Friday, July 25, 2008

Ebert reflects

Roger Ebert reflected this week on his time with Gene Siskel doing installments of "At the Movies." Here's one of his stories:
The day we fully realized it in our guts, I think, was the first time we were invited to appear with Johnny Carson. We were scared out of our minds. We'd been briefed on likely questions by one of the show's writers, but moments before airtime he popped his head into the dressing room and said, "Johnny may ask you for some of your favorite movies this year."
Gene and I stared at each other in horror. "What was one of your favorite movies this year?" he asked me. "Gone With the Wind," I said. The Doc Severinsen orchestra had started playing the famous "Tonight Show" theme. Neither one of us could think of a single movie. Gene called our office in Chicago. "Tell me some movies we liked this year," he said. This is a true story.
It's doubtful that anyone will ever become the go to movie reviewer that Ebert has been for the past three decades.

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