Episode 150: Episode 150 - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

The story of Episode 150 of The Film ’89 Podcast is one of ‘the episode that nearly wasn’t’. It was to be a gift to our listeners as Steve, Neil and Skye finally covered a film that has become the one most requested by our listeners to get the Film ’89 treatment, Raiders of the Lost Ark. The initial recording went well until, at the end, it quickly became apparent that Neil’s audio hadn’t recorded. In the days that followed, no fix could be found, and it was looking likely that the episode was lost. Then tragedy struck on Wednesday, May 6th, when news broke of the passing of our dear friend, regular guest-host and prolific film poster artist, Tony Stella. The impact of Tony’s sudden and tragic passing has been one that we have struggled to come to terms with, but when he was last on Film ’89, Tony made plans to join us when we finally got around to covering Raiders, one of his favourite films. Alas, in the weeks leading up to recording Raiders, Tony’s workload meant he had to pass on the episode. Following the tragedy that ensued, the Film ’89 team felt that every effort should be made to salvage the episode as a small but fitting tribute to the man who would have loved discussing one of his favourite films. In true hero fashion, Neil stepped up to the mic and, from memory and some notes cribbed from the remaining audio of Steve and Skye, re-recorded his audio 4 days after the initial recording. This was then painstakingly edited into the original audio of the other two hosts, and we hope the final product meets our usual standards. The film itself needs no introduction; we’ll let the episode cover that. Tony Stella was, in our opinion, the greatest living film poster artist, who, in his passing, leaves a hole that cannot be filled. More than that, he was a loving father and our very dear friend. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family, friends, and our thanks go out to the thousands of people who have given tribute to both the great man and his incredible legacy of phenomenal artwork. Tony, this one’s for you, you’ll always be classy.