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I'm flying solo without Brad this week, so I called in film historian Brandon Davis to help me unpack Martin Scorsese’s flawed but brilliant masterpiece from 1977, "New York, New York" starring the one and only Liza Minnelli and Robert DeNiro.

We get into why the movie shocks people on first watch: lavish MGM-style sets, painted-backdrop “Technicolor” vibes, and then suddenly two people fighting like it’s a bruising 1970s relationship drama. We talk about Scorsese’s improvisation-heavy process, how that creates both magic and mess, and why Minnelli’s performance is so unexpected when she starts as a tightly controlled big-band singer instead of the full-throttle star persona most people expect. Along the way, we break down the numbers that matter, especially “But The World Goes Round,” the restored “Happy Endings” sequence, and the blockbuster “New York, New York” concert moment that turns the whole film into a showbiz fever dream. Finally, we address the elephant in the room; the odd but undeniable inspiration director Damien Chazelle took from Scorsese's brilliant film failure to create his mega-hit from 2016, "La La Land".

If you love classic Hollywood, Scorsese deep cuts, movie musical history, or character-driven storytelling, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a film friend, and leave a review, then tell us your verdict: is “New York, New York” a mess, a masterpiece, or both?

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Brad's YouTube channel, Our Chosen Spanish Life. youtube.com/@ourchosenspanishlife

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpod@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist on Spotify.

We are celebrating someone's birthday today on "Going Hollywood" and it is an occasion truly worth marking: Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday on June 1, 2026. And though it may be odd to think of the ultimate movie sex siren as a centenarian, her image as an ever youthful romantic symbol is forever burnished in celluloid.

So we feel it's fitting, as we celebrate the life of this screen legend, to take a look at her final, unfinished film; "Something's Got to Give", the 1962 romantic comedy that shut down after a chaotic production and survived only as reconstructed footage. Long maligned as substandard due to Marilyn's alleged anesthetized and pathetic mental state during filming, we discover the exact opposite to be true: she’s funny, focused, playful, and totally winning as a sophisticated light comedienne. It should have been the birth of a "New Marilyn", instead it became the farewell performance of a movie icon.

Along the way, we confront the harder context: old Hollywood’s treatment of mental health, the way “difficult” often meant “undiagnosed,” and how Marilyn’s intelligence and business instincts (including her own production company) get erased by the dumb-blonde myth. We end with what happened to the production, the attempted replacement, the lawsuits, the plan to rehire her, and the haunting question of what really happened on the evening of August 4, 1962.

If you enjoy classic Hollywood history, Marilyn Monroe, behind-the-scenes filmmaking, or the real story of "Something’s Got to Give", subscribe, share this episode with a movie-loving friend, and leave us a rating and review. What do you think the finished film would have meant for her legacy?

To watch the remaining footage of “Something’s Got to Give” on YouTube go to https://youtube.com/watch?v=1-WCdD8uJyg&si=m9wOY6-BuEKHZCH_

Text us or Leave a Voice Mail

Brad's YouTube channel, Our Chosen Spanish Life. youtube.com/@ourchosenspanishlife

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpod@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist on Spotify.

People love to dismiss “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” as “dated,” but that word can hide a much harsher truth: much of the discomfort it dramatizes never fully went away. Stanley Kramer’s 1967 classic is still a relevant thesis that dares to ask the question: "But would you want your daughter to marry one?" If that sounds blunt, it is— and that’s why the movie still sparks arguments decades later.

In this episode we tackle the social politics behind Kramer's provocative comedy, and the Hollywood history that shaped it. 1967 is a hinge year, with “Old Hollywood” going head-to-head with “New Hollywood”, the Production Code Administration losing its grip, and civil and political unrest shaping what studios would risk.

And then, of course, there's the film's emotional center: the final screen outing of Hollywood's most celebrated romantic pair: Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. We dive into Tracy’s emotional final monologue, filmed under the shadow of his illness, and the meta weight it carries opposite Katharine Hepburn. We also dig into the Oscars context, including Hepburn’s Best Actress win, the competition that year, and how the ceremony was reshaped by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. If you love classic films, Oscars history, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, or movies that test our self-image, hit play, then subscribe, share the show, and leave a review so more people can find us.

Text us or Leave a Voice Mail

Brad's YouTube channel, Our Chosen Spanish Life. youtube.com/@ourchosenspanishlife

Links to Tony's website, and Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

Follow us on Instagram @goinghollywoodpod

To watch "The True Story of the Barrymores," go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CZTHYN6D/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

To watch Tony's WIRED video "Tech Support: Old Hollywood" go to https://youtu.be/6hxXfxhQSz0?si=TO4Xv6q87XhBnqDT

Reach us at goinghollywoodpod@gmail.com

Listen to our Going Hollywood Playlist on Spotify.