Cover art for podcast You Must Remember This

You Must Remember This

235 EpisodesProduced by Karina LongworthWebsite

You Must Remember This is a storytelling podcast exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. It’s the brainchild and passion project of Karina Longworth (founder of Cinematical.com, former film critic for LA Weekly), who writes, narrates, records and edits each epis… read more

add rating

episodes iconAll Episodes

Farewell

February 22nd, 2024

0:39

An important message from RadioPublic

Introducing: Talking Pictures from TCM and Max

January 16th, 2024

49:40

Our first guest on Talking Pictures is writer director Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated, The Holiday). Recorded at her home, …

Eyes Wide Shut, Part 2, and the Sexiest Man Alive in 1999 (Erotic 90s, Part 21)

October 24th, 2023

1:30:10

In part 2 of the Eyes Wide Shut story, the movie is finally unveiled, and critics are divided on its quality, and the use of digital effects to evade …

Eyes Wide Shut, Part 1 (Erotic 90’s, Part 20)

October 17th, 2023

1:28:50

At the peak of their careers, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman left Hollywood for two years to collaborate with legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick on an …

90s Lolitas Volume 3: Wild Things, Cruel Intentions and Britney Spears (Erotic 90’s, Part 19)

October 10th, 2023

1:15:08

If Adrian Lyne’s Lolita became a case study of what Hollywood and America didn’t want to acknowledge about its sexualization of young girls, as the …

90’s Lolitas Volume 2: Adrian Lyne’s Lolita (Erotic 90’s, Part 18)

October 3rd, 2023

1:15:49

In the previous decade, Adrian Lyne had made two movies (Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal) that had grossed over $100 million in the US alone. With carte blanche to do whatever he wanted, he made an adaptation of …

The Lynch Family: Boxing Helena & Lost Highway (Erotic 90’s, Part 17)

September 26th, 2023

1:22:44

One of the most notorious – and least seen – erotic narrative films of the 90s, Boxing Helena was the misbegotten passion project of Jennifer Lynch, daughter of David Lynch. Four years after Boxing Helena, the elder …

Crash and David Cronenberg (Erotic 90’s, Part 16)

September 19th, 2023

1:27:40

One of the only high-profile NC-17 releases post-Showgirls, David Cronenberg’s Crash was the kind of dark adult art film that the rating was …

“Lesbian Chic”: Bound and Anne Heche in Wild Side (Erotic 90’s, Part 15)

September 12th, 2023

1:14:32

At the beginning of the 90s, lesbians were a punchline for a male-gaze-oriented media, an easy target for expressing the anxiety that women might not need men after all. By the middle of the decade, women-loving-women …

Introducing: Glitter & Might

August 25th, 2023

3:35

In Glitter & Might, a new series exploring the intersection of show business and politics, bestselling author Shawn Levy unpacks the story of Lew …

Showgirls, Jade, and the fall of Joe Eszterhas. (Erotic 90’s, Part 14)

June 27th, 2023

1:36:59

Joe Eszterhas’s tenure as the hottest screenwriter in town ended with two notorious 1995 flops: the NC-17 rated Showgirls (directed, like Basic …

The Last Seduction, Disclosure, & Fear of the Female Boss (Erotic 90’s, Part 13)

June 20th, 2023

1:16:18

The 90s were obsessed with what magazine writer Tad Friend would describe as “do me feminism” – and the attendant fear that men could be victims of …

Sliver and Sharon Stone as Superstar (Erotic 90’s, Part 12)

June 13th, 2023

1:21:42

Sharon Stone and Joe Eszterhas’s post-Basic Instinct reunion film was one of the most troubled productions of the 90s. A post-Hitchcock tale of …

Indecent Proposal (Erotic 90’s, Part 11)

June 6th, 2023

1:31:17

Are men okay? Several films from 1993 answered that question with a resounding no. One of the highest grossing movies of its year, Adrian Lyne’s Indecent Proposal was misunderstood as a gimmick, and its insight into …

Sex, Erotica and Body of Evidence (Erotic 90’s, Part 10)

May 30th, 2023

1:28:40

In the early 90s, Madonna was the biggest pop star in the world, and she used – and in the minds of some, squandered – her star capital to launch a …

Red Shoe Diaries and sex on TV in the 90s. (Erotic 90’s, Part 9)

May 23rd, 2023

1:09:46

While the MPAA’s confusing and hypocritical ratings decisions were leaving filmmakers flummoxed in the early 90s, cable TV was opening up new possibilities for erotic content. Today we will offer a brief history of sex …

90s Lolitas, volume 1: Drew Barrymore, Amy Fisher and Alicia Silverstone (Erotic 90’s, Part 8)

May 16th, 2023

1:27:41

Culture in the 90s was obsessed with the sex lives of teenagers. This is a theme we will come back to several times throughout the season. In this …

Murphy Brown, Dan Quayle and Damage (Erotic 90’s, Part 7)

May 9th, 2023

1:26:35

In the early 90s, one of the biggest scripted shows on TV was Murphy Brown, starring 40-something Candice Bergen as a product of the 60s whose high-powered career precluded marriage and family. When the character became …

Basic Instinct (Erotic 90’s, Part 6)

May 2nd, 2023

1:28:23

One of the biggest hits of 1992, Basic Instinct was sold as Michael Douglas’s return to Fatal Attraction territory, but its success owed to an …

The Blanks From Hell: Fatal Attraction’s Children (Erotic 90’s, Part 5)

April 25th, 2023

1:12:35

In the five years after the release of Fatal Attraction, Hollywood scrambled to make one movie after another about homes and workplaces invaded and …

Thelma & Louise (Erotic 90’s, Part 4)

April 18th, 2023

1:14:22

One of the most controversial movies of the 1990s, Thelma & Louise pushed every hot button of the new decade: date rape, sexual harassment, the failure of the feminist movement to create real change for the working …

Introducing This Little Light with Flea

April 13th, 2023

2:18

Hosted by Flea, founding member and bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, This Little Light is a podcast about falling in love with music. Flea interviews musical guests from all genres to discuss the teachers who …

“The actress everybody wants to fuck”: Theresa Russell and Sondra Locke (Erotic 90’s, Part 3)

April 11th, 2023

1:28:22

An enigmatic sex symbol dating back to the 70s, Theresa Russell made a play for Hollywood stardom in the late 80s and early 90s, making a number of …

Pretty Woman, Sleeping with the Enemy and Julia Roberts in the early 90s (Erotic 90’s, Part 2)

April 4th, 2023

1:13:20

The first blockbuster about sex of the 90s, Pretty Woman both reinvigorated Richard Gere’s career, and turned Julia Roberts into the biggest female …

Prologue: Porn, Feminism & the folly of NC-17 (Erotic 90’s, Part 1)

March 28th, 2023

1:29:14

Erotic 80s began with a prologue about the short lived heyday of the X rating, pornography, and feminism. Erotic 90s begins with a prologue about the …

1989: sex, lies and videotape: Rob Lowe and James Spader (Erotic 80s Part 12)

June 21st, 2022

1:43:04

American independent film is launched into the mainstream by Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies and videotape, starring James Spader as an impotent man who gets off on filming women talking about sex. Videotape also plays a …

1988: Kevin Costner, Sean Young, No Way Out & Bull Durham (Erotic 80s Part 11)

June 14th, 2022

1:23:51

The 1988 baseball blockbuster Bull Durham confirms Kevin Costner as the ultimate squeaky-clean, all-American heartthrob, building on a sexual persona …

1987: Fatal Attraction and Dirty Dancing (Erotic 80s Part 10)

June 7th, 2022

1:22:55

The erotic thriller goes commercially mainstream with Fatal Attraction, a film which starts a national conversation about whether or not women can “have it all” – “it all” meaning both careers and marriage. Is Fatal …

1986: 9 ½ Weeks, Mickey Rourke & Zalman King (Erotic 80s Part 9)

May 31st, 2022

1:23:01

Billed as the hottest Hollywood film since Last Tango, 9 ½ Weeks was considered to have missed the mark by everyone who made it – including director …

1985: Fear Sex. Jagged Edge & AIDS (Erotic 80s Part 8)

May 24th, 2022

1:03:30

Just as the AIDS-related death of Rock Hudson was finally forcing straight people – and Hollywood – to acknowledge that epidemic, a film was released …

1984: "Vioporn," Body Double and Crimes of Passion (Erotic 80s Part 7)

May 17th, 2022

1:17:47

In a time of bombastic blockbusters (and Reagan’s re-election), two auteurs defy the norms by releases violent films about sexual obsession, sparking …

1983: MTV Aesthetics, Flashdance and Risky Business (Erotic 80s Part 6)

May 10th, 2022

1:15:45

While the music video was still in its infancy as a cultural phenomenon, two films were released that were accused of aping the “MTV aesthetic”: …

1982: Teen Sexploitation, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Porky's and The Blue Lagoon (Erotic 80s Part 5)

May 3rd, 2022

1:03:28

1982 saw the release of three hit high school-set comedies about sex: Porky’s, The Last American Virgin and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The only …

1981: Neonoir, Body Heat and Postman Always Rings Twice (Erotic 80s Part 4)

April 26th, 2022

1:13:48

The New Hollywood directors of the late 1960s and 70s were the first generation of Hollywood filmmakers to grow up studying Hollywood movies as art. …

1980: Richard Gere and American Gigolo (Erotic 80s Part 3)

April 19th, 2022

1:07:55

One of the most aesthetically influential movies of the ‘80s, Paul Schrader’s American Gigolo sets a template for much of what we’re going to discuss …

1979: Bo Derek and 10 (Erotic 80s Part 2)

April 12th, 2022

1:15:01

The sleeper hit of late 1979 was Blake Edwards’s sex farce 10, a comedic vivisection of a male midlife crisis, which turned 23 year-old California …

Porno Chic and The Brief Heyday of X Ratings (Erotic 80s Part 1)

April 5th, 2022

1:09:18

In 1968, the Production Code gave way to the ratings system, and the brief legitimacy of the X-rated movie. Today we’ll focus on two massive, X-rated hits released within a year of one another in 1972-1973: Deep Throat, …

Sammy and Dino Episode 9: Is That All There Is?

December 21st, 2021

1:15:47

Desperate to be seen as cool and not a relic of an earlier age in 70s America, Sammy gets into porn and drugs. A Rat Pack reunion gives him renewed …

Sammy and Dino Episode 8: Generation Gap

December 14th, 2021

1:21:47

In the mid-1960s, 47 year-old Dean Martin proves he's still got it by knocking the Beatles off the top of the pop charts, and by launching his …

Sammy and Dino Episode 7: Yes I Can

December 7th, 2021

1:07:22

Released in 1965, Sammy Davis Jr.'s autobiography became an instant classic, one of the most dynamic celebrity memoirs ever published and a testament to Davis’s barrier-breaking success as a black man in America. But …

Sammy and Dino Episode 6: The Rat Pack

November 30th, 2021

1:03:20

In the early 40s, both Dean and Sammy idolized Frank Sinatra. 20 years later, they became Sinatra’s cohorts in the Rat Pack, and, through Vegas gigs …

Sammy and Dino Episode 5: A Serious Man

November 23rd, 2021

53:03

After the breakup of Martin and Lewis, Dino has to figure out how to stand on his own as a solo act. He ends up developing an on-stage persona as a …

Sammy and Dino Episode 4: Mr. Wonderful

November 16th, 2021

51:06

Sammy tests the power of his new celebrity, on Broadway and in Hollywood, where he stars in the most controversial movie musical with an all-Black …

Sammy and Dino Episode 3: Nothing But a Dollar Sign

November 9th, 2021

58:39

In the first half of the 1950s, Martin and Lewis mint money as movie stars--and find unique ways to make their access to gangsters payoff--but stardom tears them apart. During this period, Sammy tries to prove himself …

Sammy and Dino Episode 2: Martin and Lewis, Sammy and Mickey and Frank

November 2nd, 2021

1:02:06

Dean Martin meets and begins collaborating with Jerry Lewis. Martin and Lewis — an Italian and a Jew — become the most successful nightclub act in …

Sammy and Dino Episode 1: The Hustle

October 26th, 2021

1:03:19

Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin would become icons for how immigrants and people of color could access the American Dream in the 20th Century. Both …

Introducing Love is a Crime

August 17th, 2021

4:46

When Hollywood mogul Walter Wanger (Jon Hamm) shot an agent he suspected was having an affair with his actress wife, Joan Bennett (Zooey Deschanel) — …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons And Hedda Hopper (The Queens Are Dead, Episode 9)

June 29th, 2021

1:06:49

The Hollywood studio system begins to crumble, and Louella and Hedda decline and fall, too. But just as a new generation of filmmakers rises from the …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons And Hedda Hopper (Interracial Panic and Confidential, Episode 8)

June 22nd, 2021

1:04:05

Appalled by rock n’ roll and its racial and sexual implications, Hedda and Louella find themselves in further danger of obsolescence when the gossip …

Presenting: No Place Like Home

June 17th, 2021

5:53

Do you remember the first time you watched The Wizard of Oz? Those famous red ruby slippers are some of the most iconic objects in Hollywood history …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons And Hedda Hopper (Sex and Shame in the 1950s, Episode 7)

June 15th, 2021

54:13

The 1950s were a decade of massive contradictions in terms of national and cultural attitudes towards sex. As Louella Parsons struggled to keep up …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons And Hedda Hopper (Witch Hunt, Episode 6)

June 8th, 2021

50:05

During an era in which Hollywood and Washington are shakily aligned in the witch hunting of actual and reputed socialists, Louella struggles to …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons And Hedda Hopper (The Queer, Female Film Producer You’ve Never Heard Of, Episode 5)

June 1st, 2021

50:19

Louella’s daughter, Harriet Parsons, became a groundbreaking female film producer at a moment in history in which virtually all mainstream filmmakers were male. She was also a lesbian, at a time when being openly gay …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons And Hedda Hopper (War! Episode 4)

May 25th, 2021

53:57

World War II begins to reveal the gulf between Louella’s conservative but essentially business-minded politics, and Hedda Hopper’s virulent …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons And Hedda Hopper (The Feud, Episode 3)

May 18th, 2021

55:05

In 1938, washed-up actress Hedda Hopper is installed as a movie gossip columnist with the express purpose of puncturing the success of Louella and …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons And Hedda Hopper (The First Lady, Episode 2)

May 11th, 2021

58:01

In 1923, Louella Parsons signed a contract with William Randolph Hearst for nationwide syndication of the first major Hollywood gossip column. …

Gossip Girls: Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper (Small Town Girl, Episode 1)

May 4th, 2021

59:20

Both Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper worked for papers created by charismatic barons whose publications were nakedly corrupt, totally biased -- and …

"Competition is idiots." Sneak Preview of David Fincher's MANK

October 19th, 2020

6:16

You Must Remember This presents an exclusive first listen of the audio trailer for Mank, a David Fincher film about the screenwriter of Citizen Kane, coming to Netflix on December 4.

To learn more about listener data …

How Did It End? (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 10)

July 28th, 2020

1:13:43

Polly Platt’s unfinished memoir ends abruptly in 1995. What were the remaining 16 years of her life like? Using interviews with those who knew her, …

Bottle Rocket, I'll Do Anything and Polly Platt in '90s Hollywood (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 9)

July 21st, 2020

1:11:12

Polly Platt's collaboration with James L. Brooks hits choppy waters with I’ll Do Anything, which at one point was a musical with songs by Prince, but …

Women of the 80’s (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 8)

July 14th, 2020

1:13:28

In the mid-to-late 80s, Polly Platt worked on a number of films that defined and reflected that decade’s ideas about female power. With an Oscar …

Terms of Endearment (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 7)

July 7th, 2020

58:03

Polly’s third marriage falls apart, and she enters more than one destructive affair. During these tumultuous times, Polly establishes a new …

Pretty Baby and a Playmate Murder (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 6)

June 30th, 2020

1:01:22

In an attempt to save her family, Polly transitions to screenwriting and producing, basing the prostitution drama Pretty Baby, starring a pre-teen …

A Star is Born (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 5)

June 23rd, 2020

1:00:58

When Polly begins her own on-set affair, the double standard of what men can get away with in Hollywood versus what was expected for women would push …

Orson Welles, What’s Up Doc, Paper Moon (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 4)

June 16th, 2020

1:06:46

In the aftermath of The Last Picture Show — and the collapse of her second marriage — Polly finds an unlikely ally, and a new job, in Orson Welles. …

Last Picture Show Love Triangle (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 3)

June 9th, 2020

1:00:23

At Polly’s urging, Peter decides to direct an adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s novel The Last Picture Show. Though credited only as the film’s …

Peter Bogdanovich and the Woman Behind the Auteur (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 2)

June 3rd, 2020

1:08:24

After the death of her first husband and creative partner, Polly moves to New York, where she swiftly meets and falls in love with Peter Bogdanovich. …

“It wasn’t sexism, then” (Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 1)

May 26th, 2020

1:09:18

We’ll begin with a look at how Polly Platt’s legacy was appraised when she died in 2011. Then we’ll go back in time to tell Polly’s story from the …

Sneak Peek: Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman, Episode 1

May 19th, 2020

23:40
Excited for the new season? We can hardly wait to share the untold story of Polly Platt, the secret weapon behind some of the most highly acclaimed …

Season Trailer: Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman

May 5th, 2020

2:33
Polly Platt -- producer, writer and Oscar-nominated production designer -- lived an epic Hollywood life. And yet, if you know Platt’s name today, …

159: Vanessa Williams, Whitney Houston and Hollywood’s Misogynoir Problem (Make Me Over, Episode 8)

March 10th, 2020

41:35

In 1983, Vanessa Williams became the first black woman to win Miss America. In 1984, a few weeks from the end of her reign, she was forced to step down when she found out Penthouse was going to publish unauthorized nude …

158: The Hemingway Curse? Mariel and Margaux (Make Me Over, Episode 7)

March 3rd, 2020

48:47

A close look at the parallel lives of Margaux and Mariel Hemingway, sisters born with a world-famous last name that stood for both genius and self-destruction. Both rose to fame in the 1970s, Margaux as a supermodel and …

157: Cass Elliot, Carnie Wilson and Fat-Shaming in Rock and Pop (Make Me Over, Episode 6)

February 25th, 2020

48:05

Cass Elliot didn’t die eating a ham sandwich. But the lasting power of that urban legend speaks to a far darker story. Elliot possessed one of the most influential voices of the 1960s. However, while her big break with …

156: Esther Williams and the Birth of Waterproof Makeup (Make Me Over, Episode 5)

February 18th, 2020

46:00

Esther Williams single-handedly helped popularize the pastime of swimming — first as the star swimmer of the San Francisco production of Billy Rose's …

155: Passing for White: Merle Oberon (Make Me Over, Episode 4)

February 11th, 2020

49:21

In 1935, Merle Oberon became the first biracial actress to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, an incredible achievement in then-segregated …

154: Marie Dressler, the First Female Star to Conquer Hollywood’s Ageism (Make Me Over, Episode 3)

February 4th, 2020

47:37

In 1933, the biggest female star in American movies wasn’t a sex symbol like Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow or Marlene Dietrich. It was Marie Dressler — …

153: Hollywood’s First Weight Loss Guru: Madame Sylvia (Make Me Over, Episode 2)

January 28th, 2020

43:12

Glamorous and shrewd, Sylvia of Hollywood became the movie industry’s first weight-loss guru during the end of the silent era. An immigrant of …

152: Hollywood’s First Weight Loss Surgery: Molly O’Day (Make Me Over, Episode 1)

January 21st, 2020

38:41

At the age of 18, actress Molly O’Day’s career showed great promise — the only thing holding her back was a bit of pubescent pudge. When diets …

Sneak Peek: Make Me Over

January 14th, 2020

2:38
In this companion series to You Must Remember This, Karina Longworth will introduce eight stories about Hollywood’s intersection with the beauty …

151: Splash Mountain (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 6)

November 26th, 2019

53:20

After two more successful theatrical releases, in 1980 and 1986, Disney decided to put Song of the South in the “Disney Vault” and never released it …

150: Blaxploitation and the White Backlash (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 5)

November 19th, 2019

52:21

Song of the South’s most successful re-release came in 1972 at a time when Hollywood was dealing with race by making two very different kinds of …

149: White Allies and the Blacklist: Maurice Rapf (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 4)

November 12th, 2019

52:03

Concerned that his movie about a former slave devoting his life to a white child’s emotional needs might be perceived as racist, Walt Disney hired known Communist Maurice Rapf to rewrite Song of the South. Rapf, the son …

148: “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” Minstrels in Hollywood and The Oscars (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 3)

November 5th, 2019

54:46

Song of the South’s most famous element is “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” a song written for the movie but reminiscent of a racist standard popularized in …

147: Hattie McDaniel (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 2)

October 29th, 2019

1:00:44

Song of the South co-stars Hattie McDaniel, the first black performer to win an Oscar (for her supporting role as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind). By …

146: Disney’s Most Controversial Film (Six Degrees of Song of the South, Episode 1)

October 22nd, 2019

1:00:56

Disney Plus is launching with the stated intention of streaming the entire Disney library... except for "Song of the South," a 1946 animation/live-action hybrid film set on a post-Civil War plantation. It was …

Sneak Peek: Six Degrees of "Song of the South"

October 16th, 2019

4:23
This season, we explore the most controversial film in the history of Disney Animation. With the launch of Disney Plus, the company's entire …

145: Ramon Novarro (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 19)

January 29th, 2019

55:46

Ramon Novarro was a Mexican actor and singer whose stardom at MGM in the 1920s and 30s was not impeded by his offscreen life as a gay man. In …

144: The Trials of Confidential Magazine: Maureen O'Hara (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 18)

January 22nd, 2019

39:07

In part two of our two-parter on the demise of the biggest and most pernicious tabloid of the 1950s, we’ll explore what happened after the magazine’s claim that redheaded star Maureen O’Hara was caught having sex at …

143: The Trials of Confidential Magazine: Dorothy Dandridge (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 17)

January 15th, 2019

49:47

Over two episodes, we will explore Hollywood Babylon’s coverage of Confidential Magazine and the two celebrities who testified against the scandal …

142: Bugsy Siegel (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 16)

January 8th, 2019

42:09

Jewish gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel is frequently credited with corrupting Hollywood’s unions and “inventing” Las Vegas. Siegel did have movie …

141: Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert, and the “sewing circle” (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 15)

December 25th, 2018

47:31

The bisexuality of Marlene Dietrich was not exactly a secret in 1930s Hollywood -- in fact, her ambiguous sexuality was part of her on-screen brand. …

140: Lupe Velez (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 14)

December 18th, 2018

52:21

Mexican actress Lupe Velez was the victim of one of Anger’s cruelest invented stories. His fabrication of her manner of death lays bare a vicious …

139: Mary Astor's Diary (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 13)

December 11th, 2018

56:39

In 1936, actress Mary Astor (who had not yet made her most famous film, The Maltese Falcon) and her husband went to court to fight for custody of …

138: Mae West (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 12)

December 4th, 2018

56:12

Mae West was the biggest new star in Hollywood in 1933, thanks to two hit films she co-wrote and starred in as a sexually implicit, wisecracking …

137: Gina Lollobrigida (The Seduced, Episode 6)

November 20th, 2018

45:11

This Italian pin-up, along with Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot, was emblematic of a brand of post-war European sexuality that America happily …

136: Yvonne De Carlo

November 13th, 2018

46:44

The future Lily Munster became a star when producer Walter Wanger cast her in Salome, Where She Danced (1945). A curvaceous brunette in her early …

135: Linda Darnell (The Seduced, Episode 4)

November 6th, 2018

48:29

A stunning brunette sex symbol married to cinematographer Pev Marley, Darnell thought her affair with Howard Hughes would result in marriage to the …

134: Ann Dvorak (The Seduced, Episode 3)

October 30th, 2018

51:09

The child of a silent film actress, Dvorak was so determined to be a star that at first, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Her big break came when …

133: The Bacchanal of 1920s Hollywood, via Frederica Sagor Maas (The Seduced Episode 2)

October 23rd, 2018

42:02

Seduction begins at an MGM sponsored orgy at the Ambassador Hotel, as told through the eyes of one of the attendees, a young female screenwriter …

Rupert Hughes's Women (The Seduced, Episode 1)

October 16th, 2018

51:13

In the new book Seduction: Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes’s Hollywood, Karina Longworth explores the lives and careers of over a dozen …

Clara Bow (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 11)

September 11th, 2018

1:04:30

We’ll close this half of our Hollywood Babylon season with one of that book’s most famously distorted stories: the tale of “It” Girl Clara Bow’s …

Rudolph Valentino (Fake News: Fact-Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 10)

September 4th, 2018

1:00:39

Rudolph Valentino was Hollywood’s first “latin lover.” His shocking death at the age of 31 was attributed to side effects from an appendectomy, but …

Thomas Ince and the Hearst "Coverup" (Fake News: Fact-Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 9)

August 28th, 2018

46:48

Thomas Ince was one of early Hollywood’s most pioneering producers—in fact, some credit him for popularizing “producer” as a job title and for …

Peggy Hopkins Joyce and Charlie Chaplin (Fake News: Fact-Checking Hollywood Babylon, Episode 8)

August 21st, 2018

1:05:35

The Kim Kardashian of her day, Peggy Hopkins Joyce was famous for being rich and famous—and for her marriages and involvements with rich and famous …

Will Hays and "Pre-Code" Hollywood (Fake News: Fact-Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 7)

August 14th, 2018

54:13

Who was Will Hays, and how did he come to put his name on the censorship “Code” that would shape the content of movies more than any other single …

Wallace Reid (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 6)

August 7th, 2018

1:02:26

According to Hollywood Babylon, actor Wallace Reid—a morphine addict who died in an asylum at the age of 31—was the first sacrificial lamb of the …

Mabel Normand (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 5)

July 31st, 2018

50:13

A frequent co-star of Roscoe Arbuckle’s, Mabel Normand was the definitive female screen comedienne of her generation. But it wasn’t her association with Arbuckle that brought Normand’s career to an abrupt close and her …

William Desmond Taylor (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 4)

July 24th, 2018

48:19

The killing of director William Desmond Taylor was the third in a trifecta of scandals which, over the course of about a year and a half, painted …

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Virginia Rappe (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 3)

July 17th, 2018

1:13:52

At a boozy party over Labor Day weekend 1921, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, silent Hollywood’s superstar plus-size comedian, followed sometime actress …

Olive Thomas (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 2)

July 10th, 2018

52:42

The first Hollywood scandal to attract international attention was the death-by-poison of Olive Thomas, the twenty-five-year old star of au courant …

D.W. Griffith, the Gish Sisters and the origin of "Hollywood Babylon" (Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon Episode 1)

July 3rd, 2018

56:12

This season will interrogate Kenneth Anger’s controversial and influential gossip collection, Hollywood Babylon. Is this cult classic a needed …

120: Boris and Roger Corman (Bela & Boris Part 6)

November 21st, 2017

51:14

Where Bela Lugosi lived his last decade in sad obscurity, Boris Karloff worked until the very end of his life, even as his body began to fall apart. …

119: Bela and Ed Wood (Bela & Boris Part 5)

November 14th, 2017

45:39

Forgotten by Hollywood, struggling with morphine addiction and a dependency on alcohol, at the end of his life Bela Lugosi was welcomed into a rag …

118: Bela vs. Boris (Bela & Boris Part 4)

November 7th, 2017

58:22

Lugosi and Karloff, the two stars made by Universal’s monster movies, made eight films together. Today we’ll dive deep into some of these movies (including The Black Cat, The Raven, Son of Frankenstein and Val Lewton’s …

117: Boris and the Monsters (Bela & Boris Part 3)

October 31st, 2017

58:39

After twenty years as a journeyman actor/laborer, Boris Karloff became an instant superstar as the Monster in Frankenstein (1931). Today we’ll explore how Karloff, unlike Lugosi, managed to maintain a steady stardom …

116: Bela and the Vampires (Bela & Boris Part 2)

October 24th, 2017

1:06:24

With Dracula (1931), Bela Lugosi instantly became the first horror star of sound cinema. It’s not easy being a trailblazer, and Bela would have …

115: Where the Monsters Came From (Bela & Boris Part 1)

October 17th, 2017

39:46

Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff were two middle-aged, foreign, struggling actors who became huge stars thanks to Dracula and Frankenstein, the first …

114: The Last of Jean/Jane Works Out (Jean & Jane Part 9)

August 22nd, 2017

55:33

Jean Seberg, now plagued with mental illness and alcoholism, comes to a tragic end in Paris. Jane Fonda reinvents herself, once again, for the 80s.

113: Coming Home (Jean & Jane Part 8)

August 15th, 2017

1:07:02

Jean buries her child in Iowa, and then returns to Paris in a fragile mental state. Increasingly plagued by both justifiable paranoia and delusions, she makes her last significant films (including another misguided …

112: Hanoi Jane & The FBI vs. Jean Seberg’s Baby (Jean & Jane Part 7)

August 8th, 2017

1:10:10

After shooting a film with a much-changed Jean-Luc Godard, Jane Fonda travels to Vietnam, where she naively participates in a stunt that would leave …

111: Jean and Jane Become Public Enemies (Jean & Jane Part 6)

August 1st, 2017

1:06:17

On the heels of making her biggest Hollywood movies in years, Jean Seberg becomes involved with two black radicals, one a cousin of Malcolm X who …

110: Jane vs "Barbarella" (Jean & Jane Part 5)

July 25th, 2017

54:03

Having coaxed Jane into participating in an open marriage, Vadim began casting her in films as a male fantasy of female sexual liberation. This phase …

109: Jean vs "Lilith" (Jean & Jane Part 4)

July 18th, 2017

53:53

Having left her husband to be the mistress of writer/diplomat Romain Gary, Jean secretly gave birth to a son, and then made the movie that she …

108: Jean and Jane in Paris (Jean & Jane Part 3)

July 11th, 2017

53:17

With her Hollywood career already something of a disappointment, Jean Seberg took a chance on a French film critic turned first-time director who …

107: Jean and Otto Preminger/Jane in New York (Jean & Jane Part 2)

July 4th, 2017

58:24

Jean Seberg made her first two films, Saint Joan and Bonjour Tristesse, for director Otto Preminger, a tyrannical svengali character whose methods …

106: Hollywood Royalty/Middle-American Martyr (Jean & Jane Part 1)

June 27th, 2017

45:12

Introducing our new series, “Jean and Jane,” exploring the parallel lives of Jane Fonda and Jean Seberg, two white American actresses who found great …

105: Dorothy Stratten (Dead Blondes Part 13)

April 25th, 2017

48:32

Our Dead Blondes season concludes with the story of Dorothy Stratten. Coaxed into nude modeling by Paul Snider, her sleazy boyfriend-turned-husband, …

104: Barbara Loden (Dead Blondes Part 12)

April 18th, 2017

47:10

Barbara Loden won a Tony Award for playing a character based on Marilyn Monroe in Arthur Miller’s After the Fall. Like Marilyn, Barbara was a beauty with no pedigree who fled a hopeless upbringing in search of the …

103: Grace Kelly (Dead Blondes Part 11)

April 11th, 2017

52:55

The quintessential “Hitchcock blonde,” Grace Kelly had an apparently charmed life. Her movies were mostly hits, her performances were largely well reviewed, and she won an Oscar against stiff competition. Then she …

102: Barbara Payton (Dead Blondes Part 10)

April 4th, 2017

48:02

In our Joan Crawford series, we talked about Barbara Payton as the young, troubled third wife of Crawford’s ex Franchot Tone, whose inability to choose between Tone and another actor brought all three of them down into …

101: Jayne Mansfield (Dead Blondes Part 9)

March 28th, 2017

45:07

More famous today for her gruesome car crash death than for any of the movies she made while alive, Jayne Mansfield was in some sense the most …

100: Marilyn Monroe: The End (Dead Blondes Part 8)

March 21st, 2017

49:42

How did a star whose persona seemed to be all about childlike joy and eternally vibrant sexuality die, single and childless, at the age of 36? In fact, the circumstances of Marilyn Monroe’s death are confusing and …

99: Marilyn Monroe: The Persona (Dead Blondes Part 7)

March 14th, 2017

44:36

How did Marilyn Monroe become the most iconic blonde of the 1950s, if not the century? Today we will trace how her image was created and developed, …

98: Marilyn Monroe: The Beginning (Dead Blondes Part 6)

March 7th, 2017

47:59

Today we begin the first of three episodes on the most iconic dead blonde of them all, Marilyn Monroe. We’ll start be revisiting our episode on Marilyn from our series on stars during World War II, in which we traced …

97: Carole Landis (Dead Blondes Part 5)

February 28th, 2017

50:11

Carole Landis was a gifted comedienne, a decent singer, and - once she dyed her natural brown hair blonde - perhaps the most luminous beauty in …

96: Veronica Lake (Dead Blondes Part 4)

February 21st, 2017

50:44

Veronica Lake had the most famous hairdo of the 1940s, if not the twentieth century. Her star turn in Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels and her …

95: Jean Harlow Flashback (Dead Blondes Part 3)

February 14th, 2017

47:09

Jean Harlow was the top blonde of the 1930s, and even though she didn’t survive the decade - she died in 1937 at the age of 26 - she’d inspire a …

94: Thelma Todd (Dead Blondes Part 2)

February 7th, 2017

47:47

Thelma Todd - a curvaceous white-blonde who predated Jean Harlow - was a sparkling comedienne who began in the silent era and flourished in the …

93: Peg Entwistle (Dead Blondes Part 1)

January 31st, 2017

49:33

This season we’re going to explore the stories of 11 blonde actresses who died unusual, untimely or otherwise notable deaths - deaths which, in various ways, have outshined these actress’ lives. Today we’ll explain why …

92: Six Degrees of Joan Crawford: Mommie Dearest

September 13th, 2016

1:03:20

The year after Joan Crawford died, her estranged, adopted daughter Christina published a tell-all, accusing her late mother of having been an abusive monster when the cameras weren’t around. Three years later, Mommie …

91: Six Degrees of Joan Crawford: Bette Davis, "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," and Crawford’s last years

September 6th, 2016

46:50

Robert Aldrich’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? has done more to define later generation’s ideas about who Crawford was than perhaps any other movie that she was actually in. Unfortunately, most of those ideas center …

90: Six Degrees of Joan Crawford: The Middle Years (Mildred Pierce to Johnny Guitar)

August 30th, 2016

52:19

Joan Crawford struggled through what she called her “middle years,” the period during her 40s before she remade herself from aging, slumping MGM deadweight into a fleet, journeywoman powerhouse who starred in some of …

89: Six Degrees of Joan Crawford: Clark Gable, Franchot Tone and Barbara Payton

August 23rd, 2016

49:40

By the mid-1930s, Joan Crawford was very, very famous, and negotiating both an affair with Clark Gable (her most frequent co-star and the only male star of her stature), and a new marriage to Franchot Tone, who, like …

88: Six Degrees of Joan Crawford: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. / Our Dancing Daughters to Grand Hotel

August 16th, 2016

43:59

Joan Crawford’s early years in Hollywood were like - well, a pre-code Joan Crawford movie: a highly ambitious beauty of low birth does what she has …

87: Six Degrees of Joan Crawford: Douglas Fairbanks / Lucille LeSueur Goes to Hollywood

August 9th, 2016

44:32

In order to understand Joan Crawford’s rise to fame, we have to talk about what Joan - born Lucille LeSueur, and called “Billie Cassin” for much of …

86: The Blacklist Part 16: Kirk Douglas, Dalton Trumbo, and Otto Preminger (Breaking the Blacklist, Part 2)

June 21st, 2016

56:21

How did the Blacklist come to an end? If you ask Kirk Douglas, the end began with his hiring of Dalton Trumbo to write Spartacus -- or, rather Douglas flaunting of that hiring. Otto Preminger, who hired Trumbo to write …

85: The Blacklist Part 15: Frank Sinatra and Albert Maltz (Breaking The Blacklist, Part 1)

June 14th, 2016

44:32

In the first of two episodes about major stars attempting to end the Blacklist, we’ll look at Frank Sinatra’s efforts to hire Hollywood Ten member …

Blacklist Flashback: Frank Sinatra through 1945

June 7th, 2016

39:31

Before our episode on Frank Sinatra’s attempt to end the blacklist, we’re going to flashback to an episode from April 2015, on Sinatra’s rise to fame and his experiences during World War II. In the early 1940s, shortly …

84: The Blacklist Part 14: After the Fall: Arthur Miller

May 31st, 2016

55:14

Arthur Miller considered Elia Kazan a close friend and collaborator, but when Kazan named names to HUAC, Miller broke with him and wrote The …

83: The Blacklist Part 13: On the Waterfront: Elia Kazan

May 24th, 2016

52:05

Elia Kazan introduced audiences to Warren Beatty, James Dean and Marlon Brando. His films of the 1950s -- including A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and East of Eden -- comprise perhaps the most impressive …

82: The Blacklist Part 12: Stormy Weather: Lena Horne + Paul Robeson

May 17th, 2016

47:22

Horne's last years at MGM overlapped with the first HUAC hearings. Horne, an outspoken proponent of equal rights, who from the beginning of her career had associated with leftists and “agitators,” got caught up in the …

Blacklist Flashback: Lena Horne During WWII

May 10th, 2016

1:09:24

Stunning singer/actress Lena Horne was the first black performer to be given the full glamour girl star-making treatment. But as the years went on …

81: The Blacklist Part 11: Born Yesterday: Judy Holliday

May 3rd, 2016

47:57

Judy Holliday won an Oscar for her first starring film role, and of her eight major film roles between 1950 and 1960, four were in films now …

80: The Blacklist Part 10: Salt of the Earth: Howard Hughes + Paul Jarrico

April 26th, 2016

57:04

Today we explore one of the more troubling aspects of Howard Hughes’ legacy: the firm hand he played in enforcing the blacklisting of Hollywood …

Blacklist Flashback: Howard Hughes + Jane Russell

April 19th, 2016

53:09

In advance of next week’s episode dealing with Howard Hughes’ role in the blacklist, we revisit our October 2014 episode on Hughes’ relationship with …

79: The Blacklist Part 9: She: Richard Nixon + Helen Gahagan Douglas

April 12th, 2016

53:08

The wife of actor Melvyn Douglas (Ninotchka, Being There), Helen Gahagan Douglas transformed herself from a Broadway and opera star into an exciting …

78: The Blacklist Part 8: Storm Warning: Ronald Reagan, the FBI and HUAC

April 5th, 2016

37:46

The post-war Communist witch hunt had a big impact on Ronald Reagan’s evolution from movie actor to politician, and from Democrat to Republican. And …

77: The Blacklist Part 7: Monsieur Verdoux: Charlie Chaplin's Road to Hollywood Exile

March 29th, 2016

41:25

Picking up where last week’s episode left off, we’ll catch up with Chaplin’s post-The Great Dictator activism, talk about Chaplin’s savage satirical …

Blacklist Flashback: Charlie Chaplin During World War II

March 22nd, 2016

47:37

In 1922, Charlie Chaplin was one of the most beloved men in the world. In 1952, after over a decade of being publicly shamed, he was essentially …

76: The Blacklist Part 6: He Ran All The Way: John Garfield

March 15th, 2016

49:46

John Garfield was Brando before Brando -- a Method-style actor who repped the New York working class while becoming a major sex symbol in film noir …

75: The Blacklist Part 5: The Strange Love of Barbara Stanwyck: Robert Taylor

March 8th, 2016

50:01

Barbara Stanwyck’s first marriage helped to inspire A Star is Born. Her second marriage, to heartthrob Robert Taylor, didn’t make sense in a lot of …

74: The Blacklist Part 4: The African Queen: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn and John Huston

March 1st, 2016

51:46

In the late 1940s, as the country was moving to the right and there was pressure on Hollywood to do the same, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and …

Blacklist Flashback: Bogey Before Bacall

February 23rd, 2016

44:39

Humphrey Bogart was Warner Brothers' most valuable star in 1947, when he, his wife Lauren Bacall, his future African Queen co-star Katharine Hepburn, his friend and frequent director John Huston and many other stars …

73: The Blacklist Part 3: Dorothy Parker

February 16th, 2016

53:57

The New Yorker columnist, poet and celebrated Algonquin Roundtable wit spent years in Hollywood, working as a screenwriter in partnership with her …

72: The Blacklist Part 2: Crossfire – The Trials of the Hollywood Ten

February 9th, 2016

59:22

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed dozens of Hollywood workers to come to Washington and testify to the presence of …

71: The Blacklist Part 1: The Prehistory of the Blacklist

February 2nd, 2016

53:06

This episode will trace the roots of both communism and anti-communism in Hollywood, through the Depression, union struggles and scandals, and World …

70: MGM Stories Part 15: Mayer’s Downfall

December 22nd, 2015

52:03

In the 1940s, Louis B. Mayer was the highest paid man in America, one of the first celebrity CEOs and the figurehead of what for most Americans was the most glamorous industry on Earth. In 1951, Mayer was fired from the …

69: MGM Stories Part 14: Elizabeth Taylor, The MGM Years

December 15th, 2015

47:45

Elizabeth Taylor grew up on the MGM lot, spending 18 years as what she referred to as “MGM chattel.” The last four years of that 18 year sentence were arguably the most interesting. From 1956-1960, she made a run of …

68: MGM Stories Part 13: Gloria Grahame

December 8th, 2015

46:17

Gloria Grahame arrived in Hollywood in 1944, after Louis B. Mayer personally plucked her from the New York stage, and changed her name. But Grahame …

67: MGM Stories Part 12: Lana Turner

December 1st, 2015

47:52

The legendary "Sweater Girl" was one of MGM’s prized contract players, the epitome of the mid-century sex goddess on-screen and an unlucky-in-love …

66: MGM Stories Part 11: David O. Selznick Part Two: Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker

November 24th, 2015

47:58

In 1941, Selznick signed a young actress named Phylis, who was then married to actor Robert Walker. Selznick renamed Phylis “Jennifer Jones,” and set to work turning her into a star, helping her to earn an Oscar for her …

65: MGM Stories Part 10: David O. Selznick Part One: The Mayers and Gone With the Wind

November 17th, 2015

34:35

In 1930, after putting in time at MGM and RKO, Paramount executive David O. Selznick married Irene Mayer, the daughter of L.B. Mayer. Irene’s father …

64: MGM Stories Part 9: Spencer Tracy

November 10th, 2015

44:52

When Spencer Tracy signed with MGM, he was a character actor better known for his problem drinking (and very public extramarital affair with Loretta Young) than for his movie hits. But the studio made him a star, and by …

63: MGM Stories Part 8: Eddie Mannix

November 3rd, 2015

44:33

In the new Hollywood satire from the Coen Brothers, Josh Brolin plays a studio "fixer" named Eddie Mannix. The real Eddie Mannix was a New …

62: MGM Stories Part 7: MGM's children: Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland

October 27th, 2015

45:26

After Irving Thalberg’s death in 1936, Louis B. Mayer doubled down on "family entertainment" at MGM. To support this new wave of content, Mayer started signing younger and younger performers to groom into stars — …

61: MGM Stories Part 6: Jean Harlow

October 20th, 2015

46:01

As part of the publicity campaign for his film Hell’s Angels, Howard Hughes made Jean Harlow a star, branding her “The Platinum Blonde.” But after …

60: MGM Stories Part 5: William Haines and Hollywood’s First Openly Gay Marriage

October 13th, 2015

41:40

The rare silent star who made a relatively smooth transition to sound films, William “Billy” Haines was one of the top box office stars of the late 1920s-early 1930s. Beginning in 1926, Haines started living with Jimmie …

59: MGM Stories Part 4: John Gilbert and Greta Garbo

October 6th, 2015

40:20

Rising romantic lead John Gilbert signed with MGM in 1924 and the next year he starred in King Vidor’s The Big Parade, the studio’s biggest hit of the silent era. That same year, Louis B. Mayer brought his new discovery …

58: MGM Stories Part 3: Buster Keaton’s Biggest Mistake

September 29th, 2015

47:20

In 1928, silent comedy star Buster Keaton made what he would later call “the worst mistake of my career”: against the advice of fellow silent comedy …

57: MGM Stories Part 2: Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst, and Citizen Kane

September 22nd, 2015

40:38

Marion Davies is enshrined in memory as the gorgeous but questionably talented mistress of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst -- thanks in …

56: MGM Stories Part 1: Louis B. Mayer vs. Irving Thalberg

September 15th, 2015

43:30

This season we're going to tell 15 stories about different people who worked at the same movie studio over the course of five decades, as the movie …

55: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 12: The Manson Family on Trial

August 11th, 2015

56:38

The trials of the Manson family became a kind of public theater which a number of current and future filmmakers found themselves caught up in. Joan Didion bought a dress for a Manson girl to wear to court, Dennis Hopper …

54: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 11: Death Valley ’69

August 4th, 2015

48:28

After the murders, Manson moved his family to the depths of the California desert. There, even before they were finally apprehended by the law, their …

53: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 10: Roman Polanski After Sharon Tate

July 28th, 2015

45:51

Roman Polanski was in London the night his pregnant wife was murdered in their home. He returned to Los Angeles, devastated, to find himself wanted …

52: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 9: August 8-10, 1969

July 21st, 2015

52:00

Over the course of a single weekend, half a dozen hippies massacred seven people. This episode includes disturbing details about very violent crimes.

51: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 8: Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski

July 14th, 2015

34:25

While trying to launch her own acting career, Sharon Tate fell in love with, and eventually married, Roman Polanski, the hotshot Polish filmmaker who …

50: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 7: Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring

July 7th, 2015

35:10

In the first of two episodes about the Manson Family’s most famous victim, we’ll trace actress Sharon Tate’s early years, her romance with celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, and the on-set affair that changed the course …

49: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 6: Kenneth Anger and Bobby Beausoleil

June 30th, 2015

51:40

The first person to go to jail for a Charles Manson-associated murder was Bobby Beausoleil, a charismatic would-be rock star who had put in time as a …

48: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 5: Doris Day and Terry Melcher

June 23rd, 2015

47:45

Charles Manson became convinced his best chance at rock stardom was impressing Terry Melcher, a record executive who had made stars out of The Byrds, who was also Doris Day's son and Candice Bergen's boyfriend.

To …

47: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 4: Spahn Ranch and the Beatles’ White Album

June 16th, 2015

43:29

After wearing out his welcome at Dennis Wilson’s house, Manson moves his family to Spahn Ranch, a dilapidated Western movie set where the cult starts …

46: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 3: The Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson, and Charles Manson, Songwriter

June 9th, 2015

50:02

In this episode we’ll talk about Charlie Manson’s arrival in Los Angeles, discuss Dennis Wilson’s life and the role he played in enabling Manson’s …

45: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 2: How Manson Found His Family

June 2nd, 2015

39:17

Today we're tracing Charles Manson's life from his birth to a teenage con artist, through multiple stints in reform schools and prisons, and finally …

44: Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 1: What We Talk About When We Talk About The Manson Murders

May 26th, 2015

40:14

This season, You Must Remember This will explore the murders committed in the summer of 1969 by followers of Charles Manson. Today, we’ll talk about …

43: Star Wars Episode XVI: Van Johnson

April 28th, 2015

46:36

Van Johnson was MGM’s big, all-American heartthrob during World War II, an one of the most reliably bankable stars in Hollywood, on and off, for over …

42: Star Wars Episode XV: Why John Wayne Didn’t Sign Up

April 21st, 2015

38:22

No actor on movie screens in the 1940s embodied American patriotism and unpretentious masculinity better than John Wayne. But Wayne didn’t have the …

41: Star Wars Episode XIV: Frank Sinatra Through 1945

April 14th, 2015

34:20

Frank Sinatra's rise to fame coincided almost exactly with the run up to and fighting of World War II. Unlike so many young men, famous or otherwise, Sinatra didn't enlist, and the controversy over whether or not he was …

40: The You Must Remember This One Year Anniversary Ask Us Anything Show

April 7th, 2015

48:48

You Must Remember This turns one year old this month, and to celebrate, Karina takes questions from listeners. Topics range from book recommendations …

39: Star Wars Episode XIII: Walt Disney

March 31st, 2015

47:50

Walt Disney changed Hollywood and brought millions of children and adults boundless joy. And yet, Disney’s legacy is marred by the common perception …

38: Star Wars Episode XII: Bob Hope vs. Bing Crosby

March 24th, 2015

47:24

Bob Hope is remembered as the 20th century celebrity most devoted to entertaining the troops. Bing Crosby, Hope’s partner on seven Road to… films, sang the song that became an unlikely alternate national anthem during …

37: Star Wars Episode XI: Charlie Chaplin

March 17th, 2015

41:36

Charlie Chaplin’s most successful (and controversial) film was The Great Dictator, a vicious satire of Adolf Hitler. We’ll explore the connections …

36: Star Wars Episode X: Errol Flynn

March 10th, 2015

47:29

Errol Flynn arrived in Hollywood in 1934 and almost immediately became a massive star, his swashbuckler-persona propelling many of the decades …

35: Star Wars Episode IX: Olivia de Havilland and John Huston, with Special Guest Rian Johnson

March 3rd, 2015

44:27

She was the raven-haired beauty whose lily white persona was forged by supporting roles in Gone With the Wind and several Errol Flynn swashbucklers. …

34: Star Wars Episode VIII: How Norma Jeane Became Marilyn Monroe

February 24th, 2015

47:10

Today’s episode tells the secret, forgotten, and highly disputed story of the making of Marilyn Monroe, arguably the most potent Hollywood sex symbol …

33: Star Wars Episode VII: Lena Horne

February 17th, 2015

1:04:14

Stunning singer/actress Lena Horne was the first black performer to be given the full glamour girl star-making treatment. But as the years went on …

32: Star Wars Episode VI: Marlene Dietrich

February 10th, 2015

40:07

One of the most glamorous stars of the 1930s -- and also one of the first androgynous sex symbols -- Marlene Dietrich was a German actress turned …

31: Star Wars Episode V: Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles

February 3rd, 2015

47:22

The Citizen Kane boy wonder's second wife was the former Margarita Cansino -- a dancer-turned-actress whose Hispanic heritage Hollywood went to great …

30: Star Wars Episode IV: Gene Tierney (Or: The Many Loves of Howard Hughes, Chapter 5)

January 27th, 2015

42:11

The luminous star of a number of key film noirs and melodramas of the 1940s, Gene Tierney's personal life was highly dramatic and heartbreakingly tragic.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices …

29: Star Wars Episode III: Hedy Lamarr

January 20th, 2015

43:23

Hedy Lamarr was a pioneer in more ways than one, including, but not limited to, scandalous movie sex scenes, radio control technology, breast …

28: Star Wars Episode II: Carole Lombard and Clark Gable

January 13th, 2015

45:56

The queen of screwball comedies married the king of Hollywood in 1939, but Lombard's 1942 death in a plane crash on the way home from a trip to sell …

27: Star Wars Episode I: Bette Davis and the Hollywood Canteen

January 5th, 2015

50:55

In the first installment of 'Star Wars' (about the experiences of stars during wartime, not Chewbacca or Mos Eisley), Karina Longworth looks at Bette …

26: Tales of Celebrity Drunkenness, 2014

December 23rd, 2014

44:06

In our first annual end-of-year clip show, we'll listen to some of the booziest excerpts from the 25 episodes of You Must Remember This released thus far.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices …

25: The Short Lives of Bruce and Brandon Lee

December 16th, 2014

35:33

In this episode, we’ll explore what really happened to Bruce and Brandon Lee, and discuss how an extraordinarily talented artist went from a victim …

24: Mia Farrow in the 1960s, Part Two: Mia & Dory

December 9th, 2014

41:18

Part Two of Mia Farrow in the 1960s traces Mia’s flight to India, studying transcendental meditation with the Beatles, the movies Secret Ceremony and John and Mary, her affair with Andre Previn, and the impact it had on …

23: Mia Farrow in the 1960s, Part One: Mia & Frank

November 17th, 2014

41:08

Before Mia Farrow was an outspoken activist, devoted mother to 14 children, and the famously jilted partner of Woody Allen, she was … a lot of other things. Today in the first of a two parter, we’ll begin to explore Mia …

22: Audrey Hepburn: Sex, Style, and Sabrina

November 11th, 2014

40:11

Audrey Hepburn was the first glamorous actress whose style seemed to be to dress for herself, and not to appeal to men. Today we’re going to talk …

21: The Birth of Barbra Streisand’s A Star is Born

November 4th, 2014

42:47

There have been four Hollywood films made under the name and/or with the basic story of A Star is Born. The most reviled version is the one starring …

20: LIZ <3 MONTY

October 28th, 2014

39:53

Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift were best friends and co-stars in three films. This episode tracks Taylor's relationship with the troubled Clift, from their first, studio-setup date through his untimely death.

To …

19: Raquel Welch, From Pin-up to Pariah

October 21st, 2014

37:34

Raquel Welch, a former cocktail waitress and divorced mother of two, found herself in the odd position of being an old-fashioned sex goddess in the …

18: The Many Loves of Howard Hughes, Chapter 4: Jane Russell

October 14th, 2014

46:02

Our long-running series on the women in the life of the infamous aviator/filmmaker continues with a look at Hughes’ professional and personal relationship with Jane Russell, which began in 1940 when Hughes randomly …

17: Theda Bara, Hollywood’s First Sex Symbol

October 7th, 2014

40:32

Theda Bara might be the most significant celebrity pioneer whose movies you’ve never seen. She was the movie industry’s first sex symbol; the first …

16: Marlon Brando 1971-1973

September 29th, 2014

45:01

This is the story of how, with two movies shot in 1971, Marlon Brando turned his career around, spent his regained celebrity capital on an act of …

15: Madonna, from Sean to Warren, Part Two

September 23rd, 2014

44:38

In the concluding chapter of a two-part episode about Madonna and movies, we talk about her mutually beneficial professional and personal involvement …

14: Bacall, After Bogart

September 16th, 2014

36:39

When Humphrey Bogart died, Lauren Bacall was just 32 years old. This is the story of how Bacall spent the remaining 57 years of her life, and her …

13: Bogart, Before Bacall

September 9th, 2014

37:51

A look at how Humphrey Bogart became Bogey, tracing his journey from blue blood beginnings through years of undistinguished work and outright …

12: Madonna, from Sean to Warren, Part One

September 2nd, 2014

39:41

Over the course of two episodes, we will explore the high-cinephile period of Madonna's life and work, roughly bracketed by her relationship with …

11: The Many Loves of Howard Hughes: Katharine Hepburn, 1938

July 25th, 2014

31:31

A crossover episode, uniting our two ongoing series, The Many Loves of Howard Hughes and Follies of 1938, focusing on Hughes’ relationship with …

10: Follies of 1938, Chapter 2: Kay Francis, Pretty Poison

July 18th, 2014

38:06

In May 1938, the Independent Theater Owners Association published a full-page paid editorial in The Hollywood Reporter, branding a number of big …

9: The Many Loves of Howard Hughes, Part 2: The Many Loves of Ida Lupino

July 10th, 2014

39:19

In this second installment of our ongoing series, The Many Loves of Howard Hughes, we explore the life, loves and work of Ida Lupino. Hughes dated Lupino when she was a teenage starlet; nearly 20 years later, after …

8: Follies of 1938, Part 1: Hollywood’s Greatest Year

July 2nd, 2014

22:30

This micro-episode sets up a topic we’ll be exploring throughout the summer: the films, stars and scandals of 1938. By midway through that year, …

7: The Many Loves of Howard Hughes, Chapter 1

June 24th, 2014

41:08

The first episode of a multi-part series on the Hollywood romances of Howard Hughes traces Hughes’ arranged marriage at age 18 to Southern society …

6: Isabella Rossellini in the 1990s

June 17th, 2014

37:05

Today we celebrate the 62nd birthday of actress/model/filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. She was born into Hollywood scandal: her mother, Ingrid Bergman, …

5: The Lives, Deaths and Afterlives of Judy Garland

June 9th, 2014

41:39

Today we’re commemorating the life and career of Judy Garland, who died 45 years ago this month. Signed to a studio contract at the age of 13, encouraged to become a pill addict as a teenage MGM contract player, crowned …

4: (The Printing of) the Legend of Frances Farmer

May 27th, 2014

36:16

During the last year of his life, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was obsessed with Frances Farmer, an actress from his hometown of Seattle who died in 1970. Farmer’s beauty and unique screen presence made her a star, but her …

3: Happy 110th Birthday, Val Lewton

May 7th, 2014

40:24

A Very Special Halloween Episode! The writer-producer Val Lewton produced and ghost-wrote 11 films in just three years as head of the horror unit at RKO, many of which — Cat People, I Walked With A Zombie, The Curse of …

2: Frank Sinatra in Outer Space

April 16th, 2014

34:01

Welcome to the second episode of You Must Remember This, the podcast devoted to exploring the secret and or/forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first …

Loading ...

Are you the creator of this podcast?

Verify your account

and pick the featured episodes for your show.

Listen to You Must Remember This

RadioPublic

A free podcast app for iPhone and Android

  • User-created playlists and collections
  • Download episodes while on WiFi to listen without using mobile data
  • Stream podcast episodes without waiting for a download
  • Queue episodes to create a personal continuous playlist
RadioPublic on iOS and Android
Or by RSS
RSS feed
https://feeds.megaphone.fm/YMRT7068253588

Connect with listeners

Podcasters use the RadioPublic listener relationship platform to build lasting connections with fans

Yes, let's begin connecting
Browser window

Find new listeners

  • A dedicated website for your podcast
  • Web embed players designed to convert visitors to listeners in the RadioPublic apps for iPhone and Android
Clicking mouse cursor

Understand your audience

  • Capture listener activity with affinity scores
  • Measure your promotional campaigns and integrate with Google and Facebook analytics
Graph of increasing value

Engage your fanbase

  • Deliver timely Calls To Action, including email acquistion for your mailing list
  • Share exactly the right moment in an episode via text, email, and social media
Icon of cellphone with money

Make money

  • Tip and transfer funds directly to podcastsers
  • Earn money for qualified plays in the RadioPublic apps with Paid Listens