Hello Reader,

Joan Micklin Silver was writing and directing movies in 1970s America when very few women were. Elaine May’s A New Leaf came a few years before Silver’s first feature, but Silver pre-dated filmmakers like Claudia Weill, Nora Ephron, and more who followed in her footsteps.

Her four features are all excellent, and a great B Side to the era's films — the Jewishness of a Woody Allen movie without all the creepiness, the emancipated women of Mazursky but told by a woman.

But what strikes me most when watching them today is how thoroughly modern they are. You forget Chilly Scenes of Winter was made in the '70s until one line sticks out because everything else still resonates today.

Crossing Delancey's story of a woman realizing that what she thinks she wants isn't what she actually wants is timeless — and you can see versions of it playing out in shows like Looking and Gossip Girl.

But until recently, her films were either impossible to see (Chilly Scenes got its first home video release two years ago and was only available on DVD/Blu Ray from Criterion) or hard to see as they were meant to be seen. (Crossing Delancey has never looked as good as its 4K restoration.)

Episode 163: Joan Micklin Silver's Chilly Scenes of Winter and Crossing Delancey - from flop to hit (feat. Lindsay Pugh)

Today on the podcast, Woman in Revolt Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Pugh joins me to discuss why we love Joan Micklin Silver, why her films have aged so well (and the few things that haven’t), and what makes her such a great filmmaker both as a visual stylist and a modern storyteller.

We go deep on her biggest flop, the excellent Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), and her biggest hit, Crossing Delancey (1988).

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Happy watching/listening!

Alex