Page Two
cinema
Raquel, Jim,
not muchelse
By TOBE LEV
100 Rifles now making the rounds of theatres, is pompously
billed as a "story with a message." The message is a veneer to
disguise an ordinary cowboy movie with pseudo-sophistication and'
phony social conscience.
Jim Brown portrays a tough-guy American deputy, Burt
Reynolds plays a half-breed outlaw, and Raquel Welch is a full-
blooded Indian revolutionary. The unlikely trio gallop through
scenic Mexico creating havoc for General Verduga and his
merry men
The camera delights in traditional Western shots of lines of
soldiers on horseback, raging locomotives and corpses strewn over
barren battlefields. The camera shoots the joys of nature, cloudyf
skies, rough terrain and rocky crag, with weary repetition.
Meanwhile scores of Indians are hung by the neck and bay-
onetted from behind. Dozens of Verduga's soldiers are alternately
kickedin the groin, shot in the eyeball, stabbed in the gizzard with
sharpened sticks, or strangled by Jim Brown's massive forearms.
It's one of grisliest displays of cinema violence in recent memory.
But, supposedly. the violence is perpetrated for noble ideals.'
The Yaqu Indians are resisting a campaign of systematic genocidse
mapped out and implemented by Verduga's forces. And anti-
hero "Yaqui Joe" Herrera has. robbed a Kansas City bank to
supply his 'blood brothers with 100 rifles.
The Yaquis have done nothing to warrant wanton massacre,
besides pull out railroad tracks. But why give Verduga even
pathological 'reasons to kill and, make him a complex sadist? It
would clearly be inconsistent-no one else in the film has any
complexity.-x
Raquel Welch has two things in her favor, and they are
enough, to literally stop a train of Mexican' soldiers when she
showers along the railroad tracks (with her shirt on dammit); it
is perhaps the most ingenous ambush i Mexican history. Yet the
humor and' ingenuity are buried by the massacre of every soldier
on the train and the alying of an eleven-year old Indian in the
line of duty.
Dan O'Herlihy portrays Mr. Grimes from the Union Pacific
Railroad. Grimes is a selfish, materialistic American businessman
and rounds out the forces of fascist repression which keep good
Indians and earnest black deputies dowh-
If Director Tom Gries really wished to include social comment,
his Indians should have fought the American cavalry, equally
guilty of racial igenocide. Jim Brown should have made love to
an actual white woman, instead of an Indian portrayed by a
white woiman
.,But apparently JimBrown wasn't fooled by Gries' pretensioris.
No, matter how hard he knit his eyebrows and gritted his teeth,
he couldr't show real emotional involvement. Brown delivered his
lines like a 'combination Bill Cosby-Gary Cooper, Very tough yet
often very funny, whether intention or not, ("Buster, in one
minute I'm going to pinch off your ears and send them back to the
home office.") 1
100 Rifles isn't an integrated whole and can't produce a total
effect. The humor conflicts with the "message" and the "message"
obscures the aealism.
And the movie's faults may haye been deliberate. ries could
have written and directed a: reasonably good Western of the
traditional John Wayne genre with some refreshingly good humor.
Instead he crassly attempted to attract. the widest possible audi-
ence, partly with lurid violence and phony social consciousness.
As a business enterprise the success of 100 Rifles remains to be
seen. As a movie it is a cynical fraud.
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
'I
Thursday, June 5, 1969
records
I
'. 4
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
.~..........................
.~.
Shostakovitch: On beyond genre
By R. A. PERRY
Contributing Editor
*On Feb. 10, 1948, the Central
Committee of the Communist
Party, which had already ban-
ned from performance the works
of Stravinsky and Rachman-
inoff, issued a statement de-
nouncing the "formalist" ten-
dencies of certain composers too
enamoured by degenerate, Wes
tern musical practices. Serge
Prokofiev, one of the main obi
formally apologized, admititng
jects, of the official attack,
formally apologized, admitting
that he was "guilty of atonal-
ity" and of making his melodies
"too complicated." Prokofiev,
however, never really altered his
composition style.
The drafter of that S o v i e t
condemnation was' the same war
hero A. A. Zhdanov who had a
few years earlier attacked Dmi-
tri' Shostakovitch. Shostako-
vitch, unlike Prokofiev, m o r e
readily, buckled under to, or at
least seemed to accept more sin-
cerely, the demands for a "Sov-
iet music" that would serve the
heritage and unity of the Folk.
Shostakovitch's musical career
in Russia was a constant fluct-
uation between attraction to
Western modes and propitiation
of the Party via musical propa-
ganda.
Opportunity to prove his pa-
triotic position came in th e
summer of 1941, when the Nazi
attack and siege of Leningrad
began. Shostakovitch, in the be-
sieged city at the time, began
his Seventh Symphony as a
testament. to the courage and
endurance of the people of Len-
ingrad. Forced to evacuate (on a
special train packed with Soviet
artists, State treasures like
paintings in a museum), the
composer completed the fourth
movement of the symphony at
Kuibishev, the city that met the
premiere performance with un-
paralleled enthi siasm. A micro-
filmed score was smuggled out
of Russia and months later, al-
most as a gesture; of military
solidarity, Toscanini .led t h e
NBC Symphony in the work's
American premiere. Never be-
fore-had a symphony received
such immediate acclaim; within
two years, it had been perform-
ed sixty times, in America.
Today, the aura of patriotic
necessity has dispersed and
Shostakovitch's Seventh S y m -
phony can only be evaluated
and appreciated for its intrinsic
inusical values; like so many
works of-art manufactured for a
specific topical purpose, t h e
symphony suffers from age.
Picasso's Guernica, after all,
served a topical event, but Pi-
casso managed not only to in-
corporate the formal 4ualities
of a personal style but' also
to setthe event in the establish-
ed framework of the J u'de o -
Christian tradition; every motif
resonates with nunmreous mean-
ings. Shostakovitch, eschewing
both "formalist tendencies" and
programmatic picture-painting,
tried to commemorate v a g II e
qualities such as courage and
endurance; there is no frame of
reference other than self-con-
tained rhetoric.
What aural excitement there
is in the work can be heard to
advantage on Angel/Melodiya's
new release (SRB-4107) which
features the USSR Symphony
Orchestra led by Yevgeny Svet-
lanov.
Fromn the same record com-
pany has come' a reissue of
Shostakovitch's Symphony No.
11. (Capitol SPBO-8700) Al -
though this symphony may be
considered in the same genre-
a lengthy work commemorating,
an historical event - the re-,
sults are 'far more successful.
Seeking again "close ties with
tla liferof the people," the Rus-
sian sought in his eleventh sym-
phone to pay homage to the
massacre that took place on
Jan. 9, 1905 in the Palace
Square of St. Petersburg.
Here Shostakovitch c o u I d
achieve artistic distance, and
freed from the quagmire of
acute nationalistic emotional-
ism, he planned his composition
with a sober mind. Rather than
attempt to, enshrine public vir'-
tues, Shostakovitch embraced a
specific visual program, and the
pictures that the composer mu-
sically paints are as. vast and
evocative as Eisenstein's vistas
in Ivan the Terrible.
The opening adagia, entitled
"The Palace Square," presents
very open chords and a broad
melody that suggest dawn over
the empty Square. If the mater-
ial is limited here, a sense of
direction and control still oper-
ates artistically and convincing-
ly. We move into an allegro,
which depicts the People form-
ing to voice their protests to the
Tsar. I could not help but think
here of that scene in Ivan the
Terrible where the endless lines
of peasants march through the
snows to seek Ivan's return.
Palace guards move into the
crowd, and with growing ten-
sion snare drums and brass
narrate the confusion and the
slaughter. The furor subsides
and only the dead remain in the
Square. The third movement,
using the folk song "You Fell as
Victims," describes the funeral
and proclaims the "Eternal Me-
mory" of the People's cause. In
the fourth movement, Shosta-
kovitch again uses folk melo-
dies to emphasize the subse-
quent victory of the 1917 Soc-
ialist Revolution.
In this symphony, the c o m-
poser exercises great control:
melodies are genuinely moving
and moments of conflict are
quite powerful without being
exaggerated. W h a t e v e r one
thinks of the motivating aesthe-
tic, one can hardly fail to be
impressed by the musical means
Shostakovitch artfully employs
to achieve his ends.
Furthermore, tihs Capitol re-
issue brings into circulation one
of the glories of stereophonic
recording. Leopold Stokowski
elicits from the Houston Sym-
phony absolutely opulent colors
and precise details. The strings
sound better than the q u a si-
mythical Philadelphia Strings
have sounded in years. Stereo
separation produces an enor-
mously wide and deep panor-
ama, and the justly famous\bass
response of this recording is in-
finitely deep, perhaps unbeat-
able in, the history of recorded
music.
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
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sity of Michigan. Notices should be
sent in TYPEWRITTEN for.m to
Room 3528 L.S.A. Bldg., before
2 p.m. of the day preceding publi-,
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Notices may be published a maxi-
mum of two times on request;,SDay
Calendar items appear once only,
Student organization notices a r e
not accepted for publication. For
more information, phone 769-8270.
THURSDAY, JUNE 5
Day
Caliend r
Department of Architectural Semi-
nar: Computers in Architectural Ed
ucation, 130 Business Administration,
9:00 a.m.
School of Social Work Continuing
Education Lecture: Arthur M. Ross,
vice-President for State Relations and
Planning. TheB University of Michigan,
"Varieties in Black Power": Rackhaxn
Amphitheater, 8:30 p.m.
Department of Speech: An Evening
of Modern Theater: Act Without
Words, ;Dr. Kheal, Portrait and Itch:
Arena Theater, Frieze Bldg, 8:00 p.m.
Summer Piano Concert Series: Per-
sons who are interested in signing to
become ushers for this series of piano
concerts, which is to be presented in
Rackham Auditorium during the
month of July, may do so at the Box
Office at Hill Auditorium on Thursday,
June 5th from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. A list
of the artists and dates of the concerts
will be available when you sign up.
GENERAL NOTICES
Summer Registration
June 30, 1-4:30 p.m. July 1. 8-11:30
I - --
} ii. and 1-4:N0 p.m. Alphiabetic Svc-
quence will be followed. Late Regis-
tration Fee of $15.00 becmes applicable
at the close of registration.
Doctoral ExamS
Barbara Ann Conta Rover, Zoology,
Dissertation: Moplgcl and Ex-
perimental Studies of Ocoel Turbellar-
ian Development," on Thursday, June
5 at 10:00 am. in 2111 Natural Science
Building. Chairman: J. N. Cather,
Placemenzt
GENERAI. DiVISION
3200 S.A.B.
Current Position Openings received
by General Division by mail and phone.
please call 764-7460 for further in-
formation:
State of Michrigan: Child Care Work-
er, various counties, some college, and
physical recreation skills in some areas.
Social Services Representative. BA or
MA and 2 yrs. exper. in health, educ.,
welfare or community work. Chemist
at several levels, BAMA, 0-5 yrs. Agri-
cultural Resource Analyst, BA 1 a n d
and water resource mgmt., agric. econ..
resource mgmt., mgmt. and mktg, and
4 yrs.Department Field agent, BArand
2-3 yrs. related work in public rela.-
tions, sales, journ., pr6motion wk.
State of Utah: Valuation appraiser,
rmajor in econ., bus., and 3 ,yrs.
Turziilo Contracting'Company, Breck-
scille, Ohio and nationwide: Civil En-
gineers fdr sales, estimating, and field
operations, also summer work for un-
dergrads free to travel for field engrg.
work. .
Foote cone and Belding, Chicago. Ill.:
Research in advertising and marketing.
Masters in Psych. or Soc. only, not
more than year exper.
A.
wY
I'l
Shostakovitch could only fall
back on what Virgil Thomson
called the "masterpiece tone,"
whose qualities are the "lugu-
brious, portentous, world-shak-
ing." As one would expect, the
work is too long and the instru-
mentation too heavy. The first
movement portrays, in a nebul-
ous fashion, the intrusion of
war on peaceful life. After a
lyrical passage, we get what
might well be called Shostako-
vitch's "Bolero," a march theme
repeated with increasing em-
phasis eleven times; given the
historical setting one can imag-
ine mounting tension, but today
only mounting tedium results.
One cannot really describe the
remaining three movements-
in that they are generalized
themselves-except to say that
the composer ; alternates t h e
quietly brooding with the mar-
tial. There is really very little
musical material in the work,
only rhetorical gesture. Virgil
Thomson, who, raised on the pi-
quant subtleties of Poulenc, dis-
likes Shostakovitch, says n o t
incorrectly : "rarely in the his-
tory of music has any composer
ever spread his substance so
thin. Attention is not even re-
quired for their absorption.
Only Anton Rubenstein's' once
popular symphony, The Ocean,
never.went in for so m u c h
water."
mno
Program Information 662-6264
TO DAY! 79v
AT 11,3, 5,7,9P.M4
who holds the deadly key to the
,HOUSEOr~nn
i}{
t
t( t
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{y
1
EXPERIMENTAL
THEATRE
Wed. and Fri., June 4,6: PORTRAIT (Levy).
Thurs., Sat., June 5,7: ACT WITHOUT WORDS
-Beckett
DR.KHEAL --Fornes
ITCH --Levy
ARENA THEATREEENINGS 8 P.M.
FREEZE BLDG.,EEIGS8PM
CFREZ BLDG. ndta Admission FREE
Corner Huron and State
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GEORGE IAGER ORS 01
PEPPARD STEVENS WMELLES
n( Suggested for
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CRRA E
A UNIVERSAL RELEASE M. TECHNICOLORI
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Subascription
Today
764-0558
The Michigan Daily, edited and man-
aged by students of the University of
Michigan. News phone: 764-0552. Second
Class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Michi-
gan, 420 Maynard St.,Ann Arbor,
Michigan 48104. Published daily Tues-
day through Sunday morning Univer-
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carrier, $10 by mail.
Summer Session published Tuesday;
through Saturday morning. Subscrip-
tion rates: $2.50 by carrier, $3.00 by
mail.
4EM
DIAL 8-6416
TONIGHT at 7-9
FjATSY OR '9D
J
"From Swingin' Sweden, we have an
ultra-mod sex farce of impudent frivolity
and flavor. Do see 'Hugs and Kisses', it's a
cheery love-in with laughs-a-plenty.".-WINs
-W 1w. w
I
-A
7-A
FORGOTTEN MASTERPI ECES OF 1968
"I sat in a dark screening room last week with a lump in
my throat and a general feeling of disbelief, while a pro-
jectionist ran one of the best pictures I've ever seen,
"Will Penny." Like nearly everybody else who missed
"Will Penny" the first (and last) time around, I was
turned off by one of the worst ad camp'igns ever dumped
on a movie. What they missed was one of the most lumi-
nous and penetrating films ever turned out by Hollywood,
with a thoughtful and tightly-written script by Tom Gries
which shows with subtlety and detail that cowboys are
anything but the embodiment of the songs Burl Ives sings.
"Will Penny" also shocked me with a sensitive, many-
faceted performance by Charlton Heston. The best work,
in an extremely difficult role,
I've seen by any actor this
year. "Will Penny" makes
"Shane" and "Hondo" and
all of its other oaty prpdeces-
sors seem phony by compari- ~
son, and it raises the genre of-
Hollywood moviemaking sev-
eral niches in the direction of
Art."
*
Lb
I
FRIDAY and SATURDAY
A TALE O*F
TWO (CITIES
dir. Jack Conway (1935)
RONALD COLEMAN
EDNA MAE OLIVER
"Tis a far for better film than
I've ever seen before"
-1. Claudius
LIMITED
ENGAGEMENT!
2 WEEKS. ONLY!'
I
ACADEMY
AWARD
WINNER!
"BEST FOREIGN FtLM" 1
I
I
-Rex Reed, N.Y. Times
"Wfflmnemn
11 ;
TODAY-8 P.M. ONLY
JUUEANDRExS
7&9
662-8871
Architecture
Auditorium
r
1
WAYSIDE Dial 434-1782LTEA T
~a;.+ U.mmeC'jPON mmm mGRAND OPENING .
Student-Faculty Co-Op Coffee House
I I'
THOMPSON'SI
Z Friday, June 6 11:00 a.m.-2:00 a.m.
PCZZArr
Courtyard S.A.B. Across from Ad. Bldg.
I
THE TWO PARTR ODC LEO TOLSTOY'S
WARanJPEACE
PRESENTED BY THE WALTER READE ORGANIZATION AND SATRA . IN COLOR RELEASED BY CONTINENTAL
PART I TSA-MEOFAUSTERUT sTARTS Wed., June 11th
THE ENTIRE PRODUCTION OF "WAR AND PEACE"
WILL BE SHOWN IN TWO PARTS. EACH PART WILL
BE SHOWN FOR ONE WEEK!
WEEK _ _ _SAT. SUN.
DAYS (_FRI. _I_ 1:00 P.M.__$2.50 $2.50 1
F2:00 P.M. I1$2.00 _ $2.00 I 4:30 P.M. I $2.00 1 $2.00 I
8:00 P.M. 1$2.50 S$2.75 I800 P.M.- $2.75_$2.50 1
Children14 and under $1.00 at all times
TICKETS MAY BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY FOR EACH PART
TECHNICO&OR A PAAMOUNT PICTV
ALSO
'NewSweek ~~
QV e n ,isa specia
Big Little Mve "retty , 0l"isaspca
A marvelousv fl ned
trlye.S~8~i a level of ixined
thiernus a Unless the movie busifla
w d let is truly bent on5e like
films aspire t,
AdedTd,EwonderAdeAtructo r N vssan
alone achieve. irttectPESEisn taAA
of wonders, dthect f Pti ie te ane
oatflwlss eg dgemselvs n
this jrods" a 31ear th
eat inis a.-y s htpidethmselve- on
enerai Ne Black. fine entertanmnt
old Amnerica",'
fthstle is inrgun the
211TH CENTURYFOX PRsENs A LAWRENCE TURMAN
From the
Proucer
of
"THEa
GRADUATE"
COLOR BY DELUXE SUGGESTED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES r
:..
:,
i'
i
r
"Will Penny"-7.04 only
"Pretty Poison"-9 :00 only
! III
I
Ill