The Rewatchables
The Ringer
TV & Film
When They Were Making It
by Patrick Rankin
Today: #63 in TV & Film on our combined chart.
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Ben Mandelker & Ronnie Karam
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| Date | Apple Podcasts |
|---|---|
| Oct 1 | #28 |
About the show
The real human stories behind classic Hollywood's greatest films and legends.
Marilyn Monroe. Casablanca. Audrey Hepburn. The Wizard of Oz. Charlie Chaplin. Breakfast at Tiffany's. Alfred Hitchcock. Sunset Boulevard.
What do they all have in common?
They had to make it first.
Each week, we go beyond the legend to explore classic Hollywood's biggest icons and most beloved films.
Not the myths. Not the takedowns. The whole human story.
From the silent era to the early 1960s — the people, the films, and the impossible work of becoming a legend.
WTWMI is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Rankin. Original artwork by Simone Beech and original music by Lionel Ziblat.
A new chapter every Tuesday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Latest episodes
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Edward G. Robinson: Hollywood's Literal OG — Little Caesar, the Blacklist Era, and the Man Behind the Movie Gangster
September 29, 2026 · 1 hr 26 minEdward G. Robinson helped invent the modern movie gangster. As Rico Bandello in Little Caesar, he made the short, sharp-eyed criminal not only the centre of a Hollywood picture, but a defining figure in American pop culture. And in doing…
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Judy Garland's A Star Is Born (1954): Hollywood's Most Complicated Comeback — A Fragile Icon, Studio Butchering, and an Infamous Oscar Upset
September 22, 2026 · 1 hr 33 minBy 1950, MGM was done with Judy Garland — and so, it seemed, was Hollywood. A Star Is Born was the film that was supposed to change all of that. After a devastating breakdown, the end of her studio contract, and an industry convinced she…
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Veronica Lake: The Making and Unmaking of a Movie Star — Film Noir Stardom, a Fallen-Star Story, and the Woman Behind It All
September 15, 2026 · 1 hr 16 minVeronica Lake was one of the most unforgettable faces of 1940s Hollywood: blonde, beautiful, elusive, with a curtain of hair falling across one eye. Paramount turned that image into a sensation. But behind the "Peek-a-Boo Girl" was…
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Charlie Chaplin, Part 2: The War Against Hollywood's Most Famous Man — Private Scandals, Political Persecution, and American Exile
September 8, 2026 · 1 hr 39 minThis is Part 2 of our two-part series on Charlie Chaplin. At the height of his silent-film power, Charlie Chaplin was one of the most famous and successful people in the world. He owned his studio, controlled his work, and had transformed…
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Charlie Chaplin, Part 1: The Making of the World's Greatest Comedian — Victorian Poverty, Silent Superstardom, and a Troubling Private Life
September 1, 2026 · 1 hr 30 minThis is Part 1 of our two-part series on Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin, one of the greatest icons of silent cinema and film comedy, built his legend on making the world laugh. But behind his beloved image was a private life that was…
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Shirley Temple: Hollywood's Most Famous Child Star — Depression-Era Stardom, the Studio System, and an Extraordinary Second Act
August 25, 2026 · 1 hr 33 minShirley Temple was the most famous child star Hollywood had ever seen — a six-year-old who became America's biggest box-office attraction, helped carry Twentieth Century-Fox through the Great Depression, and grew up inside a studio system…
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Dorothy Dandridge, Part 2: Hollywood's First Black Leading Lady — Island in the Sun, Porgy and Bess, and the Promise Hollywood Couldn't Keep
August 18, 2026 · 1 hr 29 minBy 1955, Dorothy Dandridge had done what Hollywood once seemed determined to make impossible — become a genuine leading lady, carry a major studio picture, and earn a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards. But after Carmen Jones…
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Dorothy Dandridge, Part 1: A Star of Her Own Making — Baptism by Show Business, Carmen Jones, and a Historic Oscar Nomination
August 11, 2026 · 1 hr 22 minDorothy Dandridge was one of the most electrifying talents Hollywood ever tried to contain — a trailblazing performer who would become the first Black woman nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and whose story began long before anyone in…