From the Golden Age of Television

Series Premiere

Annie Oakley - Annie and the Brass Collar - Syndicated - January 9, 1954

Western

Running Time: 30 minutes

Written by Robert Schefer and Eric Freiwald

Produced by Colbert Clark

Directed by William Berke

Stars:

Gail Davis as Annie Oakley

Brad Johnson as Lofty Craig

Jimmy Hawkins as Tagg Oakley

Robert Emmet O'Connor  as Dan Heywood

Britt Lomond as Martin Ellison (as Glase Lohman)

Roy Barcroft as Gang Leader

Paul E. Burns as Telegrapher

Chris Alcaide as Paul Dodson

Bob Woodward as Henchman

As The Fabelmans is welcomed into theatres and Spielberg nostalgia is about to come back into conversation, we naturally are here to talk about one of his least discussed films: 1989′s Always. Based on the 1943 Victor Fleming film A Guy Named Joe, Always follows an aerial firefighter played by Richard Dreyfuss who dies saving his friend (John Goodman) in a mission, only to watch from the afterlife as his lover (Holly Hunter) grieves and finds new romance. Spielberg was a big fan of the original, turning this into a bit of a passion project that nevertheless received middling box office and reviews before becoming one of his most forgotten films.

This episode, we talk about Spielberg’s twofer years and the Oscar success of the related films. We also discuss Hunter’s slew of projects immediately after her first nomination for Broadcast News (and our wish to see her in another Spielberg film), Spielberg losing Best Director nominations to other director legends, and the era of cigarette ads and The Marlboro Man.

Topics also include Goodman’s status as a nominationless actor, bickering over the current Bake Off season, and Audrey Hepburn as an afterlife greeter named Hap.

Links:

The 1989 Oscar nominations

Vulture Movies Fantasy League

Mailbag submissions!

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1) Flight of the Intruder (1991)

Set during Vietnam War, U.S. Navy A-6 Intruder bomber pilot, Jake Grafton (Brad Johnson) is sick of seeing his friends dies over pointless bombing run of questionable targets that he conspires with a veteran pilot, Virgil Cole (Willem Dafoe) to bomb actual critical military target which is off limits due to political reasons, agitating their commander, Frank Camparelli (Danny Glover).

2) Iron Eagle (1986)

Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick) is a civilian pilot who dreams of becoming a fighter pilot like his father that he trains hard to enlist in the Air Force Academy. When his father got shot down behind enemy lines and no rescue attempts were made, he seeks help from veteran pilot, Charles Sinclair (Louis Gossett Jr.) as they attempt a daring rescue mission on their own to bring his father home.

3) Iron Eagle II (1988)

Veteran US Air Force fighter pilot, Charles Sinclair (Louis Gossett Jr.) returns in this sequel to train new pilots for a joint operation with the Russians against a common enemy but finds it impossible to get the Americans and Russians pilots to set aside their political differences to train together. He later discovers a conspiracy designed to ensure the failure of the joint operation.

4) Behind Enemy Lines (2001)

Set during Bosnian War, US Navy fighter pilot Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) is placed on high alert and given a recon mission when he was unexpectedly shot down by enemies who were not supposed to be there. As Rear Admiral Leslie McMahon Reigart (Gene Hackman) assembles a rescue team, NATO command denied the operation for fear the intrusion will disrupt the ongoing peace talks.

5) Stealth (2005)