288 – Up the Sandbox (with Jordan Hoffman) (70s Spectacular – 1972)

This Had Oscar Buzz

The 70s Spectacular is dancing as fast as it can! And we’re spinning right into 1972 with one of the decade’s biggest stars, the one and only Barbra Streisand, and joining us is one of her superfans, writer Jordan Hoffman. This year saw the first films of First Artists, a production company that intended to give more power to stars to create their passion projects the studios wouldn’t touch. Streisand’s first effort with the company was Up the Sandbox, a timely satire that cast the legend as a housewife faced with a third pregnancy, who retreats into her wild and often politically charged fantasies. Indifference from audiences and the industry made this one of Streisand’s rare flops.

This episode, we talk about our love for Barbra and this legendary Oscar year that pit Cabaret against The Godfather. We also talk about the film’s bizarre fantasy sequences, how it exists as a product of a specific moment in time, and cinematographer Gordon Willis’ shockingly slim Oscar history.

Topics also include Paul Zindel books, Harry And Walter Go To New York, and Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure.

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