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At last, we reach the end of the 1931/1932 Oscars with the winner Grand Hotel. Sort of the first Ocean's Eleven, it's chock full of stars: Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery of The Champ fame, Greta Garbo (who delivers her iconic line, "I want to be alone"), and not one but two Barrymores! But does it deserve to be Best Picture? Find out if David and Suzan disagree with the Academy for the first time! 

SHOW NOTES

Year Eligible: 1932/1932 (Won)

Additional audio from Grand Hotel (1932)

(Explicit language, as always)

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Ahhh... there's nothing like the unfettered glee of a true hate watch, and Suzan and David are downright giddy this week. One Hour With You, their third Ernst Lubitsch directed, Maurice Chevalier starring musical turns out to be the most infuriating yet. Full of unlikable jerks cheating on their spouses for no apparent reason, it's a heck of a movie for David to start his new resolution not to swear as much on the podcast. 

SHOW NOTES

Year Eligible: 1931/1932 (Nominated)

Additional audio, "What Would You Do?" from One Hour With You, sung by Maurice Chevalier (1932)

(Explicit language, as always)

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CONTENT WARNING: This week's episode briefly refers to a scene of sexual assault and extensively discusses issues of racism and representation in Hollywood. 

Shanghai Express has so much going for it: Marlene Dietrich smolders, the cinematography is gorgeous, the cast is funny, the costumes ravishing, the dialogue smart. So why aren't Suzan and David in raptures and awarding it their first 10? Can a film that indicts its racist characters still be a racist film? Find out on this week's Screen Test of Time! 

SHOW NOTES

Year Eligible: 1931/1932 (Nominated)

Additional audio from Shanghai Express (1932)

(Explicit language, as always)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:

No, this week's movie is not about the guys who wrote "Love in an Elevator." It is, however, the movie that definitively answers the question, “Can a movie have too much plot?” Arrowsmith is the sweeping epic that made Suzan finally appreciate that most of them are three hours long, rather than 100 minutes. 

SHOW NOTES

Year Eligible: 1931/1932 (Nominated)

Music: "True Blue Sam" by Zez Confrey and His Orchestra available at (1932)

(Explicit language, as always)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:

This week, Jackie Cooper is back, baby, and this time in a movie David and Suzan can actually watch! The Champ is kind of Rocky times Dennis the Menace divided by a dysfunctional, alcoholic family drama. Look, your hosts aren’t mathematicians, they’re just two adventurers trying to scale their own screen based Everest. But they like this one despite its sappy sentimentality and bizarre mashups of genres. 

SHOW NOTES

Year Eligible: 1931/1932 (Nominated)

Music: "Budweiser's a Friend of Mine" by Billy Murray available at (1932)

(Explicit language, as always)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:

TRIGGER WARNING: This week's episode features extensive discussion about suicide as plot device. Please proceed with caution, and if you or someone you know is at risk for suicide or experiencing suicidal ideation, please contact The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You can visit their website at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or call them at 1-800-273-8255. 

Another nominee that focuses on the behind the scenes business of newspapers, this time as an indictment of tabloid journalism. There's marriage, death, and a lot of showboating monologues in Five Star Final, but each of our hosts has a very specific pet peeve about this movie. A movie that focuses on the dangers of irresponsible reporting definitely has a timely message in 2018, but does it stand the Screen Test of Time? 

SHOW NOTES

Year Eligible: 1931/1932 (Nominated)

Additional audio from Five Star Final (1931)

(Explicit language, as always)

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Our hosts have learned not to judge a movie by its poster this week, but surely they should be able to infer something about it from its title? Not so with Bad Girl, a charming if befuddling picture about... well, a woman who really doesn't live up to the moniker and the man she marries. If you take away nothing else from this week's episode, David and Suzan hope you learn that communication is the key to a happy relationship, and that there is an upper limit to how much you should spend on a surprise gift for your partner. 

SHOW NOTES

Year Eligible: 1931/1932 (Nominated)

Additional audio from Bad Girl (1931)

(Explicit language, as always)

ABOUT THE EPISODE:

Suzan and David are finally free of the 1930/1931 nominees! …But not free of Ernst Lubitsch and Maurice Chevalier’s misogynistic musicals. The Smiling Lieutenant is the movie that asks “What did people like about The Love Parade?” and gets the answer wrong every time. At least there’s a funny song about underwear. 

SHOW NOTES

Year Eligible: 1931/1932 (Nominated)

Additional audio: "Jazz Up Your Lingerie" from The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

(Explicit language, as always)