From April to July 1975, I wrote film reviews and related articles for the Richmond Mercury, a weekly newspaper that was an alternative to the daily Times-Dispatch and News Leader. (Available online are a concise history of the Mercury and the Library of Virginia’s collection of all Mercury issues.)
I recently downloaded all of my reviews, ranging from some now deservedly forgotten losers (At Long Last Love and Challenge) to some well-known blockbusters (Jaws and Tommy). The spring and early summer of 1975 had many highs and far more lows coming out of Hollywood. I got the opportunity to be the film critic when the Mercury‘s editor offered me the anssignment after reading my satiric ad for the Committee for Reunion with England that was published on March 26, 1975. I took over from the previous critic, two weeks later on April 9, and wrote weekly reviews through Jul 23. The previous critic returned to the critic’s column on July 30, but by the end of August the Mercury went bankrupt. (I recall the editor criticizing me for being too harsh on some of the films, and at least one letter taking me to task for my harsh critique of Tommy was published in late June.)
In looking over my reviews, I realize that I had unadulterated praise only for two films: the Oscar-winning Vietnam War documentary Hearts and Minds and the Michelangelo Antonioni film The Passenger. I criticized Jaws for Spielberg’s meager direction (who knew he would become one of Hollywood’s most successful filmmakers). I think my best review was for The Day of the Locust, because I was able to discuss at length the novel by Nathanael West, who was one of my favorite writers from the 1930s. (I also recall that Roy Proctor, who was then the movie critic for the News Leader, telephoned me pumping me for information about the novel, which he had not read, that he could incorporate in his review.)
In looking at the columns, I also realize how much the movie theater business in Richmond has changed. Nearly all of the theaters that screened the films are now defunct: Biograph, Capitol, Colonial, Ridge, Towne, Westhampton, and Willow Lawn. Only the Byrd remains, and it is a second-run house. Also, it was fascinating to see the advertisements for long closed restaurants that ran adjacent to the reviews. The Lamplighter, L’Italia, La Petite France, The Warehouse, J.W. Rayle, and The Park, which were some of my favorite restaurants in Richmond’s Fan and the West End, are long gone.
But what do you expect — this was 50 years ago.
For those who would enjoy a trip down memory lane, here’s a list of my reviews. The links on each title take you to a PDF of the original review. The notes column gives a quick quote from each review.
| DATE | FILM | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| 1975-04-09 | The Night Porter | “Within recent memory, this is the worst film I have seen.” A sadomasochistic drama with Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling |
| 1975-04-16 | Ann Arbor Film Festival – part 1 | An article about an upcoming experimental film festival at Va, Commonwealth University |
| 1975-04-16 | At Long Last Love | A tortured musical directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starting Burt Reynolds & Cybill Shepherd: “… an outrage to any lover of [Cole] Porter.” |
| 1975-04-23 | Ann Arbor Film Festival – part 2 | Follow-up article on the festival, reporting that VCU refused a public screening of “Nudes,” “which makes ‘The Devil in Miss Jones’ look tame.” |
| 1975-04-23 | Shampoo | Starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, & Goldie Hawn. “…one can honestly give it [the film] only the faint praise of ‘not bad.'” |
| 1975-04-30 | The Great Waldo Pepper | Starring Robert Redford & Susan Sarandon. Directed by George Roy Hill (“Butch Cassidy” and “The Sting”) “… it has the kind of intellect and sensibility usually found in a junior high gym class.” |
| 1975-05-07 | Challenge and Man from the East | “‘Challenge’ is a nice family show, if your family includes arsonists, sadists, and murderers.” |
| 1975-05-14 | Capone | Starring Ben Gazzara. “The makers of ‘Capone’ start out for ‘Godfather III’ but end up with something less than ‘The Untouchables.’ Along the way they play with enough cliches to embarrass even TV’s Elliott Ness.” |
| 1975-05-21 | Hearts and Minds | Oscar winning documentary. Ultimately, ‘Hearts and Mind’ reveals a war that, for all the journalistic coverage, has never been adequately described or explained. Perhaps, what was needed was not just journalists, but artists.” |
| 1975-05-28 | The Day of the Locust | “In the realm of art nothing is sadder than a failed work, but that is what John Schlesinger’s film version of [Nathanael] West’s novel is.” |
| 1975-06-04 | Tommy | Ken Russell’s film based on The Who’s rock opera. “In some rude way the movie does fascinate, just as an over-inflated balloon keeps you wondering when it will explode.” |
| 1975-06-11 | Locust letter | A letter complimenting the Richmond Mercury, including the review of “The Day of the Locust” |
| 1975-06-11 | The Prisoner of Second Ave | Neil Simon’s play, starring Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft. “[Neil Simon] manufactures his hu |
| 1975-06-18 | Inside Hollywood (book review) | A review of two books about modern Hollywood and filmmaking.” |
| 1975-06-18 | Linda Lovelace for President | Porn star satire. “There’s plenty of [‘Blazing Saddles’] vulgarity, but none of the humor.” |
| 1975-06-25 | The Passenger | Directed by Michelangel Antonioni. Starring Jack Nicholson. “If Antonioni works hard technically, he works even harder mentally. And he makes the audience work hard too.” |
| 1975-06-25 | Tommy letter | A letter of complaint that I had missed the point of “Tommy.” |
| 1975-07-02 | Jaws | “… Spielberg is an excellent old-fashioned director with a straight-forward narrative style.” |
| 1975-07-09 | The Return of the Pink Panther & French Connection II | Return of PP: “… since these jokes don’t take their humor from the film, they don’t give it any in return.” Fr Connection II: “… the confused mixture of entertainment and message ends in eliminating both.” |
| 1975-07-16 | Bugs Bunny Superstar | 10 Warners Bros. cartoons. “They are good comedies, not just good cartoons.” |
| 1975-07-23 | Love and Death | Directed by Woody Allen. Starring Diane Keaton. “The humor of ‘Love and Death’ is literary and allusive, and for that reason often elusive and illusive.” |
There was actually one last article published in the Richmond Mercury’s last issue on August 27, 1975, that should have carried my by-line. In July I had submitted on spec (i.e., an unassigned article submitted on speculation that the publisher would accept it) a story about the local movie distribution business based on an extended interview with Samuel Bendheim of Neighborhood Theaters, which owned most of the movie houses in Richmond. Imagine my surprise and anger, when my story re-written and under the by-line of another writer was printed on the front-page of the Mercury.