It's book review week, Melanie and Ed discuss Prodigal Summer (2000) by author Barbara Kingsolver.

Also, Melanie explains why it has been her best sports weekend EVER.

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Our hosts seem to have hit the eggnog early as they discuss The Shop Around the Corner, a 1940 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, and Joseph Schildkraut.

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Robert Mitchum's preacher in The Night of the Hunter was inspired by real murders that also shaped Jayne Anne Phillips's novel Quiet Dell.

Ed and Melanie trace the link between book and film, exploring how truth becomes myth and how art transforms tragedy.
More at melanieanded.substack.com or email melanded@whothehellarewe.com .

Robert Mitchum's sinister preacher, Charles Laughton's only directorial effort, and one of cinema's most haunting thrillers — The Night of the Hunter (1955) went unappreciated in its day. Ed and Melanie explore its striking imagery, Shelley Winters' fate, and Lillian Gish's quiet strength.

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It's Book Club week as Ed and Melanie take on Laughing Gas (1936) by P. G. Wodehouse. A book with aristocrats colliding with Hollywood child stars in a screwball farce of body-swapping and mischief.

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Melanie and Ed discuss Maurice (1987), the Merchant Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel of forbidden love. They explore the film's emotional tone, literary legacy, and what it meant to tell this story in 1987.

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🌀 Originally released: July 8th, 2023

A 1931 film about a washed-up boxer and his son turns into one of the most emotional episodes Ed and Melanie have ever recorded. They walk through The Champ scene by scene, with reflections on Frances Marion, child actors, and a performance by Jackie Cooper that still stuns.

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The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), a ghost story with real romantic power. Gene Tierney is luminous, Rex Harrison is "Sexy Rexy," and the ending still breaks our hearts.

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🌀 Originally released: July 4, 2022