Framing Media #6 - Christina Lane on Producer Joan Harrison, The Mistress of Suspense

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Today's episode features Christina Lane, an Associate Professor of film studies and chair of the cinema department at the University of Miami and author of Feminist Hollywood: From Born in Flames to Point Break and Magnolia. We discuss her new book, Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, The Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock, which narrates the oft-forgotten tale of one of the studio era's most notable female pioneers. As Lane explores, Harrison played a multi-faceted role in the 1930s and early 1940s for director Alfred Hitchcock that cannot be understated, and then went on to become one of the "girl producers" of the 1940s with fascinating noirish thrillers like Phantom Lady, Dark Waters, and Ride the Pink Horse. Through it all, Lane relishes in the details of the nimble yet prodigious navigator of the studio system, and in particular, her unique transition to television and central role as a proto-showrunner on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. As Lane suggests, Harrison was much more than a "gal Friday," and instead someone who balanced personal toil, political scrutiny, and of course, the misogyny of Hollywood—rarely receiving the credit due to her talents, and offering inspiration for us all today.

Episode #108 - James Naremore (A Cottage on Dartmoor)

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"My cinephilia began with directors, and I still defend that old fashioned way of working."

When Peter first began studying criticism, one person seemed to have the aspirational career he wanted: James Naremore. Not only was he able to teach the history of cinema, but he had written some of the most influential books on Orson Welles, screen acting, and film noir. Now Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, Bloomington, Naremore continues to write and research while still blending a line between film criticism and film academia, but always with a rigor and appreciation that makes him entirely unique. James sits down with Peter to talk about going from English literature to film studies, to his appreciation of classical criticism, and the politics of writing a study of Charles Burnett. Finally, they talk about a rarity that few have seen: the 1929 British silent film A Cottage on Dartmoor, which represents one of the great "last breaths of silent techniques" before sound would change filmmaking, which even gets its own strange cameo in the movie!

0:00-4:10  Opening
5:12-11:34 Establishing Shots — Edmond O'Brien The Noirish Chameleon
12:18-49:18 Deep Focus — James Naremore
49:54-54:04  Sponsorship Section
54:47-1:08:48 Double Exposure — A Cottage on Dartmoor (Anthony Asquish)

1:08:53-1:10:31 Close 

Charles Cohen and KCET Classics

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"There are people who collect art. I like to think I collect art films."

You can get a panoramic view of Los Angeles from the office of Charles Cohen, a real estate mogul who about a decade ago returned to his true passion for cinema. But Cohen does not need to impress with optics: his commitment to restoration and exhibition of silent films, Classical Hollywood, art cinema, and new foreign language works speaks for itself. With a new theater in New York on the way, Cohen has also taken a handful of the titles from his expanding cinema library and is now presenting them on public television through KCET. In this roundtable interview at the Pacific Design Center, Cohen discusses his background and continuing plans to develop cinephilia, and what separates him from the other financial giants whose role in film development alongside their political affiliations has many asking questions about who makes what we watch.

Episode #57 - Kiva Reardon (Leave Her To Heaven)

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"Watching movies for me is not a passive experience. It's an active one."

Kiva Reardon isn't one to completely define what her work is, but for the past two years, her new journal cléo has broadened the conversation around cinema and feminism in a unique and exciting way. In this second Toronto-based episode, Kiva talks to Peter about growing up with classic movies, trying to deconstruct pop culture items (including but not limited to: Drake), and the gestural bodily cinema of Claire Denis. They then move onto forming cleo, and why its diversity in terms of both content and form has been one of the key aspects to its success. Finally, Kiva brings in the 1945 Technicolor noir Leave Her To Heaven with Gene Tierney, and the two discuss it as a template for a more recent murderous melodrama: David Fincher's Gone Girl.

0:00-2:00 Opening

3:05-11:44 Establishing Shots - Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-Hsien / Donations

12:28-48:35  Deep Focus - Kiva Reardon

49:47-51:27 Mubi Sponsorship - Jean Rollin and Tilda Swinton

53:00 -1:11:26 Double Exposure - Leave Her To Heaven (John M. Stahl)

1:11:30-1:13:34 Close  / Outtakes

Read Kiva Reardon on cléo, Cinema-Scope, The AV Club, and Keyframe Daily. Check out her personal website to follow all her writing. Follow her on Twitter.
Leave Her To Heaven is out on a very nice Blu-Ray via Twilight Time.