Tag: Janet Leigh

Episode 41: The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian CandidateIn this week’s episode, we felt like talking about politics for some reason, so we watched The Manchurian Candidate!

We highly recommend you watch the film before listening to the episode, because if you haven’t seen the movie by now, you owe yourself a treat. This film can is a little hard to find on streaming right now, but it is available on Amazon Streaming if you have a Starz account (…or if you sign up for their 7-day free trial, hint hint).

Please join us again on February 7th, when we launch into the world of Philip Marlowe with Murder, My Sweet!

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate poster Rating: 7.9/10 (80,965 votes)
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: Richard Condon, George Axelrod, John Frankenheimer
Stars: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh
Runtime: 126 min
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: 24 Oct 1962
Plot: An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.

Episode 1: Touch of Evil

Touch of EvilWelcome to the inaugural episode of Reel Education: Noir!

Like our parent podcast, A Reel Education, we strive to discuss individual movies in depth, usually with someone who has never seen the film before. But unlike our fellow podcast, we will focus exclusively on films noir. (Really, it’s all just a clever excuse for us to watch a lot of films noir.)

Since A Reel Education has already covered several of the basics like Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity, we have begun our dark odyssey with Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil.

If you are unfamiliar with the Reel Education structure, here’s the deal: we will first briefly discuss the film, then stop the podcast and watch it. (At this point, feel free to pause the podcast and watch the film yourself!) Then we return and discuss our reactions and some of the history behind the film.

We hope you enjoy our stroll down the dark alleys of film history! A Reel Education: Noir will post on the 7th and 21st of every month, so we will next see you on June 7th!

Touch of Evil (1958)
Touch of Evil poster Rating: 8.0/10 (111,119 votes)
Director: Orson Welles
Writer: Orson Welles, Whit Masterson, Franklin Coen
Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh
Runtime: 95 min
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Released: 23 Apr 1958
Plot: A Mexican official and his American wife are targeted in a Texas border town by the crime family he's trying to put behind bars for drug trafficking, as his concern grows over the tactics of the local detective whose cooperation h...