... and that is why I rate it as high as I do.
Both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert seem sedated compared to their more animated personas once they get comfortable with being on TV talking about film versus writing about it. And Gene Siskel rids himself of that mustache that makes him look like a 70s porn star by the very next episode.
Initially their focus is what is happening on the Chicago film front. They first review One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was opening nationally at the time, but then they focus on a local Chicago animation festival showing a clip from Self Service, a piece of animation about mosquitoes and a human host.
Next they talk about "Mr. Quelp" which is a family film. Siskel mentions how it is unusual to see a family film any time of the year, even Christmas. That is actually true. For awhile in the 1970s marriage and family were actually considered "square" and were neglected by the film industry. That trend didn't last long, but it did happen.
They finally hit a film they don't like at all - "Conduct Unbecoming". Their analysis is rather forensic, not at all like their high spirited and witty dissections of films they don't like in future episodes. One thing they change - Later they show rather short clips. In this episode they show about five minutes of this film they both don't like. I have to agree even five minutes of it seem tedious.
Finally they talk about films that are already playing. They like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Hearts of the West", opinions that hold up today. They close with their "dogs of the week" segment concerning films they dislike. Later they have an actual dog join them, but today it's just a recording of a barking dog.
This series quickly morphs into their "Sneak Previews" show that preceded their long running "At the Movies", but it is interesting to see how it all began. Another interesting thing is the introduction. In this first one they open the show with stills from famous classic films, the very first still being Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. It's interesting that all of the youtube copies of this first episode that I could find had truncated the beginning so that this first clip is NOT included. I'm sure the two are looking down on this from above and agree in their disapproval of censoring past artistic works to fit modern sensibilities.
Both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert seem sedated compared to their more animated personas once they get comfortable with being on TV talking about film versus writing about it. And Gene Siskel rids himself of that mustache that makes him look like a 70s porn star by the very next episode.
Initially their focus is what is happening on the Chicago film front. They first review One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was opening nationally at the time, but then they focus on a local Chicago animation festival showing a clip from Self Service, a piece of animation about mosquitoes and a human host.
Next they talk about "Mr. Quelp" which is a family film. Siskel mentions how it is unusual to see a family film any time of the year, even Christmas. That is actually true. For awhile in the 1970s marriage and family were actually considered "square" and were neglected by the film industry. That trend didn't last long, but it did happen.
They finally hit a film they don't like at all - "Conduct Unbecoming". Their analysis is rather forensic, not at all like their high spirited and witty dissections of films they don't like in future episodes. One thing they change - Later they show rather short clips. In this episode they show about five minutes of this film they both don't like. I have to agree even five minutes of it seem tedious.
Finally they talk about films that are already playing. They like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Hearts of the West", opinions that hold up today. They close with their "dogs of the week" segment concerning films they dislike. Later they have an actual dog join them, but today it's just a recording of a barking dog.
This series quickly morphs into their "Sneak Previews" show that preceded their long running "At the Movies", but it is interesting to see how it all began. Another interesting thing is the introduction. In this first one they open the show with stills from famous classic films, the very first still being Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. It's interesting that all of the youtube copies of this first episode that I could find had truncated the beginning so that this first clip is NOT included. I'm sure the two are looking down on this from above and agree in their disapproval of censoring past artistic works to fit modern sensibilities.