.205 --> 0:36:21.325
<v Speaker 3>I want to see that there too. I want them

0:36:21.365 --> 0:36:23.445
<v Speaker 3>just to put in some funny person I've never seen before.

0:36:24.125 --> 0:36:25.805
<v Speaker 3>Maybe it'll grow up to be Mick Love and we'll

0:36:25.845 --> 0:36:27.565
<v Speaker 3>never hear from him again. I don't know. But maybe

0:36:27.605 --> 0:36:28.924
<v Speaker 3>it'll grow up to be Cethroga.

0:36:29.005 --> 0:36:32.485
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly, exactly. And this is there's not anybody in

0:36:32.525 --> 0:36:36.685
<v Speaker 2>Hollywood who hasn't said, in a position of green lighting

0:36:36.925 --> 0:36:40.205
<v Speaker 2>power to the degree that they have it, who hasn't said,

0:36:40.445 --> 0:36:42.885
<v Speaker 2>we want to discover new talent, or you know, we

0:36:42.925 --> 0:36:45.085
<v Speaker 2>want something fresh and original. You know, I mean Jack

0:36:45.165 --> 0:36:48.845
<v Speaker 2>Lipnick in Barton Fink, who ran what is a monumental

0:36:48.885 --> 0:36:51.405
<v Speaker 2>studios in the Coen Brothers film I Forgot. I mean,

0:36:51.405 --> 0:36:54.125
<v Speaker 2>he's he's spouting that kind of nonsense the you know,

0:36:54.685 --> 0:36:57.965
<v Speaker 2>although his I guess his. The motion picture law, according

0:36:58.005 --> 0:37:00.565
<v Speaker 2>to Jack Lipnick, is pretty simple, orphan or dame. How

0:37:00.565 --> 0:37:02.805
<v Speaker 2>are you going to complicate your you know, your screenplay?

0:37:02.845 --> 0:37:03.005
<v Speaker 5>You know?

0:37:03.405 --> 0:37:03.965
<v Speaker 3>Oh, I'd vote.

0:37:04.045 --> 0:37:05.125
<v Speaker 2>Damn that's good.

0:37:05.165 --> 0:37:05.565
<v Speaker 5>I like that.

0:37:05.885 --> 0:37:09.165
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, if I had to add one for twenty twenty six,

0:37:09.245 --> 0:37:11.685
<v Speaker 2>it would be, I think, as simple as this, and

0:37:11.685 --> 0:37:15.645
<v Speaker 2>it's more of a gripe and that's it. In action comedy,

0:37:15.885 --> 0:37:21.125
<v Speaker 2>which many, many, many examples keep coming at us. Small

0:37:21.165 --> 0:37:25.325
<v Speaker 2>budget and especially big budget in the action comedy. Comedy

0:37:25.605 --> 0:37:29.045
<v Speaker 2>is more important than action. Yeah, I don't like rom

0:37:29.045 --> 0:37:31.805
<v Speaker 2>coms that are just sort of think, well, all right,

0:37:31.845 --> 0:37:35.285
<v Speaker 2>will of course we're going to have huge action set pieces,

0:37:35.925 --> 0:37:39.125
<v Speaker 2>even if it's not inherently kind of like friendly to

0:37:39.205 --> 0:37:41.685
<v Speaker 2>that idea, like the I mean, The Fall Guy or whatever,

0:37:41.805 --> 0:37:44.365
<v Speaker 2>you know. But I'm just I'm just thinking of films

0:37:44.405 --> 0:37:47.965
<v Speaker 2>like The Lost City with Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock,

0:37:48.005 --> 0:37:51.405
<v Speaker 2>which I haven't thought of at all since this morning

0:37:51.845 --> 0:37:53.525
<v Speaker 2>when I did a little research on it. I had

0:37:53.565 --> 0:37:55.965
<v Speaker 2>actually utterly forgotten about that film. But that's that's the

0:37:56.085 --> 0:37:58.605
<v Speaker 2>kind of film I don't have any patients with anymore.

0:37:59.125 --> 0:38:02.285
<v Speaker 3>That's really true. I mean, that's almost them. We're really

0:38:02.285 --> 0:38:04.005
<v Speaker 3>disagreeing with the rule that we made fun of at

0:38:04.005 --> 0:38:07.245
<v Speaker 3>the beginning that it chases better than a chat, because yeah,

0:38:07.325 --> 0:38:09.485
<v Speaker 3>when it gets that third act and then people have

0:38:09.525 --> 0:38:11.445
<v Speaker 3>to run around or stop the bad guy or the

0:38:11.485 --> 0:38:13.765
<v Speaker 3>comic has to take out a gun or whatever, I

0:38:13.765 --> 0:38:16.605
<v Speaker 3>immediately stop caring. I do not care about that in

0:38:16.645 --> 0:38:20.085
<v Speaker 3>the slightest right. Yeah, I could not agree.

0:38:19.805 --> 0:38:22.565
<v Speaker 2>More, and I couldn't agree more with stur just that

0:38:22.725 --> 0:38:24.565
<v Speaker 2>very rule that chase is better than the chat, I mean,

0:38:24.565 --> 0:38:27.925
<v Speaker 2>how much? Why does he sparkle today? The banter is

0:38:27.965 --> 0:38:31.525
<v Speaker 2>not incidental to the pleasures there, you know, and every

0:38:31.565 --> 0:38:33.245
<v Speaker 2>single character is quick witted.

0:38:33.405 --> 0:38:36.285
<v Speaker 3>Maybe he's trying to throw people off. Maybe he's like,

0:38:36.405 --> 0:38:40.285
<v Speaker 3>only I can be the most prestigious comedy screenwriter in Hollywood.

0:38:40.445 --> 0:38:42.445
<v Speaker 3>I'm going to give him a red herring. Go do that,

0:38:42.605 --> 0:38:44.445
<v Speaker 3>Go do a chase, and I'll be over here writing

0:38:44.485 --> 0:38:45.285
<v Speaker 3>some great chats.

0:38:45.525 --> 0:38:48.645
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So you would say, Amy, that you find value

0:38:48.645 --> 0:38:51.245
<v Speaker 2>in this list beyond just sort of like a nineteen

0:38:51.325 --> 0:38:52.245
<v Speaker 2>forty one curio.

0:38:53.045 --> 0:38:55.965
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, very much, very much. I mean, gosh, we were

0:38:56.005 --> 0:38:59.245
<v Speaker 3>even just talking about code and skipping over. The bedroom

0:38:59.285 --> 0:39:02.364
<v Speaker 3>is better than a living room. Definitely an eyebrow raise there.

0:39:02.885 --> 0:39:07.205
<v Speaker 2>Love it? Yeah, yeah, I think I always kind of

0:39:07.285 --> 0:39:09.765
<v Speaker 2>default to this line, but I've read it somewhere whereas

0:39:10.005 --> 0:39:13.525
<v Speaker 2>America has sexualized everything except sex, you know, I mean,

0:39:14.205 --> 0:39:19.965
<v Speaker 2>advertising everything, but when we see a genuinely sensual, free spirited,

0:39:20.125 --> 0:39:24.885
<v Speaker 2>romantic comedy that actually has every element of love working

0:39:25.085 --> 0:39:28.565
<v Speaker 2>for and through the main characters, it's like a surprise

0:39:28.725 --> 0:39:32.325
<v Speaker 2>that oh, a rediscovery, you know. Yeah, it's all over

0:39:32.405 --> 0:39:33.605
<v Speaker 2>sturgee stuff, my god.

0:39:34.125 --> 0:39:35.685
<v Speaker 3>And then he left us a lot of stuff for

0:39:35.765 --> 0:39:40.125
<v Speaker 3>today's comics to satirize. Yeah, we have not gotten, I

0:39:40.125 --> 0:39:42.565
<v Speaker 3>would say much healthier. So have at it people.

0:39:43.765 --> 0:39:46.085
<v Speaker 2>It Amy, thank you so much for your time.

0:39:46.405 --> 0:39:48.085
<v Speaker 3>I mean, Michael, it's such a pleasure to be here

0:39:48.085 --> 0:39:50.285
<v Speaker 3>as you're joining the podcast universe. I've been in the

0:39:50.285 --> 0:39:52.165
<v Speaker 3>space for a gazillion years with like unspooled, the podcast

0:39:52.165 --> 0:39:53.964
<v Speaker 3>I did with Paul shere we did the AFI Top

0:39:54.405 --> 0:39:57.245
<v Speaker 3>one hundred. I am always impressed when somebody comes up

0:39:57.285 --> 0:39:59.965
<v Speaker 3>with a new, original idea for a show. So kudous

0:40:00.005 --> 0:40:01.845
<v Speaker 3>to you, Thank you, thank.

0:40:01.685 --> 0:40:04.165
<v Speaker 2>You very much. I think you'll just be the permanent cast.

0:40:04.205 --> 0:40:08.885
<v Speaker 2>I appreciate. We'll see you next week. No, thank you, No,

0:40:08.965 --> 0:40:10.685
<v Speaker 2>you're all pro man and the writing at the La

0:40:10.765 --> 0:40:12.685
<v Speaker 2>Times has been just tip top. So way to go.

0:40:12.805 --> 0:40:16.245
<v Speaker 3>Oh thank you, Oh colonel, I'm delighted to see you again.

0:40:16.285 --> 0:40:18.485
<v Speaker 6>We must play cards and lots of cards.

0:40:18.525 --> 0:40:26.045
<v Speaker 5>Stewarts some champion for the colonel curtain name is by Really,

0:40:26.045 --> 0:40:27.645
<v Speaker 5>haven't it right to drag me off like this?

0:40:29.605 --> 0:40:32.205
<v Speaker 2>After Amy and I talked, I thought about something she

0:40:32.365 --> 0:40:35.165
<v Speaker 2>said about how we're introduced to a film or a

0:40:35.165 --> 0:40:39.565
<v Speaker 2>filmmaker in high school, college, whenever it is, and suddenly

0:40:39.645 --> 0:40:43.885
<v Speaker 2>your taste in movies changes. Your taste is being formed

0:40:43.965 --> 0:40:47.285
<v Speaker 2>or reformed, and it's too late. You're basically in love

0:40:47.805 --> 0:40:51.685
<v Speaker 2>in a brand new way. Something is dropped into your life. And,

0:40:51.725 --> 0:40:54.605
<v Speaker 2>as Preston Sturgis says in his eleven Rules for Box

0:40:54.645 --> 0:40:58.805
<v Speaker 2>Office Appeal and arrival is always better than a departure.

0:41:05.685 --> 0:41:08.485
<v Speaker 2>The movie Racket is produced by Joe des and Me.

0:41:08.845 --> 0:41:13.285
<v Speaker 2>Michael Phillips, Adam Kempinar, and Sam ben Holgren executively produced

0:41:13.285 --> 0:41:16.725
<v Speaker 2>the movie Racket. Next week, we look at an incredibly reductive,

0:41:16.845 --> 0:41:20.205
<v Speaker 2>unofficial Hollywood law laid down by the great Howard Hawks.

0:41:20.325 --> 0:41:23.845
<v Speaker 2>And my guest is Billy Murnett, a veteran script analyst

0:41:23.965 --> 0:41:28.565
<v Speaker 2>for Universal Studios. He's read a few thousand scripts, seen

0:41:28.605 --> 0:41:32.045
<v Speaker 2>an ungodly number of changes in this wobbly screen industry,

0:41:32.085 --> 0:41:34.725
<v Speaker 2>and we're going to take on the Howard Hawk's assertion

0:41:34.925 --> 0:41:37.645
<v Speaker 2>that a good movie is three good scenes and no

0:41:37.845 --> 0:41:40.444
<v Speaker 2>bad ones. Sounds so easy when you put it that way.

0:41:41.245 --> 0:41:44.445
<v Speaker 2>Thanks so much to la Times film critic Amy Nicholson

0:41:44.485 --> 0:41:46.885
<v Speaker 2>for joining us this week. She's also a current on

0:41:46.965 --> 0:41:50.964
<v Speaker 2>air voice at LAist and KCRW. Her book on Tom

0:41:51.045 --> 0:41:54.365
<v Speaker 2>Cruise Tom Cruise, Anatomy of an Actor is out and about,

0:41:54.565 --> 0:41:58.205
<v Speaker 2>and her second book, Extra Girls, will be published soon

0:41:58.325 --> 0:42:01.605
<v Speaker 2>by Simon and Schuster. She also co hosts the movie

0:42:01.645 --> 0:42:05.125
<v Speaker 2>podcast Unspooled with Paul Sheer. I'd love to hear from you.

0:42:05.245 --> 0:42:08.285
<v Speaker 2>If you're in a communicating mood, drop me onanted movie

0:42:08.365 --> 0:42:12.005
<v Speaker 2>racket at film spotting dot net. This is a Film

0:42:12.005 --> 0:42:12.725
<v Speaker 2>Spotting production.

0:42:13.325 --> 0:42:16.125
<v Speaker 1>I'm Michael Phillis, Califonia, Eli