David and I are back with another episode of The Eclipse Viewer, the podcast dedicated to the Criterion Collection’s Eclipse Series of DVDs.
In this episode we discuss five films (or should that be “films”?) made by Robert Downey Sr. in the 1960s and 1970s, packaged in Eclipse Series 33: Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr.: Babo 73 (1964), Chafed Elbows (1966), No More Excuses (1968), Putney Swope (1969), and Two Ton of Turquoise to Taos Tonight (1975). These are bizarre, irreverent films that, though they often make no sense, capture a time and place wonderfully.
Please find the podcast, the shownotes, and plenty of links over at CriterionCast here.
In the next episode of The Eclipse Viewer, David and I will be discussing the most recent entry in the series, just out this past week, Eclipse Series 42: Silent Ozu — Three Crime Dramas, featuring these three films: Walk Cheerfully (1930), That Night’s Wife (1930), and Dragnet Girl (1933).
Very interesting, Trevor. Putney Swope has come up a lot in conversations I’ve listened to recently: PT Anderson was hugely influenced by it. This is a director I need to explore. I read an interview with him years ago in a brilliant series of interviews commissioned by Penguin called ‘The Film Director as Superstar’. Still haven’t seen anything!
You should check out the conversations between Downey and PT Anderson that Criterion did for this release. They’re all on YouTube (and I think linked to in the show notes on CriterionCast). I think you’ll get a kick out of this stuff, Lee.
I will definitely do that!