It’s Book Club week as Ed and Melanie take on Laughing Gas (1936) by P. G. Wodehouse. A book with aristocrats colliding with Hollywood child stars in a screwball farce of body-swapping and mischief.

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Melanie and Ed discuss Maurice (1987), the Merchant Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel of forbidden love. They explore the film’s emotional tone, literary legacy, and what it meant to tell this story in 1987.

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🌀 Originally released: July 8th, 2023

A 1931 film about a washed-up boxer and his son turns into one of the most emotional episodes Ed and Melanie have ever recorded. They walk through The Champ scene by scene, with reflections on Frances Marion, child actors, and a performance by Jackie Cooper that still stuns.

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The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), a ghost story with real romantic power. Gene Tierney is luminous, Rex Harrison is “Sexy Rexy,” and the ending still breaks our hearts.

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🌀 Originally released: July 4, 2022

Melanie and Ed begin a new movie-book rhythm with their first book episode: Rules of Civility by Amor Towles — a novel of restraint, elegance, and quiet ambition in 1930s New York.

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Melanie and Ed discuss the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still and explore why Klaatu’s quiet alien warning still resonates.

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🌀 Originally released: November 24, 2024

A Technicolor convent clings to a cliff in Black Narcissus (1947), where desire, memory, and madness simmer. Ed and Melanie unpack Kathleen Byron’s unforgettable performance, Deborah Kerr’s quiet power, and colonialist shadows.

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🌀 Originally released: October 15, 2023

Lena Horne leads a dazzling cast in Stormy Weather (1943), but the film holds back from giving her a real role. Melanie and Ed revisit this musical landmark with admiration and frustration.
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