rko – What's in the Basket

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 09. My Favorite Wife (1940) and Move Over, Darling (1963): Who Would You Commit a Bigamy With?

https://www.spreaker.com/user/11560790/bonus-09-my-favorite-wife-1940-and-move-

This week we’re taking a research-free look at two romantic comedies that combine nineteenth-century tragic poetry with Hollywood’s love of bigamy: My Favorite Wife (1940) and its remake, Move Over, Darling (1963). We discuss our love of Doris Day and ambivalence towards Irene Dunne, the confounding screen dynamic between rumoured real-life couple Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, and whom among both casts we’d invite to our respective Bigamy Squads.

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.

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.