Two

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Sunday, October 3, 1971

Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, October 3, 1971


theatre


Ginger: Bad excuse for a movie

By PETER MUNSING
First I'd better explain the
point of this review. With most
movies, the question "is it
good?" is asked' on a general
level of cinematography, what
the film has to say about man's
conidition, acting script, etc.
With a movie that advertises
itself with blurbs like "Her wea-
pon is her body . . ., To beat a
ring that specializes in asserted
sports you need a girl who plays
them" all," you Judge the film
by how well it serves a special-
ized need. You may want a lit-
tle escapist adventure or ro-
mance, some cinematic snoufka,
or a film with a happy ending
- you don't expect a film clas-
sic. It's the kind of film that's
considered to have a good write-
up if the review reads "Blood
lust at Macho Gulch achieves
its purpose admirably."
Ginger begins with a review
of a turnpike, then a pointless
shot of an ugly building, and
works its way down. The theme
seems to be mediocrity; time
and again the word "suburb"
creeps in; even the airline in
the picture is "Suburban Air-
lines." This may be the only
subtle symbolism in the movie;
more likely it's a cheap ploy for
status, equating suburbs with
the good life. This type of early
fifties mentality runs through-
out the film; apart from the
sex and wardrobe the entire mo-
vie is from the Late Late Show
(Carl Mussolini Chevrolet at
Grachen and 12 Male presents
for your entertainment to-
night . .)
The story concerns the des-
truction of a kind of Sin Incor-
porated, New Jersey, which is
blackmailing the country club
set, selling dope to their kids,
and peddling sex. The plot is a
flimsy excuse for a lot of sleazy
sex, with equal amounts of
wholly gratuitous violence. I re-
alized when it was over that
there was no moment of non-
sexual suspense in the entire
film, and the only time I felt a
glimmer of sympathy for any
of the characters was when one
of them punched Ginger very
hard in the stomach,
The acting is non-existant
I can't even call it bad acting
when, the entire cast reads their
lines with the emotion of an
offspring of Hal 5000 and Mr.
Belvedere though this may be
the only way they can plough
straight-faced through an un-
believably inane script of pro-,
fundities like ,"I grew up with
everything and it became a bore
awfully quickly. That's what it's
all about, I guess." After Gin-
gerkhas balled an unhappy
hooker (who tells her "You're

so gentle: I'm tired of rough-
ness,") the girl asks "Does this
mean--what we just did, and
my hating men and everything,
does this mean . . .?" Ginger
replies "Anybody that's been
through what you've been
through would hate any man
that -walked the earth. But don't
worry, you'll make .some man a
good lover and wife. What we
just did was unique; you need-
ed it." This right after a tear-
ful rap about how "pot" led to
sin ("I found myself actually
enjoying it.")
The gangsters are equally pa-
thetic. Their leader, Rex Hall-
sey is a punk out of central
casting who is trying to play
Edward G. Robinson, and fail-
ing. They roll lousy joints. They
pay $600 for a key of grass,
which they call "pot". They de-
liver lines like "The hard stuff's
okay, but we're running low on
the pot," and "The action we
can take-the trouble we 'can
live without." The house of
these allegedly hip dealers is
decorated in Early American
Undertaker mixed with Jewish
Renaissance. Their method of
killing people is to beat them
to death and then s1 i t their
throats; I think Ginger finally
wins out because her violence is
even more gratuitous. She kills
two of 'them and castrates a
third with piano wire because
she feels ambivalent towards
men-we are told via flashbacks
that she was raped (by blacks)
and jilted once. However she is
still free at the end of the film,
which I guess is supposed to
mean either that violence in
pursuit of justice is no crime,
or that we should ignore the
script.
The flashbacks are given in a
"through water" method; I was
waiting for the montage of cal-
endar leaves and pictures of
her sleuthing. All of the flash-
backs are unnecessary and ridi-
culous. The rest of the camera
work is at the same level -
nebishy angles, pointless pan-
ning, if the camera moved at
all; often I had the feeling that
this was shot on a small stage
like I Love Lucy. Even the color
is poor, which these days is an
achievement. The music is a
heavy, thumping piano, as un-
subtle as the sex.
There -remainst the question
of whether the visual nookie is
worth sitting through all this
of a married

crap for. While there are fron-
tal shots galore and mounds of
tit, the Missionary Position
seems to be the only one known
to the director. A lot of times
the people are handcuffed so if
you like reading things like
Love in Bondage, this might
turn you on. Never is the sex
meaningful in the context of
the film - always gratuitous.
When Ginger has just subdued
one of the gang and is sitting
on top of her, she and her boss
discuss whether they should ball
now or wait until the rest of the
gang is rounded up. Apart from
this there is never any sex for
mutual enjoyment-somebody's
always being tricked, raped, or
otherwise used. Even then, the
pubic hairs have been carefully
The Michigan Daily, edited and Mpan-
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igan. 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor,
Michigan 48104. Published daily Tues-
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combed to reveal nothing,
though in a courageous move
for sexual equality male geni-
talia are shown (in a non-tur-
gid state). As a porne film it
rated very low on the Munsing
Male Chauvinist Pig Hardness
Scale; your two dollars would
get you better value at the Blue
Front or Fourth - Ave. Adult
News.
The women were, for the
most part, the type that ap-
proach you in the New York
Port Authority Terminal asking
if you want your dick sucked for
ten dollars (all night for twen-
ty). Ginger is skinny and has a
badly proportioned face; the
Bond flicks were much better
for women and excitement. This
is the only film I've seen where
a girl looks better dead (choked
from being raped while having
a plastic bag over her mouth)
than alive.
AT
At State & Liberty Sts.
DIAL 662-6264
OPEN 12:45
SHOWS AT 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 P.M.

In fact, Ginger was so bad
that for a while I though it
was a parody. The alleged her-
oine is described by an off-
screen voice as she walks down
the hall (another fifties bit)
"Eyes, hazel; parents socially
prominent; straight B average
in history and political science;
active in Tri Delts and student
government; from an upper
middle class suburb of New
York." In other words, the pur-
est, most refined mediocrity;
but then what can you expect
of a film that has to resort to
contrived class snobbery to try
to introduce some tension into.
a vapid, cinematic Wonderbread.
To paraphrase Rex's immortal
line, "The moment I laid eyes
on that film I knew it was
trouble."

CIII"
FESTIVAL WEEK:
The American
Western
TONIGHT ONLY
RED RIVER
Dir. Howard Hawks, 1948
with JOHN W A Y N E,
MONTGOMERY CLIFT,
& WALTER BRENNAN.
There could be no west-
ern week without the
great t e a m of Howard
Hawks and John Wayne.
In this Mutiny on the Bounty
of the west, Wayne leads the
first cattle drive up the Chisolm
Trail-climaxed by a ferocious
fight between Wayne and his
step-son Clift.
SHOWN AT 7 & 9:15 P.M.
ARCHITECTURE
AUDITORIUM
75c
READ AND USE THE
DAILY CLASSIFIEDS

>.aDYfSEY. ODYSSEY.o
MONDAY
oBEER NIGHT.
DRASTICALLY REDUCED
PRICES
Y208 W. Huron
0FOOD-DRINKS-SERVYNG 11 A.M2 A.MY
EYM6Y. ODYMEY. DY4Y

I1

A

WXY Z
presents

Representative
JO'HN CONYERS,
of the Black Congressional Caucus
discusses the 1972 Presidential
election and other issues
Monday, Oct. 4-4:15 p.m.
100 Law School
NO ADMISSION CHARGE


is ridinj
agaiin..

N

THE MARX BROTHERS in

NEIL
DIAMOND
SAT., OCT. 9-8:30 P.M.
U of 0 MEMORIAL BLDG.
Tickets: $6.00, $5.00, $4.00
A TASCON PRODUCTION

MONKEY BUSINESS
on the lam as stowaways aboard a transatlantic liner,
in a rioutous, fast-paced adventure!
TUESDAY-October 5th-ONLY!

State Street at Liberty

bw WIkm Gft
hu-
It h D I~iar

I

auditorium a
ongell hail

7 &9:30 p.m.

still only 75c
children 35c

Please Follow Smokey's
ALWAYS hold
matches till cold
BE sure to
drown all fires-
CAREFUL to
0*
SMOKEYmke
i r1

IL

TICKETS GOING FAST
UAC-Daystar present
B.B. KING
HOWLIN' WOLF
FRI., OCT. 8th-HILL AUDITORIUM-9 P.M.
Advance Tickets from 10:00 a.m. at Michigan Union and
Salvation Records, 330 Maynard-1103 S. Univ.

the ann arbor film cooperative
COMING THURSDAY-Michelangelo Antonioni's BLOW UP

I

TODAY ONLY at NGELL HALL

AN ACT

DIAL 8-6416

UAL PERFORMANCE OF THE
NATIONAL THEATRE
WOF GREAT

19I

MEET GINGER-
Her weapon is
her body... She
can cut you, kil
you or cure you!
COLOR by Deuxe '
SHOWS TODAY
1 :00-3:00-5:00
7 :00-9:00 p.m.
SOON
"Helistrom Chronicle"


I

OPENS TUESDAY!

The
greatest
Othello ever
by the greatest
actor of our time.
LAURENCE
DLI VIE

BRITAIN
-E
ROUTH ELLO



MI/lsional1 ealre M4yraril

20thL e y Fnpeents


L

THlE GALA INAUGURAL PRQIJUTITC


THE ALLEY CINEMA
PRESENTS
TOMORROW-Mon., Oct. 4
LE BONHEUR
dir. Agnes Varda, 1965, in color
Concerns the love of one man for two women. Varda portrays
personal happiness as a force both self-gratifying and pathetical-
ly destructive.
Winner of David Selzinck Silver Laurel Award, 1966, and Prix
Louis Delluc of Paris, 1965.
SHOWS AT 7 & 9:30
$1.00
330 Maynard,
COMING TUES.-Shirley Clarke's "The Connection"
sponsored by ann-arbor film cooperative


POWER CENTER

Im

A6r ,ie 'er/6rminy r ;i

[1iQRLB PREMIERE/

1


I

BARBARA
COOK
RUTH FORD
WESLEY ADDY

HOLM
alt

CAROL
BRICE
MAX SHOWALTER
RUSS THACKER

a ~ A B.H.E. PRODUCTION
ALSO STARRING
WAE[3MWTH-JOYCE REDMAN aid [RANKNTHONY HAVELOCK- ALLAN and JOHN
BRABOURNE-STUART BURGE TECHNICOLOR*PANAVISIONOFROM WARNER BROS.-SEVEN ARTS
SIn "Othello," Olivier handles his richest Shakespearean film as the Moorish general tor-
mented by jealous love for his young bride. The emotional range, from moody passiveness to
deranged violence, is enormous. As Olivier puts it, "You have to be enormously big as Othello.
On the other hand, I don't care how big the acting is, how loud you're roaring, how stridently
you're screaming-it must never be absolutely quite at the top of your voice. If you hit the
ceiling, then the audience can suddenly see the measure of you. Suddenly you look weak in-
stead of strong."
It is this subtly balanced combination of great strength and great realism which have dis-
tinguished Olivier's great Shakespearean portrayals. Without sacrificing the lyrical qualities
of the plays, he has emphasized animalism and earthiness to make Shakespeare plausible and per-
tinent to our times.
In technique and conception, the filming of "Othello" was unique. It was not on the stage,
but in London's Shepperton Studios that this film representation of "Othello" was enacted. It
is not a photographed stage performance, but rather a film of a performance-that of the Na-
tional Theatre of Great Britain. It was photographed simultaneously by three Panavision cameras
to sustain the dramatic flow of the performances. The g r e a t speeches of the Shakespearean
drama were shot without the interruptions common the conventional photography.
Today's screening is in 5 mm-a mint theatrical print previously used about ten times-
for the maximum clarity of sight and sound.

A4

0

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICUIIGA N
GILBERT AND SULLIVAN SOCIETY
proudly announces its fall show

THEI GRASS HARP"
I ~ ~ ~ ~ rr~mror~r u _________________________________________

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Book & Lyrics by KENWARD ELMSLIE
rvA i* mp AnftjEu