S2 Ep. 10: The Searchers (1956, John Ford) w/ guest Aspen Ballas
Cold War Cinema
The Cold War Cinema team returns with special guest Aspen Ballas to discuss John Ford’s 1956 western The Searchers. Aspen is a PhD student of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research primarily focuses on aesthetics of race and class, and the relation between genre, medium, and politics. Synopsis of the film: Texas, 1868. A lone figure approaches a windswept homestead, against a dusty blue sky and flaming red buttes and cathedral-like mesas. Returning from the fight for the Confederacy, Ethan Edwards arrives home to his brother Aaron, Aaron’s wife Martha,...
info_outline
S2 Ep. 9: Ballad of a Soldier (1959, Grigory Chukhray)
Cold War Cinema
The Cold War Cinema team returns to discuss Grigory Chukhray's 1959 war drama Ballad of a Soldier. Alyhosha is 19-years-old private on the Eastern Front during the Great Patriotic War (A.K.A. World War II). After destroying two German tanks, Alyosha, played by Vladimir Ivashov, is rewarded with a short leave to return home to see his mother and repair her roof. Over the next six days, the young soldier travels home across the countryside, often crossing paths with his countrymen in both mundane and profound ways: A one-legged soldier running from his wife, the wife of another...
info_outline
BONUS: Tribute to Peter Watkins (1935–2025)
Cold War Cinema
In this bonus episode of Cold War Cinema, Jason Christian is joined by the independent filmmakers Eric Marsh and Christopher Jason Bell, to discuss the films and legacy of the British filmmaker and media theorist Peter Watkins, who died on October 30, 2025, one day after his nintieth birthday. Watkins stands apart in film history for his bold cinematic vision, his innovations of the pseudo-documentary, and for his unflinching cinematic attacks on the mass media and authoritarian states. For these reasons and others, he has never been given his due in the academy or in popular culture. We...
info_outline
S2 Ep. 8: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, Don Siegel)
Cold War Cinema
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!” The Cold War Cinema team returns to discuss the 1956 sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Something is off in the sleepy little town of Santa Mira, California. As residents begin worrying that their family and friends no longer seem to be who they say they are, Dr. Miles Bennell and his former flame Becky Driscoll slowly uncover an alien plot to replace every person on earth with otherworldly duplicates. Directed by Don Siegel (Riot on Cell Block 11, Dirty Harry, Escape from Alcatraz) and written by Daneil...
info_outline
S2 Ep. 7: Poet (1956, Boris Barnet)
Cold War Cinema
This week on Cold War Cinema, we look at Boris Barnet’s Poet (sometimes refered to as The Poet), a 1956 feature about the role of art and literature in war and revolution. Join hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein for a broad-ranging conversation about the film and the politics of form and style. Throughout, we consider: The challenges of context-dependent domestic filmmaking and international spectatorship How film narrative and aesthetic modes like Socialist Realism participate in the construction of national myths, imaginaries, and ideologies Barnet’s...
info_outline
S2 Ep. 6: Pickup on South Street (1953, Samuel Fuller) w/ guest Stephen Gillespie
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 cohost of The STACKS and I’m Thinking of Spoiling Things. When small-time thief Skip McCoy picks the wrong pocket on a busy subway car, he quickly becomes the most popular lowlife in town, trailed by crooked cops, the feds, and a Communist spy ring. Join Stephen and hosts Jason Christian and Paul T. Klein as they discuss: Why J. Edgar Hoover hated this movie. How the film makes sense...
info_outline
BONUS: Interview of Christopher Jason Bell
Cold War Cinema
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 . Bell’s archival doc series about George W. Bush’s presidency, Miss Me Yet, can be watched on MeansTV and received praise from numerous outlets such as The Baffler, AV Club, and Filmmaker magazine. His third feature Failed State premiered at Torino Film Festival and is continuing to screen across the world. His newest documentary short, Attention Shoppers, features Abby Martin and can be viewed on MeansTV....
info_outline
S2 Ep. 5: Silvery Dust (1953, Abram Room & Pavel Armand)
Cold War Cinema
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 American scientist who has developed a powerful new weapon of mass destruction designed to wipe out populations within a large area while leaving no harmful radioactive residues or traces. In the film, the scientist colludes with a Nazi colleague and various private interests, who all conspire with the government to use innocent Black men as test subjects, without their knowledge or consent. ...
info_outline
BONUS: The Phoenician Scheme (w/ guest Matthew Ellis)
Cold War Cinema
“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 Cinema team is back with special guest Matthew Ellis, a researcher, artist, and cohost of the , for a special bonus episode covering Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme. Recently released on home video and streaming, the film follows the cunning, reprobate industrialist Zsa-zsa Korda (Bencio Del Toro) as he swindles his way into a massive infrastructure deal in the country of Upper...
info_outline
S2 Ep. 4: I Married a Communist A.K.A. The Woman on Pier 13 (1949, Robert Stevenson)
Cold War Cinema
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-communist films of the early Cold War era. The movie revolves around a San Francisco shipping executive who worked his way up from the docks, as a stevedore, only to find himself embroiled in a Communist plot to sabotage a labor contract. Join hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as we consider: How Hollywood colluded with the government to portray Communists as...
info_outlineJoin 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. Force of Evil is one of thirteen movies the critic and filmmaker Thom Andersen identifies as film gris, or socially conscious crime cinema made from 1947 to 1951, during the height of the notorious House Un-American Activities hearings. In 1951, Polonsky refused to testify before his own HUAC hearing, and was subsequently blacklisted. He only directed two other films, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) and Romance of a Horsethief (1971), and remained a committed marxist all his life. We hope you enjoy this episode!