House of Crouse Richard Crouse

On the Saturday June 8, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet George Miller. He has made pigs talk and penguins tap dance. He’s been a doctor and a film director. Among the bold-faced names on his resume are the titles “Babe: A Pig in the City,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Happy Feet” and “Lorenzo’s Oil.” One name, however, looms larger than the rest.

“Mad Max.”

He returned to theatres recently with “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” his fifth Mad Max inspired film in 45 years.

A mix of Norse and Greek mythology set against an apocalyptic backdrop, and set 15 to 20 years before the events of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is a high-octane origin story. Kidnapped from the Place of Great Abundance by Warlord Dementus’s (Chris Hemsworth) henchmen, young Furiosa (played by Alyla Browne as a child, Anya Taylor-Joy as an adult) vows vengeance for the death of her mother as warlords Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and Dementus vie for supremacy of the Wasteland.

It's a pedal-to-the-metal epic, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” follows the big-block engine power of “Fury Road” with a film that brings a backstory to the strong-willed Furiosa (Taylor-Joy). As expected, Miller delivers a high-octane apocalyptic tale with a fierce Taylor-Joy and charismatic warlord Hemsworth, that features action scenes that’ll make your eyes pop out of their sockets.

We’ll also meet Simon Lewis, author of the book “Making 'A Bridge Too Far” which takes a deep dive into the making of what many people call, the greatest World War II movie of all time.

Just ahead of the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, which happened in September 1944 when the Allies attempted to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines, comes the book which details the making of the movie based on the famous military maneuver.

In recreating Operation Market Garden on film, director Richard Attenborough enlisted a company of actors and trained them to behave like soldiers. These actors underwent weapons training and were trusted to bring authenticity to their roles, a groundbreaking approach that hadn’t been tried before.

On the Saturday June 1, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Sharon Lewis. She is an award winning director for her documentary and feature work, and if you’ve been watching "Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent," “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” or the Netflix series “Ginny & Georgia,” you’ve seen her name in the credits as director.

Then we’ll meet English author Sam Lloyd, the bestselling author of "The Memory Wood" and "The Rising Tide." Today we talk about his latest novel, a tense, mystery thriller called "The People Watcher." Today we’ll talk about the unusual visitation that inspired the book.

We’ll also get to know New York City-based stand-up comedian Tina Friml. She has performed at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, is a regular at the Comedy Cellar in New York City and has a large following on line for her unique take on her own physical disability, and fearless honesty about the social assumptions that come with living with cerebral palsy.

Then, we’ll meet Willie Poll. She is the director of education for the Moose Hide Campaign, an organization focused on ending violence against women and children. But today we’re here to talk about her new book for children, “My Little Ogichidaa: An Indigenous Lullaby.”

On the Saturday May 18, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet former Toronto Star reporter Mary Ormsby. In “World’s Fastest Man:* The Incredible Life of Ben Johnson,” the veteran sports reporter details the rise and fall of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, the once celebrated athlete whose career was halted when he was accused of doping at the 1988 Olympics, and stripped of his gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul. It's a fascinating story, retold with in Ormsby’s in depth reporting and 30 hours of interview with Ben Johnson himself.

Then we meet Indigenous Australian filmmaker, screenwriter and cinematographer, editor, composer and sound designer Ivan Sen. His latest film is “Limbo,” a study of damaged people, disguised as a police procedural. Shot in beautiful black and white, this outback noir tells the story of a drug addicted detective who goes to the Australian Outback to reopen a twenty year old cold case of a missing Indigenous girl, whose killer may still live locally. The film stars Australian actor Simon Baker, who audiences know best for his turn as Patrick Jane in TV’s long running series “The Mentalist.”

On the September 18, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Mary Badham. She had no acting experience before she auditioned for the role of the intelligent and unconventional girl Jean Louise Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Better known by the nickname Scout, the character is the daughter of Alabama lawyer, Atticus Finch, played by Gregory Peck in the classic film.

Mary Badham, at just ten years of age, became the youngest actress to that date to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

At age fourteen, after appearing in several other films and television show, including the final episode of the original Twilight Zone series, she retired from acting at age fourteen. She stayed close with Gregory Peck, who she always called Atticus, until his death in 2003.

To Kill a Mockingbird has never completely left her life, however, Mary has traveled around the world recalling her experiences making the classic film, and praising the book's messages of tolerance and compassion, and now, in her debut as a stage actor, she plays, quote “the meanest old woman who ever lived,” Mrs. Dubose in the national touring production of Aaron Sorkin's stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, which features Richard Thomas in the role of Atticus Finch and is now playing at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto. Check mirvish.com for more details.

Then, Christian Sparkes, a film director and screenwriter from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. His new movie, “The King Tide,” is set in an isolated, struggling community, ten years after a child with miraculous gifts washed up on the beach. She is able to heal people, but after a decade of prosperity, her adoptive parents are forced to decide whether her safety is more important than their community's prosperity

On the Saturday May 11, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse we meet General Roméo Dallaire. A celebrated global human rights advocate, he is also a highly respected author, public speaker, political advisor, and former Canadian senator. Throughout his distinguished military career, General Dallaire served most notably as Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. He continues to work ceaselessly to bring international attention to situations too often ignored, whether the prevention of mass atrocities, ending the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on veterans and their families, or strategic solutions for lasting peace.

In his latest book “The Peace: A Warrior’s Journey,” general Dallaire shows us the past, present and future of war through the prism of his own life.

Then, we’ll meet Rose Sutherland, author of “A Sweet Sting of Salt.” Based on the classic folktale The Selkie Wife, it is a piece of historical fiction that sees a young woman uncover a dark secret about her neighbor and his mysterious new wife… and she’ll have to fight to keep herself—and the woman she loves—safe.

On the Saturday May 4 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet novelist and writing coach Heidi Reimer. Her front-row seat to the theater world of her debut novel, “The Mother Act,” began two decades ago when she met and married an actor, and her immersion in motherhood began when she adopted a toddler and discovered she was pregnant on the same day.

Then, we’ll meet photographer-turned-film director, Caitlin Cronenberg. Her new movie “Humane” stars Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire and Enrico Colantoni is a wild story about a family dinner that erupts into chaos when a father's plan to enlist in the government's new euthanasia program goes sideways.