
Our sixth season is Cleopatra, a six-episode series about one of the most expensive and infamous movies ever made. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Cleopatra should have been a smash. Instead, it was a shoot plagued by medical emergencies, climate disasters, nervous breakdowns, and the most scandalous love affair to ever hit a movie set. Join host Ben Mankiewicz as h... more
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 71 | Founded | 6 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Film HistoryTV & Film | ||||

Ben Mankiewicz received hundreds of voicemails about Cleopatra, and now he's answering them! Well, as many of them as he can. In this special bonus episode, Ben weighs in on the six-hour cut of Cleopatra, what Richard Burton thought of the movie, Jud... more
We’re doing our first-ever Q&A bonus episode, and we want your questions! Call 404-885-0013 to leave a voicemail for Ben. You can ask about Cleopatra, Ben's great-uncle Joe Mankiewicz or the stars of the movie. Remember to tell us your first name and... more
The fate of 20th Century Fox hangs in the balance as Cleopatra premieres. Critics and audiences weigh in, Elizabeth and Richard face momentous life decisions, and Joe sinks into a deep depression. For years to come, Joe and the Mankiewicz family rec... more
Joe’s body reaches its breaking point, and he’s forced to film the last few scenes from a wheelchair. But when production wraps, Fox installs a new studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck, who undercuts Joe’s authority and takes over the edit of Cleopatra. S... more
People also subscribe to these shows.





Just binged season 3 and I’m hooked. Thanks to Ben and TCM.
Love this podcast. Hoping for more seasons now that I’ve listened to all the episodes. Truly great content. Thoughtful and interesting.
Loved it ! Cleopatra was an event in my youth . It would be the 4:30 movie for the whole week . The making of it was a great story . I am now hooked on podcasts and going back to season 2 to listen to the first five seasons of The Plot Thickens!
The Legend was fantastic. I grew up watching westerns with my Dad. I still watch when the are on so much of the perspectives are multi dimentional, the stories are timeless.
So many of these individuals created movies I saw as a little girl rebroadcast on TV. It’s just fascinating to hear the stories behind the glamour and glitz. Re: The series about making “Cleopatra “I just kept thinking, “Poor Joe!”
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Apple Podcasts | #1 | |
Apple Podcasts | #65 | |
Apple Podcasts | #2 | |
Apple Podcasts | #5 | |
Apple Podcasts | #113 | |
Apple Podcasts | #152 |
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Gender Skew | Location | Interests | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professions | Age Range | Household Income | |||
| Social Media Reach | |||||
Exploring the fascinating history and behind-the-scenes narratives of iconic films, the content focuses on the tumultuous production of the film 'Cleopatra', directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Each episode dives into various aspects of filmmaking, from casting challenges and personal anecdotes of the cast, particularly Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, to the chaos surrounding the film's production marked by medical emergencies and personal dramas. Unique insights are provided through the host's familial connections to the film's key figures, making it a compelling listen for cinema enthusiasts interested in the stories that shaped Hollywood's past.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for The Plot Thickens. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to The Plot Thickens and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for The Plot Thickens, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for The Plot Thickens, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers The Plot Thickens has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with The Plot Thickens:
1. The Secret History Of Hollywood
2. It Happened In Hollywood
3. From Beneath the Hollywood Sign
4. WHAT WENT WRONG
5. The Bowery Boys: New York City History
The Plot Thickens launched 6 years ago and published 71 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for The Plot Thickens from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of The Plot Thickens. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.