Biopic: A Podcast Story

Episode 71: The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots

 While it dazzles with its 1895-era special effects, the Thomas Edison-produced The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots offers scant commentary or insight into the life of Mary Stuart, opting for salaciousness over character development. 
It’s also 18 seconds long. 
Rena offers critical context that the O.G. shameless idea thief Thomas Edison’s film fails to provide, and we also discuss Sara’s ongoing enmity of Kevin Costner, Wes Bentley appreciation, Juilliard auditions, sad puppies, Hugo, and acrylic yarn. 
The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots is directed by Alfred Clark, produced by Thomas Edison, and stars Robert L. Thomas (of course, a man) as Mary Stuart. 
Sources used in the episode include…
Queen Of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart
By John Guy
 
Podcast: The Rest is History, series on Mary, Queen of Scots
The Hollywood Reporter, “How Kevin Costner Lost Hollywood,” by Peter Kiefer, October 8, 2025. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/kevin-costner-horizon-yellowstone-2-1236395016/ 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q
 
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Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
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Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Episode 70: Mad Love, the Story of Juana of Castile, Who Probably Did Not Deserve to Be Called Juana la Loca

Juana of Castile is MADDDDD WITH LOOOOOVVVEEE for one of those Easter Island-headed Hapsburgs and … that’s the movie. That’s it. That’s Mad Love.
After several back-to-back bangers, Rena and Sara find themselves in biopic purgatory with this boring-as-all-get-out movie that features baffling artistic choices (including absolutely no lighting and an angry-as-hell score) and manages to make what Rena promises are super-compelling people into droning dullards. 
Some of the content discussed includes: the best way to shoot a dance sequence (from the waist up, of course), Hapsburg family inbreeding, toilet babies, Isabella and Ferdinand, and our general unhappiness with having watched this film. 
 
Sources used in the episode include…
Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile 
By Julia Fox (no, not that Julia Fox, the other Julia Fox, although perhaps Julia Fox’s whole thing is to hide being a history nerd.)
 
Isabella of Castile: Europe's First Great Queen
by Giles Tremlett
 
Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean by Edward Kritzler
Emperor : a new life of Charles V
by Geoffrey Parker
The Habsburgs : To Rule the World
by Martyn Rady
 
Podcasts
The Queens Podcast, episodes on Isabella and Juana of Castile
 
Web
https://frockflicks.com/snark-week-mad-love-juana-la-loca-2001/
 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q
 
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Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
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Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Episode 69: Wonderland, Starring Val Kilmer as John C. Holmes!

69! Very nice. We commit to the bit by exploring the seedy underworld of Los Angeles’ porn and drug scene in 2003’s unfairly overlooked Wonderland. Starring Val Kilmer as the legendary abusive monster John Holmes, aka Johnny Wadd, Wonderland documents, Rashomon-style, the notorious revenge murders in which John Holmes most definitely participated, and reminds us that drugs are indeed very, very, very bad. 
We discuss a lot of addict logic, P.T. Anderson’s insistence that John Holmes was a good actor, the differences between crack and freebase, Tim Blake Nelson’s enduring gift for playing the kind of dude who would be comfortable at a dog fight, the unbelievable magic of Lisa Kudrow, Liberace, and so much more, including acrylic yarn. 
Wonderland is directed by James Cox, and stars Val Kilmer as John Holmes, Lisa Kudrow as Sharon Holmes, Kate Bosworth as Dawn Schiller, Eric Bogosian as Eddie Nash, Dylan McDermott as David Lind, Carrie Fisher as Sally Hansen, Josh Lucas as Ron Launius, Ted Levine as Sam Nico, Tim Blake Nelson as Billy Severely, Christina Applegate as Susan Launius, Janeane Garofalo as Joy Miller, and Natasha Gregson Wagner as Barbara Richardson. 
 
Sources used in the episode include…
“The Devil and John Holmes” by Mike Sager —  this was an article for Rolling Stone that is kind of the definitive telling of this story. 
Wonderland Murders podcast on Wondery.
Michael Connelly's series on MGM TV called The Wonderland Massacre.
Malice in Wonderland by Tom Lange.
The documentary WADD, which came out in 1999.
– Basically if there’s a podcast or episode of television or anything about this story Sara has probably looked into it. 
 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q
Follow us!
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Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social
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Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
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Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Episode 68: Lawrence of Arabia, Starring Peter O’Toole as T.E. Lawrence!

Rena and Sara are pretty psyched that they saw this the second-best way (the first being on an Apple watch) at the Paris Theater. Because David Lean’s epic masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia is what everyone says it is: expansive. 
Why did everyone tolerate Peter O’Toole’s drunken shenanigans? Why was Anthony Quinn’s appearance the one that had to be made accurate with a prosthetic nose? Which of T.E. Lawrence’s contributions to society were most meaningful: foreign policy based on nation-building or the motorcycle helmet? Why is master bridge player and actor Omar Sharif so darn hot? 
We also play “Thanks A Lot, Alexander Korda” (you nerds out there owe him big time), talk about Lawrence of Arabia’s place in the Listicle Industrial Complex, Rena discovers what might be Mitch McConnell’s burner account for writing IMDB reviews, and Sara again mentions that she is trying to read The Power Broker.
 
Sources used in the episode include…
 
Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, by T.E. Lawrence
Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, by Noa Tishby
David Lean: A Self Portrait  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jAb4tmCPOk  - I’d like to mention here that a friend pointed out the size of his ears - which are astonishing - and said, “It makes sense that one of the most acclaimed directors of the 20th century could probably hear everything on the set better than everyone else.” And I have not stopped thinking about that a little since. *
Articles in the New York Post, El Pais, and others https://english.elpais.com/people/2023-12-24/alcohol-fights-and-indestructible-talent-how-peter-otoole-survived-the-bars.html 
https://transition.fcc.gov/national-broadband-plan/broadband-performance-paper.pdf (an FCC paper with figures on the shift from dial-up to broadband.)
 
Podcasts
 
The Empire podcast.
An episode of History Hit
An episode of In Our Time, from the BBCUnspooled, Lawrence of Arabia
 
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* So David Lean is like Dumbo, sort of.

Episode 67: Bonnie and Clyde, Starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow!

We finally found a movie that is both a Sara Movie and a Rena Movie, and it’s the damn-near-perfect 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde.
Yes, their names are Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow and they rob banks… but there’s so much more to talk about, including Sara’s Talmudic Loophole of Seeing Inappropriate Stuff as a Kid, whether Faye Dunaway is the most beautiful, most bananas, most brilliant actress to appear on screen, how the hell CW Moss got that box of grenades, Buck Barrow’s refusal to die, and Rena’s fascination with Blanche Barrow’s jodhpurs.
We love this movie, we have a lot to say about it, and we went deep and hard, which, according to this film, was something Clyde Barrow could not do (though opinions vary).
Bonus: We have a challenger for “Lou Gehrig’s Older Than the Dust Itself On-Screen Mother,” and Corpse Capers.  
 
Sources used in the episode include…
Public Enemies by Bryan Burroughs 
Looking for Gatsby by Faye Dunaway 
The Studio, by John Gregory Dunne 
Go Down Together, by Jeff Guinn
Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris 
 
Documentary
Faye, a documentary about the life of Faye Dunaway
 
Podcasts
American History Hit: Bonnie & Clyde
Criminalia episode: The Reluctant Blanche Barrow: Bonnie Wasn't the Only Dame in Clyde Barrow’s Gang
Infamous America multi-parter on Bonnie & Clyde
 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q
 
Follow us!
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Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
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Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Episode 66: Ken Russell’s The Devils, with Special Guest Star Elana Levin of the Graphic Policy Podcast!

The Devils is a lot of things: a wholesome look at what happens when people believe in weird provincial nonsense instead of actual facts; a star vehicle for unlikely pin-up Oliver Reed; the most Catholic movie ever made; and the only time (so far, at least) we’ve used the phrase “Holy Water Enema.”
 
We’re SO excited to welcome back our show’s official Ken Russell sherpa, the still-brilliant Elana Levin from the Graphic Policy Podcast (https://graphicpolicy.com/radio/, on Bluesky @Levin), to take us through the not-at-all-relevant-in-present-day tale of a town’s one rational, science-trusting dude battling the floods of insanity, stupidity and mob rule led by religious maniacs. 
 
Just a few of the topics we cover are the not-at-all-coded Klan hoods, Sara’s history with the Jesuits, where crocodiles fit into healthcare protocols, Jefferson Airplane, the musical Hair, and so much more. Also in this episode: Another “Road to Korda.” 
 
The Devils is directed by Ken Russell, and stars Oliver Reed as Urbain Grandier, Vanessa Regrave as Sister Jeanne, Dudley Sutton as Baron De Laubardemont, Gemma Jones as Madeleine, Michael Gothard as Father Barre, Georgina Hale as Phillippe, Christopher Logue as Cardinal Richelieu, Max Adrian as Ibert, and Graham Armitage as Louis XIII. 
 
Find Elana here: https://graphicpolicy.com/radio/ 
Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
 
Sources used in the episode include…
 
Books:
 
The Devils of Loudon by Aldous Huxley
 
The Possession at Loudun by Michel de Certeau
 
Podcasts:
 
Bad Ideas, “The Devils of Loudon — Urbain Grandier and the Possessions of Loudon”
 
Battle Royale episode on Louis XIII
 
Not Just the Tudors episode on Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu.
 
Online: 
 
Interview with Ken Russell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySbsO_9d3ls 
 
https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/looking-back-possessions-loudun
 
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Episode 65, Part 2: Tombstone, the Best Wyatt Earp Movie, Starring Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp!

PART 2 of the most epic and definitive discussion of the greatest movie ever made: 1993’s Tombstone, a film we loved so much that we could not shut up about it and had to make our first two-parter. 
 
There’s more talk about costumes and sets and history, but also a LOT more talk about the perfection of Val Kilmer, the one way America could be made great again (over-the-counter laudanum), continued hatred of 1994’s Wyatt Earp (known as “Boring Tombstone”),  what is not Charlton Heston’s final acting role. 
 
This movie is perfect and that is settled law. 
 
Tombstone stars Kurt Riussell as Wyatt Earp, Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday, Sam Elliott as Virgil Earp, Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp, Powers Boothe as Curly Bill Brocius, Michael Biehn as Johnny Ringo, Charlton Heston as Henry Hooker, Jason Priestley as Billy Breckinridge, 
Jon Tenney as Behan, Stephen Lang as Ike Clanton, Thomas Haden Church as Billy Clanton, 
Dana Delany as Josephine Marcus, Paula Malcomson as Allie Earp, Lisa Collins as Louisa Earp, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Mattie Earp, Joanna Pacula as Kate, Michael Rooker as Sherman McMasters, and Harry Carey Jr. as Marshal Fred White.
 
Sources used in the episode include…
 
Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell
By Tom Clavin
 
The Last Gunfight : The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral—and How it Changed the American West
By Jeff Guinn
 
Lady at the O.K. Corral : The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp
by Ann Kirschner
 
Ride the Devil's Herd : Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang
By John Boessenecker
 
The Making of Tombstone by John Farkis, and a note on John Farkis who is life goals—his bio: “Retired automotive executive John Farkis, is an historian and lifelong fan of the cinema.” He’s basically like, I am a fan of this movie and I am going to write a book and he DID. 
 
Also a podcast that Sara would recommend highly, It was a Shit Show, which did an episode about the behind of the scenes of this film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCN_JF1kN-g 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q
Follow us!
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Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
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Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

Episode 65, Part 1: Tombstone, the Best Wyatt Earp Movie, Starring Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp!

Get in, losers, we’re going to Tombstone. We’re back from hiatus, and we love this movie so much that it gets pretty embarrassing. But what are you supposed to do when gazing upon the majesty of Kurt Russell with ALL the eyeliner on, Sam Elliot and his magical moustache, Powers Boothe’s goofy, over-the-top Curly Bill, and, of course, the miraculous Val Kilmer’s virtuoso turn as Doc Holliday? 
Kevin Costner and “Boring Tombstone” catch plenty of strays as we praise this film’s costumes (no, seriously), the screenplay’s avoidance of clever subtext, it’s sort-of-a-scientology audit meet-cute scene between Wyatt and his eventual wife Josie, and so much more. 
Also, we loved this so much that we had to do this episode as a two-parter!  
Sources used in the episode include…
Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell
By Tom Clavin
The Last Gunfight : The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral—and How it Changed the American West
By Jeff Guinn
Lady at the O.K. Corral : The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp
by Ann Kirschner
 
Ride the Devil's Herd : Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang
By John Boessenecker
The Making of Tombstone by John Farkis, and a note on John Farkis who is life goals - his bio: “Retired automotive executive John Farkis, is an historian and lifelong fan of the cinema.” He’s basically like, I am a fan of this movie and I am going to write a book and he DID. 
Also a podcast that I would recommend highly, It was a Shit Show, which did an episode about the behind of the scenes of this film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCN_JF1kN-g 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q
 
Follow us!
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Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social
Threads: @biopicapodcaststory
Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
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Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com