Elwy
Elwy Yost, the enthusiastic host of TVO’s Saturday Night at the Movies from its mid-’70s beginnings until his retirement in 1999, passed away last week at age 86. There have been a number of fitting media tributes to Elwy and his long association with the movies, but unlike almost anyone I can think of, Elwy Yost made classic film accessible to us, the audience. He could hardly be called a critic because he liked every movie he presented. A short stint as a Star film reviewer ended for the same reason. Elwy approached film from a different direction than fan-boy bloggers and professionally-ironic critics do today. He championed the art form and the people involved in its creation. His interviews were filled with praise and adoration for the actors, directors and technicians who made up the industry and as a viewer, it was hard not to get caught up in his own unrelenting exuberance.
For those of a certain age, Saturday Night at the Movies introduced a great many viewers to the treasure trove that is cinematic history. Personally, I can draw a direct link from watching Elwy introduce some obscure ’40s crime film on a Saturday night back in 1978 to The Film Buff today and hope that his legacy and enthusiasm for cinema of all kinds lives on in some small way at our shops.
Thanks Elwy.
never saw SNATM (didn’t exactly have a tv growing up), but can appreciate a tribute such as this. pure and simple love for an art form, or at the very least (or best?) an entertainment medium, cannot be met with disdain.
I somehow missed this over the summer. I don’t know how many Saturdays I stayed up till 3am watching John Garfield marathons. I absolutely agree, Elwy’s passion and adoration for cinema is unmatched by any of today’s critics.