Entertainment & Celebrity News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! - Ebert's Rare Walkout: 'The Statue'

Episode Date: March 16, 2026

Renowned film critic Roger Ebert walked out on only five movies during press screenings, one of which was the 1971 sex comedy The Statue. Starring David Niven, the films plot revolves around a Nobel-winning linguist who suspects his wifes infidelity after noticing an anatomical mismatch in her sculpture. Ebert found the premise unbearable, describing it as one of the worst movie ideas ever. Despite stars like Virna Lisi and a young John Cleese, the film remains obscure and hard to find, with Eberts walkout standing out in his career of tough reviews. Support the show:Get a discount at https://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[e-mail] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [e-mail]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/da1627c19df35e0c

What's up? This is entertainment and celebrity news today, bringing you the hottest stories right now. Roger Ebert wrote movie reviews for the Chicago Sun Times for nearly 50 years. In that time, he sat through countless terrible films, but walked out on only five during press screenings. One of those rare exits happened in 1971 with a sex comedy called The Statue. The plot follows a Nobel-winning linguist played by David Niven. His wife sculpts a massive nude statue of him for a London unconstitutional. unveiling, but he spots a mismatch in the anatomy and suspects infidelity, kicking off a wild search for the real model.

Iber could not stomach the premise. He later described it as one of the worst ideas for a movie ever, and left the theater midway through. Even with stars like Vernalisi and a young John Cleese, the story felt forced and uncomfortable. Today, the film is obscure and hard to find. It is not available on streaming services, and fewer than 250 people have logged it on sites like letterboxed. Nevin himself seemed out of place in the awkward antics. That walkout stands out in Ebert's career of tough reviews. The director, Rod Amato, later made another huge flop called

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