Ep. 63: Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo with Joseph McBride

Flixwise Podcast

On today's show, it's time for a good ole fashioned bro-down. For the 63rd entry on the Sight and Sound International Critics' Poll we have Howard Hawks' 1959 Classic Western/Hang-Out Movie, Rio Bravo. On hand to share his analysis and personal anecdotes from his encounters with the director is film historian and author of the book Hawks on Hawks, Professor Joseph McBride. McBride joins host, Lady P, for a discussion on what makes Rio Bravo the quintessential Hawks film. They also discuss the various performances, including the unintuitive pairing of the Duke persona and the overly loquacious Hawksian leading man, Dean Martin's unvarnished rendering of alcoholism, and the star turns by a young Angie Dickinson and the not-so-young Walter Brennan. They also talk about why Hawks chose to remake his masterpiece twice an whether either of the later versions hold up to the original.

For our second topic, since Joe McBride is a noted Orson Welles expert we had him come and talk about the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of The Other Side of the Wind. Listeners will recall that McBride has previously talked about Welles notorious final unfinished masterpiece on this show. Historically these discussions have ended in a lament that this film will likely never be completed, much less made available for public. However, now that Netflix has kicked in the funds to see this project through to fruition, it seems the impossible may actually happen - we might actually get a chance to see this thing.

On this segment, McBride talks about his long history with this film, which includes both acting in it and eventually producing it, and he also talks about the various reasons for the long delay, and how optimistic he is that the project will finally make to your local theatre.

Finally, we close things out with an update on McBride's recent works, including the publishing of a book collection of his critical and historical pieces called Two Cheers For Hollywood: Joseph McBride on Movies. Plus, Joe offers an update on his soon to be published book on famed German director Ernst Lubitsch. Stay tuned for further details!