Episode 37: NoirCon 2025 Panel: Musicals, Frank Sinatra, and Young at Heart (1954) with Dana Polan

In this episode, Dr. Vanessa Theme Ament, author of The Foley Grail and Foley Artist on such films as Die Hard, Platoon, and Predator, discusses the film Young at Heart with Dr. Dana Polan, professor at NYU's Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies. Vanessa and Dana share their thoughts on Warner Bros.'s 1954 musical, Young at Heart, starring Doris Day and Frank Sinatra. Of particular interest, the conversation centers around how Young at Heart is a remake of Michael Curtiz's 1939 film, The Four Daughters--and how the remake reconsiders the story as a musical, the impact of casting Doris Day and Frank Sinatra, and the changed political and cultural climate of the 1950s. The podcast does contain some spoilers about the plot changes to the remake, so please be aware of that if you have seen the film. Welcome to the Wonderful World of Performative Film Sound.