Today’s great political film is John Frankenheimer’s masterpiece of Cold War paranoia The Manchurian Candidate (1962), which came out the week of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It’s a 1960s movie about 1950s fears: brainwashing, the Korean War, McCarthyism, all shot through with Kennedy-era anxieties about sexual potency and psychoanalysis. Who’s a Soviet agent? Who’s a mummy’s boy? And it managed to anticipate what was coming next in American politics: the age of assassination.

A new bonus episode to accompany this series is out now: David explores why so many American presidents choose High Noon as their favourite film. Sign up now to PPF+ for just £5 per month or £50 a year and get all our other bonuses plus ad free listening too. https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

To get our free fortnightly newsletter with guides, writing and clips exploring the themes of these episodes join our mailing list https://www.ppfideas.com/newsletters

Next time: The Leopard w/ Lucia Rubinelli

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode David discusses Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), a great patriotic anti-war film made in the depths of WWII. Why did Churchill want the film’s production stopped and was he right to suspect it was about him? What does the film say about the politics of nostalgia and the illusions of heroism? And how is Blimp’s moustache like Kane’s Rosebud?

A new bonus episode to accompany this series is out on Saturday: David explores why so many American presidents choose High Noon as their favourite film. Sign up now to PPF+ for just £5 per month or £50 a year and get all our other bonuses plus ad free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

To get our free fortnightly newsletter with guides, writing and clips exploring the themes of these episodes join our mailing list https://www.ppfideas.com/newsletters

Next time: The Manchurian Candidate

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941) is many people’s favourite film of all time, including Donald Trump’s. Why does Trump love it so? What does he get right and what does he get wrong about the trajectory of the life of Charles Foster Kane? What does the film reveal about the relationship between celebrity, influence and political power? And why is Rosebud not the real mystery at the heart of this story?

Like Kane, want more stuff? To get PPF merch – either an ethically-sourced canvas tote bag or a bone china mug – just go to our website https://www.ppfideas.com/merch

Next time: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.