The Man Who Replaced Siskel and Ebert
“There are a lot of fine reviewers in the newspapers, but I don’t think any of them, to the best of my knowledge, has the kind of blend of scholarship and critical intelligence that Dave has,” Christiansen replied. “As you know, he’s an adherent of the auteur theory, and he’s one of the best writers in that vein. I don’t know any other newspaper critic who brings quite that spin, that slant to his perception of the movies. He also has an amazing grasp of the technical aspects of the movies.”
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And so Kehr starts in mid-June at the New York Daily News, that once-mighty blue-collar tabloid nobody has quite managed to destroy. Why Dave Kehr? we asked Elizabeth Pochoda, the new deputy managing editor for features. Like a lot of the editors brought in by the new owner, Mort Zuckerman, Pochoda spent time at another basket case, the New York Post. But vastly more significant are her 13 years at the Nation magazine.
Kehr is entering a peculiar situation. He’s one of two new film critics at the Daily News–the other is Jamie Bernard, from the Post–who are supposed to somehow divvy up the beat. “I think it’ll be fine,” Kehr said. “Certainly our styles are different enough. She’s more of a populist kind of critic.”
There’s a perception, we told him, that aside from Christiansen the Tribune didn’t appreciate you as much as it might have.
The Tribune’s subsequent coverage was interesting for what it did not say. Buried inside the next morning’s paper was a brief article about Joseph’s caseworker going on leave. The tag end of this story mentioned the CCBA’s press conference and observed that Public Guardian Patrick Murphy had been attacked. True enough, but not as harshly as Bob Greene, whom the Tribune did not mention.
