Charles Manson’s Reign
A Podcast, New Film starring Pitt & DiCaprio
Charles Manson is certainly a hot topic these days. Perhaps everyone was waiting for the infamous cult leader to finally die, which he did in 2017, before delving into his insanely fascinating story.
The most recent place we’ve explored the Manson murders was on the extraordinary podcast, You Must Remember This, written, edited, and narrated by Karina Longworth (above). The film journalist/historian and cinema blogger started the podcast in 2014 as a passion project, as a way of telling the sordid details of old movieland scandals her way. Heavily researched, Karina’s soothing, sexy voice divulges “the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century.” Think L.A. Confidential, but true.
So how does the Charles Manson crime fit into La La Land folklore? We all know about his most famous victim, the young, beautiful, very pregnant actress Sharon Tate, and the husband she left behind, director Roman Polanski. But you’ll be surprised and truly impressed by Karina’s extensive knowledge of the many other Hollywood connections Charlie had, including his writing a song for the Beach Boys. Seriously. We highly recommend tuning into You Must Remember This and beginning with the super-satisfying 12-part Manson series.
Two films and a new documentary are coming out about Manson in the coming months as well. First up is Inside the Manson Cult: The Lost Tapes on Fox-TV, September 17th. The newest of what seems like hundreds of other documentaries examining the notorious Manson and his murderous followers, is narrated by gruff-voiced actor Liev Schreiber.
Charlie Says, a new film from American Psycho director Mary Harron, is based in part on a memoir by Karlene Faith, a young grad student who helped educate three of Manson’s female followers during their incarceration. Starring our favorite actor from Nurse Jackie, Merritt Wever, as Faith, and Suki Waterhouse, Hannah Murray, and Sosie Bacon as Charlie’s manipulated devotees. And Manson is embodied by someone totally unexpected: Matt Smith, aka Prince Philip from the first two seasons of The Crown.
Finally, writer/director Quentin Tarantino is clearly having the time of his life with his newest project, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The retelling of the horror story as seen through the eyes of a washed-up Western actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double (Brad Pitt) as they maneuver their way through the helter skelter mania that hit Los Angeles after the murders. The cast is literally a who’s who of star power so bright, you may actually need shades to watch this high wattage film. Margot Robbie is Sharon Tate, Dakota Fanning is Squeaky Fromme, Damian Lewis is Steve McQueen, along with Tarantino regulars Kurt Russell, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Zoe Bell. Whomever is playing Charlie though, remains a mystery. Check out the behind-the-scenes footage of the film below.
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is set to hit screens in August 2019, exactly 50 years since the murders.
