Film

Chubby Checker got the credit for "The Twist," but the real credit goes to Hank Ballard who wrote the song and recorded it first (with the Midnighters') in 1958. Balalrd was a notorious figure in the early days of rhythm and blues. His song "Work with me Annie," was considered too lewd for many stations to play. Anyway, Ballard gets the credit for "The Twist," in a new documentary, "Twist" by film maker Ron Mann. Terry talks with both Hank Ballard and Ron Mann.

First-time film-maker Tiana (the Americanization of the name Thi Thanh Nga) has made a personal documentary tracing her 1988 journey back to Vietnam, where she was born: "From Hollywood to Hanoi." Her father was the head of press relations for the South Vietnamese government, and she enjoyed a privileged childhood. But her father moved the family to the United States just before the fall of Saigon. Tiana was raised in California from the age of three and became an actress in low-budget exploitation films.

Forty year Hollywood veteran, and director of almost fifty films, Richard Fleischer. He's the son of the legendary cartoonist, Max Fleischer, who created Betty Boop. Richard Fleischer's films include "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "Fantastic Voyage", "Doctor Doolittle" and "Conan The Destroyer".

Producer Jeff Apple and writer Jeff Maguire. Their latest project is the new film, "In the Line of Fire," starring Clint Eastwood as a burnt-out Secret Service agent, haunted by the assassination of President Kennedy. Apple has produced hundreds of TV commercials as well as documentaries and promotional films. He came up with the idea for the film, and approached Maguire to write the film script.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film, "Orlando," based on the novel by Virginia Wolff.

Filmmaker Rob Weiss. His first film, Amongst Friends, draws on his own experiences growing up affluent on Long Island. His characters reject the values of their parents and are attracted by a world of gangsters and gambling.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews, "In the Line of Fire," the new film starring Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new movie "The Firm," which stars Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris and Holly Hunter.

Bassett recently had the intimidating job of playing the legendary singer in the new film, "What's Love Got to Do with it." Her performance has been widely praised. Bassett's other roles include the mother of a troubled teenager in "Boyz N the Hood," and the wife of the black Muslim leader in Spike Lee's "Malcolm X."

Harris starred in "The Right Stuff," "The Abyss," and David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross." He's now starring in the new film, "The Firm," based on the best-selling thriller by John Grisham.

Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new romantic comedy "Sleepless in Seattle," starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was written by Nora Ephron.

Winston created the live-action dinosaurs in this summer's hit movie, "Jurassic Park." In the film, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," he aged actress Cicely Tyson from age 19 to 110. In "The Terminator," Winston made-up Arnold Schwarzenegger and created the robotic puppetry in the film. He won an Academy Award for his work on "Aliens" and developed and created the character of Edward Scissorhands for the movie of the same name.

Nielsen is best known for his comic roles in Airplane! and the Naked Gun films. He's been acting since the late forties, after he was taught radio broadcasting by Lorne Greene. He's just written a "fictional autobiography" called "The Naked Truth," a pun-encrusted look at nearly fifty years of show business.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the "last" big summer film, the one with Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Last Action Hero".

The film "Silverlake Life: The View From Here" was started by filmmaker and film teacher Tom Joslin to chronicle his and his lover's battles with AIDS. Joslin asked his former student Peter Freidman to complete the film after Joslin's death. We'll talk with Friedman about working on "Silverlake Life," which opens the sixth season of PBS' P.O.V. series on Tuesday, June 15.

Sharkey died on Friday from complications related to AIDS. We replay an excerpt from a 1988 interview with him.

As part of a retrospective of his work by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, The Department of Cinema Studies at Tisch School of the Arts presented "An Evening With Martin Scorsese," a wide-ranging question and answer session taped live before an audience at New York University. We play portions of this discussion, where Scorcese examines the art of cinema and his own body of work.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the highly-anticiapted Stephen Spielberg film, adapted from the book by Michael Crichton.

Allen and Albert Hughes, 21-year old twins, and directors of "Menace II Society." Their mother steered them away from drugs and gangs when they were twelve by buying them video equipment. After making several music videos and short films, they've made their first feature. It's firmly in the gangster genre, an unflinching film about young men growing up in Watts. The film's 23-year old screenwriter Tyger Williams explains: "For every 'good' kid that makes it out of the ghetto, there are five more who don't.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new movie by first-time directors, the Hughes Brothers.