RICHARD BROWN: ‘Reflections’ of a Film Buff

“As I grew up, I got a sense of who I was going to be by going to the movies. Most people do,” says film historian Richard Brown.

“Reflections on the Silver Screen With Professor Richard Brown” returns this week to American Movie Classics for a one-hour conversation with a film legend who has influenced more than a few moviegoers, Jimmy Stewart.

The engaging interview with the 84-year-old Oscar-winner kicks off the third season of “Reflections.” During the first two years, Brown chatted with such greats as Lauren Bacall, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Anthony Quinn, Jack Lemmon, Don Ameche, Jerry Lewis, Walter Matthau, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Rod Steiger, Jane Russell and Mickey Rooney.

This season, Brown will visit with Robert Wagner (September), Anthony Perkins (October), Karl Malden (November) and Alice Faye (December).

An unabashed film buff, Brown is celebrating his 25th year as a teacher. Brown has taught film at New York University, Vassar and The Smithsonian Institution and currently is a professor of film studies at New York’s New School for Social Research.

Brown talked about “Reflections on the Silver Screen” and his love for movies with Times Staff Writer Susan King.

How much time do you actually spend with each guest?

We tape 90 minutes. Sometimes we go to two hours.

Jimmy Stewart was 90 minutes. It was so hard to cut any of it out because it was him. And he is such a dear person. I mean, he is the most important person in movies who is alive. I believe he is the most important person, anywhere , in the world. He gave America this gift. He gave us this sense of what we believe in. He just personified it.

What do movies mean to you?

(As a child) I went to the movies, but I was going to be a journalist. Then, for my 20th birthday, I went to see “To Kill a Mockingbird” and that absolutely shook me. I saw things on that screen that pressed buttons I didn’t know that I had. That was when I first said to myself there is some message (in the film) about what I am suppose to do.

I never considered (a career) in movies and then I looked at Gregory Peck. I looked at (his character) Atticus and I saw this model of masculinity, strong but very gentle, very caring. It was the antithesis of sort of the John Wayne stuff I had seen and enjoyed, but could never relate to. I was a little Jewish kid growing up in Flushing (N.Y.). I loved Atticus and I loved the decency he represented.

The Library of Congress also is a co-producer of the series. Can you explain its involvement?

I saw the 100th anniversary of film coming up and I thought I should be doing something on that. I came up with this notion of doing an oral-visual history of great stars. There was no thought to broadcasting it. I thought it should go into an important archive.

I approached the Library of Congress. They loved the idea but the problem was they had no money. I looked around for corporate sponsorships. It became too convoluted. I just gave up on it.

About a year later, I got a call from (AMC’s vice president of programming and production) Brad Siegel, who said, “We want you to do a show.”

Remembering this old Library of Congress project, I went back to them and said, “I would like to do this show for and I want you to be a partner. I want your input.” AMC was very happy because they got the series they wanted. The fact (that the series) is going to the Library of Congress gives it a certain prestige.

Unlike many celebrity interview shows, you never go for the jugular.

We protect the talent. We want our people to look wonderful, and we want everybody to look wonderful. I am not a TV personality. I don’t look or sound like a TV personality.

(The show) is not a tribute, it is an intelligent investigation of their lives, but done with affection, respect and intelligence. It is not an intellectual show, but it takes itself seriously and treats its guests with great care.

I have a certain standard and my wife (Zora), who produces it, has a certain standard. We never forget we are talking to the most important people in film. (The show) cannot be less than perfect because what they gave us was perfect. They gave us this gift over years and years. And so I go to it with great enthusiasm and with great humility. I must do my best to do justice with these people. Also, the people who watch AMC love movies.

What do you think are the secrets to your success as an interviewer?

I think it is a couple of things. The first is homework. Don Ameche at the end of the interview came over and took my hand and looked in my eye and shook hands with me. He said, “You don’t know how much this meant to me.”

I spend at least one to two weeks on each interview. I sit and watch the movies. I come up with hundreds of questions in my head. Because my background is academic, I enjoy doing that. The interview is always about them. It is never about me.

“Reflections on the Silver Screen: Jimmy Stewart” airs Wednesday at 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. on AMC.