EP 470: Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and Turner Classic Movies' Ben Mankiewicz
Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz talk about TCM's new podcast The Plot Thickens: I'm Still Peter Bogdanovich. Ben reveals that he was initially nervous to meet Peter because of a longstanding controversy involving Ben’s grandfather, Orson Welles, and Citizen Kane. Peter shares stories about his friendships with Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, John Ford, and many others, and how their advice kept him from making some rookie mistakes when he eventually got to sit in the director's chair himself. He remembers making his first movie for Roger Corman with horror icon Boris Karloff, how he tricked the government of Singapore into letting him film the movie Saint Jack, and the scene that earned a 9-year-old Tatum O’Neal an Oscar for Paper Moon...but only after 2 days of shooting and 25 grueling takes! Peter discusses envy and success in Hollywood, his relationships with Cybill Shepherd and Dorothy Stratten, and how he managed to finish his favorite film They All Laughed in the wake of Stratten’s tragic murder. Then Ben Mankiewicz talks about the films of Edward G. Robinson, the passion that his fans have for Turner Classic Movies and the films of Hollywood’s Golden Age, and why he hopes (and indeed predicts) that moviegoers will eventually return to theaters when the Coronavirus finally subsides. Plus Peter does impressions of everyone from Cary Grant to Jimmy Stewart, recalls some of the famous movies that he turned down, and the time he got his ass kicked by the real Hell’s Angels on set!
Subscribe to The Plot Thickens: I’m Still Peter Bogdanovich on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more at www.theplotthickens.tcm.com. Follow Ben Mankiewicz on twitter at @BenMank77 and see him host some of the greatest films of all time every week on Turner Classic Movies. While you're at it, go back and watch some of Peter Bogdanovich's terrific films starting with my personal favorites The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon, What’s Up Doc, They All Laughed, and Saint Jack.
Today's episode was sponsored by Black Rifle Coffee Company and Demand Justice. Black Rifle Coffee Company sells delicious premium roast-to-order coffee, employs 200 Veterans, and donates tens of thousands of bags of coffee to troops overseas and medical workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Go to www.blackriflecoffee.com/kick to order and use promo code KICK for 20% off. Demand Justice is fighting the politicization of the Supreme Court and protect every American's right to vote in the 2020 Election. Visit www.demandjustice.org/kick to learn more and support voting rights.