Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Thursday, September 24, 1970
Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, September 24, 1970
theatre
The Americanization of Darling'
OPEN 12:45 P.M.
SHOWS at 1-3-5-7-9 P.M.
Program Info: 662-6264
THE LANDLORD'S
GETTING JUST ABOUT
EVERYTHING BUT THE RENT.
1
State & Liberty Sts.
HELD I OVER!
By JAQUES
British comedy hits have a
nasty habit of wending their,
way across the Atlantic with a
great deal of advance publicity
and high hopes, only to be dash-
ed to pieces when they actual-
ly set up for business. One such
was Boeing, Boeing a few sea-
sons back which, I enjoyed
heartily in London and was sur-
prised to fipd it closing early in
New York. Even the movie flop-
ped. W h a t happens to these
shows? Do they behave like fine
wine which will not travel from
its native shores, a n d if so,
what happens to them in tran-
sit?
Not Now, Darling, at the Fish-
er Theatre in Detroit, is billed
as the "around the world hit."
It's almost a challenge to the
critic to strike it do wn. For,
reasons I, will enumerate later,
he probally must do so. But is
this really the show that was a
hit in London and Sydney?
Frankly it is hard to believe.
Farce comedy is a form which
makes an American audience of
the 1970's a little uncomfort-
able. We are a little embarras-
sed to seekrout simple escapist
entertainment in t h e theatre,
thinking all the while about all
the terrible things going on out-
side the theatre while we waste
three hours amusing ourselves.
This need not be, however, if
the play is truly excellent and
performed w e 11. A farce is a
machine which must operate
'with precision from the start
and grab the audience instantly
into the life of the protagonist
to share his trials through any
amount of improbable adven-
tures. The laughs and the comic
business m u s t stem naturally
from this character, and any
deviation from the truth of his
acting or part will confuse the
audience in the middle of their
laughter. Even bits t h a t are
funny in themselves must be
deleted from the show if they
serve to confuse. Author-Direct-
or, Ray Cooney has n o t yet
learned this restraint.
Arnold Crouch (Norman Wis-
dom) is a very straight a n d
moral man who is outraged by
his business partner's amours
and even more outraged when
he is asked to help out in the
process of giving the lady in
question a fur coat from the
company stock. Throughout the
play Crouch gets more and
more involved with the plot and
takes a greater and greater part
in it, but does not ever accept
its morality. Y e t scattered
throughout the show we see him
with great glee discover h i s
hand inside a fur which covers
the bare breasts of the g i r 1
within and no more. Some very
comic business develops f r o m
this at first innocent mistake,
but it takes a lewd turn which
is totally out of character for
Arnold Crouch. We are upset
by this and he loses credibility.
In assessing this problem, we
place the blame equally at
Cooney the author, for not giv-
ing us clearer definition of
character (This happens with
his lead - whit he doesn't do
for his other characters should-
n't be mentioned.); or at Coon-
'ey the director for poorly con-
cealing the weakness of the
script he gave himself to work
with.
The central gimmick in the
plot is funny enough. We have
the requisite farce set with at
least three doors for people to
hide behind (one of them con-
ceals an opulent bar which I
could die for), and an assort-
ment of girls who hide there
because they don't have on any
clothes but the fur coats which
appear from everywhere. But he
takes an interminable length of
time with a rather tedious ex-
position to set up all this tom-
foolery in the first place. Fur-
thermore, as a director he makes
some incredible mistakes of
convention. Asides a r e giv: n
only to one character in the
first act; by the time the second
rolls around, everyone is keep-
ing score on the invisible fourth
wall. They are misplaced and
overdone, hindering rather than
helping the overall effect. One
girl who is a London secretary
is given a New York accent for
no explainable reason excent
perhaps to help bring her across
the Atlantic. And many of the
characters have only one line
which they repeat over and ov-
er again.
Some of t h e s e defects are
clear weaknesses of conception
in the play. Others, I fear, are
attempts to make the New Y(rk
audience feel that those people
in London are just like us, so
let's go and watch a play about
them, or some such claptrap.
Much of the play is very fun-
ny. I laughed a lot, especially
during the second half. But it's
only half there and I wonder if
somewhere, on the floor of some
hotel suite, the rest may not
have been left in an attempt a c
Americanization. I wonder what
jt would be like to see the real
thing.
TV RENTALS
$10.50 per month
F ENO DEPOSIT
FREE DELIVERY
AND SERVICE
CALL:
NEJAC TV RENTALS
662-5671
I
Watch
the landlord
get his.
THE MIRISCH
PRODUCTION COMPANY
presents
A NORMAN JEWISON-HAL ASHBY
PRODUCTION
YYTE
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DIAL 5-6290
Doors Open 12:45
ENDING TONIGHT
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PAT and VICTORIA
GARVEY
... Epic Recording Artists
. . .Gee, it's a lovely picture, Mrs. Custer-Sorry
things turned out that way for George ..."
FRI., SAT., SUN. Doors Open
SEPT. 25-27 $2.00
starring BEAU BRIDGES LEE GRANT DIANA SANDS
3$ 'i- Music by Screenplay by Basedonanovel by
and PEARLBALLEYarge" AL KOOPER BILL GUNN KRISTIN HUNTER
Produced by sirected by
NORMAN' JEWISON HAL ASHBY COLOR by DeLuxeUnmludt Artiti
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HELD OVER
AGAIN!
ANTONIONI'S TWO
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
MASTERPIECES-THROUGH FRIDAY
"BLOW-UP 1s So
STUNNING THAT YOU WANT TO SEE IT MORE
THAN ONCE!"-N.Y. POST
"J ust
Funny ..
Just
Great,..
"Start the
Revolution
Without
Me"
H"AL ".-
WALLIS
TECHNICUtR' N
' i
Sun. Times
"BEST
FILM
OF
19661"
Notional
Society
d Film Critics
A Carlo Ponti Produckiao
Antonioni's
BLOW-UP
Vanessa Redgrave
David Hemmings Saroh Miles
COLOR
MCOMMOII40FORMATUM AUDIENCES
A Premier Produdions Co., inc. Releoe
with
Donald
Sutherland
(fresh from M*A*S*H)
Doors Open Tonight 6:45
Shows at 7 and 9 P.M.
Next: "THE ACTIVIST"
"ODD COUPLE" starts
at 2:40-6:10-9:30
"BAREFOOT IN THE PARK"
starts at 1:00-4:25-7:50
Litter doesn't throw
itself away; litter
doesn't just happen.
People cause it-and
only people can prevent,
it "People" means you.
Keep America Beautiful.
-in dvertising c tnbuted
'Jor the publid good
0
Thurs. 7:00 p.m.-WILD HORSES OF FIRE-A Russian Epic
Sept. 24 9:00 p.m.*-SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT-Bergman
11:00 p.m.-SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT
Wed., Thur.-"ZABRISKIE" 7:10 only-"BLOW-UP" 9:00 only
Friday-"BLOW-UP", 7:10 and 10:50-"ZABRISKIE" 9:00 only
"ANTONIONIAT HIS CREATIVE BEST!"
--Cue Magazine
"CHILLING! It's Enibarrassing that a Foreigner Can
Take a Quick Look and See What Ails Us While We
Are Still Lost in Our Fallacies."
-Jon Clemens, The Record
"REVOLUTIONARY! It's So Beautifully Made, So
Beautifully Constructed, and It Has Such a Powerful
Ending. I Want to See It Again."
-Jonas Mekos, Village Voice
ANTONIONI's
DIR N'F5I
® n
UI
"'MAS*H'IS THE BEST
AMERICAN WAR
COMEDY SINCE
SOUND CAME
IN " -Pauline Kae.
I S New Yorker t-
4
Sept. 25
Sat.
7:00 p.m.-THE INFORMER-Dir. John Ford
VICTOR MCLAGLEW in a drama
of the Irish Republican Army
9:00 p.m.*-THE MAGNIFICIENT AMBERSONS-Dir. Orson Welles
JOSEPH COTTON
11:00 p.m.-THE MAGNIFICIENT AMBERSONS
7:00 p.m.-THE INFORMER
201 Centr o Dre'osrW
M A I.11An Ingo Preminger Production
DONALD SUTHERLAND- ELLIOTT GOULD -TOM SKERRITT
Co Starring SALLY KWlERMAN RORi ENU -.iO ANN PrUG RENE AUERONONS
Produced by Drecled by Screenplay by tg-
INGO PREMINGER ROBERT ALTMAN RING LARDNER, k.
Clro a nel by DICHAROOKER MusXE by JOHNNY MANOEL 1 I
Color by DE LUXES PAN1AISION' .a.
i
oFIFPTH Forum
PITIAVENUSA ATLIMRiTY
D2OWNTOWN ANN ARUOi
INFORMATION 76I-9700
3020 Washtenow,+Ph. 434-1782
Between Ypsilanti & Ann Arbor
Box office open 6:30
STARTS SATURDAY
"RIDER ON THE RAIN"
NOW SHOWING
SHOW TIMES
TODAY
7:00-9:10
SATURDAY and SUNDAY
1,00-3:05-5:10-7:15-9:30
Sept. 26 9:00 p.m.*-THE LADY VANISHES-Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
11:00 p.m.-THE LADY VANISHES
I.
.1 1
Grinnell's
annii
his ~ :J:
i
i
RECORDS
:Mis .,
wqer-sary
.l :: ......
..C... ......'
Sun.
Sept. 2 7
7:00 p.m.-BLACK ORPHEUS
9:00 p.m.-BLACK ORPHEUS
X.
... _-..
I
4
4,
Joe Crockers Latest
I
A Generous
Dose of Joy!
*PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGES-tickets go on sale for each
show at 6:30 p.m. the night of the show. A separate admission
will be charaed for each performance.
2 RECORDS IN FOLD-OPEN
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