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