The Bridgeville Area Historical Society ended its 2022-2023 program season with an interesting, entertaining presentation by retired Pittsburgh Press Drama Critic Ed Blank, entitled “The Greatest Movies and the Best/Worst Celebrities”. Mr. Blank is a Pittsburgh native who served as an officer in the Signal Corps in Vietnam following graduation from Duquesne and then initiated a career spanning thirty-nine years as an entertainment critic with the Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
Mr. Blank came across as a down-to-earth person who was fortunate to spend most of his life performing his dream job, a drama critic focusing primarily on motion pictures and television. In this job, he was able to earn a living watching and reviewing films and, occasionally, interviewing celebrity actors and actresses. He certainly is the kind of person with whom one would be happy to spend time “chewing the fat” over a coffee.
He began his presentation with a trivial question – “Name the actor who performed in only five films, each of which was nominated for an Academy Award, and three of which were selected as Best Film of the Year”. The answer was John Cazale. His acting career was cut short by lung cancer in 1978, when he was forty-two years old. Cazale is best known as Fredo Cordileone in “Godfather I” and “Godfather II”. The third Oscar-winner was “The Deer Hunter”; “Dog Day Afternoon” and “The Conversation” were the also-rans. Mr. Blank had interviewed Cazele several times earlier in the actor’s career and was pleased to have the opportunity to interview him again during the filming of “Deer Hunter” in Clairton. Cazele was accompanied by a young woman whom Blank described as appearing “obviously intellectual”. Following the interview he asked the press agent her name and learned that she was Meryl Streep. Cazele died before the film was released.
His relationship with Burt Reynolds provided an interesting story. In 1970 Reynolds starred in a “made-for-TV” film entitled “Hunters Are for Killing”. Mr. Blank wrote a negative review of it for the Pittsburgh Press. Somehow this review came to Reynolds attention, prompting him to write a four-page letter to Blank, which included the suggestion that if they ever met he would “break your head”. This initiated an exchange of letters, eventually becoming cordial. At some point Reynolds became spokesman for a series of Pennzoil commercials and his press agent suggested Blank travel to Oil City for an in-person interview; he accepted, apprehensively. Before this ominous meeting could occur, Reynolds’ marriage with Loni Anderson collapsed, initiating divorce proceedings that generated enough bad publicity that his relationship with Pennzoil terminated. Fortunately Blank never experienced the “break your head” event.
Among the celebrities that Blank interviewed, he identified three as being the worst. Particularly disappointing were telephone interviews set up by press agents. He was thrilled for the opportunity to talk to Diana Ross; her response to nearly every question was “I don’t know”. Similarly, Johnny Cash reacted to questions with a series of grunts, almost as if the press agent was twisting his arm to make the call. Pearl Bailey was another disappointment. Here for a live performance of the road company of “Hello, Dolly”, even the presence of her agent was insufficient to persuade her to be interviewed. He eventually made up for it by persuading her to do a cordial interview from a pay phone.
In contrast, Mr. Blank was quite complimentary about Fred Rogers, whom he interviewed at the WQED studio on numerous occasions. Rogers went out his way to explain specific details of the production of “Misterogers Neighborhood” that weren’t obvious to the layman. One interview was interrupted by Music Director Johnny Costa, who was having difficulty with something related to the show. He watched Rogers listen attentively, then comment “Well, John, there is no such thing as a conflict-free life”. He felt that episode epitomized Rogers’ general personality.
An obvious question for someone whose life was spent watching and then reviewing movies is “What are your all-time favorite films?” His response was interesting. He liked “West Side Story” so much that he estimates he has watched it forty times. I was pleased that he included Otto Preminger’s “Anatomy of a Murder” in his list. He then stated that any top ten list would be dominated by Arthur Hitchcock films and proceeded to rattle off a list of ten, ranging from “Stranger on a Train” to “Rear Window”. He topped off his list by reporting that his all-time favorite was “The Best Years of Our Lives”, noting the irony of the fact that it was released twenty-six years before his career as a movie critic started. It is well known that each of us believe that “the Golden Age” of culture (art, music, literature, etc.) occurred when we were late teenagers or young adults. Nonetheless, this particular film warrants consideration because of its timeless depiction of three World War II veterans trying to make the transition back to civilian life.
Since his retirement in 2007 Mr. Blank has continued to enjoy going to movies although he hasn’t seen many recent ones that he felt were of the caliber of those he reviewed in a professional capacity. I asked him what he thought about Peter Jackson’s six epic Hobbit/Lord of the Rings films; his reply was that “Fantasy and Science Fiction is a different genre”. That is certainly a valid comment. However, I feel that their quality is at least equal to the best films of the genre he prefers.
The Society’s program series takes a hiatus each summer, but will return in September. At the June meeting, retiring Program Chairperson Rosemary Kasper was recognized for her fifteen years of service providing the strongest series of historical programs presented by any society of its type in this area.