Vintage Hollywood movies

5 podcasts to listen to during daily exercise

April 23, 2020

Headphones and a mobile phone for 5 podcasts to listen to sounds

The pick of my 5 Podcasts to listen to

I have recently become a huge fan of listening to podcast whilst out on my daily exercise. Here are 5 podcasts to listen to during exercise.

If you will have read my post about how life got in the way of my blogging career you will have read that I read a lot of books whilst caring for my late brother. In addition to reading I started to listen to Podcasts. My usual fitness routine had been lost in the event but I tried to take regular walks and whilst walking I listened to Podcasts.

What is a Podcast?

Simply put: a podcast is an audio programme, just like a talking radio broadcast or radio chat show, but you subscribe to it on your smartphone and listen to it whenever you like.

In a little more detail, a podcast is a series of spoken word, audio episodes, all focused on a particular topic or theme, like TV, sport or crime as examples. You can subscribe to the show with an app on your phone and listen to episodes whenever you like on your headphones, in the car or through speakers. I always listen through my smart phone.

A lot of podcasts are really simple, just a few friends chatting about something that they’re all really passionate about, like movies, sport or running a business. But some are really polished and super professional, including theme music, sound effects, professional editing and more.

The more professional podcasts are great to listen to, but they take a lot more time and money to produce. The amateur shows, on the other hand, might have a few rough edges, but it means they can get it out, every single week, and grow a loyal following.

3 of my favourites are chosen because I love the presenters approach. But here are 5 Podcasts to listen to that I love.

My 5 Podcasts to Listen to:

Crime Junkies Podcast

Crime Junkie Podcast is the first Podcast I started to listen to and to be honest I am slightly obsessed with is. It is my go to listen when out walking. It is an American production. Hosted by Ashley Flowers and her assistant Brit.

This is how they describe themselves and their site- a direct quote from their web page

About Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie is a weekly podcast dedicated to giving you a true crime fix. Every Monday, Ashley Flowers will tell you about whatever crime she’s been obsessing over that week in a way that sounds like you’re sitting around talking crime with your best friends. The storytelling is straightforward and free of rabbit holes so the cases stay suspenseful and are easy to follow. If you can never get enough true crime… Congratulations, you’re a Crime Junkie!

As I said it’s American and they are based in Indianapolis. Obviously there is a lot of American vocabulary and use of the adjective Super! the cases are not generally known to us, although they do cover some of the more well known infamous murders such as Lizzie Borden and The Hillside Strangler.

I get totally absorbed in their stories and makes my walk fly by.

I love that they have their own motto for staying safe Be Weird Be Rude Stay Alive

I’m totally addicted to these 2 as well as their website they are active on Social Media and there is even a UK Fan page on Facebook -so its not just me then!

That Peter Crouch Podcast

As you may know I am a huge female football fan and a passionate supporter of Manchester City FC. In this period of no football I can’t say I’m missing it as much as I thought I would, but I do love a bit of footie banter – I know its not something many females can profess to enjoy! I do describe myself as a tomboy with a feminine edge! One of the greatest things about being in a football crowd is the humour.

I like Peter Crouch and I think he’s such a likeable bloke so I saw his podcast advertised on the BBC and decided to give it a listen.

It’s very lighthearted and full of football banter and humour. Nothing too deep being discussed and if you are a football fan missing your fix this could be for you. It had me laughing out loud several times during each podcast.

Table Manners

This is another BBC Podcast. It is led by Jessie Ware and her mother Lennie.

Jessie Ware is a singer/musician in her episodes she is accompanied by her mother and they invite a guest round each episode for food, drink and conversation or chit chat. Her mother does the cooking and there is very pleasant chat. It is like being a silent guest at their dinner table. There is some slightly annoying repetitive parts to the introduction of each episode but that is counter balanced by the really catchy theme music. Sounds vintagey to me – if there’s such a word! This one is quite new to me but I really like it and you learn interesting Trivia – e.g in the episode with Sandy Toksvig I discovered that the baking left after each episode is packed up into huge Tupperware boxes and fed to Prue Leith’s pigs! Now that fact will get you far in life but sadly it’s the kind of trivia my head is full of.

The Law and Order SVU Podcast

One of our favourite go to programmes to watch is Law and Order Special Victims Unit. We love the stories and have become invested in the characters lives and story lines over the years. I found out that they now have a Podcast – a lot of it is discussing behind the scenes action with the actors plus some radio episodes. The show is in its 21st year and for a big fan like me I find this really interesting.

If you are a fan of NBC Productions they have many other Podcasts related to their shows to download and listen to.

You Must Remember This

I am a huge fan of Vintage Hollywood films and the stories of the Studio era. My mum was a huge film fan and watched hours of movies from this era and even had a collection of postcards of the stars. She loved Janette McDonald, Nelson Eddy, George Raft and John Wayne. My favourites are Bette Davies and James Cagney.

I naturally developed a love for this era too and read many biographies. I will always choose a vintage film to watch over a recently made one. Black and White Vintage movies are my love and I’m a self confessed anorak about them.

Because of this I love finding programmes on Sky Arts where stars and their films are discussed by critics and people who knew them. This Podcast is in a similar vein. It is created by a Journalist, Karina Longworth, who is well known in Hollywood and has the inside stories. You Must Remember This is the podcast exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. There are many episodes featuring topics such as Hollywoods first weight loss guru and tales of first weight loss surgery. Topics that are talked about ta length today but have been around for over 100 years.

Episodes also talk about the rise and fall of big names such as Maureen O’Hara, the female star of my husbands favourite film The Quiet Man.

This could be a great Podcast for anyone who has an elderly relative self isolating and shielding at home. Or could be played over speakers in care homes. Or simply to be enjoyed if you are a vintage Hollywood film buff like me.

In fact as its a sunny afternoon in Manchester I think I’m going to take myself off into the garden to listen to one of my recommended 5 podcasts to listen to

As I’m a new listener I welcome suggestions for any that you think I may like. If you haven’t yet subscribed to any or started to listen to them I highly recommend you give them a try, they make a change from listening to music.

Some can be downloaded onto your device to listen to when there is no Internet or Network coverage – thinking of the future when we can travel and holiday again

So maybe start with one of my favourite 5 Podcasts to listen to.

Take care stay safe and keep washing those hands

My Top 5 Vintage Hollywood Movies

March 18, 2019

Vintage Hollywood Movies are my absolute favourite genre of movies. If you have read my post outlining 10 random facts about me – you will see this is high on the list. I’m sure the fact that I’m 58 has got something to do with it. However the main driving force behind this is the many happy hours spent alongside my late mother watching these films. I did not have the best relationship with my mum at all but watching her favourite films with her brought some of our happiest times. It has also provided me with this passion for Vintage Hollywood movies. My mother was quite starstruck and had a stack of photographs of Hollywood stars from her era. Publicity photographs were what the studio’s gave out to fans. Well before the poster era of my generation. This was the ‘thing’ in her younger days. I remember she had beautiful images of classic stars such as Janette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, George Raft, Robert Taylor and James Cagney. They were all sepia and the stars looked so glamorous. Obviously they weren’t vintage to her but of her era. She was born in 1926.

We used to spend many afternoons watching old classics, drama’s and showstopping Busby Berkeley musicals with huge dance ensembles.

I will watch Vintage Hollywood Movies over and over again, and will always choose a Black and White Classic over a new release, however that does not mean I don’t watch new releases.

In recent years there has been a resurgence in this type of genre in a modern day form, Films like La La Land. The Greatest Showman and A Star is Born, which incidentally was first made in 1937. These have proved to be very popular, suggesting to me that there are many modern day film-goers out there who would appreciate an original classic.

With this in mind I thought I would share with you 5 of my absolute favourites. There is sex, violence and intrigue in them all without the need to be explicit and graphic. I think they are all fabulous stories and tissues are needed for all of them.

Here they are then- my top 5 vintage Hollywood movies

Now Voyager

This stars my favourite actress of all times – the late, great Bette Davies. The storyline in it’s simplest is “A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman” It is way more than that. The synopsis according to IMDb reads:

Overweight Boston spinster Charlotte is a repressed, self-esteemless woman completely dominated by her wealthy mother, Mrs. Henry Vale. When her sister-in-law Lisa Vale brings her friend Dr. Jaquith, a renowned psychiatrist, to visit Charlotte, he invites her to spend some time in his sanitarium. Soon Charlotte transforms into a sophisticated, confident woman and takes a cruise to South America. She meets married architect Jerry Durrance and they have a love affair in Rio de Janeiro. Six months later she returns home and confronts her mother with her independence. One day they have an argument and her mother has a heart attack and dies. Charlotte inherits the Vale fortune but feels guilty for her mother’s death. She decides to return to Dr. Jaquith’s sanitarium, where she befriends Jerry’s 12-year-old daughter Tina, who has been rejected by her mother. Charlotte takes Tina home to Boston with her and one day Jerry brings Dr. Jaquith to visit them there.

It is a fabulous story of one woman’s battle to overcome mental health issues and dominance to become a happier person. She does not get the complete outcome she would like but is happy to settle for a compromise helping another similar girl with similar fragile nerves and low esteem in Tina.

My favourite line in any film is from this when she shares a cigarette with Henreid, Oh Jerry don’t lets ask for the moon, we have the stars!

(Note – You have to remember this was made in the days when cigarette smoking was deemed to be very glamorous! Before the dangers to health were discovered)

Waterloo Bridge

This heart wrenching film stars 2 of Hollywood’s most beautiful stars, Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh. Leigh is world famous for portraying Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind.

The film is set in London and the famous Waterloo Bridge is featured prominently, hence the title. They speak in the fabulous clipped English accents that have been lost over the years.

The outline of the plot is that During World War I, believing her fiance to be dead, a young ballerina loses her job and is forced to turn to prostitution. From there, things only get worse for her in this tragic, heart-wrenching, love story.

Random Harvest

This fabulous film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and starred Essex born Greer Garson, a major star at MGM. Her co- star and love is Ronald Coleman another English born actor who went on to conquer Hollywood.

An amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-war life.

This has the most fabulous melodramatic storyline set in London and Liverpool and the ending is just sublime. In my opinion Random Harvest is a must see weepy.

Thanks to the beauty that is YouTube I can share a trailer with you.

Imitation of Life

This is a 1959 romantic drama dealing with the subjects of race, class and gender. Lana Turner is the female lead in this movie – to me she is one of the most beautiful actresses to grace the Hollywood screens.

Storyline: Aspiring actress Lora Meredith meets Annie Johnson, a homeless black woman at Coney Island and soon they share a tiny apartment. Each woman has an intolerable daughter, though, Annie’s little girl Sarah Jane, is by far the worse. Neurotic and obnoxious, Sarah Jane doesn’t like being black; since she’s light-skinned (her father was practically white), she spends the rest of the film passing as white, much to her mother’s heartache and shame. Lora, meanwhile, virtually ignores her own daughter in a single-minded quest for stardom.

This has a compelling plot involving the 2 mothers and their daughters, leading to a most dramatic ending. As I stated earlier just because a film is vintage does not mean it does not tackle issues that are still relevant today. You would have to be made of stone not to be moved by the ending. Can I tempt you with a clip of the official trailer?

Angels with Dirty Faces

This film is different from the other 4 vintage hollywood movies I have discussed. This is a crime drama with the fabulous James Cagney and Pat O’Brien in the lead roles.

Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) and Jerry Connolly (Pat O’Brien) were brought up in one of New York’s toughest neighborhoods, Hell’s Kitchen. While his buddy Rocky gets caught up in racketeering in reform school, Jerry decides to become a priest. Years later, Rocky is released from prison and returns to Hell’s Kitchen, where Jerry works with at-risk children. Rocky wants a temporary safe haven with his old friend before resuming his life of crime, but Jerry hesitates, testing their relationship.

The movie follows the relationship between these 2 men, seemingly poles apart but with a life long bond. James Cagney is famous for many roles in Gangster films as well as being a sublime song and dance man. I could recommend a couple more of his films but I’ve chosen this as my favourite. Again courtesy of youtube I can introduce you to this movie via the trailer.

So I hope you find at least one of these vintage hollywood movies to your taste and I can tempt you to watch. They are all available on various platforms such as Youtube, Google Play and are available to buy from Amazon.

If you have a favourite old classic let me know I’m sure there are many more I have yet to watch in my retirement!

10 Random facts about me

July 24, 2018

Here are 10 Random facts about me In my about me page I tell you a little about my occupation before retirement and my hobbies but they only scratch the surface of my layers! I describe myself as a tomboy with a feminist edge! I am one of life’s dabblers and like to try new things but I also have a short attention span and sometimes can quickly move on to the next thing or obsession. Here is a snapshot of random facts to give you a more about me and further insight into my persona

In a new world full of coffee drinkers I love copious amounts of tea – I need 3 in a morning to kick start my day I cannot function without tea.
In a restaurant one of my favourite choices is well done steak with a blue cheese sauce such as Dolcelatte – I have not bought into the current trend for bloody meat.
I’m a shortie – measuring 4ft 11 inches tall – or 4ft 10 inches on a bad day!
I am a completely in love with Vintage Hollywood movies, especially black and white ones and everything about the old Hollywood studio system. My favourite genre of movies from a fabulous era in the movie making industry
I can play Texas Hold ’em poker – I came third once in a small tournament in Las Vegas. Younger players are always amazed when they are beaten by an overweight over 50 woman.
I love entering competitions. I have won some fabulous prizes and money can’t buy experiences over the years.
One of my best prizes involved me interviewing the nations favourites Ant and Dec as a Backstage Presenter on Britain’s Got talent for Virgin media. And yes they are as lovely as they appear on TV.
I prefer savoury snacks – crisps and nuts over chocolate any day – could eat them every day (but don’t)
I started to learn to ride a horse in my 30’s but realised it wasn’t for me – too painful and I wasn’t very good! They are magnificent creatures but scary with a mind of their own.
I love biscuits with my tea – but due to weight issues I restrict my intake – my favourites are Nice, Digestive and Jammy Dodgers
I only learned to swim after I retired at 55. I can do breaths in a hotel swimming pool still cannot manage the deep end. It is now nice to be able to take a dip on holiday.