Take 2: Going to the Movies, The Black Marble, 1981
Roger and Gene go over the steps of reviewing a movie. They watch the film, The Black Marble.
Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews
Original movie reviews untainted by time!
- Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, The Cotton Club, The River, Flamingo Kid, 1984
- At First Sight, Another Day in Paradise, The Hi-Lo Country, Playing by Heart, The Theory of Flight, 1999
8 thoughts on “Take 2: Going to the Movies, The Black Marble, 1981”
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There are three versions of this episode-1. The episode as it originally aired in 1980. Not sure when it aired that year, but The Black Marble was released in March, so presumably it was in that time frame. As of right now this first version doesn’t appear to be available. I can’t say for sure if this entire episode is used in the later airings, as without the bookends that were later added it seems a little short in running time compared with the typical episode. 2. The re-airing of the episode in 1981, this time with “looking back” bookends by Siskel and Ebert. That is what we have here. 3. The re-airing of the episode, this time with bookends by Ignaty and Christy. This is available on the Ebert Presents website, and to my eyes the video quality is a little better.
As for the content of this episode, I was struck by the small size of the screen in the screening room. It’s a squarish 4:3 screen, not that big for movies with that dimension, but downright tiny when you think about all the scope movies that they would be watching on that screen.
Yes, this is their update on the show. It originally aired around the end of February 1980, because you can see the date on Roger’s computer when he starts to write his review of Black Marble. I thought this was an interesting show too and I commented to Roger on his website when he announced that the 2011 show would be showing some old SP shows for a few weeks about this show and what I thought. Go to his blog and you’ll see it. Also, their website has this show too, with what Christy and Ignaty had to say.
In the update at the end, Roger mentioned when they originally did the show.
Of all the special shows they’ve done, this is probably my favorite. If was fascinating to witness how they performed their jobs.
Computers were very new during that time. Of course, now they’re in just about every blue collar work area.
I used to walk past the Garrett popcorn shop on Randolph St. frequently. After that show, I’ve been looking around that place to see if Gene was coming in to buy some. Now they’re still around with 12 locations in the Chicago area, including 6 downtown, along with single shops in Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C.
Did you ever see him there? I’m guessing you did until he passed away 20 years ago.
Unfortunately, no,
I just noticed that Gene and Roger are wearing the same sweaters, and in Gene’s case, jacket, in the bookends of this show that they wore in the original taping of this special.
I love this one!