Episode 719: The Grifters (1990)

The Projection Booth Podcast

The Projection Booth

Film Reviews, Film Interviews, Film History, Tv & Film

4.8 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2024

⏱️ 168 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Noirvember 2024 ends with a bang as we delve into Stephen Frears' electrifying neo-noir The Grifters. Adapted from Jim Thompson’s novel by screenwriter Donald Westlake, this razor-sharp film stars Anjelica Huston as Lily Dillon, a veteran con artist manipulating the odds at the racetrack. Her uneasy reunion with estranged son Roy (John Cusack) and his cunning girlfriend Myra (Annette Bening) sparks a volatile triangle of deception and betrayal in the high-stakes world of grifting.

Mike is joined by crime fiction experts Andrew Nette and Jedidiah Ayres to untangle this web of cons and double-crosses. Plus, executive producer Barbara De Fina and producer Peggy Rajski reveal what it took to bring this stylish, unsettling tale to life.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hold your ears, folks.
0:06.8	It's showtime.
0:08.6	People pay good money to see this movie.
0:10.9	When they go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, hot popcorn, and no monsters in the projection booth.
0:17.3	Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring.
0:20.2	Shut it off.
0:25.5	Turn it off.
0:26.8	Turn it off.
0:31.5	Ah!
0:32.1	Yeah! It begins. It begins with seduction.
1:00.0	The lady?
1:02.0	Or the lute?
1:04.0	It leads to betrayal.
1:06.0	You're working some angler. Don't tell me you're not, because I wrote the book.
1:10.0	What do you sell anyway? Self-confidence. You're not skimming, and don't tell me you're not, because I wrote the book. What do you sell anyway?
1:11.7	Self-confidence.
1:13.0	You're not skimming this bin, really.
1:16.3	Oh, well, you know, clip the buck here and the buck there.
1:23.6	It's getting better.
1:25.5	I can walk away from it any time I want.
1:27.9	I've heard that before.
1:29.4	And it ends with murder.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Projection Booth, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Projection Booth and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.