TV & FilmFilm HistoryExplicit

The Plot Thickens

TCM & Criterion

Our seventh season is Stanley, an 11-episode exploration of Stanley Kubrick created in partnership with Criterion. Stanley traces Kubrick’s journey from a curious Bronx teenager, first inspired by a camera gifted to him by his father, to a visionary director who redefined the art of filmmaking. Across his career, Kubrick pushed boundaries, challenged censorship, and pursued an uncompromising level of creative control that shaped landmark films including Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut. Stanley starts September 24.

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29 episodes
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Avg 39 min
English

Episodes 29

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S7 · E6
Thursday · 55 min
That Unbearable Feeling
Channeling his own growing anxiety, Stanley realizes that the only way to make a movie about nuclear war is to make it a comedy. Calling it Dr. Strangelove, Stanley pushes his talented cast and world-class crew to their limits, resulting in a riotous, polarizing satire that became a counterculture classic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
S7 · E5
October 22 · 53 min
How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Lolita?
Stanley adapts the most shocking book of its time, a purported love story between a middle-aged man and a 12 year-old girl named Lolita. To escape censors, Stanley shoots the movie in England. But it still ends up stirring plenty of controversy, which propels it to become a major hit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
S7 · E4
October 15 · 55 min
A Talented Shit
Kirk Douglas offers Stanley a massive paycheck to take over directing a historical epic called Spartacus. Against his better judgment, Stanley agrees, and gets roped into one of the most difficult productions of his career. Despite the film's success, Stanley regrets his involvement and learns a painful lesson about Hollywood hierarchies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
S7 · E3
October 8 · 54 min
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
S7 · E2
October 1 · 45 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
S7 · E1
September 24 · 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
September 17 · 1 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
September 10 · 1 min
Season 7 Trailer 2: Stanley
Katharina Kubrick recalls life at home with her famous father, where music was a constant presence. Stanley, the new season of The Plot Thickens, starts September 24. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
September 3 · 2 min
Season 7 Trailer: Stanley
Steven Spielberg tells Ben Mankiewicz about the deal he struck with Stanley Kubrick for information about a famous cut scene from Dr. Strangelove. Stanley, an eleven-episode limited series, begins September 24. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 18, 2025 · 40 min
Ben Answers Your Cleopatra Questions
Ben Mankiewicz received hundreds of voicemails about Cleopatra, and now he's answering them! Well, as many of them as he can. In this special bonus episode, Ben weighs in on the six-hour cut of Cleopatra, what Richard Burton thought of the movie, Judy Garland's love for Joe Mankiewicz... and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 26, 2025 · 1 min
Ask Ben Your Cleopatra Questions!
We’re doing our first-ever Q&A bonus episode, and we want your questions! Call 404-885-0013 to leave a voicemail for Ben. You can ask about Cleopatra, Ben's great-uncle Joe Mankiewicz or the stars of the movie. Remember to tell us your first name and where you're calling from. We might use your voice in the episode so keep it clean! And be on the lookout for the Q&A bonus episode next month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
S6 · E6
Aug 21, 2025 · 46 min
Wildly Successful and Much Maligned
The fate of 20th Century Fox hangs in the balance as Cleopatra premieres. Critics and audiences weigh in, Elizabeth and Richard face momentous life decisions, and Joe sinks into a deep depression. For years to come, Joe and the Mankiewicz family reckon the difficult legacy of Cleopatra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
S6 · E5
Aug 14, 2025 · 45 min
Mankiewicz vs. Zanuck
Joe’s body reaches its breaking point, and he’s forced to film the last few scenes from a wheelchair. But when production wraps, Fox installs a new studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck, who undercuts Joe’s authority and takes over the edit of Cleopatra. Soon, Joe and Zanuck wage a very public battle for control of the movie, just months before it’s finally released. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
S6 · E4
Aug 7, 2025 · 46 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
S6 · E3
Jul 31, 2025 · 50 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
S6 · E2
Jul 24, 2025 · 56 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
S6 · E1
Jul 17, 2025 · 50 min
London Slog
20th Century Fox pays Elizabeth Taylor a record-breaking salary to play Cleopatra, then tries to save money by filming the movie in England. That turns out to be a disastrous decision. The weather doesn’t agree with Liz, who suffers one health problem after another, delaying production for months. Fox then faces the question: pull the plug on this movie... or fire the director and find someone new to save the picture? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 2, 2025 · 3 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 through his own family stories to understand how it turned out so badly for his Oscar-winning uncle. Cleopatra, a six-episode limited series, begins July 17. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
S5 · E7
Jul 18, 2024 · 1 hr 2 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 States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
S5 · E6
Jul 11, 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 complex, fascinating film that dared to condemn bigotry and has mesmerized generations of film fans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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