Cold War Cinema

“Are you waving the flag at me?”

The Cold War Cinema team returns to look at Samuel Fuller’s 1954 noir masterpiece, Pickup on South Street, with special guest Stephen Gillespie, film critic and cohos…

In this bonus episode, cohost Jason Christian interviews the independent filmmaker Christopher Jason Bell. Besides being a filmmaker, Bell is a board of director of the streaming co-op MeansTV. Bell’…

This week on Cold War Cinema, we discuss the 1953 Soviet science-fiction drama, Silvery Dust, directed by Abram Room and Pavel Armand, a film once again set in the United States. The film concerns an…

“Normal people want the basic human rights that accompany citizenship in any sovereign nation. I don't… I don't live anywhere; I'm not a citizen at all. I don't need my human rights.”

The Cold War Ci…

This week on Cold War Cinema, we discuss Robert Stevenson’s 1949 drama, I Married a Communist, also known as Woman on Pier 13. This Hollywood production is one of the most storied—and notorious—anti-…

“I used to think there was one America, but there are two. There's no place for me in McPherson's and Hearst's America, but there is in Lincoln's and Roosevelts!” 

This week on Cold War Cinema, we di…

In this crossover episode with Rakeem Shabazz of Wise the Dome TV, Cold War Cinema co-host Anthony Ballas discusses the recent documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d’État (dir. Johan Grimonprez 2024). …

This is a crossover episode with The Socialist Shelf podcast. Our co-host Jason and his wife, Ankita, were invited on the Socialist Shelf to dicuss a radical cinema educational project they run in At…

Join hosts Jason and Paul for a discussion of William A. Wellman's 1948 spy thriller The Iron Curtain, starring Dana Andrews and Jean Tierney. Regarded as an anti-communist propaganda film, The Iron …

Join hosts Jason, Tony, and our new co-host, Paul, on Episode One of Season Two! On this episode we discuss Sergei Eisenstein's epic two-part Soviet masterpiece Ivan the Terrible, released in 1945 an…

Join hosts Jason and Tony, as well as a new guest, Felicia Maroni, for the finale of Season One. On this episode we discuss Zoltán Korda's 1951 drama Cry, the Beloved Country, a film shot on locatio…

Grab your sandals and sword and get philosophical with Jason, Tony, and our guest Paul Klein, as we unpack the wonders of Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960). The film was adapted from Howard Fast's n…

Join hosts Jason Christian and Anthony Ballas, as well as a new guest, Paul Klein, as they discuss the iconic actor and director Charlie Chaplin and his late talkie masterpiece Monsieur Verdoux (1947…

Join hosts Jason Christian, Anthony Ballas, and Tim Jones as they discuss the celebrated socially conscious Hollywood director, Martin Ritt (1914–1990). Ritt is known for a number of critically aclai…

Join us for our first ever interview with the Australian writer and scholar, Andrew Nette, who, along with the film historian Samm Deighan, co-edited the new book Revolution in 35mm: Political Violen…

Join hosts Jason Christian, Anthony Ballas, and Tim Jones as they discuss Herbert J. Biberman's iconic independent masterpiece Salt of the Earth (1954). The film is based on the real-life Empire Zinc…

Join hosts Jason Christian, Anthony Ballas, and Tim Jones as they discuss Irving Pichel's 1950 crime thriller Quicksand, starring Mickey Rooney, Peter Lorre, Jeanne Cagney, and Barbara Bates. The fil…

This episode is a slight departure for this season—and we had fun with it. Rather than taking on a film directed by a blacklisted director, as usual, we're discussing a groundbreaking video essay abo…

Join hosts Jason Christian, Anthony Ballas, and Tim Jones as they discuss Abraham Polonsky’s debut film Force of Evil, a 1948 crime picture starring John Garfield, Beatrice Pearson, and Thomas Gomez.…