Vintage Century Idle Hour
Hi, there. Jennifer here. This show is about old movies and stuff. It's the cure insomniacs have been begging for, and the virtual companion for those who are really bored at work. Take it from my mom: "This is incontrovertibly the best podcast the world has ever known."
Idle Hour on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VintageCenturyIdleHour
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 56 minutes
- Episodes
- 22
- Years Active
- 2025
Let's Talk About TOP HAT (and stuff)
Is Top Hat a tolerable musical? | Books to read and avoid | New Job, new Jennifer
For a video version of this episode, check out my YouTube channel, Vintage Century Idle Hour.
Variety show podc…
Vlog: The Vintage Century Idle Hour Season 2 Film Watch List
Hi, everyone! I hope you're having a great summer. In anticipation of Season 2 of the Idle Hour podcast, I'm revealing the list of films I'm going to be exploring when we start up again in August. …
Goodbye for Now
It’s episode 20 of the Vintage Century Idle Hour! That’s right, we’ve circled the track 20 times, explored 19 films, broken in three announcers, and tried out—how many pretend sponsors? Jennifer ca…
The Day the Earth Stood Still I Missed an Appointment
At long last Jennifer is exploring a science fiction film. Some of the best science fiction films, in her opinion, are from the 1950s—the atomic age, when the future looked bright and scary at the s…
Dreams Die on Sunset Boulevard
Tonight on the Idle Hour we have another case of Hollywood telling its own story. A few episodes back we explored another such tale when we featured the 1950 film All About Eve. That movie is about …
He Tried to Gaslight Her...and Did
When did the word “gaslight” change from a noun to a verb? There for a while, it seemed everyone was trying to “gaslight” someone else–at least according to all the chatter on social media. Jennife…
The Patterns of Corporate Life Make People Sad
Jennifer has spent the majority of her career working in corporations, and while the industries, services, policies, systems, technologies, and even the names and faces of the colleagues, change over…
Calling All Anxious People: Dark Victory is Yours
Well, we have a melodrama this week–a bit of a downer, to be honest. Our featured film, Dark Victory, is about a young woman in the prime of life who is dying. Not a lot of laughs, this one. But m…
It Happened One Night and Was Better Than Expected
This is the 14th episode of the Vintage Century Idle Hour, and that means we’ve explored 13 stories from Hollywood’s Golden Age so far. None of these films have been comedies, for one critical reaso…
Where Can I Find a Guy Like Marty?
And now for a change of pace…
In the last few episodes of this series we have gone to some dark places. Our main characters have been corrupt, manipulative, all around rotten scoundrels. There’s bee…
Is Citizen Kane Just for Snooty Film Snobs?
What were YOU doing at 25? Here's what Jennifer was doing: trying to pay rent and figure out how to be an adult. You know what Orson Welles was doing at 25? Making his first Hollywood film–what w…
Touch of Evil is Slick and Cool
Reviews of classic movies from Hollywood's Golden Age: Touch of Evil.
Tonight we do a close read of the second film noir in our series. You might remember that last week we explored the mean streets …
Slaps, Punches, and Kansas City Confidential
Reviews of classic movies from Hollywood's Golden Age: Kansas City Confidential
Today’s show sets a record for the sheer number of slaps and punches heard in a single episode. Yes, we’re in the gritt…
All About All About Eve
Reviews of classic movies from Hollywood's Golden Age: All About Eve
In the wee small hours of the morning, have you ever had thoughts like this running through your mind: You’re in a comfortable po…
Stories from the Naked City or Tales of Manhattan
Reviews of classic movies from Hollywood's Golden Age: Tales of Manhattan. You know what’s great about anthology films? Variety. If you don’t love one story–hang on, you might love the next one. I…
Oh, La La Flesh and Fantasy
This week we’re deviating a bit from our original flight plan. When Jennifer set out on this series her intent was—well, and still is—to study the great movies of Hollywood’s Golden Era to see if sh…
Separate Tables, Please
Jennifer's working her way through a growing list of classic movies to see what makes them great–or not. One thing she's learning is that not all classic movies are great. Who knew? Anyway, this t…
The Opry and the Ox-Bow Incident
What does the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee and the 1943 film The Ox-Bow Incident set in Bridger’s Wells, Nevada have in common? Some people would say they have nothing whatsoever in common…
Psychobabble
Jennifer just watched Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic thriller, Psycho, for probably the fifth time in her life. At this point, is there a person alive who hasn’t seen Psycho at least five times? P…
Tomorrow is Forever is an Understatement
Jennifer's working her way through a list of classic films–watching and studying them to see what makes them great. Well, our feature film in today’s episode was NOT on that list. It just landed in…