Lions, Towers & Shields

Another year draws to a close, and so many classic movies remain undiscussed on Lions, Towers & Shields. But many of your regular panelists have feelings, as well as recommendations for the future. So I invited them to share them in a themed draft episode. NOTE: LTS will return in March 2023. We'll cover at least 21 films next year, but the episodes will be spaced out over three, seven-episode sea...

Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray team up, not to kill for insurance money, but to share a sweet but unlikely holiday road trip. It’s the last movie Preston Sturges wrote before he turned fully to directing. Happy holidays from your friends at Lions, Towers & Shields. Shelly Brisbin with David J. Loehr, Micheline Maynard, Erika Ensign and Nathan Alderman.

The John Frankenheimer classic tells you all you need to know about Angela Lansbury’s talent. And it’s a crackerjack political thriller, too. Shelly Brisbin with David J. Loehr.

The Clock is Judy Garland’s first dramatic role. She’s teamed with Robert Walker, who’s a soldier on leave when they meet in New York City. It’s a little bit Affair to Remember, and a little bit On the Town. Really sweet, well-acted romantic film. Directed by Garland’s soon-to-be husband Vincente Minnelli. Shelly Brisbin with Randy Dotinga, Nathan Alderman and Micheline Maynard.

Keeper of the Flame is a drama about the dangers of fascism, set early in WWII and directed by George Cukor, the man who made Gaslight, but was better known for comedies and “women’s” films. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn star in the far better of their two dramatic pairings. Be warned, we talk about politics, both old and new. And, um, Texas history? Shelly Brisbin with Brandon Rottinghaus a...

Britain’s Ealing Studios is best known for its comedies, including The Ladykillers, The Lavender Hill Mob, and Kind Hearts And Coronets. But this 1945 precursor to those famously funny films deals more with chills than chuckles. Four directors tag-team to adapt a mix of original and classic tales, including one based on a story by H.G. Wells. It’s the rare horror anthology whose framing story is a...

We celebrate the life of Marsha Hunt, who passed away at age 104, last month. She appeared in “Raw Deal” with Dennis O’Keefe and Claire Trevor. It’s a late 40s film noir with wonderful cinematography by John Alton. Shelly Brisbin with Randy Dotinga and Nathan Alderman.

Director William Wyler’s film tells the stories of three men returning home from World War II and the impact on their lives, their families and their careers. Great performances from Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Myrna Loy and acting newcomer Harold Russell. Lesser-known faves of mine, Gladys George and Cathy O’Donnell are also great to see. Released a year after war’s end, this is t...

The first Alan Ladd/Veronica Lake pairing is a film noir/thriller about a hit man doing his job and getting even. Alan Ladd’s cat is unbilled. Please also enjoy Laird Cregar, about whom there’s so much to say! Shelly Brisbin with Philip Michaels, Randy Dotinga and David J. Loehr.

The film version of Cole Porter’s show, which is based on Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” (got that?) landed in the middle of MGM’s big technicolor musical era, the 1950s. Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ann Miller are your stars, and a very young Bob Fosse is among the standouts in the cast. Movie censors got to Porter’s lyrics, which gives us some fun topics to cover. It’s also your host’s...

Burt Lancaster plays a newspaper columnist who is based on Walter Winchell. Winchell was a powerful, vindictive dude, and Lancaster is deliciously evil here, going after the man his sister loves, because he can. Tony Curtis co-stars as a man doing Lancaster’s bidding to advance his own career. The film is based on Ernest Lehman’s novel, and the screenplay was co-written by Clifford Odets. The scri...

Barbara Stanwyck is back, and we’ve got her. Here’s a noir melodrama with its share of flaws that I like, regardless. And man, IMDB gives a LOT more plot than I would have. “A pregnant woman adopts the identity of a railroad crash victim and starts a new life with the woman’s wealthy in-laws, but is soon blackmailed by her devious ex.” It’s stylishly directed by Mitchell Leisen, and features lots...

Call it “minor Hitchcock.” Spellbound tells the story of an amnesiac man who can’t remember the murder of which he’s suspected, and the psychiatrist (it’s 1945, so I have to say “lady” psychiatrist) who helps him sort it out. Gregory Peck is early in his film career, and Ingrid Bergman is all, see you later, Charles Boyer. That’s a “Gaslight” joke. Also notable for the Salvador Dali dream sequence...

The history of newspapers and typography is this movie’s subject. Director Sam Fuller made this love letter to journalism, and in this episode, we echo that love right back, with the aid of an actual typography historian. Get the movie on YouTube and watch along with us. We’ll count you in! Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra, Moisés Chiullán and Glenn Fleishman.

Put the blame on mame, boys. And also on George McCreedy and Glenn Ford. It’s a love triangle and an erotic noir. But many people just focus on Rita Hayworth’s song and the dress she sang it in. Gilda also features plenty of gay subtext, which we’ll discuss at length, as well as why some films of this era “got away” with gay themes, while others did not. I also believe we’re setting a record for r...

To paraphrase IMDB, it’s a love story until it’s an obsession story. Then it really gets weird. Gene Tierney is gonna make you kinda mad in this Technicolor, noir thriller. We love it! Shelly Brisbin with Lisa Schmeiser and Nathan Alderman.

By the late 1950s, big-budget musicals were in color and wide screen, and MGM made several really great ones. Late-period Cole Porter wrote the songs, and Fred Astaire is paired with a much younger partner (surprise!), Cyd Charisse in this remake of 1939’s Ninotchka - Garbo’s last great film. For extra credit, watch both. Enjoy the comedy stylings of Peter Lorre and his commissars, and the delight...

This is episode #50, so it’s special! And Baby is one of my favorite movies of all time. Howard Hawks directs Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and a sweet little kitty! It’s a screwball comedy, and Hepburn as a comedienne is a revelation. If you hate it, you might not want to join, because unlike many other episodes, where I encourage dissent, I will fight you on this one. You should also know that I...

I love you, but I’ve got to go! Let’s meet in six months at the top of the Empire State Building. In 1939, Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne had a date. In 1957, it was Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. In each movie, something keeps the lovers from meeting up as planned. And though it was a dumb thing (according to me) the movies remain classics of the romance genre. Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra a...

We enter the gritty world of… Charles McGraw’s voice, in this 1952 noir directed by Richard Fleischer. You may know him from 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and (spoiler alert) Soylent Green is people! In The Narrow Margin, a cop must protect a woman scheduled to testify against a killer. Much of the action takes place on a cross-country train, in which the visual margins are indeed narrow. Shelly Br...

Let’s cut to the chase: this film gave birth to the modern term, gaslighting. Charles Boyer needs to drive Ingrid Bergman crazy so he can steal her jewels - a crime he first tried to commit against Ingrid’s aunt, years before. George Cukor takes an unusual turn at dark, noirish storytelling, and Bergman wins an Oscar. Joseph Cotten costars, and Angela Lansbury makes her film debut at age 19. Host’...

This choice stems from the enthusiasm of some regular LTS panelists. Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell and Ann Sothern are your stars, along with the unrelated Douglases, Kirk and Paul. A letter written to three women by their “bad friend” pretty much freaks everyone out, and it’s most definitely a female-centered story, well-directed by Joe Mankiewicz. Go figure. Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra, N...

Please enjoy a heaping helping of film noir with a side of anti-Communism. Sam Fuller’s 1953 “Pickup on South Street” is well-directed, and especially well-acted by Thelma Ritter, Richard Widmark and character actor Murvyn Vye - but you can call him Tiger. There’s a crackerjack score, and a reasonably suspenseful plot, too, and the cinematography is inventive and compelling. Shelly Brisbin with Na...

Who’s that lady? This is what Alan Curtis and Ella Raines need to know. Alan is accused of murdering his wife, but he says he has a perfect alibi - he was spending the evening with a stranger at the time of the murder. Ella is determined to prove his innocence, and goes to great lengths to do so. Franchot Tone is along to help solve the mystery as well. It’s directed by Robert Siodmak and produced...

Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant? No, Marlene Dietrich and Herbert Marshall? Marlene and a cute little kid? Marlene in the Deep South? This movie will surprise you. IT is part of the cycle of films she made with Josef von Sternberg during her early American career. And our heroine goes through A LOT. I’d argue it’s among Dietrich’s most sympathetic roles. In this episode, I find myself arguing with...