Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, February 1, 1972 Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, February 1, 1972 ................ .~ '~ ..~......... Sugar coating sours 'Crooks' Organbooks: Exploring religion By PETER MUNSING There are a number of dif- ferent types of "cops and rob- bers" flicks - the heist film, like Topkapi or the Lavender Hill Mob; the private eye genre, usually played with a sense of irony a la Bogart; and its broth- er the detective film, such as Bulitt or the French Connec- tion, where the central charac- ter is less glib than in heist films since he doesn't have to be charming or handsome to be the hero, he is justice. These films are fast paced, with a spare plot and equally simple moral impli- cations, though there are qx- ceptions to the latter-Bonnie and Clyde and Dirty Harry. Tension and excitement are the basic functions of the film, us- ually stemming from a sense of the inevitable- khe heist, the chase,. and the shoot-out. The Crooks lacks this tension for a number of reasons. The main problem is the direction by Claude Lelouch of A Man and A Woman fame. The en- tire film is handled with the same Playboy/Cosmopolitan ac- tion - romance style. The action is subordinated to the charac- ters inasmuch as the plot is merely an excuse for us to see how charmant these people are. They aren't committing the crime for money but as a dis- play for us. There is no inner tension or drive since the ele- ments of the plot are carried out as a routine rather than a drama. 6r'We get initial cues that that certain inevitable something is afoot - the crook (Jean Louis Trintignant) getting his false identification papers, guns, the loot from his hiding place, and bopping across the border as the police look wherever he isn't. Then suddenly it's over - he drops off the money and we see him back in Paris. Eventually we work back up to the big ac- -.tion-a kidnap extortion-but once that and the requisit chase -betrayal - revenge sequence are through we're back in pri- son where it all started. The action itself is, overly complex. Not that complexity Is Announcing a Conference on WOMEN & RELIGION h'fromu the perspective of Women's Liberation Feb. 18-20 Jewish, Block, & Non-Western Women Participants Needed to help run Workshops ALL INVITED- if interested please call 764-7442 MUCI by KURT CARPENTER f and ,$1.00 HELLO OUT THERE by WILLIAM SAROYAN Friday, Saturday-Feb. 4, 5 RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE AUDITORIUM 8 P.M. Rent your Roommate with a Classified Ad an evil; only when it's unneces- sary. The Crook lacks the gad- etry and self-parody of a Bond film or Topkapi; it's not so much the perfect crime as the perfect criminal. You get the feeling at all this complexity is- Simon's way of having fun; but like Bond's gadgets, it gets tedious whensuperfluous-Mis- sion Impossible overkill. Busi- ness - like concentration on the central action is missing, as well as a sense of chance-how can there be failure when the plan is conceived by the perfect criminal? The crook is a lawyer turned thief, who has had one "bril- liant" escape from prison by the beginning of the film, and he stages another one at the end. His is called "Simon le Suisse" because he is "methodical and works alone." Like the nice guy he is never hurts anyone-the bank he extorts money from receives its value in goodwill; the kidnapped kid's father is an accomplice -- there isn"t even emotional hurt - and the kid is treated to a sort of holiday in toyland. As if that weren't enough, he charms the heck out of everyone - the lady he or- iginally threatens shelters him on numerous occasions, his ex- girl (though married) gives him her car, and he even catches the eye of a nun. Sound hokey? It is. The music by Francois Lai (also of A Man and A Woman) was so innocuous that as I left I couldn't remember a single bar. The photography is com- petent though gimicky; lots of shots through windshields and mirrors, unnecessary close ups and stilted composition. This isn"t the most challenging script; suffice to say that there was no bad acting. Generally a nice, sugar coated film that slides down easy but leaves you hungry. It's a Walt Disney gangster movie, down to the last happy/ironic scene. Feh. ,1 By DONALD SOSIN Ann Arbor composer and or- ganist William Albright is re- presented on two new records on the CRI and Nonesuch lab- els. The CRI disk contains three works, vast in scope and sound. .Organbrook, written in 1967, and awarded the Queen Marie- Joan Prize in 1968, is a major work in four movements. Each movement captures particular sonorities of the instrument and organizes the numerous effects in a controlled, yet spontaneous sounding manner. This is organ writing on a grand scale, stem- ming from the innovations of Messiaen (one of Albright's teachers), who saw great pos- sih>'aes in exploiting the or- gan s vase range of color. Al- bright, however, goes beyond the precise tone modes of Mes- siaen, and finds new realms of sound and expressivity in sweep- ing glissandi, huge punctuating chords, and subtle harmonic changes . that all combine to make fascinating musical struc- tures. Juba, Albright's first major work for the instrument, c o m- posed in 1965, contains many of the toccata-like moments to be found in Organbook, but inter- rupted here by crashing arpeg- gios. Trills play an important role, and give the work variety and character. Both works are performed by Albright on the Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium. The difficulty of the writing ap- proaches impossibility every oth- er page, yet Albright is able to cope with everything in a sty- lish, facile way that is really something to marvel at. The third piece, Pneuma (1966) is performed by Marilyn Mason,. chairman of the organ depart- mnent in the School of Music. A leading exponent of contempor- ary works, she commissioned the work and brings all her techni- cal capabilities to bear. Shorter in length than Organbook or Juba, Pneuma requires no less an amount of virtuosity and the ability to handle a wide variety of textures at once. The ase of dynamics, as in the other works, skillfull and sensitive, and one sees here the little flirtations with tonality that Albright has avoided in Organbook, but has used to good advantage in var- ious other compositions, not counting the piano rags, which are essentially tonal works. Albright's latest recorded ef-, fort is Organbook II, on None- such. He writes, "In contrast to the wholesome piety of Organ- book I ("Benediction," "Reces- sional"), the current work . . . is warped in the direction of the darker, more sinister aspects of religion - nocturnal rituals, the devil, mortality." Marilyn Mason; gave the pre- miere of the work in Hill Audi- torium last October. One wonder- ed at the time whether the work's great success was not in some part due to the visual as- pect: an assistant is needed to depress notes, and the organist must constantly shift from man- ual to manual. Without all this, nevertheless, the work main- tains its ability to capitivate the listener with minute harmonic changes, and surprise the hell out of him when the tape enters in the last movement. The work was commissioned by Nonesuch Records, and is joined on the disc by William Bolcom's Black Host. Scored for ,organ, tape and percussion (Sid- ney Hodkinson, U-M composer performs with Albright here) the piece plays with our expec- tations, introduces a number of styles, including a catchy rag- time tune in the middle, but is more concerned with projecting an ominous undercurrent of paranoia. It is a work that could well be played by the Phantom of the opera, seated at his con- sole five cellars below the opera house. alternately laughing hy- sterically and brooding about his isolation from humanity. Both performances are su- perb, demonstrating Albright's recognized ability to handle a wide range of styles while tack- ling the most formidable techni- cal problems. Auditions for ANTIGONE by Jean Anouilh dir. by BURNETTE STAEBLER presented by the ANN ARBOR CIVIC THEATER 7:30-1 0P.M. January 31, February 1 & 2 at A.AT.C. Bldg. 201 Mulholland Dr., AA :{ ,r J " 4 !S !" ' ) N. ! t ' ' L;.;: i DIAL 665-6290 "NEVER GIVE A INCH" was the motto of the Stampers of Oregon. and live it they didi P1 Cl~ntal ERR 0 bEE RE1KK *icnal samn Wednesday & Thursday, Feb. 2 & 3 THE DEPT. OF SPEECH STUDENT LABORATORY THEATRE in cooperation with the DEPT. OF ENGLISH presents TWO ORIGINAL ONE-ACT PLAYS THE REUNION by Janice Bergstrom AND MOSAIC by John Angell Arena Theatre, Frieze Bldg. FREE ADMISSION Promptly at 4:10 p.m. or earlier if the theatre is filled A UnwersalNewma,'Freman Pkture G TECHNICOLOR"- PANAISIQNb P i I HILLEL FOUNDATION & CENTER FOR RUSSIAN & EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES present A Series of Public Lectures by PROF. SHLOMO AVINIER' Director, Levi Eshkol Institute for Social Research, Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem THURS., FEB. 3: 4 P.M., Residential College Auditorium "MOSES HESS-ZIONIST, COMMUNIST, INTELLECTUAL" 8:30 P.M., Hillel Foundation, 1429 Hill St. "THE POLITICAL INTEGRATION OF THE NON-EUROPEAN IMMIGRANT IN ISRAEL" FRI., FEB. 4: 3 P.M., Angell Hall, Auditorium C "MARX'S PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AND THE NON-EUROPEAN WORLD"' 'p TONIGHT ONLY - wm I The Boogie Brothers (John & Steve) from Mr. Flood's Party & 2nd act in Com- mander Cody Hill Con- cert Farewell Performance TUESDAY NIGHT Pilot Program presents BATTLE OF ALGIERS, "A revolutionary documentary of Algerian reaction, and resistance to French colonialism" TOMORROW NIGHT 7 and 9:30 P.M. in the Public Health Aud. $1.50 K A ~new PRETZEL BELLpoic ENTERTAINMENT 7 NIGHTS A WEEK Sunday thru Thursday-starting at 9:30 P.M. Friday and Saturday-starting at 10:00 P.M. NO COVER CHARGE TUESDAY, Jan. 31-The RFD Boys WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY, Feb. 1-2-Tom Davis with DanErlewine and Randy Hillman FRIDAY & SATURDAY, Feb. 3-4-Three Penny Opera Pretzel Bell 102 E. Liberty I 1421 Hill $MET t Ft'iSt e Nassau or Freeport, Bahamas $119.O-5 DAYS plus 10% for tax services TOUR INCLUDES: * ROUND TRIP AIR FARE * U.S. DEPARTURE TAX * FIRST CLASS HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS (QUAD) . FREE PARKING AT AIRPORT 0 FREE RUM SWIZZLE PARTY ON FLIGHT BUSTER KEATON in Seven Chances DIR. BUSTER KEATON, 1925 Buster is a young man who must find a bride within 24 hours in order to inherit a fortune. ARCHITECTURE AUDITORIUM 7:00 and 9:00 P.M.-75c 0 TOMORROW NIGHT: THE NAVIGATOR March 3-7 March 7-11 March 11-15 March 15-19 March 19-23 March 23-27 March 27-31 March 31-April 4 April 4-8 I PAYMENT SCHEDULE: $50.00 deposit due with application. Balance due 30 days before departure. TOUR APPLICATION NAME ADDRESS PHONE SCHOOL OR GROUP Send to AMBASSADOR INSTITUTE OF TRAVEL, 76 W. Adams, Suite 1301, Detroit, Mich. 48226 Phone 1-961-4455; 1-962-5468 MISS lSi"fi Y55 :'k'"t} r { -' : l C { 1 i FINAL CLOSING OUR "MARILYN'S BROTHER" DEPT. MARKDOWNS JEANS and PANTS $13 to $5 75c *Y,' 4 V r Reg. $6 to $20 SHIRTS and TOPS '$2 and $3 Reg. $5 to $15 We Have Gathered Merchandise from Several of Our "Mar- ilyn's Brother" Departments and Have Them Available in Ann Arbor at These Extremely Low Prices . . > _ ... .:... .....::..:.:::..::......:...:.::::::::.:::...::::.i.:... :: ::. >::::::>