Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 30, 1993                   TAG: 9304300078
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Chris Gladden
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IT'S TIME TO ROLL THE CREDITS

The first movie I ever reviewed for this or any other paper was "Farewell My Lovely," the Raymond Chandler detective yarn starring Robert Mitchum. That was more than 18 years ago, and the movie was playing at the long-gone Jefferson Theatre.

I was staring desperately at the blank paper in a Selectric II typewriter when the city desk phone rang. It was the infamous newspaper columnist, Mike Ives. He had been in a minor brawl at the opening festivities of the Whistle Stop lounge in Hotel Roanoke. Hotel management was mortified, and offered Mike a chateaubriand dinner for two and all the Jack Daniels he and anyone else could drink to smooth things over. It was against Mike's religion to turn down a free meal and pure heresy to turn down a drink.

"Get over here and help me out!" he ordered.

It was a valuable lesson in meeting deadlines.

Since then, I have seen the death of the drive-in, the birth of the multiplex and the rebirth of the Grandin Theatre. I have covered the Virginia Festival of American Film in Charlottesville from the beginning and have spent five great fall weekends there with friend and colleague Mike Mayo.

I have seen movie crews come to Roanoke for the first time and I have covered several movie shoots, which is like trying to break into the CIA's computer system.

I have even been in a movie - "Crazy People." It was an occurrence that surprised me more than anyone.

After 20 years of newspaper work, I have decided to take a break. Writing about movies is the part I'll miss most. People frequently tell me I have the best job in the world, and on certain Fridays when something wonderful is materializing on screen, I have to agree.

In an act of shameless hypocrisy, I am going to do what I revile long-winded winners for doing on Oscar night.

I'm going to thank some people.

Thanks to Mike Ives for persuading me to take a job at the Roanoke World-News, and launching a career I never really expected.

Thanks to retired managing editor John Eure for hiring me.

Thanks to Jimmy Thacker, a natural-born newspaperman, for teaching me how to write a news story and giving me the opportunity to do so.

Thanks to Ben Bowers, the executive editor who insisted I'd be a movie reviewer and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Thanks to the junior critics, Sean and Will, who have given me invaluable assistance on such movies as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Thanks to my wife, Nancy, who never gets to see a movie because I've already been.

And thanks to the many readers who have written, called and stopped me on the street to talk about movies.