Thank the Academy

In this episode we discuss the twenty-first Best Picture winner, Hamlet, the most awarded adaptation of Shakespeare, Laurence Olivier’s attempt to be seen as a serious actor and filmmaker, and the new Freudian interpretations of Shakespeare! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thankacademypod Email us your thoughts: thanktheacademypod@gmail....

In this episode we discuss the 20th Best Picture winner, Gentleman’s Agreement, actor James Baskett’s Honorary Award for his performance in Disney’s Song of the South, anti-Semitism, prejudice, microagressions, and Communism  in post-war America, and The Group Theatre and The Actor’s Studio joining the ranks of the Hollywood elite! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast&n...

In this episode we discuss the 19th Best Picture winner, The Best Years of our Lives, the struggles of veterans returning from WWII, amputee veteran Harold Russel’s award winning first performance as an actor, and director William Wyler! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thankacademypod Email us your thoughts: thanktheacademypod@gmail.com

In this episode we discuss the eighteenth Best Picture winner, The Lost Weekend, international film festivals, director Billy Wilder, the stirring portrayal of someone struggling with addiction, and the power of nuanced storytelling! **Content Warning** This episode contains conversation throughout about alcoholism, addiction, and suicide. ** Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypod...

In this episode we discuss the seventeenth Best Picture Winner, Going My Way, Bing Crosby’s impact on the entertainment industry, and Ingrid Bergman’s first Academy win! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thankacademypod Email us your thoughts: thanktheacademypod@gmail.com

In this episode we discuss the sixteenth Best Picture Winner, Casablanca, Warner Brothers’ producer Hal B. Wallis, the growing relationship between the United States Government and the film industry, and the unexpected success of Casablanca! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thankacademypod Email us your thoughts: thanktheacademypod@gmail....

In this episode we discuss the fifteenth Best Picture Winner, Mrs. Miniver, Greer Garson’s extra-long acceptance speech, the great career and tragic death of Carole Lombard, and the film industry’s growing relationship with World War II! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thankacademypod Email us your thoughts: thanktheacademypod@gmail.com

In this episode we discuss the fourteenth Best Picture Winner, How Green Was My Valley, its contentious win over Citizen Kane, the Hollywood sister-feud between Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine, and the animators’ strike at Disney Studios! Other topics include: Dumbo, Walt Disney, Hollywood feuds, the importance of unions, film history, Orson Welles, Gregg Toland, Maurice Seiderman, unions, H...

In this episode we discuss the thirteenth Best Picture Winner, Rebecca, David O. Selznick’s second Best Picture win in a row, Walt Disney’s Pinocchio and Fantasia, and Katherine Hepburn’s return to the top with The Philadelphia Story! **Content Warning** mentions of suicide in relation to the plot of Rebecca** Other topics include: Charlie Chaplin and The Great Dictator, Leopold Stokowski, United...

In this episode we discuss the twelfth Best Picture Winner, Gone With the Wind, Best Picture controversy, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Wizard of Oz, and Of Mice and Men! **Content Warning** mentions of sexual abuse/harassment/rape between 47:50-49:25 & 1:11:30-1:17:57 ** Other topics include: Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniels, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Lennie Bluett, racism and segregation,...

In this episode we discuss the eleventh Best Picture Winner, You Can’t Take It With You, Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart, Pygmalion, and George Bernard Shaw!  Other topics include: Walt Disney, Snow White, producer Hal B. Wallis, Kaufman and Hart, Robert Riskin, Ann Miller, the Motion Picture Production Code, Joseph Breen, film history, old Hollywood Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheac...

In this episode we discuss the tenth Best Picture Winner, The Life of Emile Zola, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Dreyfus Affair, and anit-Semitism in 1930’s Hollywood! Other topics include: Walt Disney, animated feature films, film history, Paul Muni, Alfred Dreyfus, Joseph Schildkraut, Los Angeles flood of 1938, Luise Rainer, comedian Bob Burns, rise of the Nazi regime, racism in Hollywood...

In this episode we discuss the ninth Best Picture Winner, The Great Ziegfeld, the first and one of the best Hollywood biopic musicals, the career of Florenz Ziegfeld, and the death and funeral of legendary Hollywood producer Irving Thalberg! Other topics include: George Jessel, musician and songwriter Spike Jones, Walt Disney, William Powell, Billie Burke, William Wyler, Irving Thalberg, costumes...

In this episode we discuss the eighth Best Picture Winner, Mutiny on the Bounty, the importance of stunt and dance choreography in films, the Hollywood rumor mill, and getting stranded at sea! Other topics include: Nordhoff and Hall, novel adaptation, Shirley Temple, 20th Century Fox, RKO Picutres, the Great Depression, film history, director John Ford Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thankthe...

In this episode we discuss the seventh Best Picture Winner, It Happened One Night, the first Big Five Oscars winner, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert on the rise to superstardom, and more Oscar award controversy! Other topics include: Frank Capra, romantic comedy, film history, Shirley Temple, Columbia Pictures, and the origins of Bugs Bunny Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypod...

In this episode we discuss the sixth Best Picture Winner, Cavalcade, the sweeping Hollywood epic, Noel Coward, and Academy Awards announcement mixups! Other topics include: Walt Disney, the Titanic, World War I, 42nd Street, King Henry VIII, Katherine Hepburn, and film history.  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thankacademypod Email...

In this episode we discuss the fifth Best Picture Winner, Grand Hotel, the impact of Irving Thalberg on the film industry, and the first star-studded blockbuster in Hollywood! Other topics include: MGM studios, Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Cedric Gibbons, Walt Disney, big budget blockbusters, film history, director Edmond Goulding, and the Great Depr...

In this episode we discuss the fourth Best Picture Winner, Cimarron, RKO Pictures, Hollywood during the Great Depression, and the history of the Oklahoma Territory! Other topics include: Hollywood westerns, Native American mistreatment, film history, the Great Depression, author Edna Ferber, Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, George E. Stone, The Front Page, Skippy, and director Lewis Milestone. Instagram:...

In this episode we discuss the third Best Picture Winner, All Quiet on the Western Front, Director Lewis Milestone, World War I, and the early 20th Century German American immigrant experience! Other topics include: Lew Ayres, Carl Laemmle, Universal Studios, author Erich Maria Remarque, film history, war films, and racism in America. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast&nbs...

In this episode we discuss the second Best Picture Winner, The Broadway Melody, the creation of the Hollywood musical, Pre-Code films, and the invention of the talkie! Other topics include: Bessie Love, Anita Page, Charles King, Jack Warner, film history, Hollywood musicals, and musical theater. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacademypodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thankacade...

In this episode we discuss the first Best Picture Winner, Wings, the formation of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, and the original Academy Award ceremony!  Other topics include: Film history, Hollywood, Clara Bow, aviation, director William A. Wellman, Richard Arlen, Buddy Rogers, Paramount Pictures, World War I, and silent films. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanktheacad...