Tipping My Fedora

57. Film Noir Fest 2026, with James Harrison

James Harrison of Film Noir UK joins Sergio to preview the 2026 Film Noir Fest, which is taking place from 30 October to 1 November at the Plaza Cinema in Weston-Super-Mare. This year's theme is boxing movies and highlights include screenings of: Robert Siodmak's THE KILLERS (1946), Robert Rossen's BODY AND SOUL (1947), Robert Wise's THE SET-UP and Mark Robson's CHAMPION (both 1949), Phil Karlson's 99 RIVER STREET (1953) and Ralph Nelson's REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962). There is also a retrospective dedicated to crime films directed and/or produced by Ida Lupino, including NOT WANTED (1949), OUTRAGE (1950), THE HITCHHIKER and THE BIGAMIST (both 1953) and Don Siegel's PRIVATE HELL 36 (1954). In addition there will be classic noir films from 1946, such as Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS and Siodmak's THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE; a silent Heritage Noir double bill featuring Lewis Milestone's THE RACKET (1928) with a live score by Neil Brand; a quartet and Spanish crime movies, including two by Jess Franco; and two British thriller double-bills courtesy of Talking Pictures TV / Renown. And, for Halloween, some classic noir-tinged horror films, including Val Lewton's THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943), THE UNIVITED (1944) and THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946). For the full schedule and details of tickets and passes, visit: https://ti.to/film-noir-uk/filmnoirfest2026

56. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969), with Mark Dillon

Today is George's Lazenby's birthday. To celebrate I am joined by journalist and podcaster Mark Dillon to discuss the actor's exceptional movie debut, playing James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Quite possibly the best film in the series. Mark Dillon is an award-winning Toronto-based journalist specializing in film, TV and pop music. He is a former editor of Playback, the business publication for the Canadian media industries, and to which he still contributes. He has been writing for Hollywood magazine American Cinematographer for more than 25 years. He is author of Fifty Sides of The Beach Boys, chronicling America’s band, and co-hosts the (non-noir) podcast Surf’s Up: A Beach Boys Podcast Safari: https://soundcloud.com/user-93394161

55. NO SAINTS ONLY KILLERS, with Luke Deckard

Today I am joined by Luke Deckard, co-host of the Cinema Sleuths podcast (https://cinemasleuths.podbean.com/) and author of the new hardboiled private eye mystery, NO SAINTS ONLY KILLERS. We discuss his love of crime fiction, the origins of his novel, its setting in 1922 London and Edinburgh ... and just why there is a scene in which his hero has to operate on a defenceless teddy bear! Luke's homepage can be found at: www.lukedeckard.com/. The book is available on all formats wherever you get your fiction from, including of course Amazon.

54. LAURA (1944), with Moira Redmond

Sergio is joined by returning guest, Moira Redmond, she of the mighty Clothes in Books blog, to celebrate the classic 1944 Film Noir, LAURA, starring Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb and Dana Andrews. We also look at the original novel by Vera Caspary on which it was based, the TV remakes from 1955 and 1968, both co-starring George Sanders - and also explore the film's fashions, the contribution made by costume designer Bonnie Cashin ... and what Sergio refers to as 1980s "bunny rabbit" trousers.

53. Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Mysteries, with Paul Abbott

Paul Abbott, co-host of Hark! The 87th Precinct Podcast, joins me to provide an overview of the books in the police procedural series by Ed McBain, as well as some of their film and TV versions too. https://hark87podcast.blogspot.com/ I reviewed and ranked every single one of the books in the series over at the Fedora blog: https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/ed-mcbain-87th-precinct/

52. HUDSON HAWK (1991), with David Hughes

It's 35 years since the original cinema release of Hudson Hawk, the delightfully eccentric caper action comedy. I'm mad about the movie and David Hughes has now written a great book about it, The Unmaking of Hudson Hawk. He dropped in at Fedora (from a great height but into a very comfy chair) to spill the beans. To order a copy of the book, or listen to David's Rogue Commentary podcast or read his illuminating essay on how to set up your own Blu-ray label in the UK, follow the links below: The Unmaking of Hudson Hawk - order directly from Plumeria Plumeria: https://plumeriapics.co.uk/ Rogue Commentary Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rogue-commentary/id1532071693 "So You Want to Start a Boutique Blu-ray Label?" by David Hughes: https://cinephiliabeyond.org/so-you-want-to-start-a-boutique-blu-ray-label/

51. Top 10 Sherlock Holmes Movies (part 2), with Nick Cardillo

As part of the celebrations for Fedora's 50th episode, special guest Nick Cardillo returns to conclude the exploration of his top 10 Sherlock Holmes movies. In part one we looked at The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), The Scarlet Claw (1944), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and A Study in Terror (1965). We now enter the 1970s and a brand new approach to canonical fidelity ... To find out more about author and actor Nick Cardillo, please visit his homepage: www.nickcardillocreative.com/

50. Top 10 Sherlock Holmes Movies (part 1), with Nick Cardillo

To celebrate Fedora's 50th episode, our special guest is Nick Cardillo, author of several Sherlock Holmes pastiches in print and on audio. He joins me to pick his favourite movies featuring the most beloved, and most filmed, "consulting detective." This podcast became such an epic that we had to split it into two halves. In this first part, Nick and I discuss his choices covering films originally released between 1939 and 1965. NB I make an error in our discussion on the music score for A Study in Terror. I mispoke and credited it to John Cameron but it was in fact the debut movie score by John Scott. To find out more about Nick, please visit his homepage: www.nickcardillocreative.com/

49. REAR WINDOW (1954), with Brad Friedman

I am joined by Brad Friedman to look at Hitchcock's classic romantic thriller, REAR WINDOW, which was based on a short story by Noir maestro, Cornell Woolrich. Brad blogs about Golden Age mystery books and movies at Ah Sweet Mystery: https://ahsweetmystery.com/ Spoiler alert: the plots for REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO, including their respective endings, are explored in detail.

48. Top 10 Noir novels, with Cinema Sleuths hosts Matthew Booth & Luke Deckard

Returning guests Matt and Luke, crime authors and hosts of the Cinema Sleuths podcast, visit Fedora to talk about their latest novels and give us a list of their 10 favourite Noir books. Authors up for discussion include Raymond Chandler, Philip Kerr, Sue Grafton and many more. We also slip in a quick look at Robert Altman's very eccentric private eye movie, The Long Goodbye (1973). For more info about Mattew's Everett Carr series, visit Level Best Books (www.levelbestbooks.us/authors/matthew-booth) and for details of Luke's forthcoming private eye novel, No Saints, Only Killers, visit: https://shorturl.at/wrs6e. Luke and Matt's podcast, Cinema Sleuths, is available all over the Internet - https://cinemasleuths.podbean.com/

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47. THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970) with Steve Hunt

Sergio is joined by Steve Hunt to discuss Dario Argento's classic giallo, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, and its uncredited basis in Fredric Brown's exceptional 1949 Noir mystery novel, The Screaming Mimi. Steve Hunt is the host of the superb Boxing Movie Podcast and author of, Heavyweight Title Fights of the 1980s: A Complete History. To listen to Steve's podcast, please visit: https://boxingmoviepodcast.alitu.com/ You can find his homepage at this link: https://www.stevehuntboxing.com/ Steve's book, Heavyweight Title Fights of the 1980s: A Complete History, is now available in paperback and on Kindle from Amazon in the UK (https://shorturl.at/h02Bc) and from McFarland (https://shorturl.at/8i5ll) in the US.

46. MANTRAP (1953) with Steve Rogers of Hammer Films

Terence Fisher's 1953 whodunit, MANTRAP (US title: Man in Hiding), starring Lois Maxwell, Paul Henreid and Kay Kendall, is the latest thriller from the vaults of Hammer Films to be restored and released in a deluxe edition. Sergio is joined by Steve Rogers, of Hammer Archive & Product Development, to discuss the latest in the company's range of dual 4K UHD / Blu-ray sets. For more information about the release, visit the Hammer Films homepage: hammerfilms.com/products/mantrap-limited-collectors-edition

45. BURIED ABOVE GROUND, with author Mike Ripley

Today I am joined by crime author, critic, historian and archaeologist, Mike Ripley, to talk about his latest novel, BURIED ABOVE GROUND, which has just been published in paperback. A witty and clever mystery about the crime fiction industry, I quiz Mike about the sources of his inspiration and try to figure out just how realistic a depiction of the book trade this actually is. For more details about Mike and his novels, visit the official Severn House page: https://severnhouse.com/authors/mike-ripley/

44. CASINO ROYALE (1954), with Professor James Chapman

Sergio is joined by Professor James Chapman, author of Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, to look at the first 007 adaptation, the 1954 TV version of CASINO ROYALE, as well as the 1967 spoof and the 2006 Daniel Craig reboot. We then speculate about the future of the franchise under Amazon after 25 movies, wholly or partly, all overseen by the Broccoli family. To find out more about James and his many publications, please visit his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Chapman_(media_historian)

43. The novels of Ross Macdonald, with Moira Redmond

Sergio is joined by Moira Redmond, she of the mighty Clothes in Books blog, to celebrate the work of Ross Macdonald, creator of PI Lew Archer and for many the natural successor to Hammett and Chandler. We look at his books, his life with his wife, celebrated mystery author Margaret Millar, and some of the films based on his novels including HARPER (1966) and THE DROWNING POOL (1975). both starring Paul Newman, and the TV Movie THE UNDERGROUND MAN (1974) featuring Peter Graves as Archer. Here is a complete list of the Archer novels in publication order: The Moving Target (1949) The Drowning Pool (1950) The Way Some People Die (1951) The Ivory Grin (1952) Find a Victim (1954) The Barbarous Coast (1956) The Doomsters (1958) The Galton Case (1959) The Wycherly Woman (1961) The Zebra-Striped Hearse (1962) The Chill (1964) The Far Side of the Dollar (1965) Black Money (1966) The Instant Enemy (1968) The Goodbye Look (1969) The Underground Man (1971) Sleeping Beauty (1973) The Blue Hammer (1976)

42. Radio Noir: Sam Spade on the Air

Sam Spade, the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, first appeared Black Mask magazine before publication in book form in 1930. Despite being an instant success, Hammett never wrote another book about his ultra hardboiled PI, though he did appear again in three short stories published in 1932. Between 1931 and 1941, as discussed with Mark Dillon on the last episode of Fedora, Warner Bros released three films based on the novel, with a different actor playing the main role each time. However, it was on radio that Spade had his most consistent success. The Adventures of Sam Spade, as the half-hour show was called, made its debut on 12 July 1946, starring Howard Duff as Spade and Lurene Tuttle as his secretary, Effie Perrine. The show moved from ABC to CBS and then NBC, running for a total of 245 episodes. On top of that, Duff and Tuttle reprised their roles in a special 1-hour episode of Suspense, in which Sam Spade briefly met Philip Marlowe (as played by host Robert Montgomery). That episode is presented here in its entirety. Suspense / The Kandy Tooth Caper (CBS, 10 January 1948) Written by Bob Tallman and Jo Eisinger; Director: William Speir; Cast: Robert Montgomery (series host / Philip Marlowe), Howard Duff (Sam Spade), Lurene Tuttle (Effie Perrine), Joe Kearns (Casper Gutman), Cathy Lewis (Hope Laverne), Wally Maher (Lawrence Laverne), Jay Novello (Joel Cairo), Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. Julius), Jack Edwards, Jr. (Herman Julius / mortuary attendant), Sidney Miller (documentary narrator), Hans Conried (Marvin / Don Constantino), Bill Johnstone (Lieutenant Dundy).

41. THE MALTESE FALCON, with Mark Dillon

Today’s podcast is devoted to THE MALTESE FALCON, the classic novel by Dashiell Hammett and its various film versions including the classic Humphrey Bogart version from 1941 and the two lesser-known adaptations that preceded it. My guest is Mark Dillon, the award-winning Toronto-based journalist specializing in film, TV and pop music. He is a former editor of Playback, the business publication for the Canadian media industries, and to which he still contributes. He has been writing for Hollywood magazine American Cinematographer for more than 25 years. He is author of Fifty Sides of The Beach Boys, chronicling America’s band, and co-hosts the (non-noir) podcast Surf’s Up: A Beach Boys Podcast Safari: https://soundcloud.com/user-93394161

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40. BLADE RUNNER (1982), with Ayesha Khan

Today I am joined by Ayesha Khan - host of the prizewinning podcast, Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* (www.everyscififilm.com/) - to talk about one of our favourite movies, Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER (1982). In addition we will also look at its sequel, Denis Villeneuve's BLADE RUNNER 2049 and Philip K. Dick's original source novel, Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? In the podcast we mention Film Noir Bingo, created by Todd Downing - you can follow him at www.todddowning.com. You can follow Ayesha at www.everyscififilm.com and listen to her podcast Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* on all major platforms.

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39. Radio Noir: CHASE A CROOKED SHADOW (1958)

Sergio looks at Michael Anderson's 1958 suspense drama, CHASE A CROOKED SHADOW, a clever mystery with a strong cast and memorable payoff. It stars Anne Baxter as an heiress driven to near madness when a man turns up claiming to be her dead brother and everybody but her believes him. Richard Todd is the the smooth impostor and Herbert Lom plays the understandably confused police inspector. Though uncredited, the premise of the film, and its memorable final twist on which the whole plot depends, had first been used on radio in 1946 for an episode of The Whistler: "Stranger in the House" (CBS, 2 September 1946), starring Virginia Gregg and Gerald Mohr. Script: Harold Swanton and Mark Smith; Music: Wilbur Hatch; Producer / Director: George W. Allen The radio play is included in today's podcast, which also looks at some of the many screen and stage variations that followed it. These include the following adaptations of the 1960 stage play by Robert Thomas, Piege Pour Un Homme Seul: 1965: Catch Me If You Can (Stage Play) Witten by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert Directed by Vincent J. Donehue Starring Tom Bosley, Dan Dailey, Bethel Leslie, George Mathews 1969: Honeymoon with A Stranger (TV Movie) Written by Henry Sleaser and David P. Harmon Directed by John Peyser Starring: Janet Leigh, Rossano Brazzi, Barbara Steele, Cesare Danova 1976: One of My Wives is Missing (TV Movie) Written by Peter Stone Directed by Glenn Jordan Starring: Jack Klugman, James Franciscus, Elizabeth Ashley, Joel Fabiani, Garry Walberg 1987: Vanishing Act (TV Movie) Written by Richard Levinson and William Link Directed by David Greene Starring: Mike Farrell, Elliot Gould, Margot Kidder, Fred Gwynne

38. THE THIN MAN (1934), with Scott K. Ratner

For this special Christmas episode, Sergio is joined by Scott K Ratner for an in-depth look at Dashiell Hammett's novel The Thin Man. We also consider the series of six movies it spawned, all of them starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles and Skippy as their pet Terrier, Asta. Here's a full list of the films in the series: The Nick and Nora Charles Screwball Mystery Movies The Thin Man (1934) After the Thin Man (1936) Another Thin Man (1939) Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) The Thin Man Goes Home (1944) Song of the Thin Man (1947) We also look at some of our favourite movie whodunits, including AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945), GREEN FOR DANGER (1947), WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957), DEATH ON THE NILE (1978) and Rian Johnson's KNIVES OUT series starring Daniel Craig. Scott K. Ratner is a Southern-California based writer/magician/actor whose endeavours are largely rooted in his interests in Golden Age detective fiction and classic era Hollywood cinema. He has written the libretto and lyrics for two whodunit musicals (All Talking! All Singing!! All Murder!!! and Murder on the High C’s) and a one-act Agatha Christie-related comedy (Kill A Better Mousetrap), as well as several nerdy articles for such magazines as Crime and Detective Stories and Mystery Scene. His magic act was once publicly praised by no less than Harry Blackstone, Jr. and the great Dai Vernon, though the truth of that story is considerably less impressive when the details are known. His brief sojourn as a teenage actor in television connected him with a few important players of the classic Hollywood era, and he regrets that he didn’t know enough about their filmographies at the time to ask the interesting questions. As a magician and theme park entertainer, he worked over two decades apiece at Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm.