Actor and comedian Miles Jupp (whose own war movie credits include Napoleon and Rogue Heroes) joins Rob and Duncan to discuss Alec Guinness's Oscar-winning performance in the 1957 classic.

The film was based on a novel by a Pierre Boule (who would go on to write Planet of the Apes) who decided to transpose his experiences at the hands of his fellow Frenchmen into British characters. At the time it had the most expensive set ever built. Director David Lean hadn't even wanted Guinness - Miles shares his own tales of realising he wasn't the first choice for a role. And Rob reveals why the true story behind the film is even more amazing than the film.

Suggestions? Complaints? Get in touch at warmovietheatre@gmail.com

Suggestions? Comments? Drop us a line at warmovietheatre@gmail.com.

Visit us at facebook.com/WarMovieTheatre or on Bluesky and Twitter.

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EMERGENCY EPISODE! Prompted by Donald Trump tweeting about Alcatraz, Duncan felt he had to watch 1996's The Rock, which Rob thinks is probably a war movie. Is this the first second-screen movie? Does director Michael Bay understand subtlety? How much Nicolas Cage is too much? And is Sean Connery really playing James Bond for the last time.

We're back to our regular schedule on Thursday, with The Bridge On The River Kwai.

Suggestions? Comments? Drop us a line at warmovietheatre@gmail.com.

Visit us at facebook.com/WarMovieTheatre or on Bluesky and Twitter.

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Rob and Duncan watch 2024's Civil War with Helen Lewis of The Atlantic, whose forthcoming book The Genius Myth is dedicated to the film's director, Alex Garland. Is it really more of a road movie? How come Texas is in an alliance with California? And that's the guy without the camera doing there, anyway?

Next week: The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Suggestions? Comments? Drop us a line at warmovietheatre@gmail.com.

Visit us at facebook.com/WarMovieTheatre or on Bluesky and Twitter.

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This week Rob and Duncan pretend to be Duncan and Rob, in an elaborate plan to persuade the enemy that the podcast will actually be taking place in the Mediterranean. That's right, we're watching I Was Monty's Double, starring John Mills.

The true story of Operation Copperhead is told in Rob's book The Illusionist, out now in paperback.

Next week: Civil War (2024)

Suggestions? Comments? Drop us a line at warmovietheatre@gmail.com.

Visit us at facebook.com/WarMovieTheatre or on Bluesky and Twitter.

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Rob and Duncan are joined by pollster and war movie nut Joe Twyman to watch the 1984 teen-resistance classic Red Dawn, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, and just re-released in glorious 4K. Think of it as Dirty Dancing: The WW3 Years.

It features a Problematic Moment so Problematic that it ended up being cut, a director who demanded he be paid in firearms, and Joe's unforgettable description of watching the movie on a US military base in Baghdad.

Next week: I Was Monty's Double

Suggestions, comments, offers of cash? warmovietheatre@gmail.com

Suggestions? Comments? Drop us a line at warmovietheatre@gmail.com.

Visit us at facebook.com/WarMovieTheatre or on Bluesky and Twitter.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duncan and Rob are back, fighting to get off the beach and home to England in Christopher Nolan's 2017 blockbuster Dunkirk. How did he persuade Americans to bankroll this? How did he persuade them to go and see it? And can we see a future for plucky novice actor Harry Styles?

Suggestions? Comments? Drop us a line at warmovietheatre@gmail.com.

Visit us at facebook.com/WarMovieTheatre or on Bluesky and Twitter.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watching the war movies that make us bloody glad it’s not the 1940s, with authors Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. This time, acclaimed author and historian Clare Mulley of The Spy Who Loved fame joins us to watch Roman Polanski’s harrowing story of the Holocaust, escape, chance survival and guilt, The Pianist (2002). As we discover, Adrian Brody’s astonishing physical transformation to play the role is not even the half of it.

Written and presented by Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by Jim Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Thanks to Jodie Banaszkiewicz for clearances. War Movie Theatre is a Podmasters production

www.podmasters.co.uk

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Suggestions? Comments? Drop us a line at warmovietheatre@gmail.com.

Visit us at facebook.com/WarMovieTheatre or on Bluesky and Twitter.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watching the war movies that make us think we’ve discovered the real secret of flying, with authors Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. This time we wheel, bank and glide with The First Of The Few, Leslie Howard’s stirring 1942 portrait of the birth of the Spitfire fighter plane and its doomed progenitor RJ Mitchell – played by Howard himself.

Our special guest J. Willgoose Esq of esteemed “collage rock” band Public Service Broadcasting has previous form with the movie: their pulse-quickening early single Spitfire was built around samples of its dialogue. What will we think? Is this movie heroism and creativity incarnate? And can we take the Spitfires, Mitch? Listen and learn.

• Public Service Broadcasting’s new album, The Last Flight, will be released on 4 October via SO Recordings. Pre-order/save here.

• The album’s first single Electra is out now.

• PSB tour the UK this Autumn. Dates here.

Written and presented by Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by Jim Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Thanks to Jodie Banaszkiewicz for clearances. War Movie Theatre is a Podmasters production

www.podmasters.co.uk

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Suggestions? Comments? Drop us a line at warmovietheatre@gmail.com.

Visit us at facebook.com/WarMovieTheatre or on Bluesky and Twitter.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.