Let's Finally Watch This

The year is 1956. And you can’t have the 50’s without SCIENCE FICTION! Amid the plethora of sci-fi films released this year comes Forbidden Planet, which became an inspiration for many future projects and franchises, including Star Trek. The first film set completely on an alien planet, it combines unique visual and audio effects, futuristic gadgetry, and a psychological view of humanity to create an enjoyable, if somewhat dated, experience.What Forbidden Planet offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a plot loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the first entirely electronic film score, a foundational entry in serious science fiction cinema, and the iconic Robbie the RobotShow Notes

The year is 1946. The war is over, and the soldiers are coming home. Director (and veteran) William Wyler uses this moment in history to make The Best Years of Our Lives, a remarkably contemporary and multi-faceted drama featuring three men from different branches of the military and socioeconomic standings adjusting to civilian life. Each struggles with his own reentry into the world he left behind.What The Best Years of Our Lives offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: one of the first major movie roles for a disabled person; impressive use of deep focus; a movie that feels unique both in its subject matter and its proximity to the event; and a substantial amount of drinking and smoking.Show Notes

The year is 1936. The cinema world is filled with talkies. Sound has revolutionized the industry. But Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times revels in its almost-silent-film genius. The iconic Tramp tries to make an honest living for himself and his street urchin love in a world of machine-filled factories and hard-to-keep jobs, a gentle satire on a world not completely unlike our own modern times.What Modern Times offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: Charlie Chaplin, a pillar of cinema history, at his best; a conveyor belt scene often imitated; hijinks and escapades rooted in the Tramp’s lovable persona; and the Chaplin’s first spoken “words” on film.Show Notes

The year is 1926. The movie industry is a year away from its first big sound film, but another major technological advance is also slowly advancing–COLOR! The Black Pirate is a vital early success of Technicolor, due in part to actor Douglas Fairbanks’s swashbuckling athleticism. With its vibrant use of color and high adventure, The Black Pirate influenced many future pirate movies.What The Black Pirate offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a successful use of early color technology; exciting archetypal characters and story beats; Douglas Fairbanks’s exuberant flair; and an all-around fun movie that doesn’t feel as old as it is.Show Notes

The year is 1916. It’s only been a decade since The Story of the Kelly Gang, but director D.W. Griffith has pushed the medium to new heights. With the same vision that created the cinematically groundbreaking (though racist) The Birth of a Nation (see episode 36), Griffith ushers audiences through four separate plotlines in what some have called the only “film fugue.” Intolerance sets out to tell “love’s struggle throughout the ages,” from present day troubles with crime and poverty to the downfall of the great Babylonian empire.What Intolerance offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: a massive scale in sets and story; a way-ahead-of-its-time intertwining of narratives; silent movie melodrama; and Mountain Girl.Show Notes