Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Classic: "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "Double Indemnity"

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

GGACP celebrates the recent 80th anniversary of the granddaddy of film noirs, Billy Wilder's 1944 masterpiece "Double Indemnity" by revisiting this conversation from 2015. In this episode, Gilbert and Frank sing the praises of James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler, look back at various remakes ("Body Heat," "Big Trouble") and analyze the movie's seldom mentioned love story. Also: The boys pay tribute to the John Huston classic "Treasure of the Sierra Madre." PLUS: Bugs Bunny meets Bogart! Bela Lugosi meets the Marx Brothers! John Cassavetes directs a comedy! And the enduring mystery of B. Traven! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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So here's another Gilbert and Franks! Here's another Gilbert and Franks! Here's another Gilbert and Franks! Colossal Classic You know, we have great advertisers that support the show and keep it free for you guys. So one of the reasons why advertisers love Gilbert Gottfried's amazing Colossal Podcast is that they know the show has amazing listeners. So about once a year, we run a listener survey to help demonstrate this to advertisers. And right now we have an all new survey that Gilbert and I would like you to take

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Absolutely. Thanks for helping us find the best advertisers so that we can keep the show free. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and I'm here with my co-host Frank Santopadre. And this is Gilbert Gottfried's, or is it Gilbert and Frank's amazing? That's it, but that's okay. Gilbert and Frank's amazing colossal obsession.

Yeah, I just sweep up. I'm not an integral part of the show. One day I'll learn what you do here, actually. Well let's see, it took you seven weeks to get my name, four weeks to get the name of the main podcast and seven weeks to get the name of the main podcast and seven weeks to get the name of the mini podcast. Well, that's just, now you're just nitpicking. You got a long learning curve, my friend.

Now last week, we talked, you talked about a simple plan. And we were kind of struggling to come up with movies. About people who fall into money, find money or get plans for money and it rips their lives. Or just simple people whose greed destroys them. And here's a classic film. Sometimes we'll recommend more obscure movies and once in a while we're going to recommend a movie.

This is one of the grand daddies of those type of movies. The great American films and certainly not obscure but for those of you that haven't seen it you must do so immediately. It's the treasure of the Sierra Madre made by John Euston. And it was a father and son movie. Yes, yes. Well John Euston's father, Walter Euston, who's in the film, won the Academy Award, I believe for best supporting actor, and it's a fantastic performance.

And he takes his teeth out. That's correct. He brought false teeth that he removes for the movie. Correct. You two are the biggest jackasses and he does that wonderful jig. Yeah. Why you're dumber than the dumbest jackasses. It's the great stuff.

It's a film that also is part of pop culture. I mean, I'm reminded of The Bugs Bunny. Can you help out a fellow American to a meal? There you go. Right. Which is John Euston's cameo in the film, because he's the guy that Bogart tries to bum. And do you remember who the Mexican kid who sells him the lottery ticket is? I believe it's a young Robert Blake. Yep. Very good.

Well, you know, in the old days you could see Robert Blake on talk shows like Tom Snyder and he would come on and tell his Bogart stories. Oh, yeah. And his Walter Houston stories. Yeah, it's a terrific film. Of course, Alfonso Badoia. Yeah. Snyder and he would come on and tell his Bogart stories and his Walter Houston stories. It's a terrific film. Of course, Alfonso Badoia. Yeah.

Bajis, we don't need no stinking bajis. Which was parodied in Blazing Saddles. So it's a film that when you see the film you'll realize, oh, this led to that. This was in that Bugs Bunny thing and this was in Blazing Saddles and so many other things. But it's a great film about greed. Bogart plays a character Fred Dobbs, Fred C. Dobbs, which was the name of a character Martin Landau would later play in a movie you can look up because the title is Escaping Me. Is it Battle of Battle Beyond Earth or something? Martin Landau was in a B movie before he had his career resurgence and won the Oscar for Ed Wood.

I heard that during the making of Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the movie execs saw rushes of the film and were complaining. They said, can't you get them to shave? That's typical. Yeah, they're stuck in the middle of the desert. I think the land out picture was called Without Warning. I'm going to check this because we don't do a ton of research for these. We just kind of do them off the top of our heads, but he played a character, Fred C. Dobbs. Terrific film. There's also a behind the scenes story about the making of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre because it's based on a book by a guy named B. Traven, who was a mysterious character in his own right. And do a little, if you have the time, Google

B. Traven. And there's a whole other story and a whole other movie in this guy's life. John Euston, the director of the film, made plans to meet him in Mexico to ask him about the film, the pre-production meeting, and the person who showed up was apparently not the writer at all, or may have been the writer, depending on what you believe. But go to Wikipedia or just Google the name B. Traven. There's also a great story about it in John Huston's memoir that makes this even more fun. But it's a terrific film.

Music by the great Max Steiner. Tim Holt is in it. As you said, a young Robert Blake. It's genuinely scary. And it's one of those films of people starting out with like the greed takes over. Absolutely. And Bogard is great in it because he's the one, he's the least, he turns to be the least trustworthy. That's right. Yeah. Oh, he's the one that really gets turned by it.

And when we had Brian Coppleman on the show, I was talking about movies that teach you something, movies about something where you actually learn something. And this was a film I first saw in film school, and my professor at the time said, you learn a little bit about panning for gold when you watch the film. It's actually instructional. There's so much to like about this movie. If you haven't seen it, please rent it, and if you have seen it, it's worth another watch. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal podcast after this.

And you sir? Okay. Staying on a theme? Well, this one, it stars an actor who I've mentioned in a previous one of these mini-sodes Edward G Robinson. Oh, yeah, who's co-starred with Bogart a few times like key to our go sure and This one is Made from a novel and it's double indemn oh of course Of course it's so we're recommending two major American movies this week, not obscure movies.

And I think it's James Keen. James M. Keen. Yeah. And, but the movie itself, I heard was the script for the movie was, the screenplay was written by the great Billy Wilder and or is it Wilder? Wilder. Billy Wilder. Billy Wilder.

And who also did of course some like it hot. You connected Billy Wilder and the great William Wilder. Yeah. That's it. They were often confused. I always get, I still don't know and I've worked with him. Gene Wilder or Wilder. You've worked with Gene Wilder?

Yes. That's another episode. It's, uh, it's, well. No relation. Yeah. But, um, this one I heard Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler Mm-hmm. worked on the screenplay.

That's right. Together. And it's Edward G. Robinson and Fred McMurray as insurance investigators. And Fred McMurray gets involved with Barbara Stanwy. Never a good idea. Yeah. And they start having an affair. Always in film noir, watch out for the dame.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And what is really interesting about the film is, you know, there's a big sexual chemistry of Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, but there's a genuine love story between Fred McMurray and Edward G. Robinson. Right, he plays Keys. Yeah. Right. And you go, and it's fascinating to watch,

like the real love in this picture is between these two guys. Yeah, it's interesting. And McMurray, who was mostly known for light comedy, certain later audiences knew him in the Disney pictures. You know, absent-minded professor and things like that. But he played a great heel for Wilder twice, because he plays a great creep in The Apartment.

Oh, that's right. Right. With Jack Lemmon. Right. And more importantly, Edward G. Robinson's real name, I think, was like Rosenberg. Yeah, it sounds right. Makes him a Jew.

Yes, very much so. Oh, he's a big lefty. He's a big liberal. Where are you going with this? Billy Wilder was a Jew also. Yes. See, because I've been having people tweeting to me saying how I met you. Which famous Jews.

And I pitched you a Jew of free film, the treasure of the Sierra Madre. Walter Usin, nope. No. Bogart, nope. Wow, but Bogart was married to Lauren Bacall. That's right, there you go. Who was a Jew. There you go. Double Indemnity is a great movie.

Again, I saw it in film school. Merits of film school. And, you know, loosely remade a couple of times. We were talking about in the cab the other day, remade as a comedy with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk. Oh, God, big trouble. Big trouble directed by the very funny John Cassavetes. Yeah, I once, well, I actually worked with Alan Alda.

When we, those 30 years we did match. Oh, you were great. You were a great clinger. No, I worked with Alan Arkin once and I asked him about that and he said that, you know, he and Peter Falk doing a comedy directed by John Cassavetes, he said, was like the Mocks Brothers being directed by Baila Lugosi. Perfect. Because Cassavetes, not a particularly lighthearted

or funny guy, I love his work, but for different reasons. But you know, I'm sure Humphrey Bogard's dentist, accountant, and agent were all Jews. How possible? See our James Caron story, our James Caron, Clark Gable story from an earlier episode. And Double Indemnity was remade a little bit, or maybe not so much, a little bit by Lawrence Kasdan as Body Heat with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt. But it's just a wonderful film that holds up.

It's got that great, great 40s dialogue. Everything about it's great. They're both from the 40s that I love and must be seen. Want to take us out with a little bogey? Okay. From Sierra Madre? Or... Oh, well, there was also a bogey. Well, another one I'll be recommending in a future one, Maltese Falcon. And I've already done Peter Lorne. You could do every part in that one.

Take us out with a little bogey. Yes. I sure hope they don't hang you by that sweet neck of yours, precious, but if they do, I'll always remember you, and if they don't, I'll be waiting for you. So the movies this week are The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Double Indemnity. You want to take us out of the show? This has been Gilbert Gottfried and my co-host Frank Santopadri. And this has been Gilbert and Frank's amazing, colossal obsessions. I love it.

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