Biopic: A Podcast Story

Episode 73: Sunrise at Campobello, about FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt!

We start Politics Month with a whimper: A 2 hour, 30 minute, ponderous look inside the months and (maybe?) years that immediately follow FDR’s devastating polio diagnosis. 
Should this be an interesting look at a consequential moment in which the future of American politics was forever changed? Yes. Should this be an incisive character study on one of the most important, decent and progressive individuals to hold the office of president, during one of the most challenging eras in U.S. history? Yes. Is it? No. 
We get furious about the monologuing, the Von Trapp style children, and desperate need for a screenplay editor. Also discussed: Alice Roosevelt’s bitchy vendetta against Eleanor, Sara’s parasocial relationship with Teddy Roosevelt, bad teeth and bad parenting, getting polio from a Boy Scout camp, and being in more than one community production of Annie. 
Sunrise at Campobello stars Ralph Bellamy as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Greer Garson as Eleanor Roosevelt, Hume Cronyn as Louis Howe, Jean Hagen as Marguerite "Missy" LeHand, Ann Shoemaker as Sara Delano Roosevelt, Alan Bunce as Governor Alfred E. Smith, Tim Considine as James Roosevelt, Zina Bethune as Anna Roosevelt, Frank Ferguson as Dr. Bennett, Pat Close as Elliott Roosevelt, Robin Warga as Franklin Roosevelt Jr., Tom Carty as Johnny Roosevelt, Lyle Talbot as Mr. Brimmer, David White as Mr. Lassiter, Walter Sande as Captain Skinner and Herbert Anderson as Vincent Dailey, was directed by Vincent J. Donehue, and was based on a play by Dore Schary.
 
Sources used in the episode include…
 
Books
The Roosevelt Women by Betty Boyd Caroli
Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume I by Blanche Weisen Cook.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Political Life by Robert Dallek
Eleanor by David Michaelis
Hissing Cousins: The Lifelong Rivalry of Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth by Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer 
The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency by James Tobin
Podcasts
The Totalus Rankium episodes on FDR.
 
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 72: The Attorney, with Special Guest Star, Cartoonist Ryan Estrada!

We welcome back the amazing cartoonist and South Korea expert Ryan Estrada  (https://www.ryanestrada.com/) to discuss this truly inspiring biopic that is “not about” (wink and nudge, folks) the early years of future 9th president of South Korea and human rights activist Roh Moo-huyn, then a tax attorney who is compelled to defend a number of teenage students who are arrested and imprisoned without warrants on fabricated charges of being communist sympathizers. 
Fortunately, this is not at all timely, and we live in the U.S.A., so we can’t relate to people being detained without reason and hopped-up charges of aiding and abetting vague enemies in order to scare and intimidate everyone else into obeying in advance. 
We discuss the reason why South Korean filmmakers prefer “based on a true story” for their biopics, talk more about Ryan’s superhero wife (and co-author) Kim Hyun Sook, and, of course, whether there’s anything to ever be hopeful about ever again.  Cut for time (probably for the best): Sara’s theories about Mattress stores being a front for criminal activities. 
We unabashedly loved this movie and its performances by future Parasite star (and the Tom Hanks of South Korea) Song Kang-ho and K-Pop idol and Squid Game star Im Si-wan, and desperately needed its message about how one person’s actions can change the world. 
ALSO: Ryan has a new book out with aformentioned superhero wife Kim Hyun Sook: Good Old Fashioned Korean Spirit (Penguin Workshop) which can be procured at Bookshop.org or from any of the other major book suppliers who absolutely do not need us to link to them. 
The Attorney stars Song Kang-ho as Song Woo-suk, Kim Young-ae as Choi Soon-ae,  Oh Dal-su as Park Dong-ho, Kwak Do-won as Cha Dong-young, Im Si-wan as Park Jin-woo, Lee Sung-min as Lee Yoon-taek, Jung Won-joong as Attorney Kim Sang-pil, Song Young-chang as Judge, and Jo Min-ki as Prosecutor Kang Young-cheol.
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/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory
Contact us: biopiclistenermailbag@gmail.com

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
 
Follow us!
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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
 
Follow us!
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Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social
Threads: @biopicapodcaststory
Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory
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
Threads: @biopicapodcaststory
Website: https://biopicapodcaststory.podbean.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/biopicapodcaststory
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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Bluesky: @biopic-podcast.bsky.social
Threads: @biopicapodcaststory
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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