Cold War Cinema

Cold War Cinema is a podcast about the shifting cultural, political, and aesthetic currents running through movies made during the Cold War.

S2 Ep. 10: The Searchers (1956, John Ford) w/ guest Aspen Ballas 01/15/2026

S2 Ep. 10: The Searchers (1956, John Ford) w/ guest Aspen Ballas 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, and to their children Ben, Lucy, little Debbie, and their adopted son Martin Pawley. But this is rough country, and a Comanche raid leaves the Edwards family torn asunder–Aaron, Martha, and Ben dead, and Lucy and Debbie taken captive. For seven years, Ethan and Martin search the vast wilderness, motivated not only by family bonds, but in Ethan’s case, bloodlust and wild, racist hatred–a search not only to find Lucy and Debbie, but to enforce racial and sexual purity and to define Americanness itself… On this episode we discuss: The American mythmaking in The Searchers and in westerns generally. John Ford’s attempt to critique anti-Indigenous racism, and the limitations of such a critique in the context of Hollywood filmmaking of this era. Militant Liberty, a top-secret psychological warfare program created by the Pentagon to promote anti-communist themes in Hollywood movies during the Cold War. John Ford was an eager participant in the program. The broader US imperialist context of the film’s release and the historical background of the setting. _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Aspen: The Face on Film by Noa Steimatsky; Raoul Peck’s docuseries Exterminate all the Brutes (2021) Paul: The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend by Glenn Frankel Tony: Unsettled Borders: The Militarized Science of Surveillance on Sacred Indigenous Land by Felicity Amaya Schaeffer Jason: Versions of Hollywood Crime Cinema: Studies in Ford, Wilder, Coppola, Scorsese, and Others by Carl Freedman _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . For more from your hosts and guest: Follow Aspen on Letterboxed at . Follow Jason on Bluesky at , on X at , or on Letterboxed at . Follow Anthony on Bluesky at , on X at , or on Letterboxed at . Follow Paul on Bluesky at , or on Letterboxed at . Paul also writes about movies at _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening! /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/39734290

S2 Ep. 9: Ballad of a Soldier (1959, Grigory Chukhray) 12/26/2025

S2 Ep. 9: Ballad of a Soldier (1959, Grigory Chukhray) 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 private, found living with another man, and a tender vagabond girl, Shura (Zhanna Prokhorenko), who he meets while hiding out in a rail car. Throughout his quiet picaresque, Alyhosha learns about the sacrifices and tenderness of a nation torn apart by war. Join hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as we discuss: The film's treatment of individualism versus collective responsibility. The train as a metaphor in both the Soviet and US contexts. The Soviet romance versus Hollywood romances. The Soviet treatment of nature and rural spaces in this film and others. _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Paul recommends the film The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, William A. Wyler) and the book The Foreign Film Renaissance on American Screens 1946–1973 by Tony Balio. Tony recommends the book Peasants and Capital: Dominica in the World Economy by Michel-Rolph Trouillot Jason recommends the film The Forty-First (1956, Grigory Chukhray). _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . For more from your hosts: Follow Jason on Bluesky at , on X at , or on Letterboxed at . Follow Anthony on Bluesky at , on X at . Follow Paul on Bluesky at , or on Letterboxed at . Paul also writes about movies at _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening! /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/39538490

BONUS: Tribute to Peter Watkins (1935–2025) 11/19/2025

BONUS: Tribute to Peter Watkins (1935–2025) 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 discuss why this radical filmmaker is so important to us personally, and why his legacy should—and probably will—continue to grow. _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Eric recommends the film Bisbee '17 (2018, Robert Greene). Christopher recommends the film Revolution Selfie (2017, Steven de Castro). Jason recommends the book Future Revolutions: New Perspectives on Peter Watkins (2018, various authors). _____________________ Find Eric Marsh's films . Find Christopher Jason Bell's work . Find our previous interview with Christopher Jason Bell . Jason's essay on Punishment Park (1971) is found . And his short piece on Privilege (1967) is . (Scroll down.) _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . And for more from your hosts: Follow Jason on Bluesky at , on X at , or on Letterboxed at . Follow Anthony on Bluesky at , on X at . Follow Paul on Bluesky at , or on Letterboxed at . Paul also writes about movies at _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening! /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/39103105

S2 Ep. 8: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, Don Siegel) 11/17/2025

S2 Ep. 8: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, Don Siegel) “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 Mainwaring (Out of the Past), and with uncredited work by blacklisted screenwriter Richard Collins (Song of Russia), Invasion explores myriad maladies in midcentury American culture. Join hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as we discuss: The many complicated—and often contradictory—political allegories often read into the film from both the left and the right, including anti-communist and anti-conformist messages. The political and discursive handwringing done by Invasion’s creative team to distance themselves and the film from its most potent politics. Invasion’s other formal and narrative critiques of psychoanalysis, middle-class nuclear family values, professional expertise, and the Hollywood studio system. Why movies are not riddles to be solved. _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Paul recommends Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982, Tommy Lee Wallace). Tony recommends, The Burbs (1989, Joe Dante). Jason recommends No Down Payment (1957, Martin Ritt). _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . For more from your hosts: Follow Jason on Bluesky at , on X at , or on Letterboxed at . Follow Anthony on Bluesky at , on X at . Follow Paul on Bluesky at , or on Letterboxed at . Paul also writes about movies at _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening! /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/39052280

S2 Ep. 7: Poet (1956, Boris Barnet) 10/27/2025

S2 Ep. 6: Pickup on South Street (1953, Samuel Fuller) w/ guest Stephen Gillespie 09/04/2025

S2 Ep. 6: Pickup on South Street (1953, Samuel Fuller) w/ guest Stephen Gillespie “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 of Cold War paranoia through its critique of American ideological systems Pickup on South Street’s depiction of the down-and-out and three-time losers that populate America’s urban landscapes, and how the film suggests they got there. Writer-director Samuel Fuller’s provocative and ultimately idealist politics _____________________ Each episode features book and film recommendations for further exploration. On this episode: Stephen recommends Samuel Fuller’s film Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1972) and Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret (2011). Paul recommends Samuel Fuller’s film I Shot Jesse James (1949) and Peter Brooks’ book The Melodramatic Imagination: Balzac, Henry James, Melodrama, and the Mode of Excess. Jason recommends Samuel Fuller’s film Shock Corridor (1963) and J. Hoberman’s book An Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War. Check out Stephen Gillespie’s two podcasts, I’m Thinking of Spoiling Things and The STACKS, and read his reviews of films and video games at Step Printed (). Find him on Letterboxd at . _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . For more from your hosts: Follow Jason on Bluesky at , on X at , or on Letterboxed at . Follow Anthony on Bluesky at , on X at . Follow Paul on Bluesky at , or on Letterboxed at . Paul also writes about movies at _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening! /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/38038370

BONUS: Interview of Christopher Jason Bell 08/28/2025

S2 Ep. 5: Silvery Dust (1953, Abram Room & Pavel Armand) 08/14/2025

S2 Ep. 5: Silvery Dust (1953, Abram Room & Pavel Armand) 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. Join hosts Jason Christian, Anthony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as we consider: The historical legacy of , a secret government program in which the US brought some 1,600 scientists, engineers, and technicians from former Nazi Germany to the US for government employment after the end of World War II. The numerous government experiments conducted on minorities without their knowledge or consent, such as the Untreated Syphilis Study at Tuskegee (1932-1972) The contradiction, in the film, of critiquing racism in America while using white Russian actors in “black face.” Comparisons between American and Soviet propanda styles in the 1950s. _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Paul recommends the book, Building a Better Race: Gender, Sexuality, and Eugenics from the Turn of the Century to the Baby Boom by Wendy Kline Tony recommends the book, The Selected Works of Ho Chi Hinh by Ho Chi Minh Jason recommends the book, Deterring Democracy by Noam Chomsky. _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/37804475

BONUS: The Phoenician Scheme (w/ guest Matthew Ellis) 07/29/2025

BONUS: The Phoenician Scheme (w/ guest Matthew Ellis) “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 Independent Phoenicia. Join Matthew Ellis and hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as they discuss: The Phoenician Scheme’s connections to the Congress for Cultural Freedom, a CIA-backed cultural operation from 1950 that weaponized writers, artists, and other thinkers for intelligence operations. How Anderson’s film reveals the Cold War origins of the contemporary world in its critiques of capitalism and the neoliberal project. The ways that The Phoenician Scheme breaks Anderson’s hermetically sealed aesthetics and alludes to its formal limitations. _____________________ Each episode features book and film recommendations for further exploration. On this episode: Matthew recommends Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later. Paul recommends Matt Zoller Seitz’s The Wes Anderson Collection and Louis Althusser’s “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses: Notes Towards an Investigation.” Tony recommends Carpenter’s Gothic by William Gaddis. Jason recommends The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World by Vijay Prashad. _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . For more from your hosts: Follow Jason on Bluesky at , on X at , or on Letterboxed at . Follow Anthony on Bluesky at , on X at . Follow Paul on Bluesky at , or on Letterboxed at . Paul also writes about movies at _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening! /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/37586490

S2 Ep. 4: I Married a Communist A.K.A. The Woman on Pier 13 (1949, Robert Stevenson) 07/24/2025

S2 Ep. 4: I Married a Communist A.K.A. The Woman on Pier 13 (1949, Robert Stevenson) 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 nihilistic, intellectual, unfeeling and yet effeminate organized criminals. The condescension at the heart of anti-Communist propaganda in the US that implies that ordinary Americans are too "dumb" to recognize when they are being duped. The paradoxical role of unions in New Deal liberal ideology as a potential bulwark against Communists. The perennial recycled anti-Communist tropes in American political rhetoric to this day. _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Paul recommends Foster Hirsh’s 2023 book Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher—Television. Tony recommends Gerald Horne's 2011 book, Fighting in Paradise: Labor Unions, Racism, and Communists in the Making of Modern Hawai'i. Jason recommends Rebecca Prime's 2013 book, Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture. _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/37528720

S2 Ep. 3: The Russian Question (1948, Mikhail Romm) 07/03/2025

S2 Ep. 3: The Russian Question (1948, Mikhail Romm) “I used to think there was one America, but there are two. There's no place for me in McPherson's and Hearst's America, but there is in Lincoln's and Roosevelts!” This week on Cold War Cinema, we discuss Mikhaill Romm’s 1948 drama, The Russian Question. In this Soviet production, winner of the 1948 Stalin Prize and based on a play of the same name by Konstantin Siminov, a mendacious newspaper editor sends columnist Harry Smith to the Soviet Union to write a book critical of socialism. But when the principled columnist returns to the United States, he quickly realizes that the American press intends to turn the Russian question—whether the Russians want war—into a statement with dangerous geopolitical ramifications. Join hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as we consider: The role of editing or montage in the construction of political critiques in aesthetic form Why the President of the Motion Picture Association called this a “sneering, lying attack on the United States” and an “open bid to stir contempt and hatred for America on the part of the Russian audiences,” and why he got it all wrong How a Soviet film about a sensationalist American news media helps us understand our current political moment _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Paul recommends Clarence Brown’s 1949 drama Intruder in the Dust. Tony recommends Langston Hughes 1961 collection, Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz. Jason recommends Mikhail Romm’s 1961 drama Nine Days in One Year. _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at , or find us online on Bluesky or on X at . /episode/index/show/f60c2930-18ea-47d8-a71c-91c645d0f028/id/37266790