(George Perry's first visit)

Dearest:    My guest tonight was formerly the film editor for the
London Sunday Times and is currently President of the prestigious
London Critics' Circle. London-born, author, journalist and film critic . . .
                
                                  G  E  O  R  G  E    P  E  R  R  Y

has served as juror on several international film festivals. His lavish new book, 
"MAGIC MOVIE MOMENTS" (Viking Press, March, 2000) is a magnificent collection of favorite 
screen moments that everyone  -- from film buffs to casual moviegoers -- will want to give 
as a gift or hoard for themselves. Perry brings together 101 all-time masterpieces with 
beautiful photographs -- that span the history of film -- from "Modern Times" to "Star 
Wars," from "Casablanca" to "The Maltese Falcon," from 	"The African Queen" to "The 
Shining." GEORGE PERRY joins us tonight directly from BAFTA, England's equivalent to our 
Academy Awards. 

Welcome to Power Surge, Perry. Was your prediction spot on that "An American Beauty" would 
win as best picture? 


George Perry:	American Beauty won best pic, best actor, best actress, several othes but 
not best director.  That went to Pedro Almodovar for All About My Mother.


Dearest:    Are the awards chosen similarly to the Academy Awards? You said you're a 
juror. I know the awards here are chosen by the nominees peers.


George Perry:	All members vote, just like the Oscars, but I'm a juror for a special award 
It's for the best newcomer in direction, production and writing.


Dearest:    Thank you, Perry. 


Dearest:    Perry, do you think they'll ever return to making wonderful musicals?


George Perry:	Kenneth Branagh has just made one - it's from Shakespeare's Love's Labours 
Lost.	But his songs are by Cole Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Kern.


Sally1019:	Hi Perry, when did you first realize you wanted to be a film critic & why? 


George Perry:	I knew you'd ask that Sally.  I was three when I saw my first film. I started 
reviewing at Cambridge University where I edited the student newspaper.


Dearest:    We all remember the scandal of the affair between Elizabeth Taylor and 
Richard Burton during the filming of "Cleopatra." Did she also fall in-love with Eddie 
Fisher during the filming of "Butterfield 8?"  It seems she fell in-love with many of her 
leading men.  


George Perry:	Liz Taylor was much married, true, but she always gave such a lot to the men 
she married.  I think she's a fine actress who has had a difficult life.  Money isn't 
everything. She takes it all very seriously. Last year the British Academy gave her a 
special award.


Dearest:    Thanks, Perry <you are a sport>. Mary, go ahead, please.


PianoMary:	Do you have certain points that you "grade" on, or do you just watch the 
films and write down your impressions later? Is there a kind of formula you follow for doing 
a review?


George Perry:	I watch a film all through (no walking out). I prefer to make notes later. I 
often change my mind. 


Dearest:    I commented to someone today that one of my favorite films, "Guess Who's 
Coming To Dinner," the emotionalism one felt seemed more real than acting. Most of us know 
that the film would be the last Tracy would make. It must have been very difficult.  Can you 
share more with us about Tracy and Hepburn and the many	wonderful films they did together? 


George Perry:	My favorite is Adam's Rib, but they were always good together, even in 
Keeper of the Flame which is not very good. 


Dearest:    Was Adam's Rib the one in which they both played lawyers? 


George Perry:	It sure was, and they found themselves on opposite sides of court, with 
Judy Holliday on trial.


Dearest:    I loved that film. They had such an extraordinary chemistry. Did any other 
stars have that sort of chemistry?  


George Perry:	Obviously Bogie and Bacall. The Big Sleep is wonderful. 


Dearest:    Yes, they were wonderful. How old was she when she first acted with Bogie? 


George Perry:	Still a teenager, I think, 19, maybe 20 - I'll have to check. She was 19 
when she made To Have and Have Not with Bogie, her first film in 1944.


HOST THRV Cinda:	Who is your favorite actor and actress of all time? and why? 


George Perry:	That's so difficult. I have favorites, such as Eastwood, Brando, Stewart, 
Cary Grant but they were good at different things. John Wayne was great in some movies where 
he fitted the part, there was nobody to beat him, but in others not so good. 


Dearest:    Let me follow-up Cinda's question with what your all-time favorite movie(s) 
are and also what American is the biggest box office draw?  


George Perry:	I was a child when classic movies were still being made. Casablanca, Les 
Enfants du Paradis, Red River, The Third Man, Brief Encounter and I'm glad I saw them at 
such an impressionable age. As for box office, well Star Wars (the first), Close Encounters, 
Titanic, Raiders, they're all up there. 


Dearest:    You mention Brief Encounter. I've seen some Noel Coward plays converted to 
film. They don't seem to cut it as films. Your thoughts?  


George Perry:	Brief Encounter, Blithe Spirit work well. So I think does This Happy Breed. 
Not The Astonished Heart. In Which We Serve was Coward's great original screenplay.


Dearest:    HeartofGolded, please go ahead


HeartofGolded:	Since I am going back to London on Tuesday and staying in East London, I was 
wondering why the cinema/movies are so expensive in London and whether there are any shows 
in East London!


George Perry:	There are movies all over London, even East London. Movies cost more than 
US, but so do a lot of things in England. Tell me about it.


PianoMary:	I'm still curious about the movie review process...do you choose which 
you'll see, or only a certain type or do you have to view them all, like it or not? 


George Perry:	When I was doing weekly reviewing, everything, sometimes eight or nine pics. 
Exhausting, especially if they are all bad, which is often the case. Now I see what I want to. 


PianoMary:	Oh, my!  I couldn't do that - thanks :)  


George Perry:	You get very depressed.


PianoMary:	LOL

 
Dearest:    Too bad you weren't also a restaurant critic. At least, you could've gotten 
a good meal free simultaneously :)  Perry, if people have more questions for you about
films and film stars, can they E.mail you?



George Perry:  Of course. I welcome letters. Feel free to  E.mail me with ALL your questions . 


Dearest:    Sally, go ahead, please.


Sally1019:	Do you ever get personal responses from the stars after you've given a good 
or bad review?


George Perry:	Another myth is that movie critics have the life of Reilly, sitting in the 
dark for much of the week. As for stars. Yes and no. Some you would hate to hear from. Some 
are appreciative. 


Dearest:    Perry, have you ever felt especially bad or uncomfortable about having to 
give a bad review? 


George Perry:	There are times when I have felt unhappy, but then angry if I feel the 
audience is being ripped off with shoddy work. 


Dearest:    What with rented or bought videos and DVD today, many people aren't going to 
the movie theatres as much. What are your thoughts on the future of the movies? 


George Perry:	We're in the twilight of celluloid. Films will be digital, beamed 
simultaneously around the world. It's an exciting decade to come, the biggest 
technological revolution since talkies. 


Dearest:    Thanks, Perry.  Spud, go ahead with your question, please.


Spud0812:	I had the pleasure of meeting Peter Bull in London,I'm sure you were 
familiar with him?


George Perry:	I remember him well. 


Spud0812:	Remarkable man!


George Perry:	Good actor, and a physique to remember. But it made it difficult for him to 
get parts. 


Dearest:    Perry, what American film critics do/have you admired?  What about Gene 
Siskel, who we recently lost. 


George Perry:	Gene Siskel I knew and liked. Dick Schickel on Time is an old friend and 
very sound. The best critics know their stuff, but too many editors think that the ability 
to write entertaining, jokey copy transcends background knowledge. 


Dearest:    What, if any, differences do you find in TV movie reviews as opposed to the 
written review?  


George Perry:	By their nature they have to be brief and attention grabbing. Me, I'd rather 
read a long piece in the New Yorker. 


Dearest:    Absolutely! Thank you, Perry :) Perry, can we try something? I'm going to 
throw out names of move stars and films, and you tell me the first thought that comes to 
mind, ok?  


George Perry:	OK 


Dearest:    Great, let's start with the inimitable Joan Crawford. <and don't anyone 
dare say Mommie Dearest> LOL


George Perry:	Mommie Dearest, but that's unfair!  Mildred Pierce was her best.


Dearest:    Yes, she was wonderful as was Ann Blythe. How about Faye Dunaway?


George Perry:	Great start, poor finish. I saw her in person this evening. She lived in 
London for a decade.


Dearest:    Do you think making Mommie Dearest ruined her career?


George Perry:	It was already ruined when she came to London. A difficult actress. She was 
married to a friend of mine. 


Dearest:    Oops!


George Perry:	Don't worry.  It's long over. 


Dearest:    How about Kathleen Turner? I hear she's appearing nude in the play The 
Graduate in London.


George Perry:	I interviewed her in Morocco once. She's great, and she too lived here, but 
when she was a young hippie. 


Dearest:    Bette Davis?


George Perry:	I had tea at the Savoy with her once. Formidable, a powerful presence. All 
About Eve is one of my favorites. 


Dearest:    Mine, too. Was there any reality in the competition between she and Ann 
Baxter?


George Perry:	Undoubtedly a touch. Anne Baxter I met, and she told me what Orson was 
really	like on The Magnificent Ambersons. 


Dearest:    And what was Orson Wells really like? :) <womanizer, probably>


George Perry:	He was having an affair with Dolores Del Rio, and that was the real reason 
why he disappered to Mexico. It was stupid and irresponsible, and I can understand the 
studio's frustration. 


Dearest:    One more - Cary Grant.	<swoon>


George Perry:	Nobody was smoother, had better timing, and greater control. Vincent Price 
once told me that he learned everything from him, especially timing. 


Dearest:    He was one of a kind :)  Thanks, Perry. Great insights!  Cinda, go ahead.


HOST THRV Cinda:	How do you feel about more contemporary actors like Keanu Reeves (I 
just saw the Matrix and loved it)?  Mel Gibson, Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise, etc?  


George Perry:	You've named good ones, especially Mel. It's hard for stars today to have 
the same impact as in the past - there's too much competition. 


HOST THRV Cinda:	Do you feel it's also harder because the movie studios don't make 
movies like they use to?  It takes a couple of years for a movie where stars used to make 2 - 
4 movies a year!


George Perry:	Of course, Cinda. The system is entirtely different. There used to be 
production lines.  Films take a long time now, because each is a one-off. 


Kb Krusher:	Perry, what can you tell me about James Darren?


George Perry:	Not much. 


Kb Krusher:	I am crushed...I have loved that man since I first saw him in '59!


George Perry:	I don't mean to crush you. He's not someone who has made an impact on me, but 
he has his following, and I'm glad you're loyal. 


Bobbi36056:	Is there anything you know about Rudolph Valentino? Way before my time 
though.  LOL


Dearest:    Haha!


Bobbi36056:	stop that Dearest!!


Dearest:    <g>


Bobbi36056:	LOL  I never saw him, only heard he was quite a ladies man.


George Perry:	As for Valentino. Yes, I have seen a few of his movies, and I can see he had 
something. 


Bobbi36056:	Thanks, Perry.


George Perry:	My pleasure, Bobbi 


Dearest:    Perry, thank you for a wonderfully stimulating and fun chat about movies, 
celebrities and  I highly recommend George Perry's lavish book,	MAGIC MOVIE MOMENTS (Viking, 
March 2000). You can find it at amazon.com or at your better bookstore.

Please join me in thanking George Perry for visiting with us in Power Surge tonight :)

Read George Perry's second transcript



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