Episode 756: Panic in Year Zero! (1962)

Guest Co-Hosts: Emily Intravia, Howard A. Rodman

Mike is joined by Emily Intravia (The Feminine Critique) and screenwriter Howard A. Rodman for a sobering descent into Panic in Year Zero! (1962), directed by and starring Ray Milland. Loosely inspired by Ward Moore’s chilling short stories “Lot” and “Lot’s Daughter,” the film imagines a Los Angeles family thrust into chaos after a nuclear attack decimates the city. As Henry Baldwin, Milland leads his wife (Jean Hagen) and children (Mary Mitchel and Frankie Avalon) on a desperate quest for survival in a world unraveling by the hour.

With Cold War dread baked into every frame, Panic in Year Zero! is an eerily prescient slice of apocalyptic Americana—a proto-survivalist tale that predates The Road and The Walking Dead by decades. We unpack its moral ambiguity, its place in the post-bomb canon, and why it remains a startling relic of atomic-age anxiety.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 756: Panic in Year Zero! (1962)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth
Buy Panic in Year Zero! on Blu-Ray
Buy Lot / Lot's Daughter by Ward Moore

Music:
"Panic in Year Zero Theme" - Les Baxter

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Episode 492: The Big Clock (1947)

Guest Co-Hosts: Terry Frost, Tim Luz

#Noirvember 2020 kicks off with a look at John Farrow's The Big Clock (1947). Based on the 1946 novel by Kenneth Fearing, it's the story of George Stroud (Ray Milland) an editor at Crimeways magazine and employee of Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton). When a woman that both Stroud and Janoth have been sleeping with is murdered, Stroud is put on the case to find out who was last seen with the victim. And, of course, that last person looks a lot like him.

Terry Frost and Tim Luz join Mike to discuss the film as well as its official... and unofficial remakes.

Listen/Download Now:

Listen to "Episode 491: The Big Clock (1947)" on Spreaker.

Links:
Buy The Big Clock on Blu-Ray
Buy The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing
Buy No Way Out on DVD
Buy Out of Time on DVD

Music:
Original Soundtrack by Victor Young

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