Gene Phillips Discusses his Career as a Teacher, Writer and Film Historian with Cambridge Who's Who

"My father was a movie buff before there were many movie buffs...He went to a movie every Sunday afternoon and he always took me with him." So recalled Rev. Gene Phillips of his youth, when he and his father would patron their local theater in Springfield, Ohio. On occasion, the pair would travel to Pennsylvania to visit Gene's grandfather, who was both legally deaf and blind. "I was very impressed by the fact that here was my grandfather, who could hardly see or hear, and wanted to go to the movies," he said. These experiences would not only play a shaping role in his formative years, but continue to influence Phillips as he forged a career in both religious ministry and film education.

Inspired by "The Keys to the Kingdom," a 1944 flick in which Gregory Peck plays a missionary, Gene joined the Society of Jesus at age 17. Of course, "Keys" wasn't his only motivator, as he had been enrolled in Catholic schools throughout most of his young life. "I had the notion of education being tied up with religion, and wanted to be a teacher and a priest from a very young age," he said. Phillips went on to train in priesthood for 12 years, and earned a bachelor of arts and master's degree in English literature from Loyola University Chicago. While pursuing a Ph.D. in English at Fordham University, he felt once again drawn to the cinema and lent his free time taking graduate level courses in film history at NYU. Noting the interconnectedness between film and literature, Phillips decided to pursue a profession as a writer, documenting some of the world's greatest moments in film—and the people behind them. He has created a unique forum for film buffs and film professionals, alike.

“Joseph Losey was the first director I interviewed,” shared Phillips. "I thought I made a shambles of it because he kept barking at me.” As it turns out, he did not make “shambles” of the interview. In fact, it instead sparked a prodigious career in journalism. Over the next 40 years, Phillips would interview some of the most notable figures in both American and British cinema, speaking with such names as Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock and Frances Ford Coppola. He also authored more than 22 decisive film history books including: "Creatures of Darkness: Raymond Chandler, Detective Fiction, and Film Noir," "Godfather: The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola," "Stanley Kubrick: Interviews," and "Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean." Most recently, Phillips published "Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Films of Billy Wilder." His documentaries have appeared on both public and cable television.

At the University of Loyola in Chicago, where he teaches as a senior professor of English and film history, Phillips has generated a large student following for 1930s and 1940s film, with emphasis on film noir. When asked whether he ever wavered between teaching contemporary and era films, he noted: "I think the biggest mistake you can make is to apologize for the fact that you're teaching old film because if you're not sold on it you can't sell the class on it. I simply am convinced that these are good films." He continued, "If it's a good film, it gets at real human issues and things about human nature. And as a result, it doesn't matter when the film was made, it can still touch people. The deeper the filmmaker digs, the more universal the story becomes."

Rev. Gene Phillips is a proud member of the Modern Language Association. In 2008, he was featured in "Cambridge Publishing's Top 101 Industry Experts," and in 2009, chosen to be named Professional of the Year in Higher Education. Such honors celebrate Phillips' contributions to the fields of journalism, film history and higher education. For more about the life and career of Gene Phillips, please visit http://www.jesuits-chi.org/vocations/stories/phillips.htm.