Between 2018 and 2022 (or so) I hosted my podcast, ‘Movies Til Dawn’, which consisted of me and veteran directors having conversations about…well…lots of different stuff. There was no specific formula to these conversations–I usually told the subject beforehand that we could talk about anything they felt like. Thus my interviews with Mel Brooks and Peter Bogdanovich are largely anecdotal while others are more oriented toward the specific methods deployed by the filmmaker when practicing their craft. (By the way, do you like how I just namedropped two major headliners? You learn to be shameless in this business–otherwise you’re nowhere). I was fortunate to get some of the best filmmakers living to participate including, beyond Mel and Peter, people like Mary Harron, John Sayles, Randall Kleiser, Andy Garcia, Griffin Dunne, Harold Becker…I’m leaving out a ton more. Anyway, I’ve recently made it a lot easier to access these episodes by adding them to my website. Click here to explore the series and hopefully dive in for some film-centric fun. I’ve been asked a number of times why I stopped doing the podcast and the answer is simple; I ran out of interview subjects. I only wanted to feature filmmakers with twenty-five or more years of experience–no ‘up-and-comers’ need apply. There were a few that I wanted who turned me down and always for the same reason; they were writing a book about their life and experiences and didn’t want to ‘give it all away’ in my little podcast. This couldn’t have b been more ridiculous–I always wanted to tell them that nobody was going to read their book anyway (for the most part) so the podcast appearance might actually help them gin up some interest. But I’m too polite a guy for that kind of thing. Or too cowardly. Take your pick.

Which leads me to the above one-hour doc featuring the great Howard Hawks talking about–what else?–himself. It was made for German television and shot just a month before Hawks passed away in 1977. The setting is Palm Spring, CA. where Hawks was living in retirement. He’s a wonderful character–a perfect representation of what use to be called “a man’s man”–taciturn, proud, low-key, tough. But underneath it all you see a man who loved his work and life experiences and who was more than pleased to be sharing them, all the while keeping up a a guarded but courtly front. Hawks is seen wandering around a stock-car racetrack, inspecting vehicles with his very young son Gregg–Hawks loved flying, racing, motorcycles etc. and it’s quite touching to see this aging he-man proudly observing his hot-rod son following in his father’s dare-devil footsteps. Enjoy the doc. Enjoy the podcast. Enjoy life–it’s later than you think…