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More from The Plot Thickens

1. 

   S6 · E4 · 7 Aug 2025 · 47 min

   Le Scandale

   Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s love affair becomes a tabloid sensation. Richard drinks and Elizabeth cries, they fight and make up, all while trying to keep the affair from their spouses and the public. When the press infiltrates the set and reports on every ugly development, Joe struggles to hold the production together. But as the budget balloons, Joe starts taking the blame for everything that’s gone wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2. 

   S6 · E3 · 31 Jul 2025 · 51 min

   The Girl is on Salary

   Joe Mankiewicz decides to recast two leading men and hires Richard Burton and Rex Harrison – major talents who turn out to be major headaches. He also moves filming to a new country, where the budget spirals out of control. Joe works against the clock to meet the studio’s deadline to start shooting, and he nearly pulls it off… until Richard Burton puts the moves on his married co-star Elizabeth Taylor, throwing the entire production into chaos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3. 

   S6 · E2 · 24 Jul 2025 · 57 min

   Joe

   While Elizabeth Taylor fights for her life in a London hospital, Joe Mankiewicz begins to grapple with the movie he’s inherited. The script is dreadful, the sets are grotesque, and none of the footage is usable. Joe decides to start over from scratch. A look at Joe’s long career in Hollywood gives some clues as to how he’ll handle this epic production and manage his high maintenance actors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4. 

   S6 · 2 Jul 2025 · 4 min

   Season 6 Trailer: Cleopatra

   His studio was collapsing. His budget was skyrocketing. And his two stars were making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Those were just some of the headaches facing Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the director of one of the most expensive and infamous movies ever made: Cleopatra. With Mankiewicz calling the shots and the luminous Elizabeth Taylor in the title role, Cleopatra should have been a smash. Instead, it was a shoot plagued by medical emergencies, climate disasters and nervous breakdowns… not to mention Taylor's scandalous love affair with Richard Burton. This season, Ben Mankiewicz digs…

5. 

   S5 · E7 · 18 Jul 2024 · 1 hr 3 min

   The Legend

   After being removed from a film and ruining his friendship with Henry Fonda, John Ford begins to openly challenge his previous work. He deconstructs the Western and, for the first time, makes films specifically about Indians and women. But his power in Hollywood dwindles, and he soon finds himself out of work, a living legend living off his savings. As Ford enters his 70s, his movies are rediscovered and he is showered with honors and accolades, even as he denies his own artistry every chance he gets. Though he does accept one major award... from none other than the President of the United…

6. 

   S5 · E6 · 11 Jul 2024 · 50 min

   The Mythmaker

   At the height of his powers, John Ford directs his masterpiece, an anti-racist Western called The Searchers. It’s a movie of contradictions: John Wayne plays the hero, but he's driven by hate and revenge. He’s searching for his niece, with the intent to kill her. Behind the scenes, Ford continues to use Monument Valley as a generic backdrop for the West without once acknowledging that it’s sacred Navajo land. And while Ford considered himself a friend to the Navajos, his portrayal of Native Americans is fraught with stereotypes. But these damaging images were used in service of creating a…

7. 

   S7 · E3 · 8 Oct 2026 · 54 minNew

   The Breakout

   Stanley heads to Hollywood to direct The Killing, a crime caper with a famous cast and a confusing storyline. The film tanks at the box office but attracts the attention of movie star Kirk Douglas, who agrees to star in Stanley's next project. Stanley decides to adapt the antiwar novel Paths of Glory, which he films in Germany and unexpectedly meets the love of his life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8. 

   S7 · E2 · 1 Oct 2026 · 46 min

   The Opening Gambit

   Stanley takes his first crack at filmmaking, starting with shorts and moving up to low-budget independent features. His family bankrolls his productions and his friends act as cast and crew, but his efforts fail to turn a profit. As his first marriage begins to crumble, Stanley plays chess for quarters, until a new friend gives him a shot at the big time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

9. 

   S7 · E1 · 24 Sep 2026 · 50 min

   The Bronx Kid

   Stanley Kubrick grows up rooting for the Yankees, playing drums, and watching World War II newsreels at the local movie theater. At age 13, his father gifts him his first camera, which leads to a prestigious job at a famous magazine... and the opportunity to watch a film being made on the streets of New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10. 

    S7 · 17 Sep 2026 · 2 min

    Season 7 Trailer 3: Stanley

    Actor Sterling Hayden details the worst day of his life, which occurred on the set of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Stanley, from Turner Classic Movies and Criterion, starts September 24. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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