Screen Test of Time

Episode 216: Anatomy of a Murder

Anatomy of a Murder is a courtroom drama that introduces some of the touchstones of the genre, including the the “I’m just a simple country lawyer” trope, with Jimmy Stew

Episode 215: The Diary of Anne Frank

The 1959 adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank (adapted from the stage play, in turn adapted from the original diary) has a lot to recommend it. Only problem? The lead, a

Episode 214: Room at the Top

You know what there’s Room at the Top for? A new Bengal Lancer Episode! As we’re working through our backlog of recorded episodes, some of the topics discussed are old ne

Episode 213: Separate Tables

If we had a nickel for every time there was a film nominated for Best Picture in 1958 that was based on a play that dealt with the trauma of a man hiding his homosexualit

Episode 212: Auntie Mame

Rosalind Russel plays the titular aunt with delightful flair in this first adaptation of the best selling novel. A perfect balance of zany and clever, Auntie Mame is dece

Episode 211: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Tennessee Williams hated this adaptation of his play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof so much that he went up to people standing in line for it and said, “This movie will set the in

Episode 210: The Defiant Ones

Sidney Poitier makes his Screen Test of Time debut in this message movie, co-starring Tony Curtis, that's actually good. Two escaped chain gang convicts, one Black and on

Episode 209: Gigi

Split score alert! David and Suzan both hate and love the same things about Gigi, most of which boils down to Maurice Chevalier (the former) and everything else (the latt

Episode 208: Witness for the Prosecution

The final film of 1957, Witness for the Prosecution has it all: Murder! Intrigue! Humor! Marlene Dietrich! So it’s more than appropriate that this episode has it all: The

Episode 207: Peyton Place

The Hayes Code relaxed restrictions on certain issues related to sex the year before Peyton Place was released, and the filmmakers took that ball and ran with it. A melod

Episode 206: Sayonara

Sometimes, our hosts' predictions from the previous week turn out to be wrong. It's rare that it's in this way, though... Sayonara stars Marlon Brando and Miiko Taka in a

Episode 205: The Bridge on the River Kwai

The winner of the 1957 nominees, The Bridge on the River Kwai stars Alec Guiness, in what David calls “the role he was born to play” (please don’t get mad at us, Star War

Episode 204: 12 Angry Men

The curse of great poster, bad movie is well and truly over! (Well, at least so-bad-it’s-great poster…) Henry Ford leads a phenomenal cast of, well, twelve angry men in t

Episode 203: Friendly Persuasion

Gary Cooper plays a father and husband in a Quaker family during the American Civil War, when his community is faced with the question of whether or not they will stay pa

Episode 202: The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments is Cecil B. DeMille’s apotheosis, and we mean that both as a compliment and an insult.

Episode 201: Around the World in 80 Days

The winner of 1956, Around the World in 80 Days, features cameos from just about everyone who was alive at the time in Hollywood… which is probably why this hour too long

Episode 200: Giant

James Dean’s last movie, Giant is a sprawling Texas epic also starring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, and it’s damn good. Not perfect. But damn good.

Episode 199: The King and I

Well, this was painful. The King and I is a disaster of racist stereotypes, colonialist tropes, and yellow face casting, with, unfortunately, some really talented people

Episode 198: The Rose Tattoo

And we're back after a brief hiatus with the final nominee of 1955, the lesser known (for a reason) Tennessee Williams penned The Rose Tattoo, starring Anna Magnani and B

Episode 197: Picnic

Kim Novak and William Holden star in Picnic, the CinemaScope adaptation of the William Inge play about (what else) a picnic in a small midwestern town. Which sounds super