87 Weeks Until the 100th Oscars | How Green Was My Valley (1941)

0:05 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Best Picture Brainrot, a podcast where three friends count down to the one hundredth Oscars by watching every Best Picture winner in order.

0:13 Speaker 2: Follow along as we give ourselves cinematic brain damage from the first winner wings to whatever the Academy picks. In twenty twenty eight.

0:20 Speaker 3: There are eighty seven weeks until the one hundredth Oscars, and today we are going to talk about How Green was My Valley? Surprises, disappointments, hot takes, and plenty.

0:31 Speaker 1: Of brain rot ahead. We are your hosts Adam, Sarah and Drew. Today we talk about a film that poses a question, how green was my Valley? How green was it?

0:45 Speaker 2: Okay, I was gonna say, how green was my Valley? Sounds like something the Grinch asks someone after he hooks up with her. My Martha Mayho is like, it's the greenest and he's like, really, you think he's nervous to totally that valley was so green.

1:07 Speaker 1: I think I read today that they're coming out with a sequel for that. Yeah.

1:11 Speaker 2: Oh I hope they hook up.

1:13 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what value.

1:15 Speaker 3: That's what you do in any sequel, is you do Lady version of the creature True to be it's gonna be Grench with boobs and and long eyelashes. Okay, she'll be voiced by like Tiffany Hattish or something.

1:31 Speaker 1: Anyway, just like the Grinch. This value is pretty damn green, or maybe it's more accurate to say gold. Because this was the winner of the fourteenth Academy Award for Best Picture, bringing to a close a historic run for historic director john Ford Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath and Now How Green Was My Valley all in the span of three years. He would also win two of his four Best Director Oscars for the latter two movies, which of course includes what we are talking about today. This is a movie about a Welsh coal mining family whose parents dream of a better life for their children.

2:06 Speaker 1: So the question I want to ask is what's everyone's favorite whale's movie set in whales?

2:12 Speaker 2: Okay?

2:13 Speaker 1: I just want to know you still mind. It's originally going to be what's your favorite color of green? But I was like, this is better.

2:23 Speaker 2: What's your favorite?

2:24 Speaker 1: And I guess you can answer both.

2:25 Speaker 3: I like, I like a palm tree green, okay, And I'm gonna go with a bowhead whale or no bluego whale. Bluego whale. My final answer palm tree beluga.

2:38 Speaker 2: All right, I would say my favorite shade of green is jade, and my favorite whale is an oh whale?

2:48 Speaker 1: What? Oh whale? A whale like oh weal?

2:53 Speaker 4: Yeah?

2:53 Speaker 1: Oh like a Midwest Are you making fun of my culture?

2:56 Speaker 2: Yeah? I'm sorry, I don't really know. A little whale, the one, the big.

3:01 Speaker 1: One, well, be like a blue black whale, ye whale, the whale, ork a whale, a wall I just like the classic one, the blue whale.

3:08 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, like the whale, the whale.

3:12 Speaker 1: Hmm. So a jade blue whale.

3:13 Speaker 2: A sperm whale yeah, just just they so just just the regular classic blue blue whale.

3:21 Speaker 1: Okay. My color is teal. I would say it work is pretty cool.

3:28 Speaker 3: Yeah, so like when they dance for you, don't you?

3:32 Speaker 1: Yeah? I actually did go to SeaWorld as a child. I went to SeaWorld very recently, really is it still?

3:40 Speaker 2: Like?

3:40 Speaker 1: As an adult too?

3:42 Speaker 3: I went and like maybe the last year they were doing Orca shows.

3:45 Speaker 1: Okay.

3:46 Speaker 3: It was for my birthday, okay, and I wanted to watch our lesser being entertain me. They punish you though, by getting you incredibly soaking what h you walk out of there and you're like socking, like I just sat in the splash zone.

4:01 Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah, what's.

4:03 Speaker 3: The point if you don't now what they do?

4:07 Speaker 1: This is a Sea World podcast.

4:08 Speaker 3: Now, yeah, Now what they do is they use that big pool thing, but they'll host rappers from like the two thousands. It'll be like chingy and till they even do stuff with whales or it's just ching just like standing on the other end of a pool like rapping to you. But it's like it's always do they use whale puns?

4:29 Speaker 1: They should?

4:30 Speaker 3: I think they still do dolphin shows and seal in lines. I think for some reason.

4:34 Speaker 1: Where dolphins are smarter. That's odd.

4:37 Speaker 3: Yeah, anyway, if they're so smart, they'll find they should find.

4:40 Speaker 1: A way out. True. Yeah, they should have gotten it better, they should have got better. Union or they're so smart as they say they are.

4:47 Speaker 2: Speaking of unions, let's talk about them.

4:50 Speaker 1: No, that was actually such a good transition. I didn't even plan that. I know, I know, incredible, But yes, this is a movie that actually does feature unions quite heavily, so perfect transition. Before we get into that, of course, I'm gonna pass it off to Drew. Oh I get it now historical context. I was, I was confused the union thing. Yes, that was good.

5:12 Speaker 3: That was good, Sarah, Thank you, Adam, Sarah. Today I want to talk about Wales. What is Wales and what makes them different than dolphins?

5:23 Speaker 1: Maha.

5:24 Speaker 3: Sorry, that's for my other podcast with two friends, where each episode we work our way through the phylogenetic tree.

5:30 Speaker 1: All right, drews reheating my notch Lime, I wrote this before you now now.

5:37 Speaker 3: Wales is a distinct country, actually part of the United Kingdom, along with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Like the other non English parts of the UK, Wales has a notably Celtic culture. The many peoples of Wales were first unified by King Here we go, yeah up you in in the year ten fifty five. In the centuries since then, Wales had a on again, off again relationship with its neighbor England, sometimes conquered by the English, sometimes regaining independence, but they will.

6:08 Speaker 1: Never I'm not gonna do that freedom. This is that's Scotland. But the same idea though, Thanks mel By the sixteenth thank you for a Brave Heart episode.

6:19 Speaker 3: Ye character by the sixteenth century, though Wales was formerly and hitherto annexed by England, incorporated into the English legal system with the Laws in Wales Acts of fifteen thirty five and fifteen forty two.

6:33 Speaker 1: Fun stuff, But.

6:36 Speaker 3: You know it's even more fun than incorporation's into the English legal system.

6:39 Speaker 1: Geology. Hey, Hey, what's going on? Wow? Hey? Why is this guy talking about rocks in my movie podcast? Shut up? Bozo?

6:54 Speaker 3: Rocks are an inherent part of film history. Take Michael Bays The Rock, Dwayne the Rock, John Rocky Balboa, Rocky the Rock creature from Project Hill Mary. I might even include that rock that James Franco got his arms stuck under in one hundred and twenty seven hours. But let's talk about how green was my valley? Oh wait, the Infinity Stones. Sorry, I'm scared. The rock at the center of it all with this movie is coal. During the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era, coal became the definitive export of Wales.

7:26 Speaker 3: Deep parallel valleys running north to south exposed rich coal seams across South Wales, ranging in quality from asphalt like by tuminous coals to pure anthracite. Excited Yet, I'll say now, coal from South Wales is mostly used to fuel Britain's industrial factories, but also its steamships in the Royal Navy. In many ways, Welsh coal fueled the British Empire. But coal mines need coal miners, and this demand for Welsh coal and steel and iron created a population boom for the region. The Rhonda Valley of Whales, for example, grew from less than a thousand people in eighteen fifty one to more than one hundred and fifty thousand in nineteen eleven.

8:07 Speaker 3: That's a lot of miners, No diddy,

8:15 Speaker 3: now sherew has been taking stand up classes.

8:19 Speaker 2: I've seen a lot of materials.

8:20 Speaker 3: Say look, I had a week off last time. Now, coal mining is an easy work. Many fatal industrial accidents occurred during this boom time. Children were often employed, and the health implications for many workers were lifelong and crippling. But entire societies grew up around this perilous line of work, including the men, women and children. And how green was my valley exemplifies this unique particular culture of the coal miners of South Wales.

8:47 Speaker 1: You know what my favorite coal mining movie.

8:49 Speaker 2: Is the Minecraft movie.

8:51 Speaker 1: No Zoolander, what's a mine? Coal? Yeah? He comes from a coal mining family.

8:58 Speaker 2: I don't remember that.

9:00 Speaker 1: Do you have to work at the mines? Papa?

9:03 Speaker 2: Okay, now I remember because he.

9:04 Speaker 1: Did the impression he goes in there like.

9:07 Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, yeah he We watched that movie.

9:10 Speaker 1: Sadly, Ben Steeler was not in How Green My Valley? But I think Sarah's about to tell us who was.

9:15 Speaker 2: I am going to tell you who was? Okay, I'm gonna start off with production. How Green Was My Valley was a Fox production, initially envisioned as a sprawling four hour epic to rival Gone with the Wind.

9:28 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's crazy.

9:31 Speaker 2: This movie could have been longer. Disagreeable talk about it. The project was originally assigned to William Weyler, who is the director of our next film, who planned to film in Wales, but World War Two made overseas shooting William Waleser.

9:51 Speaker 1: William Wiler was working in Wales.

9:53 Speaker 2: Are you guys doing stand up? Are you guys doing stand up in like Santa Monica on Wednesdays or something?

10:00 Speaker 1: Oh whale?

10:01 Speaker 2: I made that earlier, y'all, and you're accusing us. Y'all are so chaotic.

10:08 Speaker 1: You can't take us anywhere.

10:10 Speaker 2: No stopp being so crazy guys. Weyler eventually left the project and was replaced by John Ford. Unable to shoot on location, Fox constructed an enormous eighty acre Welsh mining village in the hills near Malibu. At least it's not Kelleen Island.

10:29 Speaker 1: Chester for coal reading of the sky snl. If you're casting for the still doing that sketch, I believe YEA.

10:45 Speaker 2: More than one hundred and fifty builders spent six months creating the town, importing huge blocks of coal, and even painting hillsides black to mimic the coal covered landscapes of South Wales. The finish set was so detailed that many of viewers assumed the film had actually been shot in Wales. The film was originally planned in technicolor, but was switched to black and white because southern California didn't look enough like Whales. Ford worked quickly and efficiently. He famously cut in camera, meaning he shot very little extra footage and often used only a handful of takes.

11:14 Speaker 2: Despite the scale of the production, principal photography lasted only about two months. Ford later called How Green was My Valley his favorite of all time of the films that he has directed.

11:24 Speaker 1: HM interesting fun little.

11:27 Speaker 2: Production snippet Maureen O'Hara got sent to film set jail. During filming, she pointed out that her character was carrying a modern basket instead of a period accurate one. John Ford was furious that she corrected him in front of the crew and ordered her to sit alone on a nearby hill for an hour.

11:47 Speaker 1: She was trained to well, actually.

11:48 Speaker 2: Him when she came back, though the basket had been changed.

11:54 Speaker 3: WHOA, okay, respect, respect, don't cut me down the size on set.

11:58 Speaker 1: But I hear you girl, yea exactly.

12:01 Speaker 2: Now let's get into the cast and crew. We're starting off with director John Ford. John Ford is often considered one of the most influential directors in film history and is frequently called the great American director. He is often considered the director who shaped America's image of itself on screen. While he is best known for his westerns, Ford worked across many genres, including war films, historical dramas, comedies, and literary adaptations. His films explored themes of duty, honor, family, community, and the tension between history and legend.

12:36 Speaker 2: Guys, what do we do here?

12:39 Speaker 1: What are we doing here?

12:42 Speaker 2: You guys need to go to like recess or something?

12:44 Speaker 1: Are us to sit on? A hill A.

12:49 Speaker 2: We're You're going to podcast jown. He was known for his visual style. He had these very wide landscape shots, carefully composed frames, and a preference for letting images lead a story. He holds the record for most Best Director awards at the Academy Awards, which is four. Ford often worked with the same actors, creating an unofficial John Ford Stock Company which included John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and others. Despite his tough reputation, he quietly paid medical bills, bought homes, and financially supported people in need without seeking credit.

13:21 Speaker 2: Now I'm going to talk about Roddy McDowell as Hugh. Roddy McDowell was one of the rare child actors who successfully transitioned into a long and respected adult career. He was born in London, moved to the US during World War Two, and became a star at just thirteen years old as Hugh Morgan in this film. After childhood successes in My Friend Flicka in Lassie Come Home, McDowell reinvented himself through theater, earning a Tony Award and becoming a respected stage actor before returning to Hollywood in the nineteen sixties.

13:47 Speaker 2: Today He's best remembered for playing the intelligent chimpanzees Cornelius and Caesar in the original Planet of the Apes.

13:57 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's crazy. Is he related to Andy mcdewll apes together?

14:05 Speaker 1: I don't know.

14:06 Speaker 2: Okay, now I'm gonna talk about Maureen O'Hara as Angerhard Morgan. I don't know how it's her name.

14:11 Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know how to say any names in this movie.

14:15 Speaker 3: I'm from a very Welsh area of Pennsylvania, so this is like, oh, yeah, you can say I'm from brain mar Oh yeah, that makes me a ballast.

14:23 Speaker 1: Sin Wood is another one.

14:25 Speaker 2: Okay, so Marin O'Hara, which Drew and I watched this movie and he goes, Marin O'Hara, that's I'm pretty sure that Scarlett O'Hara's sister. He was dead serious. I was like what. I kind of let him go on with it. I kind of let him believe it. But he was very like, yeah, like, that's she looks like her, Like that's scarlettle Harra's sister. And I'm like, no, that's an act that that was a character's name. He's like, oh, well it should it should be. They should be sisters.

14:56 Speaker 1: That's why they called her obviously.

15:00 Speaker 2: It was so silly. Marine O'Hara was one of Hollywood's most iconic leading ladies, famous for her fiery red hair, strong willed characters, and refusal to play damsel in distress. Born in Ireland, she trained at the Abbey Theater before being discovered by actor producer Charles Lawton.

15:17 Speaker 3: Oh our favorite, our boy, Oh captain, my captain?

15:22 Speaker 1: Yeah, where's my cheese?

15:26 Speaker 2: Who's Sultan? Go go next? But yeah? He brought her to Hollywood and cast her in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. O'Hara became a star in classics like Hagrim Was My Valley, Miracle on Thirty Fourth Street, The Quiet Man, and The Parent Trap. She was known for performing many of her own stunts, her athleticism, and her on screen chemistry with John Wayne, with whom she made five films. Unlike many actresses of her, Aro O'Hara built a reputation for being very outspoken. She was fiercely independent and unwilling to be pushed around by studios, directors or co stars.

15:55 Speaker 2: In twenty fourteen, after decades of being overlooked by the Academy, she finally received an honorary Oscar her for her lifetime contribution to film. And she was also a Zigfield girl.

16:04 Speaker 1: Oh okay, that's cool.

16:07 Speaker 2: Marine O'Hara is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. She is interred in Section two, Grave four nine sixty six, alongside her husband US Air Force Brigader General Charles F. Blair.

16:20 Speaker 1: I was hoping that she was the one who, like shot Nazis or something stolen valor true.

16:27 Speaker 2: Lastly, we have Donald Crisp as WILLIELM. Morgan, the patriarch of the family. He Donald Crisp was also in Mutiny on the Bounty.

16:34 Speaker 1: Oh he was.

16:35 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's played like a scraggly old man.

16:39 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, the one scraggly old man.

16:43 Speaker 2: I remember him. I did.

16:44 Speaker 1: It's just his IMDb's crusty sailor. Yeah.

16:47 Speaker 2: Crisp was basically just Hollywood's grandpa. His career was very long, but he was most famous for his role in this film. He was in Mutiny on the Bounty and the Life of a mill Zola. Fun fact. For decades, Donald Crisp claimed to be Scottish, complete with a Scottish accent. A Scottish hometown and stories that is Scottish upbringing. The issue here was that he was actually born and raised in London and had no known Scottish ancestry. Even after his death, a commemorative plaque was installed in the Scottish town he falsely claimed as his birthplace.

17:21 Speaker 1: And now that stolen valley. Yeah, well, you.

17:23 Speaker 3: Know what's funny is the author of the book How Green Was My Valley? He also pretty infamously claimed that these stories were based on his childhood growing up. And it wasn't until he was like on his death belt, like.

17:38 Speaker 1: Got he just was like I kind of made that all up. I think I know what's going on. Wales is a conspiracy theory Wales. Isn't many of those even been Wales?

17:50 Speaker 2: But no, he convinced the industry that he was a Scottish war hero aristocrat when he was really a London born laborer son. Oh wait, he is buried at Forest Lwn and Royal Parks, Terry and Glendale, California.

18:01 Speaker 1: Double burial.

18:04 Speaker 2: Is he? And that's a wrap on His.

18:11 Speaker 1: Ashes were scattered across the Highlands. Thank you, Sarah. All Right, so let's talk about this movie How Green Was Do I know It starts off, as many great movies do, with a voiceover.

18:30 Speaker 2: I'm not a big voiceover either.

18:32 Speaker 1: I think it's like it can be was easy in the valley, literally my green, beautiful valley. It can be good of you sparingly here it's most of the movie. I was like, Okay, he talks about leaving his towne, which is a horrible mining town. He reminisces on when it was green, but then it flashes back and it's like there's a giant factory in the background. I don't think it was that green back then either. The coal miners are walking through, you know. I would say to your point, sir about the production, the scale of it was very cool.

19:00 Speaker 1: I love the scenes where they're like marching down the street.

19:03 Speaker 3: I love the way those like British coal towns, since they're often like in these like big seams. It's like they're all of them are just like big long streets, and like the houses are just like this big. It's like one long. It's like a bowling alley. You see this. It's true.

19:21 Speaker 1: But yeah, the coal miners they walk and they sing together. You know, they're coming home from the mines. Family has dinner, we meet his five year music was in our blood like air whatever. He said something like that stupid. But he meets Bronwyn Cougar Hunter. He's like, instantly when I saw her, I fell in love with her. It was like, she's way older than you.

19:45 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of like Anakin Skywalker.

19:47 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's betrothed.

19:50 Speaker 2: She Anakin Skywalker of the Mines.

19:53 Speaker 1: True, he's kind of kind of has those vibes. This woman is betrothed to his brother Evil. The big wedding scene that ends in a house party, a big wig shows up. I couldn't tell it first if he was like the owner of the mine, but that comes later. This was the preacher whose name is something well probably, but he shows up to me. This vibing with aung Karade, I'm gonna add is like a Lord of the Rings name. Literally, I mean I think most Welsh names like Phantom, Phantom menace sounded. Yeah, keep referencing Star Wars, but the next will go work in the coal vibes.

20:28 Speaker 1: That's your watto.

20:30 Speaker 2: How many impressions have you done in this episode?

20:34 Speaker 1: He's snt gonna get this back on. I need I need charge right here. Yeah, But now we cut to a notice on the wall that wages are being cut because there was a another town where the mine shut down, so a lot of the men came to this mine and now like the wages are being driven down, so people like don't have jobs anymore. Whatever. So the brothers want to unionize, and then the it's like you dirty commies, you discussed the dad is just scab the whole movie.

21:08 Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, you know, I feel like kind of bad. You know, he's just seeing his life deteriorate in front of his eyes. But the brothers they stand against him, They like, stand up and leave.

21:19 Speaker 3: They're all like six foot tall, yeah, strapping man.

21:24 Speaker 1: And there's like one grumpy old guys. What are they gonna do? Yeah, well, you know what they're gonna do. They're gonna strike. They do. Dad's a scab. There you go, the strike last twenty two weeks. And then the mom she wants to go to the strike meeting. She's like, where are you guys being so mean to my husband?

21:44 Speaker 1: And like, to be fair, I kind of understood her point. It's like he's not you know, if you're he's not the problem. He's just just an old man who's making money. He's just you need some convincing. Yeah, it's like she's like, be mad at the owners. Don't be mad at him, that's what they want. But yeah, this is like in the snow and Hugh the main character's name is Hugh, the one who's narrating this, and this is a round a thirteen or so year old that was a strong woman. Yeah, yeah, I did always there to defend Yeah, well she couldn't.

22:15 Speaker 1: She couldn't defend him from what comes next, which is falling into the lake. They're a small pond, both of them. Actually this this thing maybe the strike or something. Yeah, they maybe that it was like smash cut. She's fallen into a.

22:32 Speaker 2: Pit of This is the Best Picture winner, by the way, Yes.

22:35 Speaker 1: It is in fact the Best Picture winner. Some would say it was a legacy Best Picture winner, but we'll get to that. For sure. We're gonna kill me. But no, Hugh falls into the water during the ice storm and that makes his legs not work.

22:52 Speaker 2: Can we just explain that I shouldn't.

22:54 Speaker 1: Explained that epithermia like it probably like he got.

23:01 Speaker 2: Yeah, he wasn't in there for whatever.

23:04 Speaker 1: He's a little boy. But yeah, a doctor shows in mind the author of this book lie true. It's like this happened to me. I couldn't walk, but a doctor shows up, and that doctor is like the most insane side character that I've seen. He's just like over acting for thirty seconds. It was crazy. I wish I could remember what exactly he said because I was watching this and I was like, oh, what do we doing? My screen bug into the cameras, cheating out. But yeah, he looks at me, he's like, you're never gonna walk again.

23:40 Speaker 1: And after he leaves the preacher again like he's involved with the sister, he looks at the kid. He's like, bro, you're gonna take that. Yeah, he's gonna let him tell you what to do.

23:51 Speaker 2: But I put.

23:52 Speaker 1: My legs, will work, put me legs? Yeah, oh no, Now he's the lucky yeah yeah. And then and then it's just more like rizzing between him and the sister. On Charad. Yeah, we kept to like it's it was the winter, now it's the spring. The mom starts to walk again because they've been like laying He's been in the window sill for months now, just reading. I guarantee that dude had a tan on.

24:18 Speaker 6: One but like a window pane, but Yeah, the mom starts to walk again, and the whole town comes to celebrate this.

24:31 Speaker 1: They're like, you.

24:33 Speaker 2: Best picture winner.

24:34 Speaker 1: Yeah. His brothers show up to this party to like rabble rows because they're still like mad about everything, and they call everyone sheep sheep.

24:46 Speaker 2: Why do I remember this?

24:48 Speaker 1: In Wales, that's considered flirting.

24:50 Speaker 4: Okay, someone I had to say, yeah, oh oh the priest's name was gruffed girl, like the founder of Wales.

25:02 Speaker 1: Yeah. The strike. The strike eventually breaks, but now there are sadly not enough jobs to go around. So two of the brothers go to America. Yea, they have a small this is really just and then it becomes the brutal coming of age movie where it's just like we're gonna get through this summary pretty quick, honestly, because it's just kind of stuff happens, just kind of happens in order. I loves to talk about a completely different talk about a completely different movie. And I'm not gonna let him get you.

25:33 Speaker 1: I'm gonna drag it out. Oh do you want to talk about how ebors Men's choir has chosen to sing for the It's like, really, is this a very important thing?

25:43 Speaker 2: Is?

25:45 Speaker 1: I will let you talk about this scene music was

25:53 Speaker 1: like eyes out just seeing. Yeah, I wrote, Hugh walks in a nice field. Oh, let's and is cute. He learns to walk again. Oh, yes, that's okay, that's actually why I wrote this. That makes more sense. No, he does learn to watch that. I didn't.

26:08 Speaker 3: The preacher like, yeah, brings him to this nice little glade and like yes.

26:12 Speaker 1: Like let's go, and he was all like but but my legs. Yeah, and then he starts wobbling and it's like watching a little like baby deer for the first time that that was actually legitimately cute. And then like I got how green was my valley mocked by Drew there?

26:29 Speaker 1: And then the preacher like totally evangelizes for second true Honestly, it was like it was a pretty religious movie.

26:37 Speaker 2: This is what you should believe in Jesus.

26:39 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, and then we then we are introduced to another preacher who is the worst. What's the difference?

26:48 Speaker 3: I think Deacon is a step below. My dad recently converted to Catholicism like JD. Vans, Yes, adult convert to Catholicism.

26:59 Speaker 1: Yes, exactly. Well, to be fair, my mom is also a Catholic, so he finally made the leap. But he did so did he eat the blood a large part of that As he plays golf with the deacon, I like, I think genuinely like that helped him. Like, this guy's pretty cool. Eat your bread. In fact, I think the body of Christ is it. I'm gonna like it here, we've been drinking enough. Why don't whatever you want?

27:30 Speaker 2: Then?

27:33 Speaker 1: Sorry to all the Catholics, because actually that's the most relexis this family.

27:39 Speaker 2: What are you saying? I interrupted?

27:42 Speaker 1: Sorry, I believe a step below an actual preacher and you can have like multiple deacons as part of a church. Well, this guy was a step below the preacher because he was an asshole. He was just really mean to this unwed woman. Yeah, that's it.

27:56 Speaker 2: He probably just wanted to hit Yeah, he knocked her up.

27:59 Speaker 1: And he's like, then finally the mind boss actually shows up resplendent with his top hat and and he's like his son Yeston and mister Peani over here. But his son, whose name is Yeston, wants to quote call upon a charad Like basically, he's like he saw her across the bar and he really dug her vibe. But then Gruffin's like the preachers like, damn, that sucks. But I'm pretty poor, so honestly you should do it, my gosh, which is kind of a messed up, kind of mess up. Yeah, and so she does marry the rich man.

28:49 Speaker 1: What this is like? What was it? This is like Wuthering Heights.

28:54 Speaker 2: Oh, I was comparing this movie to Wuthering Heights.

28:55 Speaker 1: I thought, Oh, I haven't seen it.

28:58 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's just like the setting. The setting first of.

29:03 Speaker 1: All, just like, look a smoky, smoky.

29:05 Speaker 2: Cobblestone, like the angles. It all looked like Wuthering Heights. But then also this lady has to get married to like a rich guy that she doesn't want to marry. There's parallels. Emerald Fanel has seen all the movies that we've watched.

29:16 Speaker 1: Probably I wonder which, like famous directors have watched every Best Picture winner.

29:22 Speaker 3: Well, I think the only thing missing is they want Hugh to watch a barn Man.

29:27 Speaker 1: No, I want to watch. If you're gonna make a Weathering Heights reference, I haven't seen it. How does it feel like? This is just a general Emerald Fanel. There a sudden violent sexual turn, and no bathwater was used in How Green was My Because they're dirty coal miners. But after on grad Mary's the rich Man for Money, we have a little I don't know if this's like an innerlude or whatever, but I did like this scene where Hugh goes to school. Grefa teaches Hugh algebra so he can go to the National School a bougie.

30:07 Speaker 1: His teachers like the war no reason, you get me sick.

30:22 Speaker 1: It's just like, what like for no reason? You know, It's like it's literally it's kind of like that stated parasite where he's like, I could smell the It's like that same vibe. He doesn't say he can smell him. Yeah, but you probably the cold probably could actually exactly. But yeah, like everyone's so mean to this kid.

30:44 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was so sad.

30:45 Speaker 1: Yeah, but Hugh gets into a justified fight with what I wrote down as a Stephen King bully, just like no reason. Just the worst people for no reason. But I do say this is the point in the movie where you meet the coolest character of all time because his name is Die Bando, which is a straight starlin. Yeah, that's legitimately a fan. The furtherrest, No, the pod racing scene in this movie is so cool. Yeah, but yeah, no, Die Bando teaches him how to box, which is kind of lit, to be honest, and then he punks his bully, Like they get into a fight and he punks his bully and honestly, the bully kind of respects the fight.

31:44 Speaker 1: A fight was so fun to watch. The fight was a lot of fun. And then he wins and the bully's like, honestly, I respect you. The teachers like I'm gonna whip you.

31:54 Speaker 2: The whole fight was very like why.

31:58 Speaker 1: They got a tiny box. I love the way they held their fists like lists, yeah, like brain mantises. Yeah, so funny. I mean it's like those old like you see anyone like old boxing That was the style of the time. Watching like a twelve year old do this is so much more fun. No, yeah, no, I completely agree. We have you do not want to endorse that we have our first. Honestly, I'm surprised it took so long in this movie for someone to actually die, because I was like, Okay, this would be a movie where it's like his brothers just get like picked off or something just like iron No for real, but like someone finally dies and it's ivor just one of the brothers.

32:39 Speaker 1: He dies in a mining accident, and then his wife goes into labor during that accident is kind of rough, and then she birth's a toddler for some reason, like that baby was way too old. It was like an old looking baby comes out of me, Like, yeah, wait, you.

32:58 Speaker 3: Forgot that unless this happenslater. But what happens after the fight? Oh, remind me, Dibando. Do you remember what Dibando does?

33:08 Speaker 2: Wait?

33:08 Speaker 1: What does he do? Die?

33:09 Speaker 3: Bando and his buddy see Hugh come back and he's all bloodied up from the or whatever, and so he's been like caned by his teacher.

33:17 Speaker 1: Oh I forget this. Dibando and his buddy decide, okay, I know what to do.

33:25 Speaker 3: Like all the brothers are like, we're gonna go do something. I can't believe I didn't write this down. This This was like Dido.

33:30 Speaker 1: Gets up, he pulls up to class the next day and just beats beats the snot out of this teacher, just like cleans his clock. Yeah, honestly, everything in the classroom at the school is actually very just. And it was like it was, oh my god, I thought, like at least twice I thought this teacher was dead. Yes, oh yes, because like they throw into like a wall break and then they're like they're like you got that, and he like his head moves like a millimeter and they're like, okay, good, this is you. Okay, okay, we were not to come to you Jedi minds.

34:15 Speaker 1: How green was neboo?

34:22 Speaker 2: Wait? This is why I do endorse gangs sometimes, you know, like if you're if you have a tiny one who can't defend himself, like a gang is so important.

34:32 Speaker 1: Yeah, everyone needs a die bando No. And it kind of felt like a scene from the Wire where it's like one school that's sort of like yeah, and then and then like Omar pulls up like.

34:42 Speaker 2: I want my circle to fucking die from me like that in your circle small, when your circle we.

34:48 Speaker 1: All crazy, I'm dimando.

34:53 Speaker 2: We all need a dimando.

34:55 Speaker 1: Yeah, so I did forget that. It was a great scene and that happens before board dies or something sometime around that time. It's a crazy thing that happens after his brother dies. Hugh Hugh is one like I'm couldn't school'ming go work in the mines because we need money. And two I'm gonna go to my sister in law and be like I can provide for you. She's so.

35:22 Speaker 2: Remember I don't remember that.

35:23 Speaker 1: Yeah, He's like I can because it's like a weird call back to the beginning. Who's like I knew I loved her when I first saw her. He's like, I will provide for you, and like my cousin or my nephew.

35:34 Speaker 2: Rather the kids yearned for the mines.

35:37 Speaker 1: But then we have a montage of him in the mind like little coal miner get up and like it was very Zoolander.

35:46 Speaker 2: I want him to do a gameplay of this in Minecraft where you get to be Hugh and like.

35:56 Speaker 1: DL of Hugh Green with my value on Ford mobs. Yeah, I do. Well. They were actually going to name Jack Black's character Hugh perfect before, but then they realized that not ever get the reference.

36:08 Speaker 2: Yeah well we would wouldn't have gotten it back then.

36:12 Speaker 1: But yeah, that this montage ends and all of the other brothers being laid off because I guess one thirteen year old is worth four Yeah true, Yeah for strapping wells. They're like, yeah, we'd rather pay the kids that are cheaper than pay for you who are experienced and had raises, etcetera, etcetera.

36:29 Speaker 2: I'd rather have one dollars than four quarters.

36:33 Speaker 1: This is like a dime.

36:35 Speaker 2: I'd rather have one dime than ten pennies.

36:39 Speaker 1: But then Agurad returns. She's without her husband and she wants to divvorce him. Scandal, and clearly it's because she wants to bone the preacher. Oh yeah, because her husband is in like South Africa.

36:54 Speaker 3: Yeah, which, yes, it's like in South Africa, which dude is a dude is a Now dude is like a like a colonial criminal.

37:02 Speaker 1: If that's the case.

37:03 Speaker 3: He's like he's like Elon Musk's ancestor, like if he's if he's.

37:07 Speaker 1: A mining barrier moving to South Africa. That's true. Actually, like we're just the I mean, yeah, laid it out. You heard it here first. Do you think his scene was diamond money?

37:20 Speaker 2: Yeah? I do think has seen this movie. I don't think he watches movies. I think he just charges.

37:27 Speaker 1: Yeah, but the Preacher leaves town because of the scandal that she wants to heal her bones. I mean I wrote it down. So now then after that we're pretty close to the movie being over. But the mine has another disaster where it blows up, and so they have a whole like scene of the mine very going up, lots of like employe like, lots of workplace disasters for these minds of like cabin and oh yeah totally and you know a shot while it was directed well like that, they send a crack squad down to get the dad who was crushed, which is sad.

38:08 Speaker 1: Donald Crisp, he was a scab till the end.

38:12 Speaker 2: He was kind of It was kind of funny the way he was like hanging out in the.

38:15 Speaker 1: It was like, I was like, how get out? Probably wondering.

38:23 Speaker 2: Okay, I was. I was wondering the same.

38:25 Speaker 1: Thing, like how A did they get him out? And how B did they get him out without his legs looking like a tube of tooth. Keep in mind again, the author of this book.

38:33 Speaker 2: Is a liar, and so was Donald Crisp.

38:39 Speaker 1: True, And then the movie.

38:42 Speaker 2: Sort ends best picture un of y'all?

38:46 Speaker 1: Okay, well it doesn't. Just okay, did you remember what the ending was? Some singing? I think?

38:52 Speaker 2: Okay, throughout it, I thought this was originally.

38:55 Speaker 3: They bring him up from the mind shaft, And.

39:00 Speaker 1: Though yes, that that was it was actually at the beginning it was like, is this a musical? Like no, I didn't pretty sure this isn't a musical, and then they greet each other by saying, She's like, it's a music.

39:13 Speaker 2: There was enough thing for me to consider it a musical.

39:15 Speaker 1: It was. It was annoying Welsh. I loved. It was to our eyes, we know, but that's a that's a summary of the movie.

39:28 Speaker 2: When you put it that way, Really not much happened more.

39:33 Speaker 1: It was just it was just a very classic coming of age story in granted a very different and novel setting that you don't see that much totally, So I think that that is something to appreciate. It has that john Ford sensibility of like he just loved tragedy. I think he was someone who just really came up through the depression and it really messed with him totally, which is like completely a valid thing to feel. But yeah, I mean you look at things like Stagecoach, Grapes of Wrath, How Green was My Valley, Like they're all very depressing.

40:06 Speaker 1: I think this is maybe my first john Ford movie. Me too.

40:09 Speaker 2: I didn't know who he was before this.

40:10 Speaker 3: Yeah, he's very iconic, very I've certainly heard and know of him, but weirdly, I alway saw him as a Western director.

40:17 Speaker 1: So it's funny that this. I know, it's like none of his westerns were really like I guess stage coaches up for multiple awards. But all right, now that we're done talking about how Green was My Valley, we're going to talk about the fourteenth Academy Awards. They were held on February twenty sixth, nineteen forty two, but they almost weren't held at all because in December of nineteen forty one, a little something called Pearl Harbor occurred, which is a psyche. Yeah, the movie came out, shattering the box office as well as the collective psyche of the American consciousness, but it is something that brought the krim reality of the war all too close.

40:58 Speaker 1: So additionally, in the enter world, Carol Lombard, a very popular actress at the time, also tragically died. She was selling war bonds in Indiana and her plane returning to Los Angeles crashed. Oh yeah, big Memoriam this year. You know who else is at Pearl Harbor? Yes, our friend from Apple, Yeah, from Cimarron. What our friend from a Cimarron is the Pearl Harbor. He was stuck at Pearl Harbor and he was like, guys, my one wish is you do the oscar. It's really important. I know people say it's just patting ourselves on the back, but now what than ever, we need to celebrate the ar.

41:46 Speaker 1: Yeah, he called he called in. We got a pineapple man on the ground at Pearl Harbor. He actually may not have come back from Pearl Harbor by the time of this OSCAR a long time, but anyway, the Pearl Harbor, as well as the death of Carol Lombard, was very much like a tragic one to two punch along with the general malaise of wartime. So there were discussions of cancelation for the specific oscars. Ultimately they were deferred, although there were attempts to kind of scale down the pomp and circumstance of the event to make it more palatable to the public.

42:19 Speaker 1: I think this was the one actually where Betty Davis, who was president of the Academy at the time, she was like, We're gonna host a big Oscars and sell tickets and give all the money to the Red Cross. The Academy was like non. Again to the recredit. They didn't make it a huge galla. They just had it in like a small theater. But yeah, that was a lot of discussion on like should we shouldn't we have this award ceremony, But they did. That's why we're talking about it. Our friend Joan Fontaine, who maybe should have won last year for Rebecca, she actually did win Best Actress this year for another Hitchcock performance, this one in the movie Suspicion.

42:54 Speaker 1: She was up against her sister Olivia de Haviland. Oh I know do Literally their sibling rivalry was on like full display for the night, which I wish.

43:06 Speaker 2: I was to be a fly on the head.

43:12 Speaker 1: But at the night, how green was My Valley was the big winner. It took Home Picture Director, Supporting Actor for Donald Crisp Cinematography and Art Directions, our Scottish King. Yeah, ladies and gents. So there there was important, some important competition in this year. So first we'll talk about the not so important competition. So we had Blossoms in the Dust, a biopic of a Texas orphan's rights advocate.

43:46 Speaker 2: Pass I'm an orphan.

43:49 Speaker 1: Fantasy romance Here Comes Mister Jordan, where a boxer who accidentally dies before his time is sent back to Earth where hijinks ensue smash. That sounds crazy actually reading the description was crazy for that one. It's It's Die Bando does Soul basically yeah, kind of another Deep South Betty Davis vehicle called The Little Foxes pass a biography of a minister called One Foot in Heaven just like a random Mints. There's another biopic of a World War One veteran, Alvin C. York called Sergeant York.

44:26 Speaker 2: Past John was World War One.

44:28 Speaker 1: Yeah, true. It was the Best Actor winner this year. We literally literally got a new war like, oh, we'll see, we'll see that soon. But then there was also I mentioned what Joan Fontaine won for Suspicion to Hitchcock Moviemah. Yeah, she was again playing a woman in a whirlwind marriage who has reason to believe her husband may have killed someone. Oh okay, yeah, get some new material, Alfred.

44:53 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm still smashing though.

44:54 Speaker 1: Yeah. So The Maltese Falcon was another nominee this year. Is a now legendary noir starring Humphrey Bogart and had a supporting turn by the incredible German character actor Peter Lare, though neither of the men were nominated smash It was also one of the quintessential uses of the mcguffin shout out MC. Yeah. Yeah, you know, fans of noir are probably mad about the lack of Oscar Love. But I haven't seen Maltese Falcon. I don't like the noir genre, so I'm gonna break it too. I have seen it. Yeah, I thought it was boring.

45:29 Speaker 1: Well, Alexis was saying the same thing. Like her sister, who we watched this movie with, was like, I don't really like them almost about it. Maybe it's because it's like the noir movie that It's like, I've kind of seen all the tropes already, so I just sort of was like, the only watch like who Framed Roger Rabbit? Yeah, the only reason I would watch it is because I do really like Peter Lare. Yeah, it's worth watching. It's just to know the definitive noir, perhaps to be in the conversation. Speaking of being in the conversation, the big one this year that did not win was Citizen Kane.

46:06 Speaker 1: It's a movie that was for decades considered the best movie of all time by the Sitan sound List. From nineteen sixty two to twenty twelve, so directed, written by and start in by Orson Wells, he became the first person ever to be nominated for all four of Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture as a producer and he was twenty six.

46:30 Speaker 2: What that ho old?

46:31 Speaker 1: I am yeah?

46:36 Speaker 2: Fuck, why did you have to say that?

46:38 Speaker 1: No, they called him a boy genius. Oh that's that's what they called me, a boy genius. To be fair, people, people back then were dying at like thirty five. It was a middle aged genius. It was well into his twilight years. Okay, fair, Yeah, but he did win Screenplay at the time, it was an achievement in and of itself because the movie was disappointing, I believe from a box office perspective. I'm sorry, I'm just thinking of a backroom style press cycle for Citizen Kane. Misteritison Kane Parsons.

47:18 Speaker 1: It's using the headshot for every article. Yeah. Literally, he's got the broccoli cut.

47:26 Speaker 2: Oh god.

47:27 Speaker 1: So history, I would say, has been incredibly kind of Kane. It is, I would say, very hard to imagine it, especially because he was just on the scene, winning this award against such a stalwart veterans such as Ford so early into Well's career. But I've forced everyone to watch or at least consider Citizen Kane before watching this movie, so I did his own FYC campaign. Yeah, but The Citizen Gang's a great movie. For those of you who hadn't seen it, will give you like the Nickel tour of the story it's about.

48:01 Speaker 1: It is, guess whose favorite movie Donald Trump's favorite Trump's favorite movie. Yeah, up there with Ryan Reynolds and that's that's a nightmare blood rotation

48:18 Speaker 1: f m K.

48:20 Speaker 3: Okay, No, that's for you, smasher pass.

48:24 Speaker 1: Okay.

48:25 Speaker 2: Well, I'm gonna Mary kill Cavalcade, Rebecca and Citizen Kane. I'm gonna get smart.

48:32 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the best way of going about this particular one.

48:37 Speaker 2: I'm gonna fuck Rebecca call me missus Danvers the way

48:46 Speaker 2: I'm gonna marry, I'll marry Citizen Kane and I'll kill Cavalcade.

48:52 Speaker 1: Okay, wowna makes sense now, that all makes sense. But yes, Citizen Kane is about someone who comes into a huge fortune at very young age, becomes a media magnet again also at a very young age, and his life. It starts off with spoiler alert him dying and people trying to figure out the meaning of the last words that he said, which is the word Rosebud. You find out by the end of the movie, through a series of say, like interviews with people who knew him had passed ways with him along the way that actually, I don't think the world in the movie actually ever realizes this.

49:31 Speaker 1: It's just the audience learned that Rosebud was the name of the sled that he was sledding on when he was taken away from his parents, So it was like, you know, it was kind of like before he became who he was. It was his last tim thinking of his sad missed life that he had. Citizen King, I would say, is very notable for its use of camera work in different styles and things that were incredibly innovative at the time. So it was a very different style of movie. I would say the it's still a very modern movie.

50:01 Speaker 1: I've always liked watching it. The first time I watched it, I was like, Oh, I get it. Second time I watched it, I was like, I kind of see the flaws and the cracks in the movie a little bit. I don't think it's a perfect movie by any means. I wouldn't say it's necessarily like the best movie of all time, but I see why it held it for so long, because it's honestly a very populist movie. It's very like you can understand it, I think, very easily. And it's exciting. Yes, and it's like a surprisingly not stodgy movie for like the time frame and the type of movie that it is.

50:33 Speaker 1: It's very fun. But I'm a big fan of Sinson Kane rewatched it recently. It's good.

50:39 Speaker 2: I watched it for the first time because Adam made me. I did Citizen Lane. I just felt like a cinephile ass movie. Adam, It's fair from my perspective. Again, let us let it be known. Guardians of the Galazy Volume two is my favorite movie. Yes, outside of Inglorious Bastards, it's Guardians of the Galaxy Volume two. Okay. It just felt like it was like a director, it was a cinematographer, a production designer, and like a sound engineer, all just kind of being like, what's the absolute most we can do?

51:13 Speaker 1: Yeah, and it is sort of a maximalist movie.

51:16 Speaker 2: It is, And I was like, I don't know why I care about this guy. Like the beginning was really slow and then it was just this dude who was like just buying more rooms to get miserable in like bigger and bigger rooms to be all like in his fields, and I'm just like, I don't know, I just didn't care about him.

51:34 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was really long interesting. I'm actually super curious your thoughts related to how Green was my Valley. I've seen Citizen K, You've seen just In King's pretty decent. I like it.

51:47 Speaker 3: I don't think it's like I see what I will get into this, but I see why it was the most popular movie for so long. I do think it's one of those movies that also became so popular and was at the top of the list for so long that people who haven't even seen it.

52:01 Speaker 1: Kept saying it was their favorite movie.

52:02 Speaker 3: Like, don' I think literally that is the case for something like that is like like he just googled, like best movie literally.

52:09 Speaker 1: For a couple of generations. Although I think like that is a narrative you can't say, but like I can also comple completely see I believe I probably saw it. Yeah, but you can see why he would like it sort of snowball into this phenomenon where it was like it is the best movie, like we just know it is. Well, it's kind of like the whole thing with like Shawshank Redemption being number one on like IMDb's best movie list, which I think is like, whack I thought it was. I wasn't.

52:33 Speaker 2: I didn't care for that movie.

52:34 Speaker 1: I think it's perfect. I agree with those I think neither of those are like top two hundred best movies. But at the end of the day, like you're never gonna find something that's like, oh, this is number one and everyone agrees on it, which is crazy that they agree. Came for so long. Yeah, totally is Citizen Cannis Smasher pass? I guess you did.

52:53 Speaker 2: I'm passing?

52:54 Speaker 1: Well, did I say only because of only because caval Kid was right there?

52:58 Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, I will. I'm mayor yeah, which means I'm always smashing Yeah, Rebecca, Rebecca, Yes, I'm taking a pass on Citizen Kane.

53:09 Speaker 1: This is interesting. I think this is more tepid response to Citizen Kane than the average cinephile, but which I think is great. I'm very curious what you guys think about it, or I guess any other movie, or just in relation to itself, what do you think of How Green was my Valley winning Best Picture.

53:26 Speaker 2: I'm like, that must have been a tough year for movies because it's not a best picture to me.

53:32 Speaker 1: Yeah, like I can.

53:33 Speaker 2: I appreciate Citizen Kane for what it was. There were some amazing shots. The sound was really cool. Like all the things I was saying earlier, there were some things that I really appreciated about it. It's hard because I cared more about the story of How Green was My Valley? There was more like it felt way more human to me, which I want stories more like that. But it's hard.

53:54 Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know.

53:55 Speaker 2: I'm torn. It's weird.

53:57 Speaker 1: I think the wind was completely justified. Yeah, over Citizen Kane too. Over Citizen Kane. I love that you're staking your flag on. I am a, I'm a, I'm a.

54:08 Speaker 3: I got a green thumb and it's a it's and it's and it's two thumbs up. It's two green thumbs up for How Green was My Valley? Too coal covered green to cover them. Yeah, no, I I will say this. I will say this one. I like them movie better. I will say too, I understand why it probably wins over specifically Citizen Kane.

54:29 Speaker 1: I completely agree. I like, would I pick Citizen Kane over How Green Was My Valley? Yeah? Probably would I In nineteen forty one pick like an upstart director over like one of the most at the time iconic directors of all time. There is probably not there's that element. But also story wise, I think how Green was My Valley is speaking more to an older generation, yeah, older, an older style of life, literally the old country. It is a story set in Europe, It is about the It is a populous movie in its own way where it's speaking about the lower classes, the working class, and it is telling it from their perspective, and it speaks more to that depression era, like oh now, it is of the time.

55:17 Speaker 1: And I think I enjoyed rewatching Citizen Kane in the context of watching so many of these older movies in like preparation of this podcast, because Kane feels so different.

55:27 Speaker 3: Citizen Kane is the reason it probably is was considered for so long the movie like the best movie all time was It is a type that is a movie that defines the next several decades.

55:38 Speaker 1: Yes, I think come the.

55:40 Speaker 3: Fifties and the eighties like that is a movie that speaks to a very particular type of man and specifically a very American ethos.

55:48 Speaker 1: I have I have a thought, and I'm very curious this is probably a crazy take. Yeah. Good. Do you think in fifty years odd that get Out will be talked about like Citizen Kane was? I hope.

56:03 Speaker 2: So. I love get Out interesting.

56:06 Speaker 1: Because I think there are some interesting perils where it's like that comes onto the scene. It's very change everything when screenplay. Would it have ever one picture at the time? No, will people look back on it and say, like that was It's definitely the same.

56:23 Speaker 2: I think.

56:23 Speaker 1: I think it's an interesting I think it's an interesting because that's actually honestly, watching these two reminded me of that that was the ear Shape of Water one, which is actually a movie that I adore. So we'll get into that later. But I think there's a very interesting thing there. I'm very curious to see what especially get Out legacy will be, say fifty years from now.

56:43 Speaker 2: I love that.

56:43 Speaker 1: It's a good thing.

56:44 Speaker 2: Yeah, get Out was unlike anything I had seen before, Like Jordan Peel.

56:49 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean the influences is crazy, and I like what you said herew It is like something that defines the next decades. Obviously, it's hard to say whether something will define the next decades, not.

56:58 Speaker 3: Even just like within the terms of film, but like literally like in terms of the like even at a political level, like the definitive man or person of the Basically the rest of the twentieth century is Citizen Kane. Like, this is an American century now, it is not a British century. The previous century was a British European century. This is the American century. And Citizen Kane is the movie that speaks that because it was, you know, one of the first to get its.

57:24 Speaker 1: Way in the door.

57:25 Speaker 3: It's kind of the one that like they all are like mimicking your your scarfaces, you're at.

57:30 Speaker 1: Your Wolf of ball Street. You don't get Jordan Belfare without exactly exactly you know what's so funny? Like I trapped Drew into talking a lot about Yes, I had a lot more fun watching How Green Was My Valley? And I think I did when I watched Citizen Kane. That is so interesting. I think How Green Is My Valley speaks to a lot more of the films that I like.

57:55 Speaker 2: It is.

57:55 Speaker 3: It is a little bit more of like it's not fully like realism, but it is would you do like Sean Baker exactly? It's a this is a proto Sean Baker movie. It's a it's about it's about it's very like Slice of Life. There's no like very straightforward the you know plot, it's about like definitive moments and so.

58:12 Speaker 1: You like voiceover. I don't love. I actually hate voiceover so much.

58:15 Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just thinking about Jordan notes fine, I was just thinking about Jordan Peel. How you said like he kind of started a whole thing or it was very influential. I feel like he was the first time, at least for me, where I heard of like a sketch comedian going into horror, which I feel like a lot of people now are doing, which I don't know if that existed before him. I'm sure maybe it did, but I feel like he was the first one where everyone's like, wait, the guy from Keyan Peel is doing horror, and now it's like the guy from YouTube shorts.

58:42 Speaker 1: You know, it was kind of the first time that people to tell in a way publicly acknowledged or really like a collective consciousness acknowledged the similarities between horror and comedy.

58:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, yes, which has always been there, but I think you're right. And then it's like now it's laid out pretty like Yeah, obviously for even the people within the industry that like, this is a this is a roadmap, right?

59:05 Speaker 1: Well that was that was very fun. I have a little brain rot before we get to the final verdict. This was inspired by I would love to shout out my sister in law, Christiana. She inspired me to think of this brain rock question, which is, how would our main characters fair in the Hunger Games? Since they are from District twelve.

59:25 Speaker 2: Shout out Christiana, thank you for the question how they fair? That? Okay, so obviously he was rue.

59:32 Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say, let's say, Hugh and Angarad they're put in the Hunger Games? How do they do? Those are very Hunger Games names. They actually are. I've never seen Hunger Games? So okay, Well, the the you take this one, Catnus comes from essentially like the coal mining. Yeah, I know I know enough where I get what you're saying, but I can't speak to them. You can still, you can still vamp on it.

59:56 Speaker 2: I want to know who is Peta who like because he's so good, he's so good at baking cakes, he can so silly camouflage himself.

1:00:06 Speaker 1: In the wilder say that Hugh and angert are the ones who are put into the Hunger Game. So how do you do they die like immediately or are they scrappy?

1:00:15 Speaker 2: I think I think is totally winning. I think she has Cat in his vibes for sure. I think Hugh dies a tragic death.

1:00:25 Speaker 1: Like do you think she's able to save him for a while?

1:00:28 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that she'll take him under his They're like, wait.

1:00:30 Speaker 1: That can't walk?

1:00:31 Speaker 2: Yeah, get the dead way?

1:00:38 Speaker 1: You forgot igot? You can box that. That is actually a really good point. There's probably a great scene he can't box the does that die bando? Woody Harrelson, that's so that's a sponsor or whatever. Wow, we get his tragic backstory. You excited for Sunrise.

1:00:58 Speaker 2: On the Why it is that the one with Rachel Ziegler.

1:01:02 Speaker 1: No, that's one that's coming out in November. It's about it's about Woody Harrelson's characters Hunger Games. Shut up. The book is really good. Oh fuck, you should read it.

1:01:11 Speaker 2: I should. I've read. I think I read.

1:01:12 Speaker 1: And the trailer. The trailer is very good for the new movie.

1:01:16 Speaker 2: Okay, I'm excited, but.

1:01:19 Speaker 1: We think you think's got a good shot out. I think just like against like the kids, from London. She is winning against Donald Crisp, but lies about his heritage the lower cast, blue collar COSBLA. All right, well that was fun. I think this is going to be a very very interesting final rating and verdict from the crew. That's a very different Should we let Drew start or should we end with Drew? What do you think is gonna be more fun for him?

1:01:54 Speaker 2: Oh? Really, let's start with Drew.

1:01:55 Speaker 1: You never start, You've made me start the last like ten. Remember this is a four. At least there's a four four in a heart for you always say in a heart that's a four point twenty five. Well, I really enjoyed it in a heart. I really enjoyed it. Honestly got a kick out of it. It's a very interesting setting, kind of in my lane in terms of like stuff that I like watching, just an older version of that, and honestly, so many dumb parts that I cannot get out of my head. The teacher getting just knocked out by bandoh, like, just so many scenes that are just like, wait, I don't know.

1:02:38 Speaker 1: I enjoyed it. I had fun watching this. Yeah, I'm that's awesome. I'll not be for you, and it's better than Citizen King.

1:02:47 Speaker 2: Okay, I'm gonna give it two Okay, I thought it. I thought it was I thought it was a musical at first, and that was pissing me the funk off. I think it could have been shorter. There was just like so much dragging out of the imagery and it's like we get it pretty shot, Like we get it, dude, you know how to do that. But yeah, I just was like, it's kind of like we went over the plot and I'm like, what really happened? I didn't really feel connected. There were the parts that I thought were funny, like the basically killing the teacher, but overall, I'm like, I feel like if it was in any other best picture from like maybe previous years, it would have lost.

1:03:25 Speaker 2: I don't know, but I like competition must not have been tough, and I do feel like Citizen Kane maybe should have won, but I see why it didn't.

1:03:36 Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's two stars, two stars, two stars. I feel the same way about how great is My Valley that you Drew felt about Rebecca. I'm giving it a three, three different reviews. Yes, call me Anakin Skywalker by the way, I bring balance to the forest, but no, I I did find it broadly very slow, and it's it's not the kind of thing that I love, but I think it's very competently made. The acting is solid, the cinematography is quite good. I was a little bored by a lot of this stuff, especially in the beginning.

1:04:13 Speaker 1: I think, like the school stuff is very fun. When it gets there, it's a lot of like building up to that point. Again, it has a lot to say about things like unions and such, and again the setting was very cool. I always appreciate that, but it was just to me, it felt like this is a movie. Yeah, to use your parlance, Drew, but this is something that I'm glad that I watched. Now I have an opinion on. I feel the same way. It's like I would have given my vote to Citizen Kane. I haven't watched any of the other movies that were up this year, but you make a great point for why something like this one in the time that it did, and I think that's completely reasonable.

1:04:54 Speaker 1: John Ford was such a legend. It felt like he had near misses with Stagecoach and Grapes of Wrath was probably their way of really departed basically kind of Yeah, I think like that's certainly possible. And in a way, you know, is it a shame that how Greens my Valley cannot be mentioned without being like, well, Citizen Kane lost that year because I think it's funny like reading like reading the context of it. Again, he was just so young, he was twenty six. He was fresh on the scene in an academy that was like stodgy.

1:05:25 Speaker 1: They don't do that, They barely do that now.

1:05:28 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, well, and I think to your point too, but when you talk about the tone of that year in particular, I think a little bit more of this, like, you know, there's war.

1:05:37 Speaker 1: Happening in Europe, Like let's let's remember.

1:05:40 Speaker 3: The good old days before before the Continental Era, before it was before it was all torn apart.

1:05:47 Speaker 1: And we lost our innocents, et cetera. Like there's a little bit more of that. I don't think Citizen Kane really is like it's so American, it's so Americana, and it seems a little too like it just seems like a little tone deaf. Maybe at the time, Well, I think like they hated Orson Wells. I think the Academy did not like arsen Well's he spoke out against like studio financiers, and so they were said they were like worthless. Yeah, so I think I think he like even maybe I think I read this he got like booed when he got when he won Best Screenplay.

1:06:20 Speaker 2: Orson Wells was an author who is.

1:06:21 Speaker 1: That the director and the writer. He actually came up in radio before a Citizen Kane. You're thinking of HD Wells who did the time Machine. Yeah, Orsenell's was the guy you saw the Citizen Kaneka, who who again was twenty six and he looked like a rough twenty six just because I think everyone looked like me. What about me?

1:06:39 Speaker 2: Am I rough?

1:06:47 Speaker 1: But I think they You also make a really good point, drew this and I mentioned it last week, But the European streak that the Academy goes on following Gone with the Wind is crazy to me.

1:06:59 Speaker 2: What I of the American movies call me a boomer, But like we'll get there, let's keep it in.

1:07:06 Speaker 3: But like European like sentimental sentimentalism is like on a high around this time, totally.

1:07:12 Speaker 1: Totally and it's it's interesting to see like how it is reflected in the world right now. But join us next week to really continue that streak as we dust off our British accents with Missus Miniver, a story about a British family struggling during the first months of the Second World War, really the first year, because you know, they couldn't call it cavalcade two. Oh God,