Ep. 167 – John Frankenheimer (feat. Blake Howard)

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we discuss John Frankenheimer, a true expert of the craft and a man who could make any kind of film. Our B-Sides today include Prophecy, 52 Pick-Up, Dead Bang, and the HBO Film Against the Wall (for which Frankenheimer won an Emmy!) Our guest today is the great Blake Howard of One Heat Minute Productions. He’s just wrapping up his podcast series Romin, in which Blake discusses Frankenheimer’s late-period action masterpiece (and certified A-Side) Ronin with incredible film minds (and also two schlubs from The Film Stage). In this episode, Dan tells a fairly interesting first-hand story about original Ronin screenwriter J.D. Zeik! The superb interview book John Frankenheimer: A Conversation With Charles Champlin is referenced quite a bit throughout, as is this interview with Ben Affleck (which includes a funny memory of the temperamental Frankenheimer on the set of Reindeer Games). Frankenheimer’s BMW Films short with Clive Owen comes up, as does underrated character actor Tim Reid. We admire the nastiness of 52 Pick-Up, the way that Against the Wall looks, and the ambitions of Prophecy, failed though they may be. Then there’s Dead Bang, a deeply troubled production with a supremely strange William Forsythe performance. Additionally, Frankenheimer made his bones in live television, specifically being the lead director of Playhouse 90. One episode we talk about a bit is “Forbidden Area.” Listen and subscribe at thefilmstage.com/pod. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!