Ep #33 - Danny Reid's 60s Pick - 36 Hours
36 Hours (1964)
Cinema60 welcomes Danny Reid, creator of the wonderful pre-code.com, editor of Thoughts on a Thin Man and author of much more. Bart and Jenna invited him on to talk about 36 Hours (1964), a James Garner World War II thriller that, besides having as many twists as a Twilight Zone episode, breaks expectations for cinematic Nazi tropes. An American Colonel named Jeff Pike (Garner) is kidnapped by Nazis and made to participate in a rather elaborate information-getting scheme. They create a fake American hospital in Germany to convince Jeff that not only has the war already ended several years ago, but he’s been suffering from bouts of amnesia this entire time. Throw in Rod Taylor as the charming Nazi mastermind, Eva Marie Saint as a German nurse with a secret, and a handful of other memorable character actors and you’ve got yourself a genuinely entertaining film.
In this episode, Bart, Danny and Jenna discuss their enjoyment of 36 Hours in depth – touching upon the function of Nazis in film, the fun of unbelievable scenarios, and the joys of being an obsessive cinephile. Danny not only schools us on all things James Garner, Roald Dahl, and precode film as it relates to sixties film, but he even serenades us with the lost words to Dmitri Tiomkin’s “A Heart Must Learn to Cry.” Truly a must listen.
The following film is discussed:
• 36 Hours (1964)
Directed by George Seaton
Starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor
Also mentioned:
• Mädchen in Uniform (1931)
Directed by Leontine Sagan
Starring Dorothea Wieck, Hertha Thiele, Emilia Unda
• Penguin Pool Murder (Hildegarde Withers) (1932)
Directed by George Archainbaud
Starring Edna May Oliver, Robert Armstrong, James Gleason
• Rain (1932)
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Starring Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, Guy Kibbee
• 42nd Street (1933)
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Starring Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent
• Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Starring Warren William, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee
• A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes) (1933)
Directed by Edwin L. Marin
Starring Reginald Owen, Anna May Wong, June Clyde
• Mussolini Speaks (1933)
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Starring Lowell Thomas, Benito Mussolini
• Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
Directed by Cedric Gibbons
Starring Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Hamilton
• The Thin Man (1934)
Directed by W.S. Van Dyke
Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan
• Maisie (1939)
Directed by Edwin L. Marin
Starring Robert Young, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey
• Live Wires (Bowery Boys) (1946)
Directed by Phil Karlson
Starring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Mike Mazurki
• The Young Lions (1958)
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Starring Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin
• OSS 117 Is Unleashed (1963)
Directed by André Hunebelle
Starring Kerwin Mathews, Nadia Sanders, Irina Demick
• Grand Prix (1966)
Directed by George Seaton
Starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor
• Tinker Bell (2008)
Directed by Bradley Raymond
Starring Mae Whitman, Kristin Chenoweth, Raven-Symoné
• ”Maverick” (1957–1962)
• ”The Twilight Zone” (1959–1964)
• ”Hogan’s Heroes” (1965–1971)
• ”Mission: Impossible” (1966–1973)
• ”The Rockford Files” (1974–1980)
• “Dora the Explorer” (2000–2019)
