The king of the movie reviewers is Roger Ebert. In addition to being the best film critic on the planet, Roger is one of the smartest human beings I know.
Some people that become big stars get big heads. That wasn’t the case with either Roger or Gene Siskel. Roger was totally welcoming to me when I became a critic, which wasn’t the case with all of the critics. Remember, I was just this radio guy who was a big fan of movies, and happened to review them on my show — I wasn’t really doing it as a job like the rest of them.
But Roger came up to me at one of my early screenings and made a big point of saying in front of everyone: “You finally have a worthwhile profession.”
The highlight of my time as a film critic probably came when I was on a two-man panel discussion about film in Indiana with Roger Ebert — just the two of us. Not that we were on the same level in any way. This is a man who can dissect a film shot by shot, frame by frame. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of film. He knows just about all there is to know... and suffice it to say, I don’t know, and can’t do, any of those things.
One of the people in the audience asked Roger what his favorite genre of film was, and he answered “Film Noir.” I said, “I don’t even know what that is!”
I have two more stories to give you an idea of how passionate Roger Ebert is about film. When the movie Babe came out, I loved it and I knew Roger loved it, but my wife at the time had no interest in seeing it. I asked him if he would come on my show to help me convince her that she had to see the movie. He did it with great enthusiasm. It’s hard to say no when the greatest film critic in the world tells you that you have to see a movie.
Another time I invited Roger and his wife over to my house for a party (along with a bunch of other friends). I had just gotten this new plasma television, and asked Roger if he wanted to come in and see it. I put on the film Wyatt Earp which had just come out on DVD, because I love that opening scene — the way they use sound is unbelievable.
While we were watching that opening scene, with the sound cranked to ear splitting levels, Roger was doing a dissertation on why Val Kilmer should have been nominated for an Academy Award for that role, and Roger’s wife Chaz walked into the room.
She looked at what we were doing, sighed, and said. “Oh great. Just like home.”
RICK KAEMPFER remembers
Rick was also there for the Ebert movie dissertation that day... "My three kids, who were all little at the time, were also there. They sat quietly and listened to Roger pontificating about the genre of Westerns, and the acting in some of those old Westerns, and before he was through, a small crowd had formed. All of us were spellbound. When we got in our car to leave later that day, my oldest son Tommy, who was about eight or nine, said to me, “Who was that friend of John’s? Boy, he sure does love movies.”
Records Truly is My Middle name is available on paperback here at Eckhartz Press, and the e-book is available at all the major e-book distributors including amazon.
