Film

Film critic Leonard Maltin has been writing about films since he was 17 years old. The 1983-1984 edition of his guide "T.V. Movies," which gives "capsule" reviews of films airing on television, has just been published. This year's edition has 15,000 movies and also reviews made-for-television movies. Maltin has written several books about film and is the film critic for Entertainment Tonight. Maltin will answer listener calls about movies.

Philadelphian John Zacherle (sometimes credited as Zacherly) is the exemplar of the horror movie show host. He plays the character of "Roland" (pronounced "Ro-LAND) on his television show "Shock Theater." He not only introduces the films he plays, he also adds in cut-aways that often mock the movie or the genre itself. Zacherle is also had a top-ten hit with the novelty song "Dinner with Drac" and also works a d.j. Zacherle will join the Philadelphia Pops for a performance of "The Raven" this weekend.

Film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert come from two competing Chicago newspapers, but teamed up for the hit PBS show "Sneak Previews," which won an Emmy in 1979. The two have recently left PBS for a new, nationally-syndicated show. "At the Movies."

Donald Bogle is an author, film critic, and staff writer for Ebony, who wrote "Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks; An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films." Bogle, who also works as a story editor for Otto Preminger, has recently released "Brown Sugar: Eight Years of America's Black Female Superstars." He joins the show to discuss film images of African Americans and the role of race in the motion picture industry.

Robert A. Harris is the producer, and along with Kevin Brownlow, one of the reconstructionists of the 1927 French silent film "Napoleon." The film used techniques such as montage, "poly-vision," and rapid edits. Harris and Brownlow tracked down missing footage across England, France, and the United States. Harris is the head of Image Film Archive, a film distribution company. Harris joins the show to discuss the film and the efforts to reconstruct it.

Paul Zimmerman is the screenwriter of the upcoming film "The King of Comedy," directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert DeNiro and Jerry Lee Lewis. Zimmerman was previously the movies editor for Newsweek and has written several books. ZImmerman is based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and has become active in the Bucks Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament (B.A.N.D.). The group has invited Helen Caldicott of Physicians for Social Responsibility to speak at a local event.

Singer Wilhelmenia Fernandez is best known for playing the role of Bess in the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess. She makes her film debut in the new movie Diva.

Patrick and Michael Wayne are commemorating the iconic Western actor's life with a gun featuring his likeness.

Baltimore-based filmmaker John Waters has released a new book which explores his love of bad taste in film. With a new movie, Polyester, soon to be released, he join Fresh Air to explain his transgressive aesthetic and share his experiences working on set with a regular crew of actors.

Writer and director Garson Kanin's new book explores the success of certain actor pairings in Hollywood history, arguing that the team members brought out the best in one another.