War Movie Theatre – Details, episodes & analysis

Watching the war movies that make us bloody glad it’s not the 1940s, with authors Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. This time, acclaimed author and historian Clare Mulley of The Spy Who Loved fame joins us to watch Roman Polanski’s harrowing story of the Holocaust, escape, chance survival and guilt, The Pianist (2002). As we discover, Adrian Brody’s astonishing physical transformation to play the role is not even the half of it.  Written and presented by Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by Jim Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Thanks to Jodie Banaszkiewicz for clearances. War Movie Theatre is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Watching the war movies that make us think we’ve discovered the real secret of flying, with authors Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. This time we wheel, bank and glide with The First Of The Few, Leslie Howard’s stirring 1942 portrait of the birth of the Spitfire fighter plane and its doomed progenitor RJ Mitchell – played by Howard himself. Our special guest J. Willgoose Esq of esteemed “collage rock” band Public Service Broadcasting has previous form with the movie: their pulse-quickening early single Spitfire was built around samples of its dialogue. What will we think? Is this movie heroism and creativity incarnate? And can we take the Spitfires, Mitch? Listen and learn. • Public Service Broadcasting’s new album, The Last Flight, will be released on 4 October via SO Recordings. Pre-order/save here. • The album’s first single Electra is out now. • PSB tour the UK this Autumn. Dates here. Written and presented by Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by Jim Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Thanks to Jodie Banaszkiewicz for clearances. War Movie Theatre is a Podmasters production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re back with a brand new name but the same doughty, never-say-die attitude, to watch the war movies that made us the men* we are today. Every week authors Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon gather under the blackout curtain to view a classic war film – and now they’re joined by equally battle-fixated chums too. This time on the podcast formerly known as A Pod Too Far: Darryl F. Zanuck’s 1962 D-Day mega-epic The Longest Day with comedian, WWII buff and tank fan Al Murray. What are the best bits? Did your favourite moments really happen? Would you want to be commanded by ‘Pine Coffin’? And how much did John Wayne demand to appear in it? Up the Ox and Bucks! * and occasionally women Written and presented by Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Simon Williams. Art by Jim Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. War Movie Theatre is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If it’s December 1941 in the podcast, what time is it in New York? Rob Hutton sticks his neck out for no one. Duncan Weldon’s killed two German couriers in an effort to impress him. But of all the gin joints in all the world, who’s this walking into theirs? For our Christmas special, we’re joined by the journalist and author Hadley Freeman as we watch Casablanca, a war movie disguised as a romance. But who’s Humphrey Bogart’s real love interest - Ingrid Bergman or Claude Rains? And what’s it like to see the film through the eyes of a refugee? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s Christmas 1944, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon are in a muddy, frozen POW camp, dreaming of Betty Grable. But is one of them a rat? We’re watching Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17, the film that won William Holden an Oscar and may have inspired the sitcom Hogan’s Heroes. Comedy? Drama? Escape movie? Or a mix of all three? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon are fighting seasickness and dodging torpedoes as they take the podcast on a submarine hunt. We’re watching the 1953 classic The Cruel Sea, a frank picture of the terror and exhaustion of convoy duty, and the toll it took on the men and women of the Navy. Was Donald Sinden ever better, and did Jack Hawkins organise the worst pub quiz ever? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s 1944, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon are trying to take the podcast 750 miles through the Burmese jungle for reasons that no one can really explain to them. This week we’re watching the 1962 movie Merrill’s Marauders, the tale of a heroic American unit going through hell. Who will win Best Death? Who won’t?! A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s 1916, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon have failed to capture an impossible target in the trenches of France. One of them must now be shot for cowardice, but who? (Duncan, obviously.) We’re watching Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece Paths of Glory. But is it a war movie or a courtroom drama, or is it really a film about office life? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s 1815, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon have liberated the podcast from Elba in a final bid for glory. But first they must face the Duke of Wellington. With Ridley Scott’s Napoleon in the cinemas, we’ve wheeled the TV into the classroom to watch Waterloo. Has there ever been a better movie of cavalry charges? Does any of the first hour matter? And just how many Soviet soldiers were involved in making it? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s 1943, and Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon have realised that the only way to save their podcast is to blow up a dam in Yugoslavia. It’s time for Force 10 From Navarone, the first war movie Rob can remember watching. Does any part of it make sense? Any part of it at all? And could Harrison Ford find a single nice thing to say about it? A Pod Too Far was written and presented by Robert Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Simon Williams. Artwork by James Parret. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. A Pod Too Far is a Podmasters production. Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices