1930s – What's in the Basket

15. Holiday (1938): Not Caring is Cool

Today we’re taking a look at Holiday (1938), arguably the most understated of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn’s four films together. We discuss the early years and muses of playwright Philip Barry, Holiday‘s role in launching Hepburn’s career, her contentious but unwavering friendship with director George Cukor, and we finally have a legitimate reason to talk about Lew Ayres — plus Candice serves up another edition of her Puppet Corner and tackles the ultimate question: is it weird that Edward Everett Horton lived with his mom?

Bonus 11. Service de Luxe (1938): I Burned Her

It’s another Candice-and-Amelia Special this week as the Gruesome Twosome take on Service de Luxe (1938), the Constance Bennett romantic comedy that served as Vincent Price’s film debut. Recorded way back on March 7th, we discuss toilet paper shortages from the perspective of that long-ago time before Tom Hanks got COVID-19, then we dig into tractors, arson, fourth-wall breaking, and our dream cast for a remake of the lost Bessie Love vehicle Pegeen (1920).

Bonus 10. Thirteen Women (1932) and When’s Your Birthday? (1937): A Racist Final Destination

We’re looking to the stars this week for a research-free discussion of two very different cinematic approaches to astrology: Thirteen Women (1932), a proto-slasher starring Myrna Loy, and the Joe E. Brown comedy When’s Your Birthday? (1937). We talk about the impact of the Production Code on Hollywood’s handling of racial subject matter, the only screen appearance of the tragically infamous Peg Entwistle, Billy Wilder’s later mastery of Brown’s occasionally unappealing schtick, and—of course—hitchhiking babies.

Bonus 07. Postal Inspector (1936) and Telephone Operator (1937): People Have Always Been Scammin’

On this week’s bonus episode of What’s in the Basket, we brave the floodwaters for a research-free look at Ricardo Cortez, Bela Lugosi, and Patricia Ellis in Postal Inspector (1936) and Judith Allen and Alice White in Telephone Operator (1937). We learn that Alice White was Jughead, FDR was Alexa, and everyone in Old Hollywood was a tax evader.

Bonus 05. Bachelor Mother (1939) and Bundle of Joy (1956): That’s a Trauma for Another Episode

On this week’s bonus episode of What’s in the Basket, we head down to the foundling home for a research-free look at two lighthearted holiday takes on child abandonment: Ginger Rogers in Bachelor Mother (1939) and Debbie Reynolds in Bundle of Joy (1956). We explain why David Niven so handily defeats Eddie Fisher in the battle of the Merlin party boys, lay out our arguments for why children shouldn’t be allowed in Hollywood, and offer Douglas Fairbanks Jr. some posthumous family therapy.

06. The Old Dark House (1932): There Once Was a Young Fellow from Sparta

On this week’s episode of What’s in the Basket, have a potato and join us for our discussion of The Old Dark House (1932). We delve into director James Whale’s reign as Universal’s king of horror, explore the film’s role as progenitor to the genre that took its name, trace the origins of Melvyn Douglas’s mustache, and bask in the poetry of renowned artistic phenom Charles Laughton.

Bonus 01. Two Constance Bennett Pre-Codes: Oh Please, Dear Little Fat God of Love

https://www.spreaker.com/user/11560790/bonus-01-two-constance-bennett-pre-codes

On this week’s bonus episode of What’s in the Basket, we break into the RKO vault for our research-free discussion of two minor pre-codes starring Constance Bennett: Sin Takes a Holiday (1930) and Lady With a Past (1932). We mourn the tragic but very brave death of our late comrade-in-arms Amelia, Candice accidentally records an entire episode with her laptop mic, and Ben Lyon takes a beating.