November 2003

Leonard Maltin's Life at the Movies
The Good, the Bad, and the Unwatchable

By Paula Bernstein

While other children were outside playing sports, Leonard Maltin was at home watching The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy on TV and reading the latest edition of Variety. It might not have made him the most popular kid in the class, but the quintessential film geek parlayed his passion for celluloid into a successful career as a movie critic, historian, professor and TV personality.

Maltin, who turns 53 this December, has been writing about movies for over four decades (he started when he was ten). The son of a night club performer and an immigration judge, Maltin was raised in suburban Teaneck, New Jersey, where he and a classmate started their own magazine in fifth grade. Hooked on writing about Hollywood, Maltin began contributing to the fan magazine Film Fan Monthly and was named publisher at 15.

Before graduating from high school, the precocious film buff had already landed a book deal for his first movie guide. "That was the beginning of an amazing adventure," says Maltin. "I never dreamt that I would be doing that book all these years later or that the book would enjoy such success." The 2004 edition of the best-selling Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide was published last fall.

Maltin also credits his love of film with improving his love life. He met his future wife, Alice, while lecturing at a friend's film class at New York University. On their first date, Maltin recalls "we spent the evening together watching two rare silent films, which is an auspicious way to begin a relationship." Leonard and Alice, who were married in 1975, live with their daughter Jessica, a high-school senior, in Los Angeles.

After writing a series of books on topics ranging from Hollywood cameramen to the history of cartoons, Maltin landed a television gig on Entertainment Tonight, where he has served as the resident movie maven since 1982. "To never have worked in TV and to not only land a job that lasts, but land a job on a show that lasts is pretty extraordinary. I know how lucky I am."

As if his ET tapings didn't keep him busy enough, Maltin hosts a daily radio program, Leonard Maltin's Video View, co-hosts the weekend movie review show Hot Ticket and teaches a film course at the University of Southern California.

In addition to discussing pop culture, Leonard has also become a part of it. He's been parodied on the popular snide cable cartoon South Park and mentioned on The Simpsons. "It's flattering and amazing. It has made me very cool with my daughter's classmates," says Maltin. "When my USC students see the South Park episode, they flip."

In his virtually nonexistent spare time, Maltin works on his labor of love, Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, a quarterly newsletter for old-movie buffs which he publishes in both a print edition and on the Web at www.leonardmaltin.com. Even after writing about movies for more than 40 years, Maltin's enthusiasm for the subject has never waned. "I still remember the first movie I ever saw, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. My mother took me by the hand into the theater as people were leaving, but the previous showing of the film wasn't over yet. The first glimpse I saw was the last shot of the film where Prince Charming takes Snow White off into the distance, with a golden sun shining brightly. It was a good way to start my love affair with the movies."

The bestselling film critic in his element, Maltin has been writing about movies since age 10

BIOGRAPHY: How many movies do you think you have seen in your lifetime?

MALTIN: I used to keep track when I was a kid, but then I stopped because I was too busy seeing movies. It's somewhere in the thousands. I figure I probably watch about a half a dozen movies a week, although that changes depending on the time of the year.

BIOGRAPHY: Do you have an all-time Top 10 List?

MALTIN: My Top 10 changes now and then because I like too many movies to restrict myself to 10, so I play with the list quite a bit. The only answer that never changes is my favorite, which is Casablanca. I wish I had a more offbeat answer to that question, but I can't apologize for Casablanca. It is the perfect movie. It's no wonder that the screenplay is used as a model in screenwriting classes and that it has an enduring success.

BIOGRAPHY: Are all of your favorite films old?

MALTIN: The newest film on my Top 10 list is Singin' in the Rain. It's not that I don't like or admire or rave about contemporary films, but I don't have the deep down affection for them that I have for older films like The Maltese Falcon, A Night of the Opera or His Girl Friday. Still, there have been some good movies in the past few years like Talk To Her, About Schmidt, Insomnia and One Hour Photo.

BIOGRAPHY: Do you have an all-time Bottom 10 List?

MALTIN: How about a bottom 1000? There are films like Maximum Overdrive, the Steven King movie about demon trucks or Transylvania-6-5000, the vampire movie with Jeff Goldblum. That was kind of grim. There are so many to choose from and unfortunately, that lists grows every year. Since I started reviewing films for Hot Ticket, I now have to see films that I didn't have to see before like Slackers and Spun. Spun is the one where you see Mena Suvari on the toilet seat. It was as bad as route canal.

BIOGRAPHY: What are the qualifications for being a film critic?

MALTIN: You ought to love movies and you ought to know movies. If you don't have both of those qualities, you shouldn't be doing the job. There are a lot of editors and TV producers who believe that anybody can review movies. They would never send somebody unqualified to cover sports. They wouldn't dare, but they don't have the same outlook when it comes to reviewing films.

BIOGRAPHY: Do you think critics wield a lot of power today?

MALTIN: No, but there is a certain segment of the audience that turns to critics for advice and counseling. If film critics really had power, then these little films we like to champion would become hits and there never would have been a Friday the 13th part II. The evidence is clear. Critics can help build interest in a movie. When that happens to a worthy smaller film it certainly makes me feel good if I contributed to it. The nicest compliment anyone can give me is to say ‘I never would have watched that film if I hadn't read your review."

BIOGRAPHY: What is your pet peeve about movies today?

MALTIN: I'm very discouraged by the epidemic of gross-out comedies. I was one of the few people who didn't like There's Something About Mary. I'd like to take those audiences to see a Jerry Lewis movie or The Three Stooges to show them that that you can do a silly or dumb comedy that doesn't have to about the crassest aspect of life or about bodily functions. I fear that we're experiencing a sea change in our collective sense of humor because young people are being weaned on this kind of comedy to the point where they might not recognize the other kind. If someone has only eaten Big Macs their entire life how are they to know what a filet mignon taste like?

BIOGRAPHY: Are you depressed by the state of Hollywood?

MALTIN: Sometimes I get depressed or discouraged, but then all it takes is one good movie to restore my faith. Recently, that happened with American Splendor and Thirteen. I've also been encouraged by what happened last summer. People went to see 28 Days Later and Spellbound, films that looked interesting or they heard good things about because they were tired of the same old stuff from Hollywood. Meanwhile, some of the movies that Hollywood spent gazillions of dollars to make and then promote, like Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle didn't meet with the response they wanted, which means Hollywood can't buy an audience.

BIOGRAPHY: Did you ever want to make movies?

MALTIN: When I was a kid my friends and I made amateur 8 mm movies using our friend's father's home movie camera. My problem was that I always saw the films in my mind as professional Hollywood movies and we didn't have the caliber to make that kind of films so I was always disappointed.

BIOGRAPHY: Did you ever work in Hollywood?

MALTIN: Once, years ago, before I got on TV, a friend interested me in trying to write some screenplays and we had a great time working together concocting ideas. Then we had some meetings in Hollywood and that finished it off. The people we met were all bright and nice, but they were just spinning their wheels. That's what they do for a living. They don't really buy stuff, they just have a calendar to fill with meetings. After the fourth meeting, I said to my friend ‘I'm lucky I have another way to make a living."

BIOGRAPHY: Fifty years from now, what movies of today will people watch?

MALTIN: I think only a fool will predict the future given the acceleration of change in our society. Who could have predicted reality TV? Still, I'm optimistic that good storytellers will always prevail.

BIOGRAPHY: Do you like buttered popcorn or plain?

MALTIN: Plain. I don't want to die young.

BIOGRAPHY: Where Is your favorite place to sit in a movie theater?

MALTIN: Midway on the right aisle. Not too close. Not too far.

BIOGRAPHY: Did you ever think you'd be able to make a career out of your love of movies?

MALTIN: No and yet I never made plans for anything else. I guess down deep I must have thought that somehow things would work out.

PAULA BERNSTEIN IS A NEW YORK-BASED FREELANCER WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE IN CINEMA STUDIES.

Copyright © 2003 Biography Magazine.