Tipping My Fedora

47. THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970) with Steve Hunt

Sergio is joined by Steve Hunt to discuss Dario Argento's classic giallo, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, and its uncredited basis in Fredric Brown's exceptional 1949 Noir mystery novel, The Screaming Mimi. 

Steve Hunt is the host of the superb Boxing Movie Podcast and author of, Heavyweight Title Fights of the 1980s: A Complete History.

To listen to Steve's podcast, please visit: https://boxingmoviepodcast.alitu.com/

You can find his homepage at this link: https://www.stevehuntboxing.com/

Steve's book, Heavyweight Title Fights of the 1980s: A Complete History, is now available in paperback and on Kindle from Amazon in the UK (https://shorturl.at/h02Bc) and from McFarland (https://shorturl.at/8i5ll) in the US.

46. MANTRAP (1953) with Steve Rogers of Hammer Films

Terence Fisher's 1953 whodunit, MANTRAP (US title: Man in Hiding), starring Lois Maxwell, Paul Henreid and Kay Kendall, is the latest thriller from the vaults of Hammer Films to be restored and released in a deluxe edition. Sergio is joined by Steve Rogers, of Hammer Archive & Product Development, to discuss the latest in the company's range of dual 4K UHD / Blu-ray sets. 

For more information about the release, visit the Hammer Films homepage: hammerfilms.com/products/mantrap-limited-collectors-edition

45. BURIED ABOVE GROUND, with author Mike Ripley

Today I am joined by crime author, critic, historian and archaeologist, Mike Ripley, to talk about his latest novel, BURIED ABOVE GROUND, which has just been published in paperback. A witty and clever mystery about the crime fiction industry, I quiz Mike about the sources of his inspiration and try to figure out just how realistic a depiction of the book trade this actually is. For more details about Mike and his novels, visit the official Severn House page: https://severnhouse.com/authors/mike-ripley/ 

44. CASINO ROYALE (1954), with Professor James Chapman

Sergio is joined by Professor James Chapman, author of Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, to look at the first 007 adaptation, the 1954 TV version of CASINO ROYALE, as well as the 1967 spoof and the 2006 Daniel Craig reboot. We then speculate about the future of the franchise under Amazon after 25 movies, wholly or partly, all overseen by the Broccoli family.

To find out more about James and his many publications, please visit his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Chapman_(media_historian)

43. The novels of Ross Macdonald, with Moira Redmond

Sergio is joined by Moira Redmond, she of the mighty Clothes in Books blog, to celebrate the work of Ross Macdonald, creator of PI Lew Archer and for many the natural successor to Hammett and Chandler. We look at his books, his life with his wife, celebrated mystery author Margaret Millar, and some of the films based on his novels including HARPER (1966) and THE DROWNING POOL (1975). both starring Paul Newman, and the TV Movie THE UNDERGROUND MAN (1974) featuring Peter Graves as Archer.

Here is a complete list of the Archer novels in publication order:

1. The Moving Target (1949)

2. The Drowning Pool (1950)

3. The Way Some People Die (1951)

4. The Ivory Grin (1952)

5. Find a Victim (1954)

6. The Barbarous Coast (1956)

7. The Doomsters (1958)

8. The Galton Case (1959)

9. The Wycherly Woman (1961)

10. The Zebra-Striped Hearse (1962)

11. The Chill (1964)

12. The Far Side of the Dollar (1965)

13. Black Money (1966)

14. The Instant Enemy (1968)

15. The Goodbye Look (1969)

16. The Underground Man (1971)

17. Sleeping Beauty (1973)

18. The Blue Hammer (1976)

42. Radio Noir: Sam Spade on the Air

Sam Spade, the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, first appeared Black Mask magazine before publication in book form in 1930. Despite being an instant success, Hammett never wrote another book about his ultra hardboiled PI, though he did appear again in three short stories published in 1932. Between 1931 and 1941, as discussed with Mark Dillon on the last episode of Fedora, Warner Bros released three films based on the novel, with a different actor playing the main role each time. However, it was on radio that Spade had his most consistent success. The Adventures of Sam Spade, as the half-hour show was called, made its debut on 12 July 1946, starring Howard Duff as Spade and Lurene Tuttle as his secretary, Effie Perrine. The show moved from ABC to CBS and then NBC, running for a total of 245 episodes. On top of that, Duff and Tuttle reprised their roles in a special 1-hour episode of Suspense, in which Sam Spade briefly met Philip Marlowe (as played by host Robert Montgomery). That episode is presented here in its entirety. 

Suspense / The Kandy Tooth Caper (CBS, 10 January 1948) Written by Bob Tallman and Jo Eisinger; Director: William Speir; Cast: Robert Montgomery (series host / Philip Marlowe), Howard Duff (Sam Spade), Lurene Tuttle (Effie Perrine), Joe Kearns (Casper Gutman), Cathy Lewis (Hope Laverne), Wally Maher (Lawrence Laverne), Jay Novello (Joel Cairo), Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. Julius), Jack Edwards, Jr. (Herman Julius / mortuary attendant), Sidney Miller (documentary narrator), Hans Conried (Marvin / Don Constantino), Bill Johnstone (Lieutenant Dundy).

41. THE MALTESE FALCON, with Mark Dillon

Today’s podcast is devoted to THE MALTESE FALCON, the classic novel by Dashiell Hammett and its various film versions including the classic Humphrey Bogart version from 1941 and the two lesser-known adaptations that preceded it.

My guest is Mark Dillon, the award-winning Toronto-based journalist specializing in film, TV and pop music. He is a former editor of Playback, the business publication for the Canadian media industries, and to which he still contributes. He has been writing for Hollywood magazine American Cinematographer for more than 25 years. He is author of Fifty Sides of The Beach Boys, chronicling America’s band, and co-hosts the (non-noir) podcast Surf’s Up: A Beach Boys Podcast Safari: https://soundcloud.com/user-93394161

40. BLADE RUNNER (1982), with Ayesha Khan

Today I am joined by Ayesha Khan - host of the prizewinning podcast, Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* (www.everyscififilm.com/) - to talk about one of our favourite movies, Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER (1982). In addition we will also look at its sequel, Denis Villeneuve's BLADE RUNNER 2049 and Philip K. Dick's original source novel, Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? 

In the podcast we mention Film Noir Bingo, created by Todd Downing - you can follow him at www.todddowning.com.

You can follow Ayesha at www.everyscififilm.com and listen to her podcast Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* on all major platforms.