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Leonard Maltin Reflects on Teaching Cinema and Making ‘Smarter Moviegoers’ at USC for Over 25 Years


Leonard Maltin, Variety's educator of the year, reflects on teaching one of USC's most popular electives.

When prospective students of the University of Southern California visit the school, tour guides like to point out several noteworthy landmarks on campus: Heritage Hall and its multiple Heisman trophies on display, the symbolic Tommy Trojan statue and Norris Cinema Theatre, where students of all majors congregate each Thursday night to watch and discuss cinema with famed film critic Leonard Maltin. Stewardship of the class passed to L.A. Times critic Charles Champlin in 1985, and eventually, the opportunity to take over one of USC’s most popular electives was presentedto Maltin. Previously a film critic for Entertainment Tonight and author of an annual coveted movie guide, Maltin has a fairly simple yet successful formula to accomplish that goal.

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