Dinner with Dan
Every Sunday, Wroe Avenue meets to discuss the week in Dayton, Ohio. Our host, retired Dayton Municipal Court Judge Dan Gehres regales listeners with hot takes from his life while having a delicious dinner.
Dinner with Dan
From Here to Wroe Avenue
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Tonight on Dinner with Dan, the gang has a Hawaiian Feast made by Kate to celebrate From Here to Eternity. From roasted pork to pineapple upside down cake to spam as an appetizer--we never seem to let a theme go to waste on Sunday evening.
Poor Dan has to defend the movie again under some scrutiny from his dinner guests. But all enjoyed discussing 1953's Best Picture From Here to Eternity. We hope you will join us.
#DinnerwithDan
Okay. Uh like to welcome all our loyal listeners to this, the 35th episode. 35th episode of Dinner with Dan.
SPEAKER_05Oh, backside 30.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I am Dan Garrett, your host. We are taping on Sunday, May 24th, 2026, from historic Five Oaks neighborhood in Dayton, Ohio. It's been uh raining a lot, and uh in fact, the past seven days has set a record for the most rainfall for a week in May in Dayton of 6.6 inches of rain.
SPEAKER_01Really?
SPEAKER_00Now, you know, there was more rain in March of 1913. Right. But for seven for seven days in May, which is the name, the title of a great political thriller book, Seven Days in May. Yeah, which I think was written by a Daytonian, to be honest with you. Uh yeah, so it's set for uh the last seven days has set uh the most rainfall for a week in May in Dayton of 6.6 inches of rain. And then it started raining again today. So at the table tonight, we have table regulars Nan Whaley, Sam Braun, Dia, Paul Duncan Robinson, and Kate Evans. My son Eddie has been excused to attend the birthday party of his lifelong friend Zach Roget, whose parents have been guests at the table and will join us again in several weeks. Yep. Uh this week we will discuss the 1953 Best Picture, From Here to Eternity, which is, as we know, uh filmed in Hawaii, based in Hawaii. So for tonight's dinner, we're keeping with the theme of the movie, so we're having Italian. Anne has an opportunity to redeem herself with the lasagna.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna make a great lasagna wine now. Tell us about the lasagna.
SPEAKER_00It is tell us about the lasagna you made tonight.
SPEAKER_02I did not cook tonight. All I made was a strawberry avocado salad with pecans. Kate was the big cooker tonight. So Kate.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so we're doing a Hawaiian aluhao.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, basically. I made Kahlua pork. Which is delicious. Traditionally, it is like the kind of where they put the pork underground and like cook it underground. So I cooked it overnight in a low oven, like wrapped up in a bunch of foils. Which the underground.
SPEAKER_02What's low oven? What's like 200? So you started cooking this last night? Oh my god, girl.
SPEAKER_04And so there was yeah, there's that, there's pineapple rice, there's halpio with some like pineapple and mango.
SPEAKER_02Explain what halpio is.
SPEAKER_04It's a coconut like pudding that is like dessert slash palette cleanser at the end of the meal. And then I made a pineapple upside-down cake from my grandma's recipe.
SPEAKER_02So amazing.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. But you know, it's also yummy. Is it yummy? Okay, good. Did that turn out okay? Oh and yeah, for Dia, I made it.
SPEAKER_00I think I've got some.
SPEAKER_04Oh, good. Yeah. For Dia, I made a um, it's a beyond meat um vegetarian, like teriyaki kind of pineapple chicken with some bok choy stir-fried in top.
SPEAKER_02Oh nice. We had the first, I had my first impossible burger this week.
SPEAKER_04What'd you think? Oh good. Yeah? Not too bad. Yeah, they're pretty good.
SPEAKER_00Well, and for appetizer, I have made uh cubed spam skewers with uh maraschino cherries and pineapple slices. And for Dia, uh it's just the uh pineapple slices and the maraschino cherries. Uh for those of you who may not know, spam is a major, major uh food item in Hawaii. Uh started during World War II and has continued to this very day. In fact, uh Hawaii's become so expensive for people to live there that a number of native Hawaiians have had to move to the mainland and they've congregated in uh in uh Las Vegas, where there's a lot of you know tourist industry. Uh and uh so Las Vegas is uh the grocery stores in Las Vegas have become some of the biggest sellers of spam. And for those of you who don't know what spam is, it's a delightful food. It is short for spiced ham. I think it was created in 1937. It was a staple of the soldiers in World War II as well as uh post-World War II feeding of hungry people in Europe and in Asia. So we have uh uh appetizers of spam tonight as well.
SPEAKER_01Living large.
SPEAKER_00And Sam made.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah. Oh, my thighs. Delicious.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, my thighs got all the ingredients dark rum, light rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, orjeat syrup, orange curacao, a dash of grenadine, and I added some Luxardo cherries.
SPEAKER_00No wonder Dia's rocking back and forth down there. I thought the drinking age in India was 17.
SPEAKER_05It's not she is 17.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's what the drinking age in India is 17. Yeah, yeah. So, anyhow, we have a unbelievable Hawaiian meal tonight. Oh wow, Kate. Uh, I should have tried to find my Don Ho CDs, and we could be uh eating two tiny bubbles. But that I could not do. So, anyhow, uh let us take it around. It's been two weeks since we've had a broad uh since we've had a podcast, and so we've got uh two weeks worth of uh filling in to do. So I'm gonna start with Nan Whaley.
SPEAKER_02Well, I think the big thing that Sam and I have done since we were gone, we did two things. Bell let Dia talk about the second thing. Um the first thing we did was we went to New York City last weekend uh with my brother and his wife, uh David and Emily, and my cousins Lily and Elliot. And we saw um Maya Rudolph play Mary Todd Lincoln in O'Mary.
SPEAKER_05Hilarious.
SPEAKER_02Hilarious, completely irreverent. Do you know the story? So basic, do you know the story, Paul? Kate's already heard it from Book Club.
SPEAKER_06No, I mean, I don't know the plot. I mean, I know about Mary Todd Lincoln.
SPEAKER_02So in this is not gonna be factual at all. So in the show, Mary Todd Lincoln is a former cabaret singer who is also a drunk. And Abraham is trying to manage her drunkenness. Um, and just to manage her in general because he's gay. And he's having many affairs with union soldiers, and he hires one and an out-of-work actor. Yes, he hires one out of out-of-work actor in John Wilkes Booth to because he's trying to get Mary off cabaret and into something more suitable acting, and John Wilkes Booth uh is her acting coach. She's terrible, she's terrible at it, and that's hilarious. And then he and then Mary Todd Lincoln falls in love with John Wilkes Booth, and then she goes to the saloon to realize that that's where Abraham and John Wilkes Booth are meeting, and she overhears their affair, which she says after they leave. Gotta be honest, that's not great. And the end of the show at Ford Theater, she shoots Abraham Lincoln, and John Wilkes Booth runs out. But the lines are just crazy. Like, she's like, I'm sorry, I'm a cunt. Like it's just like crazy comments through the whole thing. Maya Todd Maya Rudolph like breaks almost breaks character one time. It was hilarious.
SPEAKER_05She cracked herself up, which is funny. She was really into it. She was so good.
SPEAKER_02She was so good. So we saw that. We saw this musical name Operation Mincemeat, which is based on um oh Samuel say what is based on.
SPEAKER_05I mean, it's a true story. Uh I've read the book. This operation really did happen. Um, it was it was a British intelligence operation to trick the Germans to think that the Allied invasion of Italy was going to go to Sardinia instead of Sicily. And so they cooked up this plot where they found a dead body, gave him all the papers, dressed him up like a soldier, dropped him off in the ocean outside of Spain, where he would wash up into the Spanish shore with a briefcase that had detailed plans for an invasion of Sardinia. And it all happened this way. Um the briefcase made its way to Germany because Spain, which was officially neutral, was actually really pro-they were fascist, they were pro-Germany. And the Germans, whether it was from this or other reasons, moved troops out of Sicily and into Sardinia. Um heck of a story. It happened. They made a musical and they made a musical, which is funny. It was a musical.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. It was a musical.
SPEAKER_00I read the book years ago. The book's called The Man Who Never Was.
SPEAKER_02Um, it was it was so good. The music was great on it. Um, five people. Like they looked like they were 15 people. It was amazing, amazingly done. So fun. And then we saw Bruce Springsteen at Madison Square Garden. And this tour that he's doing, this protest tour, is well, Sam, what is it? What'd you say it was? A religious experience. Yes. Sam the atheist says it's a religious experience. It was so good. The man is 76 years old. He plays for three hours. He does not stop. He does not stop. No breaks. The band gets a 10-minute break, but the boss keeps on going. Um he played, um, he starts the starts the show with like this monologue about, you know, choosing justice over oppression, you know, truth over falsehood, um, love over war. Peace over peace over war. And as soon as he says war, he breaks into war. What is it good for? And it's like chilling, like it's such chills. And then he played Born in the USA after that. He also played Youngest Town. Um, and since he was at Madison Square Gardens, he played 41 Shots.
SPEAKER_05Murder Incorporated. Murder Incorporated. He doesn't play it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it was so good. And then he had this guy from Rage Against the Machine, Tom Farello.
SPEAKER_04The guitarist.
SPEAKER_02He was great, Morello.
SPEAKER_04He he's been doing a lot of shows with him.
SPEAKER_02And they did the ball, is it the ballad of Tom Jone or the ghost of Tom Jod?
SPEAKER_05Morello played about half the songs, but yeah, it was the ghost of Tom Jode. It was really good. And they had like a guitar off him and Bruce that was really amazing. Those guys are that was an amazing experience.
SPEAKER_02And then we ate really well. We went to a Jose Andreas on the top of the Ritz Carlton for high tea. It was unreal. And then we shopped. And then Sam and I, they left, and then Sam and I went to the Met and we saw the Raphael exhibit that's there right now, which was very good. So that's like the biggest thing that's happened since we were gone when we missed last week. It was a great, great trip. Now this weekend you caught us just back. Uh Sam, do you have anything you want to add to the week?
SPEAKER_05I think you didn't cover the high point.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we wanted to where we went this week. We wanted Dea to talk about it this weekend.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Yes. So where'd we go?
SPEAKER_03Oh, we went to Hawking Hills. And it was great. Um, we stayed at a cabin, which was very cool. It was duck themed. Um everywhere. And it had like a screen porch where we ate, which was yeah, that was great. And it had a hot tub. And how many miles do we hike? Like almost ten miles. Yep, on one day, so that was cool. I like the Devil's Bathtub. Um, and the Theater Falls and Ashcave. Those were all very fun. Yeah, I had a really good time.
SPEAKER_02And what animals did you see?
SPEAKER_03Um baby chipmunk? Wild turkey.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah. Wild turkey.
SPEAKER_05Those aren't easy to spot.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Sam. I wanted to chase it, but Sam said no.
SPEAKER_07Um that was that was smart.
SPEAKER_03And a baby deer and a like a mama deer. Oh. And uh woodpecker. Oh nice. Yeah, and just lots of birds. And a water snake. Yeah, that was very cool. The waterfalls were very active because of all the rain. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Did you manage to stay dry or did you have a few?
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, it was planned very like it was just perfect. I think Sam planned it very nicely. So we avoided the heavy rain. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Where in Hawking Hills were you guys actually?
SPEAKER_05I mean, where we stayed is kind of in the middle of nowhere. I guess it's a few minutes outside of South Bloomingville, which is, you know. There are just like 10 houses there. Give me a county. Oh, Hawking. Oh, Hawking. Hawking County, okay.
SPEAKER_00Hawking County. I mean, because you know they call that Hawking Hills over there for a number of counties.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. We were Hawking. We were yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's just very pretty. And I had a good time hiking. It was a lot of fun. And Louie? And Louie was there. Oh, Louis got to go. He's a really good hiker. Yeah, he kept up the whole time.
SPEAKER_05He loves to walk, but he was very upset because at the end of the day he had to have a bath. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, he was very money.
SPEAKER_03It was so funny.
SPEAKER_04I had all this fun. And now I have to do this.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Very upset. It was a lot of fun. I was cracking up.
SPEAKER_02Also, Dia was the what was the what last week was? This last week.
SPEAKER_03Oh, it was last week of school. Yeah, congrats. Yep, no more school. I don't have to wake up early anymore. It's just great. It's kind of fun.
SPEAKER_00And didn't you go to Cedar Point, or that's coming up?
SPEAKER_03That's coming up.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03When do you go to Cedar Point? I don't remember. But it's not, it's next month.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um, yeah, and Paul and I are matching today. We have our vlog party shirts on. So does Sam. Different edition. Yeah. And I just want to say that the food's just awesome. I love it. You like it? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Good. I was really nervous about the vegetarian pork one. It's just awesome.
SPEAKER_00That's really good. The pork tastes like pork from a pig roast.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. That was that was. I mean, it really does. It tastes like pork from a pig roast.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04I'm impressed with how it came out. They like I followed a recipe pretty closely. I made a few little modifications. But I it's like they tell you to use liquid smoke and salt, and that's literally all you use. And then you just wrap it up in foil. But I found this smoked salt that I used, and I think it really enhanced the flavor.
SPEAKER_00So it's really good.
SPEAKER_04I know. I was like, oh, I can't believe you can do that in the oven.
SPEAKER_02And the rice is very good in pineapple.
SPEAKER_04It is, yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_02Okay, that's what happened over at um 217 this past couple weeks, Danny.
SPEAKER_00Duncan?
SPEAKER_06Uh well, in reverse chronological order. Um yesterday uh Cheryl and I went to our niece's daughter's grandniece's one-year-old birthday party. Um that was fun, even though she's won, but um got a got a cupcake out of it. Um Friday night, Cheryl and I went to this uh uh place in Springboro Latin Arepas, which kind of has a tiki theme, so I thought it'd be the end, not because of today's movie, but you know, your interest in Tiki in general. Um and they had a ukulele player, so um she was building out some cover tunes, so that was uh that was good. And then uh last weekend, I uh went to trail days uh in Damascus, Virginia. Um which uh, you know, Southbound coming, Southbound pole, southbound. So I met a I met a guy once uh yeah, I met a guy there, uh trail name is Muse, and uh he had hiked southbound last year, and earlier this month I read his online trail journal, and um I actually met him um by chance on Friday morning, and I you know he was like, Yeah, I hiked southbound and I did this and I finished up in December. I'm like, wait a minute, I read a trail journal of a guy who finished up in December. Thank you. And I realized really good.
SPEAKER_00The food is awesome, Eddie.
SPEAKER_06I didn't realize it was the same guy, so I I told him I have a friend of mine who's like really after me to go southbound. Um but he did it in uh almost 197 days. He finished up mid-December, which is not what I wanted to do. Yeah, because there was like snow on the ground, I mean like a little snow on the ground and mountain Georgia. But uh it was pretty cool. I got um actually met a number of hikers that I had uh uh hiked around last year, hiked with and around last year, so it had that reunion aspect. Um, so that was pretty cool. I I wouldn't say I met everybody that I you know re-re-connected with everybody, but almost most people that finished, um, including some people I had not seen since last May. So it was it was pretty cool. And I got new tips for my trekking polls because all the gear manufacturers are there, and uh yeah, it was pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00Did you wear your uh Duncan hat?
SPEAKER_06I wore the Duncan hat. I have I have to wear the Duncan hat because no one is gonna remember me. In fact, I ran into a guy that I only met twice last year, and he's like, and I could not remember his name because I only met him twice in passing, and he goes, Well, I gotta be honest, I only recognize you because of your hat. I'm like, that's fair. I have to wear the hat. And and I ran into a guy who also had the same hat who had hiked in 2016. So I got a picture with him because we're the only two people that have that hat.
SPEAKER_04That have ever hiked the hat. The same hat?
SPEAKER_06Exact same hat. Yeah. Yeah, we both agreed.
SPEAKER_00From 10 years ago, wow.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, he was there with some other people that I knew. Um a guy who had hiked, I think he did it three times, including last year, but I think his first time was 2016. That's how he knew this other guy. So yeah, it was like, like I said, like it was pretty chill. I mean, little mini reunion there, and uh, there was a parade, and uh one of the uh traditions of the parade is that uh the townspeople, particularly the kids, will uh try to spray you with water, and you get distressingly like at point blank range with her super soakers. Um, and then one adult woman like had a bucket of water, and she was like looking for someone to like douse. And the weather was good, but man, I didn't want to be literally soaked. But it was good, it was a good time.
SPEAKER_00So, Paul. So Dan Southbound calling you?
SPEAKER_06Not yet, Dan. Not yet. But I did take a picture with a block party t-shirt with a banner for uh Appalachian Day or Trail Day, so 2026. There you go. I got that for the block party poster.
SPEAKER_00So just so I understand, you're not saying never. You're not saying never. Not saying never. You're saying doubtful, but you're not saying never.
SPEAKER_06Correct, yeah, correct.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah. Cheryl, I'm gonna talk to you about getting him out of the house again.
SPEAKER_06I don't like the idea. I don't like the idea of finishing up when it's snowing or snow on the ground in uh in Georgia, but that's whatever.
SPEAKER_01Do you want some more pork?
SPEAKER_00I'm good right now. Catherine Ann?
SPEAKER_04Um I should have thought about this while everybody else was talking more. Um, I think it's pretty run of the mill for me. Lots of work. It's been very busy at work lately. And so just lots of work, lots of later nights. Um I walked in a parade, which is also somewhat work-related. Last week. Which break the Oakwood one. And you know, Dan talked about how much it's been raining here, and it rained during that parade a week ago.
SPEAKER_00So does it go down Far Hills?
SPEAKER_04No, they actually they're really smart about it. They go on Schaefer. Oh, Schaefer, yeah. So it's parallel to Far Hills made on the road down the main road. Which is kind of I think that's a really good idea. So did that. Um, did a little bit of shopping yesterday, finally got my yard mode. I think Sam and Marty were starting to worry about me on my yard.
SPEAKER_02Let us discuss the reverse Green Gables house next door to Marty.
SPEAKER_04That is big news on the block this week. We watched the formerly vacant house that's been fixed up next door to Marty getting a total makeover. It's the reverse of Sam and Sam and I think the whole house is dark green and it has white trim.
SPEAKER_01It looks great.
SPEAKER_04Oh, it looks so much better. It was a real wreck. And my understanding is that it is going to market soon to be sold, not a rental. Interesting. So that's great. You know, those of you listeners who listen to our podcast and think that it'd be cool to live with these people. There's a house. There's gonna be a house soon.
SPEAKER_02You could be living next door to Martier across from Nan and Sam and Kate.
SPEAKER_04You too could be part of our cult.
SPEAKER_02What'd you think of it, Eddie? What'd you think of the food?
SPEAKER_04It was good. I gotta get ready. Wow, he ate really fast.
SPEAKER_02I think you liked it.
SPEAKER_01Gotta go hang out with Zachy Poo.
SPEAKER_04Have fun.
SPEAKER_02Um, yeah, that's the big news, I think, on the blog.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's great news on the block. You know, because there were squatters in that house.
SPEAKER_04Oh, it would it had a really bad period of time there where I think we were all ready to go.
SPEAKER_00They were dumping trash in the garage. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02So great. Yay. Congrats, Marty and Julie. Nice, nice thing.
SPEAKER_04Really, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02What'd you do, Danny?
SPEAKER_00Uh well, uh, you know, when you get old, you can't remember things. And uh so I'm not sure what I did two weeks ago. But uh this week I started off uh Monday with uh the elevator, Virginia's Revenge, not going all the way down for me. Uh-oh. Twice. So I had to call Marty, uh, who came down. Fortunately, it went back up for me, but it wanted it only would go halfway down.
SPEAKER_01What was the deal?
SPEAKER_00It's all a mystery to me. Marty was able to come down, and of course, it worked for Marty. So, you know, as we all know in Native American uh lore, coyote is a trickster. And I'm thinking Virginia is my trickster now.
SPEAKER_06I mean, it really is giving credence to the uh revenge part of it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It worked for Marty, and it worked for me. But since then, knock on some real wood, it's been working fine.
SPEAKER_04So Louie, no, nobody's a I keep forgetting. I know. Uh so protecting the house.
SPEAKER_00I got down and I went to uh my retired judge's luncheon at MCL Cafeteria, which was fine, had a good time doing that. Uh and then Wednesday we had the uh Gareth family dinner. Uh and this week, uh, because Marty was just getting back from somewhere. Okay. Uh it was his turn to make food. So I ordered pizza from Pizza Factory, which is another official uh pizza place of uh uh dinner with Dan. Best pizza in Dayton, Ohio on Wayne Avenue. Pizza Factory's the best. Got a bunch of Pizza Factory pizza. So we had a pizza party, and the big news was after they we ate the pizza, the uh boys went across the street, Daddy's house, and brought back uh Bill Platt's desk, which is now in the living room to where I can sit there and do things and look out on what's going on up and down row. Uh one of the drawers had not been uh open since nine that since 2017. So that was a true 2017 uh time capsule. I mean, there were bills from 2017, there were magazines from 2017, articles from 2017, medical receipts from 2017.
SPEAKER_02And what'd you do with all of these things?
SPEAKER_00Well, most of them has made it to the recycling bin.
SPEAKER_02Oh, good. Yeah, all done.
SPEAKER_00So I've still got a way to go in there, you know, because that's a big desk. But eventually I hope to move the mess that is on the table back here out to there, and then I can sit there during the summer and work on things and look out, seeing who's going up and down Row Avenue.
SPEAKER_02I like that.
SPEAKER_00So that got done on Wednesday, and then uh Thursday, I can't remember. Uh Friday, the boys and I went to see uh The Mandalorian and Grogu. Star Wars movie.
SPEAKER_04I wondered if you would.
SPEAKER_00It was a great movie. I encourage everybody to go see it. It's the first Star Wars movie theatrical release in six or seven years. They put out a lot of content, but it's all been on Disney Plus streaming. This was the first theatrical release movie. It is really good. And uh I bought the $39 uh thing of Grogu uh popcorn.
SPEAKER_07Nice.
SPEAKER_00They're selling merch, let me tell you. You walk in there, there's a lot of merch.
SPEAKER_04You're the target audience.
SPEAKER_06Is it a special container?
SPEAKER_00Is that why it's oh yeah, special container. Oh yeah, it's a special container.
SPEAKER_06So you got a baby Yoda special container?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Grogu. Grogu. Yep. Uh his back opens up and you can put the popcorn in there. But you know, you get that, and then you get the big thing of popcorn. So that was really fun. And then after then I had two uh uh uh brunches at Legacy, and I'm wearing proudly wearing my limited edition uh 250th anniversary of America Legacy uh t-shirt with stuff on the side, on the sides and on the back. It's red, white, and blue for the 250th anniversary. Another official sponsor of Dinner with Dan. Uh fine place to go and eat. Uh they'll be open tomorrow on Memorial Day, but they're closed Tuesdays. So, anyhow, uh, and then uh from a standpoint of what else I've been doing, I've been watching a lot of TV. Uh Eddie and I finally finished Breaking Bad. Thank God. We did all five seasons of Breaking Bad. I watched What did you think? Oh, I really liked it. You liked it all the way through. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Have you watched it? No. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I I watched like the first two episodes. I just was like really.
SPEAKER_02I think I even got to like six or seven. I spent six or seven hours, but there's nobody to root for. Yeah. But you what? There's nobody to root for. Six or seven hours.
SPEAKER_04I know.
SPEAKER_02Root for like the the the the he's like the extreme anti-hero, and so it's just like I can't do it. It's like shit's creek for me. My mother loves shit's creek, and I'm like, I didn't who do you root for?
SPEAKER_00Well, I was rooting for Jesse Pinkman.
SPEAKER_04You you yeah.
SPEAKER_00Even though he was a cooking, I mean, you know, he was just a likable stoner that just got couldn't ever break out of the system, out of the cycle. But anyhow, Eddie and I finished watching that.
SPEAKER_02Good for you. We're in season five of um Parks and Wreck.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Parks and Wreck is good.
SPEAKER_02Yes, lots of people to root for.
SPEAKER_00I finished watching uh I watched the last episode, I believe, maybe of all time of Call the Midwife. Although they're talking about doing a movie. I texted you that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, they just can't let it go. Yeah, I texted you that.
SPEAKER_02Maybe I'll start that one because it's like 20 years, isn't it?
SPEAKER_04Oh my god, it's insane. There's there are lots of seasons. The movie would be their period close. I think it's like 15. It starts out in the 50s and ends in like 1970. 72. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh the movie would be a prequel. It would be set during World War II.
SPEAKER_04Oh, see, that would be really good. Yeah. Because you would see Melma's young young men. And they see it a lot in those early seasons. It's like they're in the bond, you know, they're going into like buildings that are damage still. And like so, yeah, and like they talk about it and what they were doing then. So that would I that would be great.
SPEAKER_02I saw I watched on PBS The Four Sights because they were in period close. Did you watch it?
SPEAKER_04No. But I I've got I it's on my radar.
SPEAKER_02It's like less um soft porny than Bridgerton. Yeah, but still kind of got PBS. It's PBS, but they still take their shirts off. Oh, there you go. The men do.
unknownNice.
SPEAKER_00Well, anyhow, I cried like a baby.
SPEAKER_02At the end, I bet you did. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because you know it was something that I watched with Virginia religiously. Uh but it was really good. I liked how it ended. I thought it was a great ending.
SPEAKER_04Um, I only watched it because of Virginia.
SPEAKER_00Then uh I finished watching uh the season the series the season end of Ghost, which I really love. That was a show Virginia and I watched. Great show. And Elsbeth, which Virginia and I watched together, really love that show. Elsbeth, she's a wacky uh lawyer who's assigned to a New York City uh precinct on a consent decree to keep them from violating people's civil rights. Oh it's a it's a murder mystery. It's hilarious. It is really funny. You would like it. I mean, it's just wacky. And every week uh you know who did the murder, so they solve it backwards.
SPEAKER_02Oh, cool.
SPEAKER_00Uh and we'll need little plates for the it is funny, it's very topical. Um and each week it's a new celebrity murderer.
SPEAKER_02Uh what should we do?
SPEAKER_00Oh, Nathan Lane's been a murderer.
SPEAKER_02Where's the streaming?
SPEAKER_00Huh? It's on CBS.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00Also the uh the uh company that killed Colbert, which I watched the last Colbert.
SPEAKER_05I haven't watched it yet. By the way, fuck CBS. Okay.
SPEAKER_00I'm not gonna charge him for that. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_05So I do not only Colbert, but the news division. They're gonna they're gonna ruin 60 minutes. It is so I do not want to avoid CBS as much as I can.
SPEAKER_02Oh, Elspeth. She's the that's what I thought. She's the woman that was in um that Chris Noth and um Julia Margallese and The Good Wife. Yeah, she was in The Good Wife, and it's a spin-off of The Good Wife. She's the quirky Elspeth, yeah. Okay, from The Good Wife. Yeah, okay. That's what I thought it was.
SPEAKER_00So, anyhow, and I started uh trying to clear out some uh text messages and stuff on my trusty flip phone. Yes, and look what I found from October 12th, 2021.
SPEAKER_02Oh my goodness. Oh, there's Virginia in front of the late show with Stephen Colbert. Here, take I'm gonna take a photo of her.
SPEAKER_05Last year when we were there, we walked by it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. We walked by it, we walked by today. Last week, yeah. I don't remember. It was right by um when where NYU was graduating.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_00And so now the two new ones that I'm watching that will get me through the summer is I Love Deadliest Catch. Oh one of the best reality shows ever. Oh, the show's great. The show is great.
SPEAKER_02I don't watch reality.
SPEAKER_00Do you like crab? Watch deadliest catch and you like crab. You will realize why crab costs so much money. It remains the deadliest job in America.
SPEAKER_05It's it's a great statistically per person.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. Per, yeah. Those ships go down, they fall over and die of hypothermia.
SPEAKER_05But you know, it's because the there's always bad weather up there.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, they're in the Bering Sea, and you know, it gets so much ice on the boats, they're out there with sledgehammers knocking the ice off so the boat don't tip over and sink. And you know, Coast Guard can only get you so many places. It's and they bring these pots up, and they're like they're doing king crab now. Yeah for each one of these pots is worth like $50 to $75,000 to $100,000. It's unbelievable. Full of crab. Yeah, I love it. And then the other thing Eddie and I are catching up on is Jen V, which is the uh college version of The Boys, which is this unbelievable sci-fi show. Hey, Eddie, what's The Boys on? Is that that's on uh Amazon. On Amazon. I hate Bezos, but I'm glad that he paid for the boys. It's the boys last season, but Gen V, you gotta watch in between Gen V to watch it. It's unbelievable. It's satire on satire on satire. It's very contemporary. Uh there's no way that uh certain people in this country would like this show. But anyhow, so that's what we're watching.
SPEAKER_02But talk about Colbert, though. I want to hear about it. Colbert's last show. What was it like?
SPEAKER_00Well, I don't want to ruin it for you.
SPEAKER_02No, but talk about it. I'm gonna watch it anyway.
SPEAKER_00You have it taped?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, we can find it online.
SPEAKER_00I've got the last two uh Well, tell me what it was like.
SPEAKER_02Talk about it.
SPEAKER_00Well, uh it was the whole week was awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh he did the uh uh, you know, he has that uh Colbert questionnaire.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so he had a big list of celebrities that would come in and ask him one question from the Colbert uh questionnaire, and that was just hysterical. And they condensed it to like uh maybe 20 minutes of the show, but then he came on the next day and said, Well, it actually went 58 minutes. And I mean, it was like Audrey Plaza, uh uh Jeff Daniels, oh cool, uh you know, every every kind of movie star you can think of, yeah. And then the last episode, everybody was wondering who his last guest was.
SPEAKER_02Because he was saying it was going to be the Pope.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, they they they had a thing with the Pope who wouldn't come out of the green room because uh Colbert had not got him Chicago hot dogs. Which, you know, as we all know in Chicago, there's a certain kind of thing that's the Chicago hot dog. And he kept throwing them out of this is not Chicago hot dogs. Uh it was Sir Paul McCarthy.
SPEAKER_02Oh, one of the Beatles.
SPEAKER_00Uh which was really neat because you know, uh he had played the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1964.
SPEAKER_05One of the first American shows, right?
SPEAKER_00It was the first that played Ed Sullivan, yeah. So it was a lot of reminiscence there and stuff. And then uh, you know, they they uh played the last thing you saw him doing was playing uh I Say Hello, You Say Goodbye. Hello, goodbye. Yeah. So it was uh Colbert was singing, uh John Bastiste was there. Yeah, uh his current guy, Louis Cato, was there, and Elvis Costello.
SPEAKER_02Oh, cool.
SPEAKER_00Plus Paul McCarthy and Colbert singing. I mean, how can you beat that? You're you're singing with one of the last alive Beatles on the Ed Sullivan station. I mean I don't know how you beat that.
SPEAKER_02Ed Sullivan's theater, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so then it ends really uh cleverly with they're in the back and uh everything's you know gotta be gone and it's time to turn the lights off, and he lets uh Paul McCarthy throw the switch, turning all the lights off. Yeah, so it's it was pretty clever. Yeah, it was really good.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, we're gonna watch it.
SPEAKER_00They had a a neat article in the paper today in the Dayton Daily, which I still get, the paper version, and uh about what's gonna happen with the Ed Sullivan theater. And it actually had started uh uh one of the producers' uh uh uh plays started it and it went bankrupt. And then CBS signed a long-term lease in like 1936, and then when Letterman started his show, CBS bought it. Uh, you know, completely bought it. And so, you know, they hope that, you know, they won't it won't get well, they can't tear it down because it's on the National Historical Register, unless somebody in the White House says no, it's not, and they let them tear it down. But uh they hope it gets restored and everything, or that that it continues, maybe goes back to a Broadway theater that it once was. So yeah. I've got the last two weeks, uh, it was really good. I mean, you know, he had uh Tom Hanks was on there, which was really clever. Uh, you know, Hanks collects typewriters, yes, and he and he gave uh Colbert a typewriter. Uh he had Steven Spielberg on, he had Pedro Pascal, who was uh the Mandalorian, who wanted to know why uh only the women got to kiss him. You know, because there was this big thing about the women who had kissed him, you know. Louis Louis Louise Dreyfus, you know, it said Julia Louis Dreyfus, yeah. And then next thing I know, he he's making out with Pedro Pascal. It was pretty funny. He had uh definitely a good last two weeks, you know. Just about everybody that was anybody in the entertainment industry wanted to be there and be a part of it.
SPEAKER_02Well, what a great human too, Colbert is.
SPEAKER_00And I thought one of the things that was really neat was Jimmy Kimmel the night before said, I don't want anybody watching my show Thursday. Yeah, we're not gonna do a live show Thursday, it's gonna be a rerun. You watch Colbert. And I thought that was pretty cool.
SPEAKER_04Fallon followed suit eventually.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think he did.
SPEAKER_02But see, I think Kimmel is just like such a special one, right? Like he kind of does those kind of things and kind of he kind of like is he's a leader of them in that way. Yeah, I think so. You know, of like just being like a good human.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02I'd have to say.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Fallon's fine, but Kimmel is yeah, no, I I I agree with that.
SPEAKER_02I used to love Fallon when he was at Saturday Night Live, but he's disappointed me a lot as a as a late night host.
SPEAKER_00He he's like Jay Lennell.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he sure is just very late.
SPEAKER_00And and he's like Johnny Carson. Johnny Carson was like that.
SPEAKER_05You know, it was he's right for the tonight show off the that is rapidly.
SPEAKER_02It's my tie Hawaiian tonight, buddy.
SPEAKER_05Too old. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's rum, light rum, dark rum, some other alcohols.
SPEAKER_04Who'll get you going before your party?
SPEAKER_02It's not spiked tea. I guess it could be spike tea.
SPEAKER_00So, anyhow, then thanks for sharing about that. Then last night, after I got back from Legacy, I watched the movie for the first time.
SPEAKER_02Oh.
SPEAKER_00And then today You've never seen it? Oh, no, I'd seen it, but for the first time for the podcast. Got it. I mean, I'd seen it three or four times.
SPEAKER_02I had never seen it, so.
SPEAKER_00Uh, and then uh went to bed, got up. Uh Eddie got me my uh DoorDashed uh coffee and uh breakfast bagel from Big Bee's. I'm now back to Big Bee's.
SPEAKER_04This is your Sunday ritual.
SPEAKER_00Sunday ritual. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And uh everyone, love everyone.
SPEAKER_02Love you too, Eddie.
SPEAKER_00Take care, Eddie.
SPEAKER_04Thank you.
SPEAKER_00And uh then I started watching it for the second time with commentary with the Indianapolis 500 on Moot. I forgot about that today. And the Indianapolis 500 was the closest finish ever in Indianapolis 500 history. Wow. Two hundredths of a second difference between the first and second. I mean, it is like it's like that.
SPEAKER_04Was it a dry, was it dry there, or did they get some? Oh, they did two.
SPEAKER_00Uh they had so many wrecks. Every time I looked up, there was another wreck going on. There was a lot of lot of downtime. But anyhow, so that one is in uh the books.
SPEAKER_02So can I just say how soft Louis is since Dean gave him a bath? I did, you did. Dean and I gave him a bath and his little chest is so soft.
SPEAKER_04It was amazing how that happened.
SPEAKER_03It was really funny.
SPEAKER_04He was not happy, was he? Oh no. Did he jump out of the tub?
SPEAKER_03He tried to escape the shower.
SPEAKER_02We had a shower and there was no tub.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's how I have to do RG because I don't have a tub.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I just have a big shower.
SPEAKER_04And I actually have this like rubber maid container that I put in the shower and like try to box him in because otherwise he like jumps around.
SPEAKER_02What did I do? Anyway, he's very soft right now. Go ahead, Danny.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So uh we've got a good wrap up. Uh we've all been doing a lot of interesting things. The food has been magnificent today.
SPEAKER_02So good, Katie did.
SPEAKER_00And so we're now at our twenty sixth uh Academy Award Best Picture. Uh tonight it's for the best picture of 1953. Um Uh it received 13 nominations and uh it won eight, which tied, which tied gone with the wind. Okay. So for a number of years, it was right up there with the most nominations as well as the most uh wins. And I mean centers just got the most at 16 nominations. So this got 13. So and as for best picture, it was against Julius Caesar. That was terrible. Roman Holiday.
SPEAKER_02Oh, Roman Holiday.
SPEAKER_00And Shane, which is a classic American Western, great American Western.
SPEAKER_02And Roman Holiday, great.
SPEAKER_00That's great.
SPEAKER_02Vespas made me love Vespas.
SPEAKER_00That's because they write a Vespa, which is something you always wanted, but your husband Sam wouldn't let you have it. Correct. So I bought you a little tin Vesta that you can wind up.
SPEAKER_02Goes around the house. Thank you, Dan.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so uh I uh I'll keep I'll keep on rolling on this. It won uh Best Picture, Best Director for Fred Zinnaman, Zinnaman, uh Best Supporting Actor for Frank Sinatra, Best Supporting Actress for Donna Reed, Best Screenplay for Daniel Teradash, Cinematography Black and White, sound recording and film editing. It was based on an 800-page novel by James uh Jones. And uh the one good thing about my DVD of this, not only did it have the theatrical version, but it also then had uh commentary. So I like Gone with the Wind and like some of these others, I watched it twice with commentary. And that the commentary was by uh the son of the director, who was 13 years old when the movie was made, and one of the bit actors that was in it, so that was very interesting. And they also had on it um the the first trailer that went out for the theaters, and I thought it was very clever. Uh, from the most controversial novel of our time, here is one of those rare motion pictures that can be truly called great to be seen and remembered, not for a day, a month, or a year, but for all eternity. And then it comes up from here to eternity, which I thought was really, really clever. Anyhow, I am going to read the cover and then we will start discussing. Okay, this is on the back of my uh uh DVD. It is in this landmark film, passion and tragedy collide on a military base as a fateful day in December 1941 draws near. Private Pewett, Montgomery Clift, is a soldier and former boxer being manipulated by his superior and peers. His friend Maggio, Frank Sinatra, tries to help him but has his own troubles. Sergeant Warden, Bert Lancaster, and Carol Holmes, Deborah Kerr, tread on dangerous ground as lovers in an illicit affair. Each of their lives will be changed when their stories culminate in a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Actresses for Satra and Donna Reed in a care and for Satra in a career-defining role, and for Donna Reed as a not so wholesome club hostess. So with that, we can go Nan first or Kate first. Kate, Kate. Oh, you know what?
SPEAKER_02Go for it. Um, I had never seen this. I had only seen the iconic um picture of the make out in the ocean, which is very difficult to do. I mean, you get very sandy. It's not super comfortable to make out like that in the ocean, like that.
SPEAKER_00Speaking from experience, I won't say.
SPEAKER_02I just sand get everywhere.
SPEAKER_00Man and sand.
SPEAKER_02The sand gets everywhere. It's just really messy. And it kind of reminds me of like when Harry met Sally. She's like, the thing is, we never had sex on the kitchen floor. He said in the kitchen floor, yeah, it's a hard ceramic tile. That shooting of when we're in eternity's ocean scene reminds me of when Harry met Sally's. The thing is, we don't have sex. Because it's completely ridiculous. Um okay, all that to say, Bert Lancaster, very fine. So fine. Very good looking. Oh god, his chest. So nice. Very good looking. Um I thought Frank Sinatra stole every scene in this movie that he was in. He was excellent. He did that thing where he doesn't use contractions, which I really like. Would not, could not, should not, um, which and then reminded me of Guys and Dolls, which he's also in. Um, but I thought he was excellent. I thought he did just a great job. He died great on screen. He just was so good. Yeah. Um, I thought all everybody acted really well in this movie. Uh I didn't really care for this movie though. So my challenge with the movie was the misogyny. I know you're shocked to hear that from the scene. Um, the fact that Deborah Carr can't, like, is a washed-up woman because she can't procreate, I find offensive uh as someone who has chosen not to have children. It doesn't land well. Um and like they just kind of use the women as like these like afterthoughts. And I thought it was interesting as they were like come at the end of the movie, like as it ends with the two women on the boat, and it's still just about their connection to the men, yeah, you know, even in death. And so I just didn't I didn't care for that. I know that was the period of 1953. I think that's why we're still screwed up today, is the baggage we carry um from like that period particularly, and I think I saw it in this movie. I really liked the parts of the movie around um how it was like right before Pearl Harbor, you know it's coming in the morning, you know it's happening. I liked how they did that. I thought it was acted excellently, but I couldn't really get over just the blade misogyny of the show. So also the guy's name's Robert E. Lee Pruitt. I mean, give me a fucking break. It's ridiculous. Okay. There you go. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so I enjoyed it. I it it entertained me. I thought it was it was really well acted. There's some lines I really liked in it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, there are good lines. Did you write it down?
SPEAKER_05Uh a few of them. Uh he my my favorite was early on. He'd strangle on his own spit if I didn't swallow for it.
unknownSo good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So that's the sergeant who is always like doing the basically doing the captain's work for him, and he just signs everything. Yeah. So I I enjoyed that. I enjoyed how they the um Japanese fighters are flying over and they say, Oh, don't those look beautiful in the morning? Not realizing that that's the beginning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Um, I I thought the movie is, I thought it was really about power dynamics. I thought that was really like the recurring theme. Like, who who has power and and how it interacts. Spoiler alert, uh, the women are at the bottom.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the women are definitely just like afterthoughts. Like, what can you do for me, right?
SPEAKER_05But it's like Yeah, it didn't it didn't spoil the movie for me, but yeah, it was definitely it was definitely there. Um the Robert E. Lee uh name that that almost spoiled it for me. But I didn't didn't like that very much.
SPEAKER_03Do you um I thought it was okay. I mean it's definitely not one wouldn't call it like one of the better movies we've seen. The ending was kind of bleak, the way the main character just like went out and got shot again and again and just like gave up on his life like that after all of that. Didn't really enjoy that.
SPEAKER_02Um after he thought so hard for his like values, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was just eh and just the way women retreated definitely threw me off. And that's like gonna be the reason that makes this movie not as enjoyable. Um it was I I like the way it was shot. It was acted pretty nicely, and the way they went like back and forth with their lives, and their lives sort of like in the end they connect to each other when the women talk. Um, that's when the surgeon's life and the other person's life sort of like um come together. But yeah, I thought it was okay. It's not I would have enjoyed like a little bit more history, maybe, as someone who doesn't know a whole lot about Pearl Harbor, like going into it with almost no knowledge about it, made it like slightly harder for me to understand all the references. So yeah, I would say that.
SPEAKER_06Dan, thank you for mentioning that the book was 800 pages, because that explains to me um why I thought the like the plot lines were compressed. Um I didn't particularly like the plots because they just they didn't seem very well developed. There's multiple plots going on, but if you have an 800-page novel, you have an opportunity to like see them you know more developed. Um I thought the acting was good. I mean, Frank Sinatra, I could see why he wanted to support an actor. I know Ernest Bordman's character wasn't likable and he had a narrow role, but I thought he did it really well. The handful of lines that he had, I thought he just delivered them nicely. Um, and you're not supposed to like the character, right? But I thought Ernest Borgman did a good job. Um I honestly was not positive that it was set immediately before Pearl Harbor because Japan invaded China in 1937, and so this could have been any time from like 1937 and 1941. The only reason why the bomb in Pearl Harbor occurred was so that uh the main character Pruitt could be shot later on. I mean, that's the only reason why, because any nothing else about the plot line requires.
SPEAKER_05There's no other time.
SPEAKER_04It's like peacetime uh army, right?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it really is peacetime army.
SPEAKER_06It looks very peacetime.
SPEAKER_02That's why I wasn't sure exactly when it was they do have that calendar that sits there that says December 6th. Like, and he's right next to it. I was like calendar.
SPEAKER_06There was a newspaper headline that Japs like in press it, you know, he's like taking a phone call, like, and there's the calendar. I didn't see the calendar booming. Yeah. Um but uh and then when the captain like gets he has to resign. Like that really they conducted a seven-month investigation because someone's being abused, which we as a viewers believe. But would the army really have like taken it that seriously? No, I don't know. I thought there was I actually thought there was gonna be boxing somewhere, like actual boxing. Not necessarily that Pruitt like bows down and like decides to box, but I thought that that there was gonna be a little bit more than that.
SPEAKER_02I thought Pruitt was gonna box to get Sinatra out of prison. Yeah, something that's what I thought the deal was gonna have.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. His decision making is, yeah.
SPEAKER_06So anyway, I I like the acting. I wanted to like the movie, but honestly, I I thought the plot, there were too many plot lines and they were kind of not well developed.
SPEAKER_02And do you agree with me about the ocean and the sand? These are the important questions.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, actually, I had no idea that that scene was only 30 minutes into the movie. I thought because it's it's the iconic scene. Like, right, I've all seen pictures of it. It's the first time I saw the movie, but I've certainly seen that scene, and I I honestly thought it was like maybe at the end, or you know.
SPEAKER_05That's what's important here. This movie misleads us in thinking we can make out is the most crash on us. That is just wrong. It's really hard, people. You get salt in your eyes.
SPEAKER_06It doesn't work. Not good marketing for Hawaii, but it wasn't a hike tourist destination then either.
SPEAKER_04So that's true. Is it my turn? Um I agree with most of what everybody has said, particularly Sam, the power dynamics. Like, it definitely sets that up from the very beginning, right? Like Pruitt shows up and people already know him, and he's like, no, he like clearly is known to be someone who is very stubborn, and like he shows that throughout the whole movie, and like I think it's like he's taking he feels like he has taken this stand for himself. But like you said, it's like he had he could have made some easier choices that would have helped like not just him, but like other people around him. And like it's like yeah, his character, it you know, you think it's like admirable in the beginning, but then you're like, no, he is making bad decisions.
SPEAKER_05Like he's making bad choices. And all the characters without power who have opportunities to when they have leverage to flip the scales, they don't use it. They don't do it.
SPEAKER_02Except the women.
SPEAKER_05Do they?
SPEAKER_02They try hard. The women do get a commission, don't leave. Like they give sound advice.
SPEAKER_05It is sound advice, that's true.
SPEAKER_02They have no agency and they tell these dummies what not to, and they go, oh no, I'm gonna do the opposite.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's very true.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's true. That is very true.
SPEAKER_05But you know Well, maybe it's more pro-women than you think. The women are the smart ones.
SPEAKER_04Of course they are. We have no agency. We see that now, but like nobody took their advice. Yeah. But the other part of it, too, like speaking of the women, it's the two main character, female characters, are, you know, one is a prostitute, you know, and one is basically has a reputation as a prostitute without as sleeping around and like she makes her husband a couple. Right.
SPEAKER_05And like it is doing his own thing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's just makes it easy.
SPEAKER_04It's like the two women characters. And I I'm curious about what the book would be. What the book like, you know, does it flesh those characters out more? Are there more women in the book? Like, you know, with a story that long, you certainly cut people out of it, characters out of it. And you do kind of wonder like what the what that tone is, but you know, it was when was the book written, Dan? When was the book written, Dan? You don't know. Okay.
SPEAKER_00So uh 51 or 52.
SPEAKER_04Okay, so it's like it's unlikely that it was.
SPEAKER_02Oh, so it's pretty early, like just a year or two later. Okay, so they did that a lot back then. It's like fast move on the book.
SPEAKER_04But like overall, I mean, I I agree. I mean, I think the acting is really good.
SPEAKER_02I think all of the leads, um, and the I mean to be to to to act like you're really enjoying making out in the sand.
SPEAKER_04With the sand going everywhere.
SPEAKER_02It's hard to do.
SPEAKER_04But it's it is. I mean, I think it's well acted for what it is. Um but the material yeah, a little bit it it's well, it's really melodramatic. It's uh, you know, um yeah, I I I don't know. It's not one of my favorites, but it's one I've seen before.
SPEAKER_02All that all that to be said, a hundred times better than Greatest Show on Earth.
SPEAKER_04Well, so yeah, I was gonna make that comment that like I do appreciate it felt like there was plotted. Felt like there was plot. I didn't feel like I was watching a documentary. No, I agree. Held my yeah, it was it's entertaining. It was very, it's very soapy. Yeah, I think it's a good thing. Like it's a very soapy. Very soapy movie cast. You know, they're gonna be a little bit more. They're so attractive.
SPEAKER_02I know. The cast is very hot.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, there are a number of movies in this time period that were fit that kind of like soapiness, right? Like, and you but like we're getting into like the Peyton places.
SPEAKER_02I mean, and they are so hot. They are I mean, the whole cast is food.
SPEAKER_04Easy to watch for sure.
SPEAKER_02So lovely. I loved watching them.
SPEAKER_04So anyway, that's what I think.
SPEAKER_02His chest.
SPEAKER_04Dan has been staring at me for like 10 minutes.
SPEAKER_06Tell us why you liked it in disbelief.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, tell us why it's the best movie ever, Dan.
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, in contemporary America, a lot of people are thinking it's time to pack the Supreme Court. I'm beginning to think it's time to pack dinner with Dan. So tell us. Once again, I find it one, two, three, four, five versus one.
SPEAKER_05No, we liked it. What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_04Nan is the one that didn't like it. I liked it. I just, it's not one of my favorites, and I it's flawed.
SPEAKER_05It's in the middle of the pack for me.
SPEAKER_02I did say they're hot.
SPEAKER_04They are. And they are hot.
SPEAKER_05Oh boy.
SPEAKER_02I'm sorry, I don't think every movie we see is the best movie ever.
SPEAKER_05It's we're looking at the movie. I'm going to rave about next week's movies. No matter what. Don't worry. Well, I've seen it, yeah. So uh on the waterfront. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Other actors that were in this movie that went on to have good careers. We already mentioned Ernest Borgnine, so good. Who in two years gets the Best Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Picture in Martin?
SPEAKER_02In Marty?
SPEAKER_00Okay. Uh also uh Claude Atkins, who uh plays one of the sergeants, he went on to a illustrious TV career. Uh Jack Warden, also, who went on to a big TV career. And uh, and I'm pretty sure Superman was on it. George Reed.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, he was. I'm pretty sure. I think he was the one that pulled over the sergeant in the beginning to talk about the captain's wife. Yeah, right? Yep. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's George Reed, who was the original TV Superman.
SPEAKER_05He was a good character.
SPEAKER_00Huh? He was a good character. Oh yeah, yeah. Okay. Children. Yeah. Here is Table Mates. Excuse me, I didn't mean children. Uh Table Mates.
SPEAKER_02Potato Potata Danny.
SPEAKER_00Uh the director was Fred Zinnerman, who also the year before had been nominated for best director for High Noon. Oh, yeah, nice. Uh and uh the commentary I heard when I watched the movie for the second time, which sometimes I think ye of little faith and belief in these movies should uh come down and watch the movie the second time with me to get a uh uh a wider uh understanding of the movie. Uh it was an actor that was also in the movie uh named Al Sargent. So the commentary is by the son of Fred Zennerman, Zinnerman, uh Ted Tim, and a guy who had a bit roll. Uh he's the guy who's picking weeds uh before the fight. And then he's also the guy who gets killed screaming the Japs are bombing us, the Japs are bombing us. Uh so the movie was actually filmed in Hollywood, and uh, you know, back then Hollywood was run by Cohen. Well, uh Columbia was run by Cohen. And this was a very controversial book. Oh, was it? Hollywood did not want to buy it because of all the controversy that surrounded it. It was pretty much anti-army and it dealt with uh illicit affairs and adultery, and everybody thought it was going to be too hot to be a movie. So uh Cohen took a writer on it. Uh he got uh Zennerman to uh agree to uh do it. Uh they uh had a fight right off the bat on who was gonna play Hugh uh Pruitt. Uh he wanted uh Aldo Ray, and uh the director said it is going to be Montgomery Cliff or I'm gonna leave. And Cohen had all the reasons why it couldn't be Montgomery Cliff. He didn't look like a boxer, this and that, but he was also gay.
SPEAKER_02Montgomery Cliff was? Oh yeah. Oh, I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Uh so uh the director said, Well, I'm not directing it, and then uh Cohen cave. Uh interestingly enough, you know, there's always a problem between authors of a book or a play and how it gets chopped up into a movie. Uh the uh director's son Tim has a letter from the author of the book to his father thanking him for keeping the majority of the book in there. Uh they filmed it over 40 days in Hawaii, and the only way they could get it done. Was with tremendous cooperation from the United States Army, which did not have a good feeling about this movie. Interesting. Because the book was pretty anti-army. And so they were insisting on a lot of different changes. That you couldn't do this, you couldn't do that. In the book, the captain is not retired. He's promoted.
SPEAKER_07No. He's not retired.
SPEAKER_00He is promoted. And the army said, no way. You got to figure out a different way to deal with them rather than him being promoted. And then there were a couple other ones. One, they didn't want any scenes of Borg 9 beating up Frank Sinatra. So it was just, you know, you got the feeling what was happening. So it was interesting that not only did they have to deal with the Army censorship, they also had to deal with the Hollywood censorship. I think by then it was called the Brain Committee. And they did not want this love on the beach. That was considered scandalous. They did not want it. They fought to keep it out. They insisted that her swimming suit have a skirt. That was one of the things that the censorship committee insisted on that she wear a skirt and it could only be filmed from certain angles. And they were very upset about the rushing water.
SPEAKER_06But the Hawaiian tourism board probably was all in favor, yeah. They didn't get a vote in it.
SPEAKER_00They didn't get a vote in it. So that's some of the things that uh completely ridiculous. That uh the the that these people went through doing this.
SPEAKER_06You said they're they were filming on location at Schofield Barracks. In Hawaii, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, okay. And they needed the Army's cooperation. And uh, and then you know they they actually uh for a while in the Hollywood uh uh newspapers and stuff like that, they were referring to uh Columbia buying this this book as Cohen's Folly, that it would never be turned into a movie. So, anyhow, they got that done. Uh the uh I told you about the guy that's in there. Uh they shot it in 40 days. Oh, another interesting thing for The Godfather.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yes, I wanted to talk about that. Good.
SPEAKER_00Uh the uh they uh they assure you that Frank Sinatra did not cut any horse head off to get this role in the movie, that at that time he was actually he was actually married to Ava Gardner, and that she was an Africa film in a movie, and he was with her, and his career had fallen apart. Yeah, totally fallen apart. And uh they wanted uh there there's some thought about Ava was like get him out of here, give it get him a job, you know, because their marriage was falling apart. Uh Cohen didn't want it, but he eventually agreed to it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, see, yeah, he eventually agreed to, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Say what?
SPEAKER_02Cohen didn't want it, but he eventually agreed to it. He couldn't refuse. Maybe it wasn't a horse head.
SPEAKER_00Well, he made uh he uh Sinatra was in Africa with Ava Gardner, and he made Sinatra pay for his own flight back to uh uh Hollywood for the screen test. Yep. So, anyhow.
SPEAKER_05It is exactly the plot line of Godfather.
SPEAKER_00Okay, and in the book, it wasn't a social club, it was a uh prostitution house, clearly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you pick up on that.
SPEAKER_05We all figured that out in about 10 seconds.
SPEAKER_00Well, the censorship board insisted that it be a social club.
SPEAKER_02I know I'm sure they did.
SPEAKER_05We know and one of the things everybody knew what it was.
SPEAKER_00One of the uh uh uh oh one of the uh commentators uh talked about how it's uh the movie has stood the test of time because of good acting, good script, and good staging of the scenes. And uh the only actor that was the number one choice of everybody was Bert Lancaster. Oh, so hot. And Deborah Kerr played out of her uh what she normally played, as did Donna Reed. Oh, yeah. They both played one out against type. And so that's one of the things they've said is that you know, uh, this is one of the things that really shows what great actors they were. Um and then we're gonna move on to uh he was uh Robert E. Lee Pruitt was supposed to be from Harlan County, Kentucky. And they actually went and recorded people's voices from Harlan County, Kentucky, and they he he was trying to learn how to uh talk Kentucky talk. So that's where the name Robert E. Lee came from. Uh and he spent a lot of time with at that time the best bugle player in America. I forget the name that the guy was, so he could learn how to play bugle. And then apparently uh he had trouble giving it up afterwards uh in real life. Uh so he would take a bugle around with him in a hotels and at restaurants, start playing it, and got got knocked out in a fight one night when the guy told him to quit playing it, you know. So I thought that was a little interesting thing. Um also let me see here. Then okay, so I thought, you know, I'm not a woman, as we all know.
SPEAKER_01What?
SPEAKER_00So uh I come at things differently. I try to appreciate and understand where you and Kate come from on this.
SPEAKER_04Do you?
SPEAKER_00In my mind, Sam's got his face. I thought I thought these were like strong women. I mean, you know, who who fell in love with two guys who, quite frankly, were more in love and being in the army. They both couldn't give up their love of being in the army. And Pruitt said that from the beginning. He wants he loves the army, and he wants to fit in. He's a loner who has uh issues with his own stubbornness, but he wants to fit in in the army. And uh Bert Lancaster, his refusal to want to become an officer, you know, he loves the army. And I think, you know, the women unfortunately come to the realization that they have fallen in love with two guys that, you know, can't love them back the way their life is. So, anyhow, uh I really liked the movie.
SPEAKER_04I think you go so far. You don't love the movie.
SPEAKER_00I really like the movie. Okay. I believe, despite everything that's been said here, that it still stands the test of time for being a truly great Hollywood epic. And I understand why it got eight Academy Awards. And uh, you know, it it blazed a lot of trails. Uh it helped break down uh how some people could be portrayed, and uh, and uh how actresses and actors could, you know, get roles that might not have ever gone to them before. You know? And and in one sense, you know, we're kind of going through that right now with the attack on uh on the Odyssey, with uh Elon Musk and the rest of his clowns all upset that there's an uh an uh black female playing uh Helen of Troy. Uh, you know, I don't know if you're following that on the internet or not.
SPEAKER_05I'm not aware of this, but I oh Elon Musk. There's been plenty of these things that you know. I remember people uh losing their minds because the one of the Star Wars trailers had a black stormtrooper or how there were lady ghostbusters.
SPEAKER_04Hermione uh Granger being an black female in the play Cursed Child, the casting, and that like uh well Elon's all upset about it, and Jimmy Kimmel had the best one.
SPEAKER_00Like, Elon, do you know Helen of Troy was the daughter of a swan who uh who mated with humans in you know in the Greek mythology, which I thought was pretty funny.
SPEAKER_05So, anyhow, yeah, but it's a white swan.
SPEAKER_00I I I really liked the movie. I thought the acting was great. I've always been a fan of uh Donna Reed. I loved her in It's a Wonderful Life. I when I was a kid growing up, I always watched the Donna Reed show. Uh I thought she played this role very well. And I never have seen Deborah Kerr that much. Oh yeah. But uh, you know, I've seen movies she's in. You didn't? She was to remember.
SPEAKER_02Also, she was in an affair to remember, which is also mentioned in Sleepless in Seattle, which is the Norm Refront movie where they all just start to cry um because they discuss an affair to remember because he doesn't know she's on that couch and she has been hit by a taxi. She can't walk. She's excellent.
SPEAKER_00Anyhow, I thought she was great.
SPEAKER_02Um she's great in an affair to remember, too. And um isn't that Carrie Grant? Yeah. Oh so hot.
SPEAKER_00Uh and you know, I've I it there was a time I thought I was kind of buying into uh the whole Frank Sinatra horse head cut off and everything. But after watching the movie twice now, back to back and with the commentary, I realized he did a great job of acting.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I think he did, I think he was excellent. I still think the mafia got him that that job.
SPEAKER_05The godfather, the guy is perfect for the role, and Sinatra was perfect for this role, but it's very possible that the studio head was trying to block him because Sinatra had slept with somebody. That's very believable. Which is the issue in The Godfather. It's not like the mafia gets him the role that he doesn't deserve, it's that the studio head's trying to block him for sleeping with his girlfriend.
SPEAKER_02Exactly, which I stand by. I think that even what you said still makes me believe that happened, Dan.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, some Sinatra would do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So, any other thoughts on the movie? Um, Deborah Carr is beautiful. Bert Lancaster, beautiful. Yeah, a lot of beautiful people.
SPEAKER_05Well, I I agree with you, Dan, on your point. Like, I think the women are strong here. It's society that's the problem. Yeah. So I think that was a good point.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So, anyhow, and one of the uh uh commentary, you know, they've got a couple different specials. One of them is home movies, and uh the clips are scenes from the movie that were actually filmed in color. With you know, somebody from the family had a color thing. Oh and it's it's really interesting looking at the color thing, and this was also a controversial thing on this movie that it was filmed in black and white. Sure. Because uh color was all the thing. Yeah, and uh Columbia thought they could make two to three million dollars more if they had filmed it in color, but uh the director insisted it on being black and white, that it would be more believable. And interestingly, that move that year uh also was Daylight 13, was up for the running, and that was also filmed in black and white. So two of the pictures that got the most awards that year were filmed in black and white.
SPEAKER_02Did you read but you didn't read the liner today?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I did.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you did. Oh, I missed it. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Sorry. You know, you you miss a lot of things, I say Nan.
SPEAKER_02I try to you know I try to listen.
SPEAKER_04I was just I'm looking through the list of movies that are coming up, and I don't know if there's another best picture winner with Bert Lancaster in it. Not that I know of the the the only time we see Bert Lancaster.
SPEAKER_02Kate mentioned that he was Dr. Graham in Field of Dreams. I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_04He's the old man at the end at the in Field of Dreams.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, who can't go back to go back.
SPEAKER_04Moonlight Round.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's so great that he was in Field of Dreams too.
SPEAKER_04So he was in a number of movies that were nominated for Best Picture, but this might be the only time we see him.
SPEAKER_02Yes, so good looking.
SPEAKER_04I know.
SPEAKER_00There's another really bizarre um Lancaster movie called The Swimmer.
SPEAKER_04I knew when you said bizarre, I knew you were gonna say that.
SPEAKER_00Have you ever seen that?
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_04It's it is mind-boggling. You see his naked butt. It made yeah, you do. It makes no sense.
SPEAKER_00And he's still he was still uh ripped when he was 50 years old making that movie.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. I I I still I think I've seen that movie one time, maybe not all the way through, even it's so Joan Collins is in that. Yeah, it is so out there. Yeah. He like goes from pool to pool. He like swims in people's pools. It's like on his way home. On his way home.
SPEAKER_02It's like so that's amazing.
SPEAKER_04It's so strange.
SPEAKER_00It's weird.
SPEAKER_02It must be weird if Garrus is saying it's weird. Um, so what are we watching next week?
SPEAKER_00On the waterfront.
SPEAKER_02One of the all-time greats. I could have been a contender.
SPEAKER_00We're supposed to have Tom and Kate Archdeacon here.
SPEAKER_02Exciting.
SPEAKER_00Uh and I will I will text Kate and remind her to remind Tom and an extra mic to watch the movie. To watch the movie. Uh, so that's what we'll be doing next week. So I guess in conclusion, once again it's five to one.
SPEAKER_04Uh that's not true.
SPEAKER_00I've got broad shoulders, I can handle this.
SPEAKER_04I don't know. I think you're exaggerating.
SPEAKER_00Sam, you're just trying to get me to be a judge again, and I'm not gonna do it. I gave up being a judge, and you can't force me to do it. I won't box for you, Sam.
SPEAKER_02Um that was the 26th movie that we've seen. I'm really glad we're doing this project, even though I'm very hard on the movies.
SPEAKER_04And it's the scene.
SPEAKER_02I think it's part of my job to be hard on the movies. Since Dan likes every single thing we ever watch. Must have a little counterbalance.
SPEAKER_04So, yeah, I scratched off the poster, and it is the scene in the waves.
SPEAKER_02The unrealistic scene.
SPEAKER_00That scene is in the trailer, the theatrical trailer.
SPEAKER_02I'm sure it is, because people were like, how did they do that? Is that really comfortable? I don't know.
SPEAKER_04Well, you know, you and Sam obviously don't. There might have been controversy, but they knew it would sell tickets.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. I'm just saying. All right, so on the water Paul was on the Appalachian Trail, so you know, something maybe happened on the Appalachian Trail, and you know, there's all kinds of crazy things going on in this world.
SPEAKER_07What?
unknownOh my.
SPEAKER_02All right, Dan, sign us off.
SPEAKER_00So what?
SPEAKER_02Sign us off.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that the pineapple upside down cake is great. You like it? Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It was delicious. Yeah. The whole meal was good. Thank you, Katie Did. Thanks for doing it since we were coming back from hawking, too. Yeah.
unknownYou're welcome.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Well, I will say from here to eternity. Was an interesting movie. And it's now time for us to uh bid adieu to our dear listeners. Uh I do have a call in to our uh good friend uh Bill La Heka in uh Albany about doing a uh website for uh Dinner with Dan people. So I hope we can get that done because I think that would be awesome to have a website. Then we can start monetizing and selling merch.
SPEAKER_04Merch.
SPEAKER_02T-shirts are in the future, huh?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, t-shirts are coming.
SPEAKER_00You had no idea how much merch was at the theater for uh the Mandalorian and Grogu. Oh my god, you thought you had walked into a Star Wars room. And we saw it in an IMAX. Oh yeah. On, you know, with it on either side. Not Cinerama. I mean Cinerama was curved and you know it was just a magnificent thing. But uh, you know, in Dayton used to have the last Cinerama Theater at the Neon. Yeah, at the Neon.
SPEAKER_04That was the last one?
SPEAKER_00Uh there was only he might have had the last uh because it's three projectors and Cinerama had to be ran uh synchronized and it was curved. Yeah. And uh if you remember at the old neon, out front on it, they had the Cinerama sign, which was one letter high, one letter low, one letter high, one letter low. Uh they had a big article in Vanity Fair, which I still get to this day, a very good magazine. Um not yet an official sponsor of Dinner with Dan, but I'm working on it. Uh they had a big article about it, and uh, I think it was Tarantino, one of the big directors, flew into Dayton to see The Cinerama. Uh the movie that still exists is How the West Was Won.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_00They also had it filmed for regular, but they had it in Cinerama. And uh he came in, uh they did it, he had a private showing of it, and then one of those rich billionaires in Seattle, I don't know if it's the guy that started Nike or it's the guy that started Apple, one of those guys uh bought bought it from here in Dayton and moved it out to Seattle.
SPEAKER_01Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00Uh so before they did that, they had farewell viewings of uh uh uh how the West was won. And I took uh uh my late wife and the four kids to see it. So I don't think Eddie and Marty much remember it, but they were there. And I mean Cinerama was something because you sat there and people were all around you. Now this IMAX is kind of like that, but it's not the same, it's not the same, you know. Uh although uh my understanding is uh you're friends with Ellen Belker, and they weren't uh Denny wasn't at our judges luncheon uh Monday because they went to Vegas to see with the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere. To see the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere, which I heard uh when you do that, you think the flying monkeys are actually flying at you. So I very much would uh looking forward to hearing that because I'll never make it to Vegas.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But anyhow, so that was you know a little bit of film history that we did have here in Dayton. That for a while we had the uh Cinerama. Uh but the only other films that exist were travelog films uh that they did around the world. And they're for whatever reason the film that they were on turned pink. So those uh copies of Cinerama or have like a pink cue to them, but how the West was won was still a good print. So, anyhow, that's a little bit of film history.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Dan.
SPEAKER_00And you know, at one time, since I'm on film history, at one time, if you wanted, if you were, have I talked about this before? If you were wanted to uh play uh an American movie, you had to rent it from Twyman Films, which was based on Salem Avenue in Dayton, Ohio. Oh so when I was in college, uh Manchester, Middle of Nowhere, Indiana, uh every student group had either could have a movie Friday or Saturday at the Student Union. There was a catalog, of which I have a 1973 catalog. dig it dig it out for the next time we do it. Of all the films you can rent from Twyman Films. And the only place you can get them from in the entire country is Twyman Films in Dayton, Ohio. And I forget which movie when I was in Circle K we rented one. It came in two big cases like this. And it was the you know you you played it the big wheels and you know you it went through the mail and you had X amount of time to get it back to them. You know and that's how it was. If you wanted to show movies and of course DVDs or C V CRs came around and blah blah blah blah. But then the other thing that was interesting about Dayton's role in the film history is this is where they used to save and preserve all the movies was here in Dayton. And they just within the last 10 years moved that to like Alexandria, Virginia. This is where they had I think it was it was either at the Air Force Base or out by Wright State they had like a massive like warehouse like they had on Raiders of the Lost Art that had all this film in there. You know because if they don't preserve the film it turns to dust. Right. You know it just so they had they would preserve like 50 or 60 movies a year and they were doing that here in Dayton. So I thought that was pretty interesting and you know they're all out there now. And then of course we know Wright State has a great uh uh film film program film film program uh is it Tom Hanks or yeah Tom Hanks has been their bet the big benefactor and they've put out a couple uh Oscar winners that have come from uh there so that's pretty interesting it's awesome and she got the Academy Award uh for uh was it the Cancer one or was it the last truck? Uh oh Julia Riker she got it she got it for um not last truck she got it for American factor factory factory yeah yeah and Steve Bogner so anyhow all you people that are listening to us around the world and across this country Dayton Ohio why we may have interesting people here at the dinner table we do have a solid history of loving the horror movies so with that I'm gonna thank everybody for coming I'm gonna thank Kate for next time okay yummy yummy thank everybody for bringing the food down uh and uh I'll say hot speed and fair wins until we meet again