Lillian Hellman
American playwright and prose writerWikipedia
36
MENTIONS
20
EPISODES
19
PODCASTS
Search complete. 36 mentions across 20 episodes found for "Lillian Hellman".
Sep 14, 2026
VictoriaHOST
You go off, sis.
VictoriaHOST
The screenplay was written by Vladimir Posner, and it's based on the 1946 L- Lillian Hellman play of the same name.
VictoriaHOST
On this show, we covered The Little Foxes.
VictoriaHOST
That was also based on a Lillian Hellman play, and this is actually meant to be a prequel.
VictoriaHOST
Um, it was written afterward, but it's set further into the past, and we learn a bit more about why the Hubbard family is the way it is, which we'll get more into.
VictoriaHOST
But essentially, we're seeing a power dynamic shift and the loyalties around it shift within this big, wealthy family, and those of us who have seen The Little Foxes and know that story, who didn't even know we need- I mean, I didn't know I needed a prequel to The Little Foxes, but apparently I did.
6 MINS LATER
VictoriaHOST
They really wanted to get a Oscar nomination for their player, Ann Blyth.
VictoriaHOST
But instead of being a source of pride or profit, Another Part of the Forest only got a smattering of positive reviews and wound up losing money for Universal.
David RiganoHOST
Was she satisfied with her literary position? I think you mentioned that she wasn't crazy about Faulkner or Hemingway.
David RiganoHOST
She detested Lillian Hellman.
Julie GilbertGUEST
Detested.
David RiganoHOST
And you saw them avoid each other on the Upper East Side.
SimonHOST
Today's review is Watch on the Rhine.
SimonHOST
Watch on the Rhine, released in 1943, is a film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play, brought to life by directors Herman Shumlin and Hal Moore.
SimonHOST
The movie is a gripping drama thriller set against the backdrop of World War II, exploring themes of anti-fascism and moral courage.
SimonHOST
The story follows Kurt Muller, played by Paul Lucas, a German-born engineer, his American wife Sarah, played by Bette Davis, and their children as they travel from Mexico to the United States to visit Sarah's family.
Trevor OwensHOST
Jane Fonda as Lillian, stars Jane Fonda as Lillian and Vanessa Redgrave as the titular Julia.
Andrea BirdingHOST
Yes, this one is about playwright Lillian Hellman, who, at the request of her old friend Julia, goes on a dangerous mission to smuggle money into Nazi Germany.
Andrea BirdingHOST
A
Trevor OwensHOST
really light and breezy movie.
Trevor OwensHOST
So a heck of a career that Alvin Sargent has had.
Trevor OwensHOST
Yeah.
Trevor OwensHOST
But this was based on Lillian Hellman's 1973 book.
Trevor OwensHOST
semi-autobiographical fiction book, Pentimento.
Skye OrchardHOST
Sabrina says, You should have seen he and Brad walk into math class.
Skye OrchardHOST
It was like Lillian Hellman walking into Sardi's after The Little Foxes.
Laura CotterHOST
This is a direct
Skye OrchardHOST
reference to the 1977 film Julia, where a young Jane Fonda plays Lillian Hellman, and this exact scene occurs in which she receives about a minute of standing ovation within the restaurant.
Skye OrchardHOST
Lillian Hellman was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism.
Skye OrchardHOST
Works include The Children's Hour, my personal favorite of hers, and The Little Foxes.
Skye OrchardHOST
The Little Foxes is a 1939 play considered a classic of 20th century drama.
Skye OrchardHOST
The play is set in a small town in Alabama in 1900.
Blanca Michael WardNARRATOR
The first issue was published in December 1971 and ran as an insert in the year-end issue of New York, thanks to Mr. Felker, who financed and promoted it.
Blanca Michael WardNARRATOR
the first full stand-alone issue came out in january nineteen seventy two again with mr felker's backing the cover article the housewife's moment of truth explored the conflicts inherent in juggling work and home life it also notably featured a signed list of fifty-three well-known women who acknowledged that they had sought illegal abortions among them the tennis star billy jean king the singer judy collins the playwright lillian hellman and the historian barbara touchman Though the magazine appeared on newsstands in January, it was labeled Spring so that if it didn't sell, it wouldn't look stale.
Blanca Michael WardNARRATOR
But all 300,000 copies sold out in eight days, thousands of letters from grateful readers poured in, and Ms. began publishing monthly that July.
Blanca Michael WardNARRATOR
skeptics abounded harry riesner a prominent television news anchor dismissed the whole enterprise saying i'll give it six months before they run out of things to say he subsequently apologized president richard m nixon denigrated the term miz wondering aloud to harry kissinger how many people really have read gloria steinem and given one shit about that The magazine attracted prominent writers, including Alice Walker, Adrienne Rich, Toni Morrison, and Vivian Gornick.
Michael CaryHOST
Perhaps it would be as well to say that the old conception, replaced by a later choice, is a way of seeing and seeing again.
Michael CaryHOST
That quote is from American playwright Lillian Hellman, In this podcast, we'll learn from leaders who have done that kind of looking within their own lives.
Michael CaryHOST
Men and women who lived and grew in leadership, community, service, and being, and then discovered something new.
Michael CaryHOST
What changed? What held? What do they see now that they couldn't see before? I'm Michael Cary.
Thomas DohertyGUEST
which adds just a little bit of complexity to it.
Thomas DohertyGUEST
The most notorious example, and she's portrayed in the play, is Lillian Hellman, who, when she was called before the committee in 1947, famously wrote a letter saying, you know, I refuse to cut my conscience to this year's fashion.
Thomas DohertyGUEST
And she had notoriously cut her conscience to the fashion of 39 and 41 with no problem whatsoever.
Bill BernadoneHOST
The Bryan Cranston Trumbo movie from about a decade ago is one of my personal favorites on this topic.
25 MINS LATER
Jeffrey RosenGUEST
You know, just to give this some historical context, the big time that the Fifth Amendment became front and center in the 20th century was during the McCarthy hearings, where the Committee on Un-American Activity was hauling all sorts of brilliant artists and composers and actors.
Jeffrey RosenGUEST
before its committee run by the demagogue Joseph McCarthy and asking him to name names.
Jeffrey RosenGUEST
And the playwright Lillian Hellman decided to plead the fifth on the advice of her lawyer, Joseph Rout, not because she felt that she was guilty, but she thought if she didn't, then she'd be forced to name names.
Jeffrey RosenGUEST
And she thought that that was... unfair and wrong and didn't want to be prosecuted for her failure to do that.
Kevin JacobsenHOST
Uh, but like Audrey, Shirley had other films in 1961, such as All in a Night's Work and Two Loves, but it was The Children's Hour that brought her acclaim.
Kevin JacobsenHOST
So Children's Hour began with the play of the same name by Lillian Hellman, which was first staged on Broadway in 1934, and it tells a story of two women, Karen and Martha, who run a boarding school for girls whose lives are basically ruined by a rotten kid named Mary spreading a lie about Karen and Martha being lovers, which ruins the school's reputation.
Kevin JacobsenHOST
So this had been adapted to a film in 1936 by William Wyler for these three, which changed the plot to remove any mention of lesbianism.
Kevin JacobsenHOST
And then for this film, Wyler wanted to revisit the material with the Hays Code being a, a little more loosened and felt inspired by some of the horrors of the, uh, House Un-American Activities Committee and the blacklist.
John TGUEST
Every scene sort of leads into the next.
John TGUEST
There's very much a "this action leads"... and it feels like a screenwriting course while watching it.
John TGUEST
Um, it's so well done by Lillian Hellman.
John TGUEST
And obviously we're focusing on Audrey and Shirley, but really the performances in this are really across the board really good.
Zachary KarabellHOST
And algorithmically, that never will get attention, unless you say, it's the last nice weekend or something vaguely apocalyptic.
Zachary KarabellHOST
There was a great line that Lillian Hellman had, famous commentator, very spicy and acerbic, who was brought up in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee and questioned about her affiliation with communism.
Zachary KarabellHOST
And she says, I will not cut my cloth to fit today's fashion.
Zachary KarabellHOST
Basically saying, I'm not gonna make these compromises.
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