Episode 203: The Radical Stanley Kramer

== Show Notes ==
: We discuss one of the most famous 'message' directors and focus on his films JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG, IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?
== Films Discussed ==
*Directed by Stanley Kramer
**The Defiant Ones (1958)
**On the Beach (1959)
**Inherit the Wind (1960)
**Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)
**It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
**Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
**R.P.M. (1970)
**Bless the Beasts and Children (1971)
**The Runner Stumbles (1979)
*Produced by Stanley Kramer
**Champion (1949) Dir. Mark Robson
**Home of the Brave (1949) Dir. Mark Robson
**Death of a Salesmen (1951) Dir. László Benedek
**High Noon (1952) Dir. Fred Zinnemann
**The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953) Dir. Roy Rowland
**The Wild One (1953) Dir. László Benedek
*King Kong (1933) Dir. Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack
*Zombies on Broadway (1945) Dir. Gordon Douglas
*Playtime (1967) Dir. Jacques Tati
*1941 (1979) Dir. Steven Spielberg
*The Blues Brothers (1980) Dir. John Landis
*Fled (1996) Dir. Kevin Hooks
*Rat Race (2001) Dir. Jerry Zucker
*Guess Who (2005) Dir. Kevin Rodney Sullivan
*I Am Not Your Negro (2006) Dir. Raoul Peck
*Green Book (2018) Dir. Peter Farrelly
== Discussion Notes ==
*Stanley Kramer: nobody's favorite message director
**Earned 85 Academy Awards nominations without studio assistance
**Started producing movies after returning from WWII
***Rented sound-stages and shot quickly, to avoid studio involvement
***Shifted to directing when competition caught on to his methods
**Tackled issues he wanted to tackle, and made big money for it
*Justin: His work is "middlebrow, platitudinous, self-righteous, and liberal"
**He made movies for movie lists, and high-school classrooms
*Judgement at Nuremberg
**A dramatization of the Nuremberg trials - and a good-looking film!
**Serves as a compendium of the moral and philosophical dilemmas behind prosecuting the Nazis
*It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
**Kramer's attempt at a comedy smorgasbord - great to look at, but no real jokes in it
***Shot on 70mm Panavision, and birthed the Cinerama Dome for its screening
**A comedy cast that was obsolete soon after release
**Suffers from its immense length
***Even Kramer prefers the cut down version
*Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
**You know exactly where its going when it starts
***Will: "The Green Book of its day"
**Big hit when it came out, nominated for Academy Award
***Also attacked when it came out, Kramer called "un-American"
***Essentially ended Kramers career
*The Defiant Ones
**A lean 95-minute prison escape thriller
***Atmospheric and exciting, with "gargoyle-faced characters"
**Ends on a more ambiguous note than most Kramer films
== Listener Letters ==
*Andy
*What happened to Teen Wolf?
**Our hosts have never seen it!
**Sometimes, it's OK for things to away...
== Post-Outro Discussion ==
*Our hosts discuss the recent (and possibly last) screening of Star Kid on 35mm
**It has all the things kid Justin would love!
***A kid hero, comic books, monsters, and building destruction
**Not a great story, but excellent practical effects - and very scary!
***Will wants to touch that robo-suits ass
*The trend of 90s kids movies having very heavy drama in the middle
Category:Episodes
Category:Stanley Kramer