From Beneath the Hollywood Sign

EPISODE 121 -  “RICHARD BASEHART: CLASSIC STAR OF THE MONTH” - 1/05/2026  RICHARD BASEHART wasn't the flashiest of actors, but he certainly was one of the most versatile. He always brought such haunting depth and emotional intensity to his roles, often portraying characters teetering on the edge of psychological turmoil. With his piercing blue eyes and floppy blonde hair, his sensitive, brooding presence gave him the appearance of an erudite or a poet. And that voice! He had a fantastic baritone voice that could convey both vulnerability and menace. He really excelled at playing sensitive, troubled men—sometimes deeply introspective, other times psychotic or dangerously unhinged. From his chilling portrayal of the deranged killer in “He Walked by Night” (1948) to the tormented clown in FEDERICO FELLINI’s “La Strada” (1954), Basehart always infused each performance with a profound humanity, sensitivity, and quiet strength, making him one of the most compelling and underrated actors of his generation. This week we honor him as our January Star of the Month. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: ActorsandOthers.com ClassicMovieHub.com WalkofFame.com Wikipedia.com; TCM.com; IBDB.com; IMDBPro.com; Movies Mentioned: Repeat Performance (1947), starring Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, Richard Basehart, Tom Conway, and Virginia Field; Cry Wolf (1947), starring Errol Flynn, Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Basehart & Geraldine Brooks; He Walked By Night (1948), starring Scott Brady & Richard Basehart; Rosanna McCoy (1949), starring Farley Granger & Joan Evans; Tension (1949), starring Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Barry Sullivan, & Cyd Charisse; Fourteen Hours (1951), starring Richard Basehart, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Agnes Moorhead, Jeffrey Hunter, Debra Paget, & Grace Kelly; The House on Telegraph Hill (1951), starring Richard Basehart & Valentina Cortese; Decision Before Dawn (1951), starring Oskar Werner & Richard Basehart; Titanic (1953), starring Barbara Stanwyck & Clifton Webb; La Strada (1954), starring Anthony Quinn & Richard Basehart; Il Bidone (1955), starring Richard Basehart & Broderick Crawford; Moby Dick (1956), starring Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart & Orson Welles; The Brothers Karamazov (1958), starring Yul Brynner & Richard Basehart; Portrait in Black (1960), starring Lana Turner & Anthoy Quinn; The Savage Guns (1961), starring Richard Basehart & Alex Nicol; Hitler (1962); The City Beneath The Sea (1971), starring Stuart Whitman & Rosemary Forsyth; The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977), starring Burt Lancaster & Michael York; Being There (1979), starring Peter Sellers & Shirley MacLaine; --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EPISODE 120 -  “REEL REFLECTIONS: STEVE & NAN’S FAVES IN CLASSIC CINEMA” - 12/29/25  As we say goodbye to 2025, Steve and Nan are wrapping up the year and ringing in the new one with much refection. In this fun episode, join the discussion as they talk about some of their favorite films, movie stars, and directors in a series of fun lists. Get to know our intrepid hosts better and find out just who they think was the Best Villain or Best Screen Kiss or Most Beautiful Actress in the golden era of Hollywood. Steve, Nan, Lindsay, and J.P. also want to thank you all for the steadfast support and kindness throughout the year.  May 2026 bring great things to all of you beautiful listeners out there! SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Wikipedia.com; TCM.com; IBDB.com; IMDBPro.com; Movies Mentioned: Ladies of Leisure (1930); Platinum Blonde (1931); Lady for a Day (1933); Alice Adams (1935); Stella Dallas (1936); My Man Godfrey (1936); These Three (1936); Dodsworth (1936); Come and Get It (1936); Mr. Deed Goes to Town (1936); The Awful Truth (1937); Night Must Fall (1937); Stella Dallas (1937); The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938); You Can’t Take It With You (1938); Jezebel (1938); Love Affair (1939); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); Wuthering Heights (1939); Dark Victory (1939); The Return of Frank James (1940); The Letter (1940); Citizen Kane (1941); Penny Serenade (1941); Suspicion (1941); Western Union (1941); Meet John Doe (1941); The Little Foxes (1941); Mrs. Miniver (1942); Casablanca (1942); Now, Voyager (1942); Talk of the Town (1942); The Spider Woman (1943); Double Indemnity (1944); Going My Way (1944); The Woman in the Window (1944); Phantom Lady (1944); Christmas Holiday (1944); Ministry of Fear (1944); Woman In the Window (1944); Arsenic & Old Lace (1944); The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945); Brief Encounter (1945); Leave Her to Heaven (1945); Mildred Pierce (1945); Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945); The Great Flamarion (1945); Two O’Clock Courage (1945); The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945); Scarlet Street (1945); The Spiral Staircase (1946); It’s a Wonderful Life (1946); Notorious (1946); Gilda (1946); The Best Years of Our Lives (1946); Kiss of Death (1947); The Bishop’s Wife (1947); T-Men (1947); Nightmare Alley (1947); I Remember Mama (1948); Raw Deal (1948); Cry of the City (1948); They Live By Night (1948); Come to the Stable (1949); Criss Cross (1949); The Heiress (1949); White Heat (1949); Sunset Boulevard (1950); Harvey (1950); Side Street (1950); Winchester ’73 (1950); The File on Thelma Jordan (1950); A Place in the Sun (1951); Clash By Night (1952); In a Lonely Place (1953); From Here to Eternity (1953); The Big Heat (1953); Shane (1953); The Clown (1950); White Christmas (1954); A Star Is Born (1954); The Night of the Hunter (1955); The Man From Laramie (1955); A Face in the Crowd (1957); An Affair to Remember (1957); The Tin Star (1957); Giant (1956); Elmer Gantry (1960); Splendor In the Grass (1961); The Manchurian Candidate (1962); Take Her, She’s Mine (1963); The Sound of Music (1965); The Singing Nun (1966); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966); Once Upon a Time in the West (1968); The Way We Were (1973); The Godfather Part II (1974); Ordinary People (1980); --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“FUN FACTS ABOUT CLASSIC HOLIDAY MOVIES” - 12/22/2025 (119) We all know the iconic Holiday movies like “A Christmas Carol,” “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “White Christmas.” This week, Nan and Steve go behind the scenes of some of your favorite classic holiday movies and dig up some fun facts about these films that you may or may not know. We talk about the snow, the casting, the locations, and a lot more! Join in the fun as they conjure up holiday cheer with these great films. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Christmas in The Movies (2023), by Jeremy Arnold; Christmas In Classic Films (2022), by Jacqueline T. Lynch; The Many Cinemas of Michael Curtiz (2018), edited by R. Barfton Palmer & Murray Pomerance; Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (2010), by Alonso Duaralde; Ginger: My Story (2008), by Ginger Rogers; Christmas At The Movies: Images of Christmas in American, British, and European Cinema (2000), edited by Mark Connelly; It’s Christmas Time At The Movies (1998), by Gary J & Susan Svehla; AMC American Movie Classics: Greatest Christmas Movies (1998), by Frank Thompson; The ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ Book (1986), by Jeanine Basinger; Great Movie Directors (1986), by Ted Sennett; The Films of Frank Capra (1977), by Victor Scherle & Wiliam Turner Levy; "35 Surprising ‘White Christmas’ Movie Facts About the Cast, Songs & More,” October 31, 2024, Good Housekeeping; “A Short History of Fake Snow In Holiday Movies:  From ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ to Harry Potter,” December 15, 2021, LAist.com; “The Song That Changed Christmas,”October 5, 2016, by Will Friedwald, Wall Street Journal; “It’s A Wonderful Life: Rare Photos From the Set of a Holiday Classic,” November 26, 2013, by Ben Cosgrove, Time magazine; “On A Wing and a Prayer,” December 23, 2006, by Stephen Cox, LA Times; “Whose Life Was It, Anyway?” December 15, 1996, by Steven Smith, LA Times; “White Christmas: Rosemary Clooney Remembers Everyone’s Favorite Christmas Musical,” December 1994, by Frank Thompson, Pulse! Magazine; “Less Than Wonderful: James Walcott Reassesses Capra’s Christmas Classic,” December 1986, Vanity Fair; “Capra’s Christmas Classic: Yes, Virginia, It’s A Wonderful Life,” December 1986, by Trea Hoving, Connoisseur; “All I Want For Christmas is a VCR,” December 24, 1985, L.A. Herald-Examiner; “Bing, Astaire Bow Out, Par Recasting ‘Xmas’,”January 7, 1953,  Variety; “Bing Bobs Back into ‘Christmas’ Cast at Par,” January 22, 1953, Variety,  “White Christmas: From Pop Tune to Picture,” October 18, 1953, by Thomas Wood, New York Times; “Around the Sets,” August 13, 1944, L.A. Examiner; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Movies Mentioned:  A Christmas Carol (1938), starring Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Leo G. Carroll, June Lockhart, Terry Kilburn, Barry McKay, and Lynne Carver; Christmas In Connecticut (1945), starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, S.Z. Sakall, Reginald Gardiner, Robert Shayne, and Una O’Connor; It’s A Wonderful Life (1947), starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, Thomas Mitchell, Beulah Bondi, Gloria Grahame, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, H.B. Warner,  Frank Albertson, Samuel S, Hind, Mary Treen, Todd Karnes, Virginia Patton, Sarah Edwards, Sheldon Leonard, and Lillian Randolph; White Christmas (1954), starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger, Anne Whitfield, and Mary Wickes; --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12-15-2025. "HO! HO! HOLLYWOOD: SANTA CLAUS IN CLASSIC CINEMA" (118) Long before special effects, CGI snowstorms, and big-budget holiday franchises, it fell to a small but memorable group of performers to embody the warmth, wonder, and whimsy of old St. Nick. Ever wonder about the actors who were called upon to portray Santa Claus in film and TV? These classic Santas weren’t just men in red suits — they were character actors, vaudevillians, radio veterans, and Hollywood workhorses who brought their own unique spark to the role, shaping how generations of moviegoers came to imagine Father Christmas. From the twinkle-eyed charmers to the unexpectedly gruff curmudgeons, from the iconic to the nearly forgotten, we’re unwrapping the stories behind the earliest portrayals that turned Santa into a cinematic tradition. So settle in with a mug of something warm, hang your stocking, and join us as we explore the jolly, joyful, and sometimes surprisingly complex history of Hollywood’s first Santas. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Wikipedia.com; TCM.com; IBDB.com; IMDBPro.com; Movies Mentioned: Ivanhoe (1913); Scrooge (1913); Santa Claus (1912), starring Leedham Bantok; 20th Century Fox Hour: Miracle on 34th Street (1955); starring Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, & Thomas Mitchell; Shadow of a Doubt (1943), starring Joseph Cotten & Teresa Wright;  Stagecoach (1939), starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, & Thomas Mitchell; It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, & Thomas Mitchell; Gone With The Wind (1939), starring Vivien Leigh & Clark Gable; Theodora Goes Wild (1936), starring Irene Dunne; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), starring James Stewart & Jean Arthur; Our Town (1940), starring Martha Scott & Henry Fonda; High Noon (1952), starring Gary Cooper & Grace Kelly; Wild Flowers (1943), starring José Elias Moreno; Santa Claus (1959), starring José Elias Moreno; Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), staring John Call; Fearless Fagan (1952), staring Janet Leigh & Keenan Wynn;  Boots Malone (also 1952), starring William Holden Don’t Bother to Knock (1952), starring Marilyn Monroe & Richard Widmark; The Long, Long Trailer (1954), starring Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz; The Anderson Tapes (1971), starring Sean Connery & Dyan Cannon; --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EPISODE 117 -  “STEVE AND NAN DISCUSS: MOVIES ABOUT MOVIES” - 12/08/25  In the latest episode of From Beneath the Hollywood Sign, we pull back the curtain on the cinematic world of making movies about... making movies. We dive deep into the movies that reveal what really happens behind the scenes in Tinseltown-sometimes with affection, sometimes as a cautionary tale to be careful what you wish for. Movies like Sullivan's Travels (1941), Singin' in the Rain (1952), and Sunset Boulevard (1950) all offer a fascinating look at the machinations that go into making films. This week, we'll be discussing six lesser-known moves that give us a peek behind the scenes and reveal very different sides of the not-always-so-glamorous ways Hollywood works. Across genres and generations, these films offer an insider's view not just of how Hollywood works, but of the dreams, delusions, and dramas that make moviemaking an art form all its own. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Wikipedia.com; TCM.com; IBDB.com; IMDBPro.com; Movies Mentioned: What Price Hollywood? (1932) starring Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, Gregory Ratoff, and Neil Hamilton; Bombshell (1933), starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Franchot Tone, Frank Morgan, Una Merkel, Louise Beavers, and Pat O’Brien; Stand-In (1937), starring Leslie Howard, Joan Blondell, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Mowbray, Marla Shelton, and Jack Carson; The Cowboy and the Blonde (1941), starring Mary Beth Hughes, George Montgomery, Alan Mowbray, Richard Lane, Robert Conway, and John Miljan; The Star (1952), starring Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood, Warner Anderson, Paul Frees, Barbara Lawrence, Fay Baker, and Herb Vigran; The Goddess (1958), starring Kim Stanley, Steven Hill, Lloyd Bridges, Betty Lou Holland, Elizabeth Wilson, Bert Freed, and Louise Beavers; --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices