'Meet Wally Sparks'

Rated R
n the surprisingly funny Meet
Wally Sparks, Rodney Dan-
gerfield stars as the loud-
dressing, blue-talking, un-
couth title character, host of a
national television talk show.
And while it's not at all subtle,
it's one of Dangerfield's best
screen performances.
The film opens with a mon-

I

persuade Preston to appear on dedicated but conniving pro-
the show; but Wally's antics dis- ducer. And there are dozens of
rupt the party (he ends up rid- cameos by (mostly) TV per-
ing a horse through the house). formers, many of whom do their
By faking paralysis from a own Rodney/Wally impressions
fall, Wally manages to stay in when they meet him (it's espe-
Preston's house to try to talk cially fun to see Tony Danza as
him into an interview — Wal- a cabby named Tony).
ly's last chance to remain on the
The only real embarrassment
air. Yet he still continues his out- is Cindy Williams, who plays a
rageous conduct (getting Pre- woman either tipsy or clueless

The white supremacy movement is explored in God's Country, an Attic Theatre
production at the Alley Theatre in Greektown, through March 1.

'God's Country'

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n 1984, Alan Berg was mur- upper western states. Conspira-
dered. He was a Jew, a liberal; cies are seen in Jacksons — Reg-
a character refers to him as a gie, Mahalia, Jessie, Michael —
"bleeding heart with an acid by men in red robes and pointed
tongue" in Stephen Dietz's docu- hats; "Anne Frank's diary is a
drama God's Country, the current forgery," crows one; "Jews are the
production at the Attic — re- progeny of the devil," shrieks an-
named the Alley — Theatre.
other. Through this, Berg suppli-
Berg, a Denver radio celektalk cates his call-in-listeners to come
host, was selected as a target by up with facts for their verbal hate
the Order, a group of disaffected mail, calling for reason. (He sits
minor criminals who believed
atop a cascade of platforms
in the superiority of the
while action occurs on the
white, Aryan race and hat-
THEATER
stage floor.)
ed all others. Especially
It's as if "60 Minutes"
"kikes."
merged with "ER" — the mind
Dietz's play begins with the tri- and the eyes are constantly drawn
al of several conspirators in 1985 to the restlessness on stage.
for Berg's murder and swiftly (There are a few spare, powerful
moves backward, forward, in sud- moments when a character de-
den time shifts. The origin of the livers a monologue. A brief
group, the history of alternate respite.)
movements, recruitment of the
Some of the acting is ad-
members, the murder of Berg and mirable: Thomas Hoagland, a
subsequent prosecution of the con- good Berg; and others: Mark
spirators come tumbling out in Rademacher, Will Young, P.J.
two acts.
Jenkinson and Jonathan Ozias,
Counterpoised to that is the life as the murderous Bob Mathews.
of Mathews, the founder of the Or-
Harold Jurkiewicz has mas-
der. He and Berg are the linch- tered some of the sprawl in his di-
pins around whom this rection, but the script is so frantic
docudrama swirls. Mathews, too, as to defeat almost any director.
died — in a house fire; he was Its focus, to my way of thinking,
standing off the FBI in a house should be Berg's martyrdom, but
full of explosives.
this is diffused in all the gory de-
The forms of hatred and preju- tail about right-wing militarism.
dice are detailed as the cast of
But then, of course, there is the
twelve play witnesses, bigots, by- play's message: The intent is to
standers and attorneys in an end- expose the soft underbelly of lib-
less profusion. And, to me, some eralism where extremes in the
confusion.
name of liberty are tolerated. In
Dietz gets his points made our country, now moving to the
about the lush undergrowth of right, one character's slogan,
hate that flourishes in the Amer- "Don't let the left hand know what
ican heartland — especially the the white is doing," is eerie.

Michael H. Margolin writes about

the arts.

0* 1/2
— Michael H. Margolin

,

Cindy Williams, right, joins Rodney Dangerfield in Meet Wally Sparks, a slapstick comedy about a loud-mouthed talk-
show host.

tage of real talk show scenes, to ston's wife Cindy Williams (when her husband says the
prove that Wally isn't that much drunk and playing strip poker, polls aren't doing too well, she
worse (although he does keep hiring a prostitute to pose as his says, "That's a shame; they're
the censors busy). His show is nurse, wrecking Preston's living such nice people").
popular; but he can't seem to room by provoking a fight be-
Meet Wally Sparks ain't so-
hang on to his sponsors, so net- tween some wrestlers during a phisticated, but it's mostly a lot
work president Spencer (Burt live broadcast).
of fun.
The slapstick goes a little
Reynolds) decides to cancel the
'?') 'O
. 1/2
show. Sparks' producer, Sandy overboard at times, but that's to
— Stephen Bitsoli
(Debi Mazar), convinces Spencer be expected in a Rodney Dan-
gerfield film. Where the
to give them one week to
~
falters is in two
clean up Wally's act
MOVIES
iil-conceived serious
Thanks to a prank,
1
1,*.).®' .Outstanding
scenes involving fa- 0()
Wally is invited to a polit-
ical fund-raiser for Gov. Floyd ther-and-son relationships. They
Very Good
®C) ( 1 a
Preston (David Ogden Stiers), bring the film to a dead halt.
one of his most vocal critics. Thankfully, the anarchy re-
JO()•.. .. ..........Good
Sandy and Wally go, hoping to turns.
Of the cast, Dangerfield is
Fair
Stephen Bitsoli is the former
great, managing quite a bit of
entertainment editor for
physical comedy for a man of 75.
No Bagels
Awful
Detroit Monthly magazine.
Mazar is marvelous as Wally's

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