Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wednesday, November 5, 1969
Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, November 5, 1969
music
____-cinema
TONIGHT
7:30 P.M.
It's nothing to
write home about
By NEAL GABLER
The Virgin President, current-
ly playing at the C a m p u s
Theater, poses the question,
"What is someone monument-
ally incompetent became Presi-
dent?" Believe it or not, this is
not a documentary. Rather, it
is the story of a mythical pres-
ident Fillard Millmore whose in-
nocence makes him vulnerable
to the diabolical forces of
William Salvo, Secretary of De-
fense, SchuylernColfax, Secre-
tary of State and Jock Steele
Chief of the C.I.A.
This is a black comedy, de-
tailing a president's helplessness
when faced by a bureaucracy
bent on the obliteration of Coin-
munism. Because it borders on
reality it is occasionally fright-
eriing. A little box allows the
president to "dial his attack"
anywhere in the world. Presi-
dent Millmore's press confer-
ences, all words and no sense,
could have been taped off the
television. And the cabinet it-
self could have been appointed
by Nixon.
The believability of the char-
acters poses a problem. They are
so real they are no longer the
caricatures they were designed
to be. Four years ago this film
might have been a sensation.
Today, neither the situations
nor the characters are outrag-
eous enough to warrant laughs.
I guess I've seen too many ex-
cellent black comedies to be
stirred by a mediocre one. The
Virgin President is mildly amus-
ing, but it isn't a rollicking
comedy; it isn't insane enough.
There are some very funny
episodes, but it is the character-
izations, not the situations or
the characters, that spark the
laughter. The cast, veterans of
the Second City cabaret, are
brilliant in their improvisations.
Severn Darden gives one of the
best comic performances of the
year. He is hilariously scenile
as Henry Millmore, Fillard's fa-
ther and predecessor, and his
naive Fillard looks as if he just
ate a lemon. Darden has range
and wit, and the film's funniest
moments are his.
Perhaps partly due to budget-
ary limitations, the film is gen-
erally shoddy. It has the quality
of a second-rate home movie. A
case may be made for improv-
isation in performances, but
that is no reason for mediocrity
on the other side of the cam-
era. Maybe director Graeme
Ferguson thought his camera
technique should match the cas-
ualness of the rest of the film.
I think he has made a mistake.
If you want to be mild-
ly amused and mildly disturbed,
The Virgin President is the fare.
I just wish the new breed of
personal film-maker didn't en-
tirely eschew the standard tech-
niques of Hollywood - they
aren't all bad.
I must say a word about the
short preceding the feature at
the Campus Theatre - the word
is retchy. This is the only way
to describe Follow the Sun, an
obnoxious, thinly ,veiled com-
mercial for, of all things, Camp-
bell's Soup. Without doubt this
is the most worthless short I
have ever seen. You know you
have a bomb on your hands
when the audience starts to
hiss. My advice is, come a half
an hour after the program be-
gins. Don't say I didn't w a r n
you.
Tom Miller, an old friend of
mine, is writing a piece for
Rolling Stone about Lou Chris-
tie, Twyla Herbert and the re-
turn of pre-Beatles rancidrock.
If any of you have any personal
anecdotes about Lou or Twyla
or anything like that, call Suzy
at The Daily and I'll pass them
on.
4 ____
Vietnam Film Series
at the ECUMENICAL CAMPUS CENTER
921 Church
"The Rag Doll"
"Children at Play"
A prezentation of the Vietnamese people
Is
PETITIONING NEW MEMBERS
Sign Up Outside Rm. 2528, S.A.B.
"SEE THE WORLD"
j _ _ _ _ _ . ._ .. . . . _. _ _ . . .. _ _ . _.. _ _ _. . _ _ _ _ . __- - . . - _ . _ _ _ . . _ . _ .
/11/et
ALL U
RDaily-Richard Lee
RoyalChoral Socety: B rn
T
G
By JIM PETERS
It was in England that the
theatre-goers finally put an end
to H andel's reign and to the
tradition of national composers
writing Italian opera; simply,
they wanted something they
could understand and something
more fun to listen to. Last night
at Hill Aud. Britain's Royal
Choral Society presented a pro-
gram no doubt designed to be
pleasing and pleasant; but ac-
tually, it was just boring.
Conductor Wynn M o ' r i s
changed the order of the offer-
ings as printed, placing the more
serious Beethoven work out of
the way before the intermission;
it was a mistake.
For me, the evening was a
combination of some bad musi-
cianship, and more importantly,
a bad choice of pieces. Beet-
hoven's "Mass in C Major" has
always irritat ed me: it strikes
me as one long forte passage
with thundering timpani rolls
pisced together with softer and
slower bridges which are noth-
ing but trite.
Beethoven's publishers were
reluctant to publish it, and I
think they wicere right. And the
problem last night was that
the Choral Society did
little to deemphasize the bom-
bast. No matter which of the
five movements one picks, it
ends up sooner or later with
brass, timpani, and screaming
sopranos.
Now the Choral Society did
sing well; they have an excellent
sound, and their ensemble is not
too loose. But there's more to
music than this craftmanship.
Morris conducted for sound
alone; there was no subtlety to
his phrasing, no feeling in the
vocal lines. I was more enter-
tained than moved.
The four soloists displayed
somewhat m o r e sensitivity,
Biggar and tenor Alexander
though only contralto Majorie
Oliver seemed to feel anything
of what they were singing. And
I could hardly expect much
from their alternate passages
with chorus in the "Benedictus"
which must be Beethoven's most
belabored piece of writing.
This dryness also affected the
orchestra. The Royal Choral
Society Players are good per-
formers, but last night they
must have forgotten what ex-
pressiveness is; their work con-
tributed to the festive noise but
gave little support to the solo-
ists.
It seemed that, after the in-
termission, the orchestra a n d
chorus were willing to give a
little more of themselves to the
music; but with the selections
that followed, it really made lit-
tle difference.
Alun Hoddinott wrote the
cantata "Eryri" for the Investi-
ture of Prince Charles in July,
extolling the pleasures and won-
ders of Wales intraditional
Welsh poetry; his music is .un-
interesting. Once again, how the
music sounded was more impor-
tant than what it was all about.
The bright opening which
moved to a broad introduction
in the lower strings led no-
where, and cadence after ca-
dence soon proved there was
little substance to the work.
Bass Rodney Macann achieved
the required lyricism, struggling
through the Welsh consonants,
as did the chorus-which is an
accomplishment; however, the
melodies offer nothing, and the
piece concludes with a trite and,
in fact, ridiculous coda.
What conductor Morris term-
ed the "surprise" of the eve-
ning was only shocking for its
e f f u s i v e sentimentality. Sir
Arthur Bliss must surely have
known Frederick Delius, for his
cantata "Pastorale" shows the
same tired style.
There must be techniques for
tone-painting a sylvan scene
other than continual flute trills
over shimmering strings. The
text was taken from classical
poetry telling the story of Leda
and the swan in a seemingly
Victorian translation that jars
the ear with its formality, es-
pecially so in the contralto solo
which Miss Biggar approached
with added seriousness,
One of G. F. Handel's
'Coronation Anthems" written
for George II closed the pro-
gram; it is stirring music and
was sung with masterful bril-
liance by the singers; but, again,
it is a relatively unimportant
work.
As the audience began to
leave during the ending of
"Pastorale," Morris remarked
before the Handel how li k e
Grand Central Station Hill Aud.
seemed to be, His remark was
quiteaccurate, since there was
nothing on stage to really hold
anyone there.
FR IDAY, NOV. 7
4-6:30 P.M.
Music, Food, Drinks
H I LLEL HOUSE
1429 H ill St.
r
Read and Use Daily lassifieds
i rr
I IFrLu=h
lbI
,; / let
- - - - - - - -
presentation
SPECIAL DANCE ATTRACTION-Non-subscription event
from 1INDONES IA
in HILL AUDITORIUM
{presented in cooperation with University's Center for Southand Southeast Asian Students)
THE PROGRAM: Fifteen of Indonesia's greatest performing artists will
present a broad cross-section of Indonesia's performing arts by relating-the
story of the Ramayana through different art forms-depicting a comic scene
through wayang orang (live actors); a scene from the love story of Rama
and Sita through Javanese dance; and a battle scene through woyang kalif
(shadow puppets). A gamelan orchestra will accompany the performers,and
a narrator will relate the events depicted on the stage.
TICKETS: $3.00-$2.50-$2.00-$1.50
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY, BURTON TOWER, ANN ARBOR
Office Hours: Mon, thru Fri. 9 to 4:30, Sat. 9 to 12 (Telephone 665-3717)
(Also at Auditorium box office 11 2 hours before performance time)
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
'he Daily Official Bulletin is an
otficial publication of The Univer-
sity of Michigan. Notices should be
sent in TYPEWRITTEN form tb
35'8 LSA before 2 p.m. of the day
preceding publication and by 2
p.m. Friday for Saturday and Sun-
day. Items may appear only once.
Student organization notices a r e
not accepted for publication. For
information, phone 764-9270.
IUDNESUAY, NOVEMBER a
Day Calendar
Vanslyke. Associate Prof. of Indus- mary Russell ,Lynda Weston, soloists:
trial Engineering and Operations Re- Rackhamn Lecture Hall, 8:40 p. n
search and Electrical Engineering, Uni---
versity of Califoria at Berkeley and Net- /" AT.
work Analysis Corporation, "Optimal Gener;a, NO ICCs
Capacity Sizing on Networks": 229 West'
Engineering, 4:00 p.m..
Physics and Astronomy: Physics Col- A representative from the Woodrow
loquisma: D. R. Yennie, Cornell, Wilson School of Public and Interna-
"Photonuclear Interactions as a Test of tional affairs of Princeton Univ. will be
Vector Dominance"; P & A Colloquium in the couseling office to interview
Roomr 4:44op.m. interested students. Info: 764-0312.
Statistics Seminar: Dr. Edward Roth- .
man, "Tests of Coordinate Independ: Placement Serice
once for a Bivariate Sample on a Tor-
us"; 435 Mason Hall. 4:00 p.m.
,umrPaemn evce 1 Ai
-- Botany Seminar: Dr. Bernie Rubin- Lower Level office.
Anatomy Seminar: Dr. Peter Coyle, stein, Mich. State Univ., "Analysis of
Dept. Anatomy, "Cat Parahippocampal Hypocotyl Hook Unbending in Eaen"; Newspaper Fund, Inc., o p e n i n g s
Gyrus Cell Projections and Firing Pat- ' 1139 Nat. Si., 4:15 p.m. throughout the U.S. with newspapers,
terns"; 4804 Med. Sci. II, 1:00 p.m. Festival of Contemporary Music: Juniors with interest in journalism
Department of Business Administra- Michigan Chamber Ensemble, Theo Ai- and no professional backround. Appl
lion and Industrial Engineering Mathe- ' cantara, conductor; The Stanley Quar- before Dec. 1.
matical Optimization Seminar: R. %. tet; Elwood Derr, Michele Derr, Rose- Inspiration Consolidated Coppen Co.,
~~~~~~~........ ..,....... .. .:... u~oilpogaxchmxaitinxt~ n
mechanical. Apply soon,
I LI i j / ^ / :rnmy and Air Force Excehance Serv-
I .KI I. "\ J (,,,f t, ,, izrH allas, Texas, offers Summer in-
ORGAN IZA T IO~N NOT JIG le ""gf
tern progran for sophomores and jun-
fors throughout the co. good nmgmt.
ttrainin.fine salary.
Conce rt lUatce rgan:,,izat ion Meeting FREEi UNIVERSITY Nov. 5, 7:30 p m. in.;:':>:::<'s:.">« i>:::::..... :
Program Information 662-6264
HELD OVER
5TH W EEK
(Friday & Saturday Late Show)
now you can SEE
anything you want
at"r
starring ARLO GJTHRIE
n COLOR by DeLuxe
United IArtIstS
Shows at: 1,.3, 5, 7, 9 P.M.
OPENS TONIGHT 8:30 !
THURS. MATINEE 2:30!
1
Vecdncday, Nov. 5, at 7:15 p.m. in
Barbour Gym .Advanceci Modern Dance
'I'echinmtue: The Jose Limon Techimque
will be taught.
'niversity i.utheran Chapel, .1511
Washtenaw. Nov. 5, Wed., 10:(0 p.m,
Mid-week Devotion, Rev. Arthur Spom-
er, sp:aker
Room 3524, Student Activities Building.
If you'd like to teach a class or take
one - any class - come! All invited.
S* *
Luncheon at Guild house, 802 Mon-
rue Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 12:00 noon
sponsored by the American Culture
Student Association. Seaker: Prof. Dav-
id Steinberg, History Dept. Topic:
"Vietnam Withdrawal"'.
f r ' i::a
shmaks
ha'rf.sic
a Way
i dulcirne
WORLD PREMIERE
MON., NOV.3-SAT., NOV.8
13 1'addlcball (i'b Organizational 1969 Festival of Contemporary Music,
Meeting: Nov. 6, 7:00 p.n., Rm. 3532 November 5, 8:00 p.m. Rackham Lee-
Stud. Act. Bldg Beginners welcome. If ture Hall, works by Berry, Shifrin, and
unable to attend and interested in Webern.
joining, contact: Sandy Morris at 761-
3730 or Craig Finger at 662-8634. Wednesday Luncheon sponsored by
+- the International Students Association
Education has many dimensions. Help every week at the M. Pound House.
dlevelop omne new ones at the nebu- orner of E. Univ. and Hill, across
Io:s organizational meeting of THE fronI E. Quad) at Noon.
B E NEFIT FOR
CHICAGO CONSPIRACY 8
Thursday, Nov. 6th
8:30 P.M.t
LIZ RICHARD
MIKE'S
WHO'S AFRAID OF
VIRGINIA WOOLF?
LINDLEY
JAMES
WHITMORE
CATHERINE
BURNS
wXFwN.h
WO ? S
Su 1*a
r ir .r.I
Tile
b EVAN HUNTER
I