Tipping My Fedora

Paul Burke drops in at Fedora to tell us about his new book, SPIES ON SCREEN: FROM SILENT TO STREAMING, a comprehensive guide to spy fiction on TV, film and online. The titles under discussion include Hitchcock's spy movies from the 1930s, Orson Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL, Sidney J. Furie's THE IPCRESS FILE (and its sequels), Martin's Ritt's THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, the classic 1970s TV shows TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY and THE SANDBAGGERS and our current favourite, SLOW HORSES.   Paul Burke was born in London, university educated and has worked in the private, voluntary and academic sector over the years. He has been writing about crime, thriller and mystery fiction since 2016 and podcasting for Crime Time FM (www.buzzsprout.com/1686667) since 2021. His first passion as a reader was Cold War spy fiction. Paul is interested in sports, arts, politics and history. He is also the editor of Aspects of Crime (https://aspectsofcrime.com/), a new online magazine/website dedicated to crime fact and fiction and is the new Head of Fiction for Spybrary (https://spybrary.com/). 

Sergio and Simon look at Dirty Harry (1971), Don Siegel's classic police procedural, a thinly veiled drama based on the real-life Zodiac killings. They track the film's long development history (it was almost made as a vehicle for Frank Sinatra), the various controversies surrounding its release and where it sits within the five films of the series (Simon's canine buddy Bertie gives the film four woods out of five). It would in fact be followed by four sequels: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983) and The Dead Pool (1988) and we'll be covering those in future episodes of the podcast. Check out the AOBG website (https://allouttabubblegum.com/) to keep track of the body count for each film. 

The Fedora podcast celebrates its second anniversary today and to make things even more special, I am joined by co-host Simon Brown to discuss Richard Attenborough's 1978 suspense thriller, MAGIC, adapted by William Goldman from his own best-selling novel. Anthony Hopkins stars as the magician with a unique gimmick, Ann-Margret is the love of his life and Burgess Meredith is the agent who really wants to help his client. But things are not what they seem ... We explore how the film differs from the novel, some of the early casting options (Gene Wilder was apparently a serious contender and Jack Nicholson may also have been offered the role) and the various directors who were approached (including Norman Jewison, who was on it for six months, Mike Nichols and, apparently, even Steven Spielberg).

James Harrison of Film Noir UK joins Sergio to preview the 2026 Film Noir Fest, which is taking place from 30 October to 1 November at the Plaza Cinema in Weston-Super-Mare. This year's theme is boxing movies and highlights include screenings of: Robert Siodmak's THE KILLERS (1946),  Robert Rossen's BODY AND SOUL (1947), Robert Wise's THE SET-UP and Mark Robson's CHAMPION (both 1949), Phil Karlson's 99 RIVER STREET (1953) and Ralph Nelson's REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962). There is also a retrospective dedicated to crime films directed and/or produced by Ida Lupino, including NOT WANTED (1949), OUTRAGE (1950), THE HITCHHIKER and THE BIGAMIST (both 1953) and Don Siegel's PRIVATE HELL 36 (1954). In addition there will be classic noir films from 1946, such as Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS and Siodmak's THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE; a silent Heritage Noir double bill featuring Lewis Milestone's THE RACKET (1928) with a live score by Neil Brand; a quartet and Spanish crime movies, including two by Jess Franco; and two British thriller double-bills courtesy of Talking Pictures TV / Renown. And, for Halloween, some classic noir-tinged horror films, including Val Lewton's THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943), THE UNIVITED (1944) and THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946). For the full schedule and details of tickets and passes, visit: https://ti.to/film-noir-uk/filmnoirfest2026  

Today is George's Lazenby's birthday. To celebrate I am joined by journalist and podcaster Mark Dillon to discuss the actor's exceptional movie debut, playing James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Quite possibly the best film in the series.  Mark Dillon is an award-winning Toronto-based journalist specializing in film, TV and pop music. He is a former editor of Playback, the business publication for the Canadian media industries, and to which he still contributes. He has been writing for Hollywood magazine American Cinematographer for more than 25 years. He is author of Fifty Sides of The Beach Boys, chronicling America’s band, and co-hosts the (non-noir) podcast Surf’s Up: A Beach Boys Podcast Safari: https://soundcloud.com/user-93394161

Today I am joined by Luke Deckard, co-host of the Cinema Sleuths podcast (https://cinemasleuths.podbean.com/) and author of the new hardboiled private eye mystery, NO SAINTS ONLY KILLERS. We discuss his love of crime fiction, the origins of his novel, its setting in 1922 London and Edinburgh ... and just why there is a scene in which his hero has to operate on a defenceless teddy bear! Luke's homepage can be found at: www.lukedeckard.com/. The book is available on all formats wherever you get your fiction from, including of course Amazon.   

Sergio is joined by returning guest, Moira Redmond, she of the mighty Clothes in Books blog, to celebrate the classic 1944 Film Noir, LAURA, starring Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb and Dana Andrews. We also look at the original novel by Vera Caspary on which it was based, the TV remakes from 1955 and 1968, both co-starring George Sanders - and also explore the film's fashions, the contribution made by costume designer Bonnie Cashin ... and what Sergio refers to as 1980s "bunny rabbit" trousers.   

Paul Abbott, co-host of Hark! The 87th Precinct Podcast, joins me to provide an overview of the books in the police procedural series by Ed McBain, as well as some of their film and TV versions too. https://hark87podcast.blogspot.com/ I reviewed and ranked every single one of the books in the series over at the Fedora blog: https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/ed-mcbain-87th-precinct/  

It's 35 years since the original cinema release of Hudson Hawk, the delightfully eccentric caper action comedy. I'm mad about the movie and David Hughes has now written a great book about it, The Unmaking of Hudson Hawk. He dropped in at Fedora (from a great height but into a very comfy chair) to spill the beans. To order a copy of the book, or listen to David's Rogue Commentary podcast or read his illuminating essay on how to set up your own Blu-ray label in the UK, follow the links below: The Unmaking of Hudson Hawk - order directly from Plumeria Plumeria: https://plumeriapics.co.uk/ Rogue Commentary Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rogue-commentary/id1532071693 "So You Want to Start a Boutique Blu-ray Label?" by David Hughes: https://cinephiliabeyond.org/so-you-want-to-start-a-boutique-blu-ray-label/

As part of the celebrations for Fedora's 50th episode, special guest Nick Cardillo returns to conclude the exploration of his top 10 Sherlock Holmes movies. In part one we looked at The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), The Scarlet Claw (1944), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and A Study in Terror (1965). We now enter the 1970s and a brand new approach to canonical fidelity ... To find out more about author and actor Nick Cardillo, please visit his homepage: www.nickcardillocreative.com/