by Rosalie Kicks!, Old Sport

I don’t work in the movie business. My current job has nothing to do with movies at all. The job’s main objective is only to: suck out my soul. At times, it makes me want to claw my eyes out. But then I remember without eyes I wouldn’t be able to watch movies. Without movies, there is no life. I’m not able to watch movies at work. Therefore, I can’t count on Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart to save me from the horrors that is human resources. So I do the next best thing…I listen to You Must Remember This.

You Must Remember This tells stories of the classic days of Hollywood. These stories may be forgotten to some, but for others it is the first time they are hearing them. I stumbled upon this amazing historical podcast while having a rather frustrating day at work. I needed something to take my mind off things so I did an iTunes search for classic Hollywood. And there was You Must Remember This to save the day. As a lover of classic film, to my delight I was astonished at the number of episodes to choose from. The first one I decided to listen to was about Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn…yep, I was hooked.

After that one episode, I fell down a rabbit hole. Karina’s voice has helped me survive so many tough days at work. Due to her extensive research and wonderful storytelling I have learned so much about an era that I truly adore. From the great series on MGM to the episodes on Joan Crawford, my ears can’t get enough of this treasure of a program. For this, I salute the host and creator of You Must Remember This, Karina Longworth.

Which deceased actors and actresses are your favorites? Any dead guy/girl crushes?

It's difficult for me to cite favorites -- my favorite is who I'm researching at any given time. That said, I have the longest and deepest emotional relationship to Judy Garland.The Wizard of Oz was the first non-animated movie I ever saw and talking to the adults around me about it gave me my first awareness that what you saw on a screen was invented, and that being an actress was a job that some women had. Then when I was a little older, and not feeling great about my own body and not feeling like I knew how to do womanhood correctly, to read stories of the ways in which Judy was body shamed and constantly made to feel bad about the way she looked was something I could relate to.

In terms of crushes, part of me has a pang that I will never see anything in real life that matches Paul Newman shirtless in The Long Hot Summer, but how many of us will? That kind of wish fulfillment is what movies are for.

What is your favorite movie that centers around Hollywood & making movies?

A Star is Born (1954). It is also my favorite movie of any genre. Others that I consider foundational are Sunset Boulevard, The Bad and the Beautiful, and its bizarro world sequel Two Weeks in Another Town, and a couple of dark horses that I've watched recently: Bombshell starring Jean Harlow, and the silent film Souls For Sale, which is almost a propagandistic documentary about Hollywood at the peak of the silent era wrapped in a star-making drama about star-making.

If you could travel back in time and attend any film premiere which would it be and why?

I hate movie premieres -- I get impatient with all the rigmarole. I just want to watch movies.

What is your favorite book about the golden age of Hollywood?

Again, it's super difficult to pick one because my whole job is to try to read as many as possible. If I had to recommend one for someone to start with, I would say City of Nets. One of the first books I read on this subject, when I was a teenager, was Alexander Walker's Sex in the Movies, and that implanted in my brain the images of women like Garbo and Dietrich as goddesses, so I sometimes forget that people don't know who they are.

Where is your favorite place to see a film?

Here in Los Angeles I most often see films at the ArcLight in Hollywood - and try to resist ordering popcorn. But my favorite place in the world to see movies is the Latin Quarter in Paris, particularly the Action Christine, Grand Action and Le Champo, Reflet Medicis, and La Filmotheque. All of them show old American movies almost all the time, and the last three are on the same block and there's a bar/cafe across the street where you can go before and after movies. That block is the only place I ever want to go in Paris, which is probably annoying for anyone who is in Paris with me.

We heard you are writing a book about Howard Hughes (the Moviejawn crew can't wait); any updates/info you are able to share?

It's not really about Howard Hughes as much as it's about the women who passed through his life, professionally and personally, during the years when he was in Hollywood. It's still very much in progress. Stay tuned.

I highly recommend you check out the website to learn more about Karina & You Must Remember This. She does a fantastic job of cataloging all the research materials for each episode and offers great reading suggestions.

Subscribe to the podcast here:
itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-must-remember-this

Follow along on Twitter:
@Rememberthispod

Look at their snaps:
@youmustrememberthis