55 episodes
The Plot Thickens TCM & Novel
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- TV & Film
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4.7 • 224 Ratings
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Our fifth season is Decoding John Ford, a seven-episode series about cinema's most mysterious auteur. Using scores of never-before-heard archival interviews, host Ben Mankiewicz strips back John Ford's self-spun mythology to reveal his brilliance behind the camera – alongside the often ugly, uncomfortable truths about his life and movies, asking whether we can ever truly separate art from the artist. Decoding John Ford starts June 6.
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Season 5 Trailer: Decoding John Ford
Meet John Ford, the curmudgeon with an eyepatch who just happened to be the greatest filmmaker of the 20th Century. Ford was a bully and a drunk who ruled Hollywood for five decades, making dozens of seminal movies – though he was incredibly hard to pin down. His behavior swung wildly from loyalty to cruelty, without notice. He won more Oscars than any director in history, but never showed up to accept an award. And he rewrote American history, painting the country with images so beautiful that people wished they were real. John Ford defined the attitudes of his time, ideas about masculinity and heroism that we're still grappling with today. Join host Ben Mankiewicz for a new season of The Plot Thickens, starting June 6.
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The Black West
Growing up in Colorado, young Pam Grier endures racism and trauma, but finds solace in horses and the beautiful countryside. As a teen, she visits Los Angeles for the first time, and gets caught in the middle of the historic Watts Rebellion. But after winning a beauty pageant, she meets a Hollywood agent who encourages her to give L.A. a second chance.
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I'm Not From Here
Newly arrived in Los Angeles, Pam learns underground filmmaking at UCLA and sings backup for some of the biggest musical acts of the 60s. She also has her first serious romance, with a towering basketball phenom named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Then, a chance audition for a low-budget movie leads to Pam’s first opportunity in front of the camera, as an actor.
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An Actor Prepares
Pam heads to the Philippines to star in a pair of “women in prison” movies, where she endures volatile weather, skimpy costumes, and cobra encounters. She studies acting and learns everything she can about filmmaking, and her raw talent is soon recognized on the set. But Pam’s relationship with Kareem is tested when his religious convictions clash with her feminist ideals.
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The Queen of Blaxploitation
Pam’s career hits new heights as Black-themed movies take the country by storm. She stars in four low-budget films in the span of one year, including two bonafide hits: Coffy and Foxy Brown. Yet her celebrity is tied to controversy, as Blaxploitation gets criticized by the Black community and snubbed by the Hollywood establishment.
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Bonus: Pam Grier in Italy
Pam is almost killed when a horse goes wild on the set of a gladiator movie. But instead of losing her life, she meets a new friend, who just happens to be one of the most famous filmmakers in the world.
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Customer Reviews
Such interesting histories
I have listened to seasons one and three. (I have not yet seen The Bonfire of the Vanities and so have not listened to that season.)
Ben tells great stories and interviews fascinating people. Every episode is fantastic.
Beyond Excellent!
I’ve been telling everyone about this series. I pick a key event from an episode to garner interest in the series so that they’ll listen to it. Can’t say enough good things about the series!
Bogdanovich…
If it was a “different time,” then BM should ask himself what it means to tell PB’s story today without any reflection on, and challenge of, the skeletons and crappy behaviour that are peppered through the director’s life. Let alone applying the same old-school reverence as if modern challenges of what made PB make such great first films do not exist.