Chicago marks 50 years since movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert kicked off their on-air sparring
This month marks 50 years since critics and A-list Chicago celebrities Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert debuted their movie review show.
The pair moved names and shows a few times in the over two decades they worked together on television, but to this day, the late critics define their very craft for all who have come since.
Siskel, 29 when he joined Ebert on the air, was a Chicago native. He attended DeWitt Clinton Elementary School, at 6110 N. Fairfield Ave. in Chicago's West Rogers Park neighborhood, and developed his passion for the movies as a youngster as he would walk up to the Nortown Theatre, an old-school movie palace at 6320 N. Western Ave.
Siskel attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana for high school and graduated from Yale University in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. After working on a California political campaign and a stint in the Army Reserves, he joined the Chicago Tribune on Jan. 20, 1969.
While Siskel started out as a neighborhood news reporter and a staff writer in the Sunday department, he saw an opportunity when film critic Cliff Terry took a sabbatical for a Neiman Fellowship at Harvard University. Siskel wrote a memo to the Sunday editor promoting himself as a single voice to review movies, and quickly became the Tribune's film critic.
In 1974, Siskel expanded to television, joining CBS Chicago as the movie critic for Channel 2 News. Appearing regularly on the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, Siskel reviewed films, reported features, and conducted celebrity interviews live in the sprawling newsroom that doubled as Channel 2's on-air set. He had a unique chemistry with the close-knit evening team that also included anchors Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson, weathermen John Coughlin and Harry Volkman, and sports director Johnny Morris.
Siskel also met his wife, newscast producer Marlene Iglitzen, at Channel 2.
Ebert, 33 when he was paired with Siskel, was a native of downstate Urbana, Illinois. He attended St. Mary's Catholic School in Champaign for elementary school, and spent Sunday afternoons at kids' matinees at the Princess Theater. As a high school student, he was moved by "Citizen Kane."
Ebert attended the University of Illinois in his hometown, where he earned a bachelor of journalism and worked on the Daily Illini newspaper. He came to Chicago to become a features writer for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1966, and took over as film critic when reviewer Eleanor Keane departed in April 1967.
Ebert did not have a separate regular television gig like Siskel when their show started, but the New Yorker noted that he had hosted a series of Ingmar Bergman films on television in 1973. Ebert also went on to serve as movie critic for Chicago's NBC 5 and later ABC 7.
He married Chaz Ebert in 1992.
At public television station WTTW-Channel 11, producer Thea Flaum paired Siskel and Ebert together for what started out as a monthly special called "Opening Soon at a Theater Near You." The inaugural episode aired on Nov. 23, 1975 — with Siskel sporting a large mustache and Ebert a moptop.
As quoted by Matt Fagerholm of RogerEbert.com, Siskel said on the first show: "The point of our show is to sort of be a news magazine about movies, and we want to show you what's playing in town, what's coming to town, and also maybe take you behind the scenes and show you a little bit about the movie business."
Fagerholm noted that the pair looked not like stereotypically polished TV hosts, but like the pair of journalists from the Midwest that they were. Their personalities were what stood out.
"As Siskel and Ebert discussed — and more often than not, argued over — the week's new theatrical releases, they could be funny, temperamental, impassioned, and never less than achingly human," Fagerholm wrote.
The WTTW show was renamed "Sneak Previews" in 1977 and went into national syndication.
Also at WTTW in the mid- to late 70s, Siskel also hosted the monthly all-night show "Nightwatch," showcasing independent films with producer interviews and the opportunity for viewers to call in.
In 1982, Siskel and Ebert left public broadcasting. "Sneak Previews" went on without them — with movie critics Jeffrey Lyons and Neal Gabler taking their place, and Michael Medved replacing Gabler soon afterward. Meanwhile, Siskel and Ebert moved to Tribune Entertainment and a new show, "At the Movies," which aired locally on WGN.
In 1986, the critics made their final move, switching to Buena Vista Television for a new show, "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies" — later shortened to "Siskel & Ebert." This final and most famous show was taped from the old CBS Chicago headquarters at 630 N. McClurg Ct., in the historic Studio 1, where the Nixon-Kennedy presidential debate had been held in 1960.
From the beginning, Siskel and Ebert offered movies a thumbs-up or thumbs-down (or, earlier in their run, a simple "yes" or "no" recommendation).
Not everyone was a fan of the pair's combative approach. In the March-April 1990 issue of Film Comment magazine, as recounted in the New Yorker, writer Richard Corliss wrote of "Siskel & Ebert: "This is, shall we say, no film university of the air. The program does not dwell on shot analysis, or any other kind of analysis. It is a sitcom (with its own noodling, toodling theme song) starring two guys who live in a movie theater and argue all the time. Oscar Ebert and Felix Siskel."
But as Richard Brody wrote for the New Yorker in 2023, the combative and competitive nature of the men's on-air chemistry was the very appeal. He quoted Ebert in the critic's own memoir: "Not a thought was given to our chemistry. We just had it, because from the day the Chicago Tribune made Gene its film critic, we were professional enemies. We never had a single meaningful conversation before we started to work on our TV program."
This week, Screen Crush posted a list what it deemed the 50 best Siskel and Ebert movie reviews for the 50th anniversary of Siskel and Ebert's pairing. Writer Matt Singer brought to life just how blunt and scathing the men could be, even when they agreed.
Reviewing the 1980 movie "Why Would I Lie?" Ebert said, "This movie is not simply a bad movie. This movie is an insult to the intelligence of everyone in the audience. I hated it."
Siskel said, "Someone ought to punch him out. That's the kind of reaction — I mean we're both kind of violent right now — that's the kind of reaction that this picture generates."
Siskel died at the age of 53 on Feb. 20, 1999, after battling a brain tumor. He remained in his seat next to Ebert, and on the set at CBS Chicago, until the end.
After Siskel died, Ebert continued the show with a rotation of guest critics until Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper took over alongside him in 2000. Roeper also succeeded Siskel as CBS Chicago's movie critic for a while. Ebert and Roeper stepped back from the show in 2008.
Meanwhile, Ebert was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002, and oral cancer in 2006. Surgeons cut out part of his lower jaw during surgery, and complications left him unable to speak, eat, or drink.
In 2011, back at WTTW-Channel 11 again, Ebert's name appeared on a new show, "Ebert Presents At the Movies." Critics Christy Lemire of The Associated Press and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of Mubi.com took over as hosts, while Ebert served as co-producer and wrote a weekly segment that was read by former CBS Chicago anchorman Bill Kurtis.
Ebert died April 4, 2013, at the age of 70.
The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is honoring the anniversary of Siskel and Ebert's historic television pairing with a series of screenings every Wednesday this month. Screenings began Nov. 5 with "Eve's Bayou," followed by "Breaking Away," on Nov. 12. A screening of the 1989 Gus Van Sant film "Drugstore Cowboy" is coming up Wednesday, Nov. 19.
On Saturday, Nov. 22, Zack Mast and Stephen Winchell will portray Ebert and Siskel, respectively, for a live performance with movie scenes, quarrels, and a live band. Channel 11's Geoffrey Baer will introduce the event and the Tribune's Rick Kogan will host a conversation between WTTW "Sneak Previews" producers Thea Flaum and Michelle McKenzie-Voigt.
On Tuesday, Nov. 25, the series concludes with a screening of "Lone Star" (1996).
All events take place in the Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.