Episode 5 - Shocked ... Shocked

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The 1947 French press kit for Casablanca.

Another show, another guest whose appearance was years in the making. I’m happy to welcome my former film professor at Indiana Barbara Klinger to the show to discuss her most recent book, Immortal Films, which is about the enduring legacy of Casablanca over the decades since its release in 1942.

We start with the film’s origins, design to encourage and support US involvement in WW II, its release timed to coincide with the Allies’ campaign in North Africa, which obviously includes Morocco, where Casablanca takes place.

There’s also talk about its popularity over the years since its release, including radio adaptations right after its release, its rotation for years on television, the burgeoning home video marker in the 1980s and how it became popular as a revival picture with audience participation years before the Rin ocky Horror Picture Show and sing along films in modern times. We even discuss the two failed attempts at making a Casablanca TV show, including the early 1980s version with David Soul as Rick, Scatman Crothers as Sam and a young Ray Liotta as the bartender.

As you might expect, there’s also plenty of talk about Casablanca and metatext, from the adoption of Bogart as an icon in the French New Wave, Woody Allen’s play and later film Play It Again, Sam and those famous scenes you know showing up in places like The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live or even young Gilbert Gottfried’s early stand-up where he did Jackie Gleason as Bogart at the end of the film: “You know that I know that you’re getting on that plane.”

There’s also some chat about various of film topics, including the perils of list making, the role of porn and wrestling in the advancement of new media formats, Alfred Hitchcock, the Harry Lime radio show, Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead, Citizen Kane and more.

I probably haven’t talked to Barb in person for over 30 years so it was a great change to catch up and discuss her book, which you can find in all the usual places you get your reading material.

Also, if you go back in the Winter Palace archives, you can find my chat in episode 63 with my other film professor James Naremore, where we discuss Chimes at Midnight and other things Orson Welles.

Episode 4 - World in Motion

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Reading The Blizzard in, well, not a Blizzard but a Snowstorm, in 2016.

It’s time for another bucket list guest, after years of on-again, off-again attempts, I’m happy to welcome polymath/head in a har Jonathan Wilson (@jonawils) to the podcast.

Of course, Jonathan has a new book to discuss and this time around, it’s The Power and the Glory, a history of the World Cup. We talk about a number of the World Cups, including France 38, Mexico 70 and Mexico 86, USA 94 and the upcoming tournament this year in Canada, the USA and Mexico. We discuss how politics has always been a part of the event and how to balance the ethics of attending this year’s matches versus wanting to see a World Cup match an hour from your house.

There’s also chat about popular culture and the World Cup, including Fassbender’s The Marriage of Maria Braun, Miracle of Bern and the not-yet-released in the USA, Saipan, about the Mick McCarthy/Roy Keane showdown in the Ireland team at the 2002 World Cup.

We also discuss soccer in the US, the early success of the sport in the 1920s, the NASL, college soccer and I sneak in a plug for the MISL and the Baltimore Blast.

There’s also time to discuss many of Jonathan’s projects, including the Blizzard magazine, Guardian Football Weekly and the now-approaching 100 episodes Libero Podcast and how it got started and where it will be moving forward.

We end the show on an odd note, as I wanted to chat to noted Detective devotee Wilson about some Victorian and Edwardian detectives like Dr. John Thorndyke and Max Carrados, but Johnathan did not know them. Hopefully, some of the links I passed along after the show may give him an appreciation.

Episode 3 - California Rockabilly

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Johnny Legend and friends from his mid-1980s Rock ‘n’ Roll Wrestling VHS tape.

We welcome Kurt Brown back to the show to discuss the life and times of Johnny Legend, who passed away recently at the age of 77.

Not only was Kurt a long-time of Johnny, but he also wrestled for his Incredibly Strange Wrestling in the 1990s. Just what where those shows like, which featured such characters as Cletus the Fetus, the Abortionist, Ku Klux Klown and manager Harley Racist and Stacey Domina (Synn in Ohio Valley Wrestling).

This leads to a discussion of alternative/punk/meta wrestling companies, including Chikara, Inter Species Wrestling, Kaiju Big Battel and the precursor to them all, Argentina’s Titanes el en Ring.

We also talk about some of Johnny’s other wrestling other projects: the 1980s Rock ‘n’ Roll Wrestling VHS tape (chock full of Memphis music videos), writing the classic novelty song Pencil Neck Geek and helping create My Breakfast with Blassie, starring Fred Blassie and Andy Kaufman.

There’s plenty of other topics, including Johnny and Kurt’s mutual friend Eric Caiden from Hollywood Book and Poster (you can hear Kurt eulogize Eric way back in Winter Palace episode seven in 2015), going to see lucha in Tiajuana back in the day, the success of former Odessa Steps Magazine cover star Hechicero, Los Hernandez Brothers and lucha in Love and Rockets (see our article about that on the website, including a chat with Xaime Hernandez) and more.

It’s been a while since Kurt has been on the show, but we hope to have him again soon for more stories.

1 out 1 Sorcerers Prefer Odessa Steps Magazine. Hechiero shows off Odessa Steps Magazine in 2016.

Episode 2 - The Autumn Wind

Steve Williams, in Oklahoma uniform, prepares to launch himself at Jim Duggan.

A podcast years in the making finally gets recorded, albeit minus one of the proposed participants.

I’m joined by Mike Sempervive to discuss football-playing wrestlers and who had the most success in combining a collegiate and/or professional football with their exploits inside the ring. Some oustanding football players could not bring that sucess to the squared circle. Some football players became all-time grappling greats. But who was the best at combing the two.

Some caveats: This chat only is concerned with the territory era of the sport, so excludes early pioneers like Bronco Nagurski and post 1980s stars like The Rock, Bill Goldberg and competitors from the modern scene.

A sampling of the almost 100 names on the list for discussion include Ernie Ladd, Wahoo McDaniel, Dick the Bruiser, Wilbur Snyder, Angelo Mosca, Steve Williams, Jim Duggan, Lex Luger, Ron Simmons, JBL, Russ Francis and the 11 alumni from West Texas State, from Dory and Terry Funk to Ted DiBiase, Tully Blanchard and Tito Santana. Some of the names on the list may surprise you, since their football past was never part of their wrestling gimmick.

Which wrestlers’ football exploits were real and which were just works to enhance their reputation for toughness? Which football players could have been exceptional wrestlers had they given up the gridiron for the ring? These topics and more are in this episode.

NB: Hopefully this is the first of two shows on the topic and we can schedule our absent third man in the booth for a follow-up show.