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Andrew Sarris, 1928-2012 — 4 Comments

  1. Jim, this is an excellent tribute to the late Andrew Sarris! I remember first liking him from reading his pieces about Hitchcock in THE VILLAGE VOICE. He will be missed, to say the least.

  2. Some excellent points. Many people erroneously believe that the auteurist approach Sarris espoused was highbrow and stuffy, when that was the furthest thing from the truth. He championed Hitchcock at a time when Alfred was largely considered a good director of suspense films and little more. Like Kael, he grew up during the heyday of the studio system, and while he may have deemed some directors overrated, he certainly didn't automatically dismiss those who were largely perceived as cogs of the machine and little else (e.g., Jack Conway at MGM).

    I paid an affectionate tribute to him at my site the other day: http://caroleandco.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/a-critic-heads-for-heaven/