PEEPING TOM (1960)

With special guest Mickey Boardman

Intro, Math Club, and Debate Society (spoiler-free) 00:00-22:47
Honor Roll and Detention (spoiler-heavy) 22:48-52:46
Superlatives (spoiler-heavier) 52:47-1:10:51

Director Michael Powell
Screenplay Leo Marks
Featuring Maxine Audley, Keith Baxter, Carl Boehm, Brenda Bruce, Shirley Ann Field, Pamela Green, Esmond Knight, Anna Massey, Martin Miller, Moira Shearer, Jack Watson

Released May 16, 1960 (UK)
Budget £ 135,000
Box office £ 25,000

SPOILER-FREE SYNOPSIS

A film studio focus puller moonlighting as a DIY pornographer, Mark Lewis has a problem.  And he’s not sure he wants to get rid of it.  You see, Mark has a certain kink, a turn-on:  he loves, gets off even, on the sight of women in fear.  Fear of death, fear of Mark, fear of the unknown.  His weapon is a film camera, and after he stalks and kills a prostitute, he films the police’s response to it, all in the name of creating what Mark calls a “documentary.”  At home, in the house his family once owned but now is filled with tenants, he soon meets 21 year old Helen, who takes a liking to the young man, intrigued by his mysterious ways.  Will this relationship be the thing to help Mark with his issues?  Will Helen, and her blind, intuitive mother, succumb to Mark’s bizarre predilections?  And where the hell did Vivian, the film’s lead stand-in, learn to dance like that?

SPOILER-FREE GUEST BIO

Mickey Boardman is a writer, socialite, philanthropist, and media personality. From 1993 to 2023, he served as an editorial director and wrote three columns for Paper magazine:  the “Ask Mr. Mickey” advice column, a body positivity column called “Fat and All That,” and the column “Reserved,” for which he interviewed fashion legends like Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, and Virgil Abloh. His writing has also appeared in a little paper we like to call the NY Times. Mickey is also an active commentator on the New York social/fashion scene and has appeared as a cultural commentator, lifestyle expert, and fashion guru for networks like VH1, A&E, CNN, and E!.  He has also been recognized as one of New York magazine’s “Most Photographed Faces in New York” and voted by Fashion Week Daily as one of its Most-Invited People. Favorite recess snack: Pillsbury food sticks.

EPISODE NOTES

Music from “Peeping Tom” by Brian Easdale.

Why did Professor Louryk choose this film? Find out in our Blog.

TRAILER

SUPERLATIVES

The Gaspar Noe Award for Most Disturbing Scene
Mickey: Mark won’t stop showing Helen the videos of him as a child
Eric: The reveal of Lorraine’s scar/cleft lip in first photography scene
Bradford: It is revealed that Mark has been recording everyone in the house

The Ellen Ripley Award for Character Who Most Deserves to Live
Mickey: Vivian
Eric: Vivian
Bradford: Vivian

The Michael Myers Award for Character Who Most Deserves to Die
Mickey: Pauline Shields
Eric: Detective Baxter
Bradford: Pauline Shields

The Ken Russell Award for Most Baroque Screen Moment
Mickey: Mrs. Stephens confronts Mark in the dark room
Eric: Mark’s “paparazzi run/suicide” in the dark room
Bradford: Mark’s “paparazzi run/suicide” in the dark room

The Brad Dourif Award for Character Who Could Have Been Played by Brad Dourif
Mickey: Mark’s work friend who is always handing him “views”
Eric: Mark
Bradford: Detective Baxter

FINAL LETTER GRADE

Mickey: A+
Eric: B
Bradford: A