A sold-out auditorium of festival fans gave Ebert two standing ovations during his introduction of the movie. The popular Chicago Sun-Times movie critic and star of the “Ebert & Roeper” syndicated TV show could not speak as a result of procedures to repair his jaw after salivary-gland surgery. Ebert “spoke” through a computer program on his Mac laptop, which translated his typing into mechanized speech, something like you'd hear from a sophisticated Speak & Spell machine.

“Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” wasn't a real sequel to Jacqueline Susann's “Valley of the Dolls” but an extension of its premise about three women surviving drugs, violence, sex and '60s catch-phrases (“Groovy!”) in a movie in which the only things bigger than the bosoms were the hairdos.

The Ninth Overlooked Film Festival offered such diverse fare as the brilliant science-fiction feature “Gattaca,” the Chicago-set “The Weather Man,” the Italian classic “La Dolce Vita” and the silent film “Sadie Thompson,” accompanied by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony.

Guests included actors such as Alan Rickman (Professor Snape from the “Harry Potter” films), filmmakers such as internationally acclaimed director Werner Herzog and the Strawberry Alarm Clock, the 1960s rock band that played live on stage after the showing of “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” in which they appear as themselves.

Chaz Ebert, the critic's wife and constant companion, told the sold-out audience that it has taken four of five people, including herself, to carry out all the jobs handled by Ebert during the earlier eight festivals.

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