Ep 3.3 // Lawrence of Arabia w/ Matt

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10/13/21 • 106 min

It’s Alicia's 3rd pick: ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ the 1962 film directed by David Lean. The film is adapted from the autobiographical account of T. E. Lawrence, ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom,’ which was first published in 1926 and told the story of his involvement with the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks, from 1916-1918. Over the decades, many filmmakers – chief among them legendary silent and early sound era producer/director Alexander Korda – courted Lawrence, his estate, and biographers who owned rights to their own versions of the story. But it was ultimately producer Sam Spiegel who secured the rights, looking to follow up on his successful production of ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ with director David Lean. By most accounts the extremely long shoot – which took place in Jordan, Morocco, and Spain – was hellish, but the resulting Super Panavision 70mm CinemaScope film, which premiered in December of 1962, went on to great success largely with both audiences and critics. In addition to its 7 Oscar wins for Best Picture, Director, Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Score, and Sound, it was also nominated for Best Actor (Peter O’Toole), Best Supporting Actor (Omar Sharif), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson). Notably, Gregory Peck won Best Actor that year for To Kill A Mockingbird. As for our purposes, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ has actually never appeared in the Top 10 or as a runner up on Sight & Sound magazine’s critics poll of the greatest films of all time, but it did rank at #4 on their poll of directors in 2002. Produced by Stereoactive Media

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Ep 3.2 // Vertigo

It’s Lora’s 3rd pick: ‘Vertigo,’ the 1958 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Considered by an increasing number of people to be the director’s masterpiece, the film relies on an against-type performance by Jimmy Stewart and a complex, multi-faceted performance by Kim Novak. It first appeared on the Sight & Sound magazine poll of the greatest films ever made in 1972, as a runner up. It’s then appeared on the decennial list every time since, moving up to number 7, then number 4, then number 2, before in 2012 being named the greatest film of all time, overtaking Citizen Kane from the spot it had held for 60 years. Meanwhile it was named the 6th greatest film on the directors poll in both 1992 and 2002, then came in at number 7 in 2012.

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Ep 3.4 // 8 ½

It’s Jeremiah’s 3rd pick: 8 1⁄2, the 1963 film directed by Federico Fellini.

8 1⁄2 was Fellini’s feature film follow-up to 1960s La Dolce Vita – with a segment for an anthology film produced in the interim. La Dolce Vita had been something of an international sensation when it came out, so perhaps the pressure of following that up led him to produce a film about the pressure on a director to make his next movie.

It was released in February 1963 to much acclaim, especially from European critics, drawing comparisons to James Joyce’s Ulysses and Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane along the way. It then opened in the United States in June of that year, where it also earned mostly praise, but for a few critics (Pauline Kael among the detractors). And it ended up winning two Academy Awards, for Best Foreign Film and Best Costume Design (Black and White), while it was also nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Art Direction.

As for our purposes, 8 1⁄2 was first on the Sight & Sound critics survey in 1972, ranked as the 4th greatest film of all time. It Was then at number 5 in 1982, fell off the list in 1992, reentered at #9 in 2002 and ended up at #10 in 2012. Meanwhile, it’s been on the directors survey each time they’ve had one so far, at #2 in 1992, at #3 in 2002, and then at #4 in 2012.

Produced by Stereoactive Media