Steven Jay Rubin's Saturday Night at the Movies, Los Angeles, CA (2025)

10/26/2025

BREAKING PODCAST NEWS – Remember the 80s? It doesn’t seem that long ago, but 1980 is forty-five years ago, nearly a half century. That may have been Hollywood’s most profitable decade – the decade of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “ET,” “Ghostbusters,” Terminator”, “Tootsie,” “Back to the Future” and, uh, “Porky’s. I have a particular fondness for the 80s, because that’s when I became gainfully employed in Hollywood – as a studio publicist, working on films like “Porky’s 2,” ‘Pretty in Pink,” “Rad,” “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone,” “Desert Bloom,” “Eddie and the Cruisers 2,” “Honey, I Blew Up the Kid” “Weekend at Bernie’s 2,” and the aforementioned “Ghostbusters.”
This week on Saturday Night at the Movies, my guest is author John Malahy, who has written a terrific overview of that celebrated decade: Rewinding the 80s. John talks about the end of the auteur era, which coincided with the crashing and burning of “Heaven’s Gate.” We talk about the emerging careers of John Hughes, Jerry Bruckheimer, Steven Spielberg, and many others, and how, in the era before the Internet changed the whole nature of entertainment, movies were still number one.
You can watch this cast right now on our You Tube Channel, using this link: https://youtu.be/611DsNJeQYE
Or, starting tomorrow, you can hear it on your favorite podcast platform. Here’s a link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7oG8rdYWHp5bEO3pJiVRe7
Or watch the show on the new FAST channel, True TV Plus, using this link: https://play.truetvplus.com/movie/details/460790

10/25/2025

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES – I had such a great response to last week’s review of John Milius’s muscular film “The Wind and the Lion,” I thought I’d keep the theme going with one of my personal favorites from 1962, producer Harold Hecht’s production of “Taras Bulba.”
Written by Waldo Salt and Karl Tunberg who adapted Nicolai Gogol’s novella, and directed by J. Lee Thompson, hot off of “The Guns of Navarone,” “Taras Bulba”
stars an always buff Yul Brynner as the title character, a Cossack cavalry colonel fighting Turks and Poles in 16th Century Eastern Europe. As peace blossoms on his beloved Steppes, Taras raises two sons – Andre (Tony Curtis) and Ostap (Perry Lopez), who are sent to Kiev, under Polish control, where they begin their schooling.
“Taras Bulba” is really two films. In one, Taras helps muster a huge mounted fighting force to take back Cossack territory from the Poles, the other is a love story between Andre and Polish beauty Natalia, the Mayor of Kiev’s daughter, played by gorgeous German actress Christine Kauffmann. She shares terrific chemistry with the handsome
Curtis, so it isn’t a surprise at all that they soon married in real life. But their on-screen romance is no duck walk, as Cossacks are treated as fourth class citizens by the Polish students, administrators and the monk who is the school disciplinarian, via the whip.
Once Andre and Ostap return to the Steppes, the film really takes off as Taras rallies the Cossack regiments. Franz Waxman’s score really clicks here in one of the great cinema set pieces – the ride to Dubno, musical poetry indeed. Today, a modern special effects editor can produce realistic cavalry regiments with a couple of digital clicks. Back in 1962, using the Argentine Army, Thompson assembles hundreds of real horsemen, as this mass of mounted humanity rides perfectly to Waxman’s inspired cadence.
Apparently, Thompson went significantly over budget and a number of Brynner’s key scenes were cut, making this more Curtis’s film than Brynner’s. However, thanks to the chemistry between Andre and Natalia, the energy does not flag in this colorful epic. Contributing to the tapestry is Guy Rolfe, who I always remember as the nefarious Prince John in “Ivanhoe,” playing a nefarious Polish prince here; Brad Dexter and Vladimir Sokoloff, both fresh from Brynner’s “The Magnificent Seven,” who play fellow Cossacks, and future director Sam Wanamaker, another Cossack, who brings war news to the temporarily peaceful Zaporozhian Cossacks.

10/19/2025

BREAKING PODCAST NEWS – If you were a Bond fan in the 1960s and beyond, you knew that in every film 007 would report to his boss, known by the initial M. The first M was veteran British character actor Bernard Lee, who played the part eleven times, until his death in 1981. Having made a career of playing British military types, particularly in Naval settings (“Sink the Bismarck,” “The Ship That Died of Shame,” “Pursuit of the Graf Spee,” “Sailor of the King”) Lee was perfectly cast as the Head of MI-6, and the ultimate authority figure for James Bond.
This week on Saturday Night at the Movies, I dig into my archives and feature my original 1977 interview with Mr. Lee, conducted in a London pub (please forgive the background noise). We got a chance to talk about his early days as a stage actor, his chance encounter with Lionel Barrymore on his one trip to America in 1937, his early days working with Cubby Broccoli’s Warwick Films, which led to the world of 007, and his appearance in the Neil Connery film “Operation Kid Brother.”
You can listen right now on You Tube, using this link: https://youtu.be/-8-F-kDlaVw
Or starting tomorrow night, you can listen on your favorite podcast platform. Here is a link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7oG8rdYWHp5bEO3pJiVRe7
Or try us on or new FAST channel, True TV Plus, using this link: https://play.truetvplus.com/screen/1

10/18/2025

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES – I rarely use the word “muscular” to describe a movie. But it so perfectly describes writer/director John Milius’s 1975 historical epic “The Wind and the Lion” – celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. John Milius, himself, was a throwback to helmers like John Ford, Henry Hathaway, Raoul Walsh and, my fave, John Sturges, who specialized in manly stories, filled with action, violence and adventure.
I worked with John in the 90s when he came to Showtime and directed “Motorcycle Gang,” one of our “Rebel Highway” series of remakes of A.I.P. exploitation pics of the 1950s. As the unit publicist, I arrived on the Palm Springs desert location, and immediately found Milius’s military-style headquarters tent with a skeet shooting machine in place outside the entrance. John was steeped in history – he talked it, preached it, savored it, and, most importantly, wrote it. Many of these stories were never produced, but when he did get the chance, he was all in – particularly in the marvelous “The Wind and the Lion.”
Proving once again that he was much more than suave 007, Sean Connery was perfectly cast as Raisuli, the last of the Barbary pirates, who brazenly kidnaps British woman Eden Pedicaris (a defiant Candice Bergin) and her two children from a home in Morocco. The muscular aspect of this film is evident from the first frame as Raisuli leads a cavalry raid down the beach into a city, smashing through the marketplace, up flights of stone pathways to the home where they are momentarily stymied by Eden’s sharpshooting English guest (played by Milius’s cinematographer Billy Williams).
Balancing Connery’s muscular performance as the brash Berber leader is Brian Keith’s equally muscular performance as U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt who is introduced in physical action as a boxer, archer, or simply verbally jousting with his cabinet, including the marvelous John Huston (with that signature voice) as secretary of state John Hay.
Adding key dimension and atmosphere to the whole enterprise is Milius’s wise choice of Jerry Goldsmith, who composed one of the screen’s great musical scores. Milius has said that that film was inspired by David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia.” Very large footsteps to follow, but the young director acquits himself well, creating a film that, even today, plays beautifully for contemporary audiences. Thank you, John, for flexing those cinematic muscles!

10/12/2025

BREAKING PODCAST NEWS – I love ”The Treasure of Sierra Madre.” It’s one of those timeless classics that never gets old. A tour de force for Humphrey Bogart, whose Fred C. Dobbs is one of cinema’s most memorable characters, it also features a perfect role for veteran character actor Walter Huston, whose son John wrote and directed the film. Together, they both won Oscars that year – elder Huston for Best Supporting Actor and younger Huston for his many-layered script.
This week we devote our show to the film, inviting author and prolific film historian Nat Segaloff who has written Bogart and Huston, a terrific examination of the relationship between the two titans that began auspiciously with “The Maltese Falcon.” We unravel the mystery of original book author B. Traven, and who he really was; we go behind the scenes and discover that it was imperative for Huston to shoot the film in Mexico; we revel in that wonderful Max Steiner score, and much more.
You can watch that interview right now on our You Tube Channel, using this link: https://youtu.be/W82EuD9AcnU
Or, starting tomorrow, you can find us on your favorite podcast platform – here’s a link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7oG8rdYWHp5bEO3pJiVRe7
And you can also find us on True TV Plus, the FAST channel, using this link: https://play.truetvplus.com/screen/1
All the links are free – you don’t have to show any stinkin’ badges to gain entry!

10/11/2025

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES – I’ve always admired Clark Gable – “The King of Hollywood” – but I’m woefully behind on his filmography. I have seen “Gone with the Wind,” “Run Silent Run Deep,” “Mogambo” and “The Misfits,” but I have a long way to go to appreciate his career. Recently, TCM ran an unusual festival of films that have the word “Strange” in the title – so, lo and behold, I caught Gable and Joan Crawford in 1940’s “Strange Cargo.”
This is the first movie Gable did after “Gone with the Wind.” The King was known for his on-screen swagger, and he’s in full form here as Verne, a brash thief/turned convict imprisoned on a “Devil’s Island”- type penal colony. His fellow prisoners include Hessler (Paul Lukas), a murderer who marries women and poisons them for their fortunes; Moll (Albert Dekker, fresh from “Beau Geste”), a brutal convict with an escape plan; nervous Flaubert (J. Edward Bromberg, soon to be seen in “The Mark of Zorro”); guilt-ridden Telez (Eduardo Ciannelli, the villainous Guru in “Gunga Din”), M’sieu Pig (Peter Lorre, in fine Peter Lorre form), an informer; and the mysterious Cambreau (Ian Hunter, previously King Richard in “The Adventures of Robin Hood”), a Christ-like figure.
And stealing every scene she’s in is sexy Julie (Joan Crawford), a dance hall girl who is ordered off the island when she’s seen with Verne. Now, my knowledge of Crawford is even more pitiful than my knowledge of Gable. This was the first time I saw her as a young romantic figure – and her chemistry with Gable is palpable (this was the last of eight films they did together) as they enjoy a love/hate relationship.
“Strange Cargo” is harrowing as the convicts plot their escape. But I have to say that their Penal Colony is not as brutal as some we’ve seen (think “Papillon”), and the Warden actually likes Verne. Written by Lawrence Hazard, who adapted Richard Sale’s book Too Narrow, Not Too Deep, and directed by silent film veteran Frank Borzage, this was a fun watch, and particularly fascinating because of Hunter’s Cambreau character.

10/04/2025

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES – Like dating, sometimes first movie impressions are not accurate. For example, in 1975, I saw “The Man Who Would Be King” in the theater and I didn’t like it. Watching the film recently for the first time since my first viewing, I simply loved its sense of adventure. The only thing I can think of that might have influenced that first negative reaction was that I was a huge Sean Connery fan from Bond, and perhaps not prepared for Sean’s idiosyncratic portrait of Sergeant Danny Dravot.
Fifty years later, I can easily say “The Man Who Would Be King” is a classic adventure film, beautifully written by John Huston and Gladys Hill, directed by John Huston and featuring two marvelous performances by Connery and Michael Caine. This project had been gestating with Huston since the 1950s, when he first envisioned Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart in the leading roles. Unfortunately, both actors passed, and Huston had to go back to the drawing board. But Connery and Caine are perfect.
If you haven’t seen this classic, former British Indian army soldiers Peachy Carnehan (Caine) and Danny Dravot (Connery) decide to head into the great unknown beyond the Khyber Pass to Kafiristan, a country unknown to white men since the days of Alexander the Great. It’s a mercenary adventure with both men hoping to find riches and perhaps become power players in the backwards realm. Certainly, their prowess with modern firearms gives them a distinct advantage over the warriors they meet, and soon they become a true force in the country, winning victory after victory until they conquer without violence.
Huge kudos to cinematographer Oswald Morris whose camerawork is breathtaking – using Moroccan locations to simulate Kafiristan. And a particular nod to amateur performer Karroom Ben Bouih, who played the high priest Kafu-Selim. He was apparently 103 years old at the time and had been working as a night watchman. Talk about a workaholic! He even had to be told that he could quit his night watchman job while he made good movie money. He had been burning the candle at both ends. Jeez!

09/30/2025

THE CAT WHO LIVED WITH ANNE FRANK – Those of you were thinking of attending our development presentation for our animated feature film, “Mouschi: The Cat Who Lived with Anne Frank,” tomorrow night in West Los Angeles, please be advised that I have to cancel the event. I returned from Chicago with Covid. It will be rescheduled. Cheers!

09/24/2025

LA Friends and Colleagues: A week from tonight (Tuesday September 30th at 6:30 p.m.), my writing partner David Miller and I will be doing a presentation on our proposed animation feature, “Mouschi: The Cat Who Lived with Anne Frank.” For information on the location, please reach out to me via email at [email protected] There will be food and drink, good cheer, and an inside look at why this could be one of the most important and timely animation projects of all time.
This all started when I was indulging in my hobby of listening to full length feature films on audio while I’m shaving. One morning, I had George Stevens’ acclaimed film “The Diary of Anne Frank” playing, particularly the scene where Anne, Peter and Margot are chasing Peter’s cat, Mouschi, through the attic hiding place. I had an epiphany – asking myself the question: What did Mouschi think of these strange people who never ventured outside, and twelve hours a day had to remain perfectly still? I called David up and asked him, “What do you think of a children’s book entitled “The Cat Who Lived with Anne Frank?” David responded with a huge thumbs up, and our journey began, with Penguin Random House publishing the resultant tome in 2019. Note: Anne, herself, writes quite a bit about Mouschi in her celebrated diary.
As I mentioned in my last posting, we are raising money to build a four-minute animation sizzle reel, which will help sell this feature film.
Please reach out. If you can’t come to the September 30th event, let us know if you can provide some financial backing for the sizzle.

09/22/2025

BREAKING PODCAST NEWS – We talk a lot about the great Hollywood acting families: the Barrymores, the Fondas, the Bridges, the Fannings, but there are also creative families behind the scenes. One of those is the Mankiewicz Family, particularly “Citizen Kane” writer Herman Mankiewicz and his writer/director brother Joseph (“All About Eve,” “Julius Caesar,” “Cleopatra”).
This week on Saturday Night at the Movies, my guest is Nick Davis, who has written “Competing with Idiots,” a simply marvelous literary portrait. It’s a layered, compelling tome that took nineteen years to complete, enormously aided by the fact that Nick is Herman Mankewicz’s grandson and Joe’s great nephew. While watching Herman interact with Orson Welles or Joseph sweating over the challenge of “Cleopatra,” Davis really gets under the skin of these twin legends, giving us the type of intimate, inside portrait that these storied legends deserve.
You can watch our interview right now on You Tube, using this link: https://youtu.be/-AqQF8RFeBM
Or tomorrow you can find it on your favorite podcast platform. Here’s a link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7oG8rdYWHp5bEO3pJiVRe7
Or tomorrow, look for it on our new FAST channel, True TV Plus, using this link: https://play.truetvplus.com/screen/1

09/20/2025

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES – One of my earliest moviegoing memories is watching “The Littlest Hobo” across the street from my house at the Fox West Coast Stadium Theater on Pico. Now if you had asked me if this movie was inspired by the Italian Neo-Realism movement, I would have just stared at you, muttering “Huh?” But “The Littlest Hobo” has some of those minimalist elements.
The star of this little gem is London, a 12-year-old German Shepherd who rides the rails, arrives in 1958 Los Angeles and rescues a lamb from the slaughterhouse. The story is their odyssey across LA, at one moment crossing Long Beach and weaving their way through a scrapyard filled with the old LA Red Car streetcars – headed for the meltdown.
Being a long time LA resident, watching this movie is a time travel trip back to the 50s, with a heartwarming tale as the bonus.
The Littlest Hobo inspired three Canadian television series, becoming iconic programming north of the border. The. Movie was written by Dorrell McGowan (with very little dialogue) and directed by Charles R. Rondeau. Kudos to composer Ronald Stein who laces the film with some catchy themes. And, I’ve recently discovered that actor Buddy Hart, whose orphan character originally owned the lamb, but was forced to give it up, is really stunt coordinator Buddy Joe Hooker. And for your trivia buffs, the lamb’s name was Fleecie.

09/16/2025

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES – When a Broadway legend passes, they usually dim the lights along the great white way. When a star of Robert Redford’s magnitude passes, they should just shut down all the power in LA. He was not an overnight success. Mr. Redford did plenty of television supporting parts in both New York and LA, including a quite memorable episode of “The Twilight Zone,” in which he played the most charismatic Angel of Death ever.
And then came “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” which propelled him deep into the stratosphere of Hollywood stardom. He may have been the most handsome man in Hollywood at that time, but he had a genuineness that was unparalleled. Paired with another screen legend – Paul Newman – they clicked in one of the original buddy movies, and thankfully teamed again four years later for “The Sting.”
There are so many Redford performances to remember, I just have time for the ones that affected me the most: In a film his company produced, “All the President’s Men,” he’s a marvelous Bob Woodward, opposite a true opposite, Dustin Hoffman. Somehow, Redford could make writing on a legal pad absolutely fascinating, and tremendously suspenseful. And his jump to outrage in the parking garage when Deep Throat threatens to shut down his information superhighway is palpable.
Speaking of palpable, when his CIA reader Joe Turner walks into his NYC brownstone office and discovers the fate of his work companions in “Three Days of the Condor,” it’s a startling cinema moment and his consternation, fear, and desperation really gets to you. He also pairs beautifully with Faye Dunaway. Then, again, women always shined opposite Redford.
And is there a more romantic movie of the 1970s than “The Way We Were,” with Redford opposite a fun Barbra Streisand. Talk about poignant and memorable.
Even in later films like “Indecent Proposal,” he was bringing bushel loads of charm to what could have been a creepy role – a man preying on another’s man’s wife.
If fans exist in heaven, Mr. R, please prepare to be mobbed. While down here, we will always have your wonderful filmography to enjoy.

Steven Jay Rubin's Saturday Night at the Movies

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