Welcome to a column about an exceptional podcast.
“You Must Remember This” is a great series for movie-lovers and fans of history in general. Join us as we look at the brainchild of the talented film writer Karina Longworth.
Every week, “You Must Remember This” tells a different story about the American movie industry in the 20th century.
At first, every episode focused on a different topic. One week you would learn about Judy Garland’s importance to the gay rights movement. The next week you would learn about Isabella Rosellini’s life in the 1990s.
Nowadays, “You Must Remember This” is devoted to telling longer stories. Multiple episodes are devoted to the history of the blacklist or the rise and fall of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer(MGM). One of the most popular seasons focused on Charles Manson’s connections to the entertainment industry. This focus on telling a story across multiple episodes gives Longworth the time to deliver the amount of information that these topics deserve.
Longworth researches, edits and narrates every episode. Her scripts are distinguished by her excellent eye for minute, idiosyncratic details.
It would be enough to note that MGM boss Louis B. Mayer made Garland wear nasal prosthetics to make her more conventionally attractive, which contributed to her feelings of undesirability. However, what makes me remember that detail months after listening to the episode is Mayer called the actress “my little hunchback.”
The editing in this podcast is excellent. Longworth makes great use of archival audio from older films and interviews to give us an idea of her subjects.
Guest stars, such as the underrated Noah Segan and director Rian Johnson, give excellent performances as Howard Hughes and John Huston. Longworth is the perfect host for this podcast. Her light voice is adept at rapidly conveying serious historical information and more fun details about her subjects.
I still smile when I think about her amusing, but entirely accurate impression of an Old Hollywood actress named Kay Francis.
“You Must Remember This” is very entertaining, but it does not shy away from serious issues. It often deals with subjects such as gender or race. The events she covers have relevant lessons for our time, such as her season on the practice of blacklisting.
One of my favorite episodes is an early one about Ida Lupino, an actress who later became one of the few American female directors in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Longworth vividly covers every facet of her life. She makes you want to see Lupino’s films, such as “The Hitch-Hiker” and “The Bigamist.”
“You Must Remember This” returns Jan. 31. Until then, you can listen to all of the episodes on iTunes. Every single one of them is entertaining and informative.
As Longworth would say, “Join us, won’t you?”
