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PODCAST

The Plot Thickens

Our sixth season is Cleopatra, a six-episode series about one of the most expensive and infamous movies ever made. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Cleopatra should have been a smash. Instead, it was a shoot plagued by medical emergencies, climate disasters, nervous breakdowns, and the most scandalous love affair to ever hit a movie set. Join host Ben Mankiewicz as he digs through his own family stories to understand how it turned out so badly for his Oscar-winning

tv & film film history

All Episodes

40:44

Ben Answers Your Cleopatra Questions

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/09/18

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

en

1:00

Ask Ben Your Cleopatra Questions!

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/08/26

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

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46:54

Wildly Successful and Much Maligned

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/08/21

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

en

45:54

Mankiewicz vs. Zanuck

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/08/14

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

en

46:57

Le Scandale

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/08/07

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

en

52:53

The Girl is on Salary

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/07/31

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

en

58:36

Joe

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/07/24

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

en

52:51

London Slog

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/07/17

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

en

3:53

Season 6 Trailer: Cleopatra

The Plot Thickens ·

2025/07/02

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

en

62:35

The Legend

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/07/18

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

en

50:09

The Mythmaker

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/07/11

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

en

52:55

Monument Valley

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/07/04

After D-Day, Ford goes on a historic bender then heads home... not to Hollywood but to Monument Valley, a secluded land with incredible scenery. There, he creates his own kingdom, a place he can work and create art without being under the thumb of studio executives. His stock company follows him from film to film, and Ford rewards his loyal subjects, but he’s not a kind ruler. He mercilessly picks on actors and pits them against each other, sometimes in the cruelest ways possible.Learn more about

en

51:12

The Search

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/06/27

This week, Ben traces the mystery of John Ford's missing D-Day documentary. The one time Ford talked about it, he claimed it was buried in a government film vault, too disturbing for public view. This sends Ben on a globe-trotting journey, following clues in the US, England and Russia. He encounters fellow seekers, as well as skeptics who question whether the footage was lost in battle… or if Ford made the whole thing up. But when new evidence comes to light, Ben's quest takes him to an unexpected

en

43:38

The Commander

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/06/20

Ford is finally in the military and his first assignment is… to make a sex ed film for soldiers! Soon he sees real combat and is injured while filming the battle of Midway. He’s nursed back to health with the help of John Wayne, while his Midway movie wins an Oscar and becomes a favorite of President Roosevelt. Ford then recuts December 7th, a movie directed by his friend and colleague Gregg Toland, to make it less racist. It wins him yet another Oscar. The brass recruit Ford for the assignment of

en

55:22

The Araner

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/06/13

John Ford buys a yacht, where he cavorts, drinks and vacations. But he also keeps an eye on the looming threat in Europe, and uses his new vessel to enlist in the Naval Reserve. He rises through Hollywood and turns his friends into stars, including John Wayne – though he's increasingly abusive towards them on the set. As the ‘30s dissolve into the ‘40s, Ford directs a remarkable string of movies, winning back-to-back Oscars (though he doesn’t show up to the ceremonies). Then war breaks out, and he’s

en

52:06

Go West, Young Man

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/06/06

John Ford was born in Maine as Sean Aloysius O’Feeney… or so he says. His birth records say differently, and it would not be the last time he changes his name. As a child, he visits Ireland and falls in love with his heritage, and later fights at the University of Maine when confronted with an Irish slur. He rediscovers his long-lost brother Francis on the big screen and follows him to Hollywood, where he works as a stunt double until fibbing his way into directing. As silent movies transition to

en

4:44

Season 5 Trailer: Decoding John Ford

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/04/18

Meet John Ford, the curmudgeon with an eyepatch who just happened to be the greatest filmmaker of the 20th Century. Ford was a bully and a drunk who ruled Hollywood for five decades, making dozens of seminal movies – though he was incredibly hard to pin down. His behavior swung wildly from loyalty to cruelty, without notice. He won more Oscars than any director in history, but never showed up to accept an award. And he rewrote American history, painting the country with images so beautiful that

en

52:54

Talking Pictures Drop

The Plot Thickens ·

2024/02/09

While we're hard at work on the next season of The Plot Thickens, we're excited to share Ben Mankiewicz's new podcast, Talking Pictures. The first guest on Talking Pictures is writer director Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, It’s Complicated, The Holiday). Recorded at her home, Meyers talks about casting Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, getting script advice from Sunset Boulevard director Billy Wilder, and what it’s like to become famous for her interiors. Spoiler: it’s frustrating! Nancy

en

18:46

From American Masters: Creative Spark: John Waters on...

The Plot Thickens ·

2023/05/01

We’re sharing a bonus episode from our friends at American Masters: Creative Spark, the PBS podcast that goes in-depth with an iconic artist about the creation of a single work. This episode is about John Waters, a filmmaker who loves to break the rules and make you laugh along the way. The iconoclast has been doing just that over the past six decades with provocative and perverse films like Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, and Female Trouble. Now enshrined as the king of transgressive cinema, Waters

en

30:04

Bonus Episode: Donald Bogle and Racquel Gates

The Plot Thickens ·

2023/02/07

Film scholars Racquel Gates and Donald Bogle detail the rise and fall of Blaxploitation, and how Pam Grier transcended the genre and stayed iconic for decades afterwards.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

en

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