Jim Whaley (1948-1992) created and hosted Cinema Showcase on Atlanta public television station WPBA (Channel 30) from 1972 to 1992. He previously hosted Cinema Soundtrack for two years on WABE-FM radio, and was for 12 years the film reviewer for Atlanta's Creative Loafing newspaper. Before his death, he served as a member of the Georgia Film and Videotape Commission's Advisory Board.
In the era before Netflix, Turner Classic Movies, American Movie Classics, or Netflix, public television was one of the few broadcast outlets showing classic films in their entirety and uninterrupted by commercials. Cinema Showcase was syndicated to several U.S. television markets. Whaley attended premieres and press junkets and interviewed movie and television stars, authors, and playwrights on location and in his Atlanta studio. Some of his interview subjects were Francois Truffaut, Paul Lynde, Lillian Gish, Erskine Caldwell, and Steven Spielberg.
The Media Archives holdings of Cinema Showcase include completed as-aired programs as well as raw footage for the program, and video press information (such as clips) on theatrical films being reviewed by Whaley during their release periods. The archival material exists on 3/4" U-Matic videotape and 2" videotape, both broadcast standard at the time but now obsolete formats. Transfers have been made of several programs for viewing and research; additional transfers can be made by request. Similarly, we have audio materials from Whaley’s radio program Cinema Soundtrack which are as yet uncataloged.
Requests to view or listen to the material should be made to the Media Department Head.
Cinema Showcase interview subjects:
Andrews, Dana
Andrews, Julie
Ann Margret "Tommy"
Astaire, Fred: "Change Partners and Dance"
Aumont, Jean-Pierre
Bacall, Lauren
Bacon, Kevin
Bassinger, Kim: The Man Who Loved Women
Beatty, Ned
Benson, Robby
Bernhard, Sandra
Bertolucci, Bernardo
Bikel, Theodore
Bridges, Jeff: "Tucker"
Broderick, Matthew
Burlinson, Tom
Caeser, Sid
Caine, Michael
Caldwell, Erskine
Capra, Frank
Channing, Carol
Cher
Cleese, John
Close, Glenn
Connery, Sean
Conway, Tim
Costa-Gavras
Costner, Kevin
Daniels, Jeff
de Havilland, Olivia
Demme, Jonathan
DeNiro, Robert
Deschanel, Caleb
DeVito, Danny
Dillon, Matt
Douglas, Kirk
Douglas, Michael
Edwards, Anne
Edwards, Blake
Ardonlino, Emile
Fawcett, Farrah
Ford, Harrison: "Working Girl"
Fox, Michael J: "Back to the Future Part II"
Gardenia, Vincent
Gaynor, Mitzi
Gedrick, Jason: "Rooftops"
Gere, Richard
Gibson, Mel
Gish, Lillian
Goulet, Robert
Grodin, Charles
Hackman, Gene: "Mississippi Burning"
Hanks, Tom
Harmon, Mark
Harrison, Noel
Hayes, Helen
Heckart, Eileen
Hemingway, Margaux
Herzog, Werner: "Nosferatu"
Heston, Charlton
Higham, Charles
Hoffman, Dustin
Johnson, Lamont
Johnson, Van
Julia, Raul
Keyes, Evelyn
Ladd, David
Lange, Jessica
Lansbury, Angela
Lee, Spike
Lemmon, Jack
Lester, Richard
Lindfors, Viveca
Llewellyn, Desmond
Lowe, Rob: "Bad Influence"
Loy, Myrna
Lynde, Paul
Macchio, Ralph
Mann, Delbert
Martin, Mary
Mason, James
Mazursky, Paul
McCambridge, Mercedes
McCarthy, Andrew
McCartney, Paul
McGuire, Dorothy
Merman, Ethel
Merrow, Jane
Mitchell, Sasha
Mitchum, Robert
Moore, Demi
Moore, Dudley
Moreno, Rita
Morita, Pat
Neal, Patricia
Newley, Anthony
Norris, Chuck
Norris, Chuck
Olmos, Edward James
Peck, Gregory
Philips, Lou Diamond
Piscopo, Joe
Pomery, John
Powell, Jane
Pritchard, Dean
Quaid, Dennis
Redford, Robert
Reeve, Christopher
Reynolds, Burt
Ritchie, Michael
Roberts, Eric
Rogers, Ginger
Rogers, Marianne
Russell, Kurt
Sarandon, Susan
Schary, Dore
Schell, Maximillian
Schwartzenegger, Arnold
Scott, George C
Selleck, Tom
Shatner, William
Smith, Alexis
Spielberg, Steven: "Always"
Stallone, Sylvester
Stockwell, Dean
Stone, Oliver
Streep, Meryl
Sutherland, Keifer
Swayze, Patrick
Townsend, Robert
Travolta, John
Truffaut, Francois, "Day for Night"
Tyson, Cicely
Van Damme, Jean-Claude
Van Devere, Trish
Warrick, Ruth
Weathers, Carl
Weaver, Sigourney
Wickes, Mary
Williams, Robin
Williams, Tennessee
Willis, Bruce
Winters, Shelley
Wise, Robert
Wyler, William
Yates, Peter
"A Family Upside Down" Astaire, Hayes,
"Batman Returns" Keaton & Pffeifer
"Black Rain" - Douglas, Capshaw, Lansing
"Casualties of War" Michael J. Fox, Brian DePalma, Thuy Thule
"Cats"; Julie Andrews
"Cocoon II", Don Ameche
"Cousins"- T. Danson, L. Bridges, J. Schumacher, et al
"Dad" - Jack Lemmon, Olympia Dukakis, Ethan Hawke
"Goodfellas" - Martin Scorsese, Pt. 1
"Goodfellas" - Martin Scorsese, Pt. 2
"Housesitter" Martin, Hawn, Delany; "Last of the Mohicans" and "Glengarry Glen Ross"
"Hunt for Red October"
"Immediate Family" - Glenn Close, J. Woods, K. Dillon, Sam Wright
"In Country" - Bruce Willis, Norman Jewison
"Last of the Mohicans" and "Glengarry Glen Ross"
"Legacy of Caligari" (special series)
"License to Kill", T. Dalton, R. Davi, W. Newton, J. Glen, T. Soto
"Old Gringo" Gregory Peck, Jane Fonda, Jimmy Smits
"Parenthood", S. Martin, M. Steenburgen, R. Howard
"Police Academy 6"
"Relentless", Leo Rossi
"Silverado" - Nichols, Dennehy, Kasden, Kline; Tom Hanks, Helen Slater
"Sneakers" and "Singles"
"Steel Magnolias" - MacLaine, Field, Roberts
"Steel Magnolias" - Parton, Dukakis, Harling
"Steel Magnolias" (MacLaine), "Steel Magnolias" (Dolly Parton)
"Terminator 2" Swarzenegger
"That's Dancin" Gene Kelly [6 mins.]
"The Abyss" Todd Graff, Leo Burmester, J. Cameron, M. Mastrantonio
"The Freshman", "My Blue Heaven"
"The Grifters" Huston, Frears, Benning, and Prouse
"The Rapture" EPK
"Thelma & Louise" junket, Davis and Sarandon with Whaley, A&B
"Unforgiven" EPK
"Unlawful Entry" Liotta & Stowe
"War Party" Billy Wirth;
"Whispers in the Dark"; "Bob Roberts", "Sneakers", "Singles"
