Siskel & Ebert on Silent Movies (1990)

[Tastypotpie]

Some of you folks may have seen this but I thought this was kinda neat.
A rundown by Siskel and Ebert in 1990 of some the silent films, and the versions they were in, that were available at the time.

Interesting bits include Siskel and Ebert talking about Clara Bow's "IT" ---with video sourced from Grapevine!
Metropolis with jazz music (??!!), clips from HBO/Thames VHS tapes that are OOP, a mention about how the 9 hour version of GREED survived in MGM's vaults until the 50's (whut?!), and a mention about Rudolph Valentino and kinda, sorta, maybe bisexuality appeal.



(btw, can't get this video to upload for some reason. Also, not sure if this video violates Nitrateville's copyright policy or not)

[syd]

Movie Criticism today is so scattered and
varied that it is hard to distinguish which
critics are subsidized by which studio or are
junket junkies.

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert started on public
television. That is where some of their strongest
shows emanated. They had freedom to speak their
minds without corporate intervention (the Dog of the
Week was an especially sharp jab at grindhouse fare).

They sought to educate people about the movies and
presented themselves as members of the audience
who didn't want the average moviegoer to waste money
on worthless films (Turk 182 enraged Roger Ebert so much
that it was brought up on several shows as a movie with an
"Idiot Plot": Any plot containing problems that would be
solved instantly if all of the characters were not idiots.).

[Mitch Farish]

I remember this particular show very well. Didn't believe I'd ever see it again. Thanks for finding and sharing.