What to read if you can’t wait for the next season of You Must Remember This.
Karina Longworth, the host and historian behind the in-depth Hollywood history podcast, You Must Remember This, recently teased the long-awaited return of her show.
Last week via Insta, Longworth posted a shelf of research books that she consulted while sculpting a new season, which is set to premiere in January. The post offered no overt announcement about next season’s topic, but it did come with the cryptic caption “more details soon.”
For pod fans, this all slakes a thirst for some very niche gossip. But it also brings mystery. Who will the major players of YMRT’s next season be? What mystery will Longworth unravel? What themes will she pursue? One woman with a little bit of time on her hands set to decoding the contents The Shelf, with an eye to answering these questions.
Frank Capra, The Name Above the Title
The auteur behind It’s a Wonderful Life was a major player in Hollywood’s Golden Age. This autobiography looks like a generalist entry-point. Great era-appropriate background.
Gerald Clarke, Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland
This eminent biography of the late JUDY was feted on its 2000 release for its extraordinary level of detail. But the inclusion of this title from one of the most famous actors ever could point us in a lot of directions. We could be diving into Oz, or dynasties.
George Cukor, edited by Robert Emmet Long, Interviews
Cukor, another Golden Age director, helped make the careers of Joan Crawford, Ingrid Bergman, Marilyn Monroe, and almost every other era star you can name off the top of your head. He also famously directed A Star is Born (1954), which Judy starred in.
A theme emerges!
Barbara Deming, Running Away From Myself: A Dream Portrait of America Drawn From the Films of the 40s
This out-of-print memoir from a Library of Congress film analyst looks so fascinating, it’s sent me on a quest to deep corners of the archival internet for a copy. By all accounts this one is a uniquely personal work of film criticism, grounded in a huge amount of research. A vague clue for content, but sounds pretty Longworthian to me.
Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Ah, a familiar face. Though another curveball, for this sleuth. How do we fit a 70s-era Didion into a puzzle with all these older Hollywood cats? What do the fallen hippies in the Haight have to do with Judy and George?
Mark Griffin, A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli
This interview-based account is said to be speckled with secrets. And of course Minnelli, as you-you-you oughta know, was married to Judy. Another point for the Star-is-Born theory.
Foster Hirsch, Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King
Did you know Preminger was known to colleagues as “Otto the Terrible”?! This controversial auteur was sometimes painted as an outsider, hostile to hegemonic Hollywood forces. Curious to see what counterpoint his voice might offer to the better known entities on this list.
Laurence Kardish, Reel Plastic Magic
This currently out-of-print 1972 history covers the silent era through the heyday of the talkies. Another idiosyncratic survey text. The plot thickens.
Lawrence Leamer, Hitchcock’s Blondes
Leamer’s history focuses on the actresses that so fixed Hitchcock’s eye. Longworth has covered the mystery man in previous seasons, so the presence of this book complicates the reigning thesis. And Judy never worked with Alfred.
