Peter Ustinov

Made films the shows talk about.

Counted as actor. The films the hosts said they acted in, which the two lists below run through too: Spartacus (1960); Topkapi (1964); Robin Hood (2010).

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Steven Spielberg: 1 line

  1. unmapped (led to restoration) · through Spartacus (1960), which they acted in: Steven Spielberg ⇒ Spartacus (the host's read). Spielberg talked Kubrick into letting the film be restored and re-released.
    “and Spielberg knew him then. and was like, well, they're, you know, the American cinema tech or whoever wants to do this.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 2:01:51 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Gladiator (2000): 3 lines

  1. lineage (riff / imitation) · through Spartacus (1960), which they acted in: Spartacus ⇒ Gladiator (the host's read). Richard, seeing Spartacus for the first time, says it is the main thing Gladiator riffs on.
    “this is really the main thing the gladiators are riffing on.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:03:34 · Richard Lawson (0.60 sure it was them)
  2. people (casting approach) · through Spartacus (1960), which they acted in: Spartacus ⇒ Gladiator (the host's read). Gladiator, like Spartacus, is loaded with supporting actors who are thespian gems, which the speaker says Scott recognized.
    “as Ridley Scott recognized about this movie, is like loaded up with supporting actors who are like just thespian gems.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:33:49 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (scene reused) · through Spartacus (1960), which they acted in: Spartacus ⇒ Gladiator (the host's read). The trident thrown into the stands in Spartacus is in Gladiator too, with Russell Crowe doing it.
    “that's literally in Gladiator.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:14:49 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)

Airplane! (1980): 1 line

  1. unmapped (reference) · through Spartacus (1960), which they acted in: Spartacus ⇒ Airplane! (the host's read). The Spartacus bath-scene joke is the joke in Airplane and it still works.
    “there's a reason that it's it's the fucking joke in airplane and that the joke still works so well.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:44:12 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Clueless (1995): 1 line

  1. unmapped (reference) · through Spartacus (1960), which they acted in: Spartacus ⇒ Clueless (the host's read). Richard knew Spartacus mostly through the Clueless clip (and Community jokes) before watching it.
    “to have heard about this movie mostly through Clueless, but also just joked about in community for years”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:43:58 · Richard Lawson (0.60 sure it was them)

Dell Comics: 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through Spartacus (1960), which they acted in: Spartacus ⇒ Dell Comics (the host's read). Spartacus got a Dell Comics color adaptation, like a tie-in of its era.
    “that this had a Dell comics color adaptation”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:59:30 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Mission: Impossible (1996): 1 line

  1. lineage (heist homage) · through Topkapi (1964), which they acted in: Topkapi ⇒ Mission: Impossible (the host's read). Langley heist is an homage to the Jules Dassin heist classics Topkapi and Rififi.
    “the Langley heist is an homage to the Jewel Statsen classics of uh, top copy and uh, Rafifi.”
    The Rewatchables · 'Mission: Impossible' With Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Jason Concepcion · 0:49:53 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999): 1 line

  1. lineage (remake (unmade)) · through Topkapi (1964), which they acted in: Topkapi ⇒ The Thomas Crown Affair (the host's read). MGM tried to remake Topkapi as a sequel to the Brosnan Thomas Crown Affair, with Verhoeven.
    “Because wasn't Verhoven was going to remake Top Cappy as a sequel to Thomas Crown Affair.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:26:03 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Acting (4) everyone in acting

What was said about them, by kind

people (1)

  1. people (same actor): Peter Ustinov → Robin Hood. Ustinov is Prince John in the animated Robin Hood.
    “Usenov is Prince John in the animal animated Robin Hood.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:43:29 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

theme (1)

  1. theme (comparison): Peter Ustinov → Oliver Reed. Ustinov's performance feels to the speaker like Oliver Reed's in Gladiator.
    “it feels like Oliver Reed and Gladiator.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:57:46 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Peter Ustinov: Ustinov's dinner-table impressions of Olivier and Laughton, face and all, are on YouTube.
    “he not only perfectly impersonates Charles Lawton's voice, but he transforms his face.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:25:20 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)