Poge Tko.

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Wednesday, September 30, 1970

Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Wed esdy, eIteber30.197



cinema


STUDENT GROUPS WORK:

Moviespeak: A

losing winner

Academic reform goes on at 'U'

By NEAL GABLER
Art mocks reality. One of the' more re-
cent developments in American cinema
is the naturalistic film featuring social
themes, low-key performances, untheatri-
cal dialogue and with all the technologi-
cal trappings of- verite. Sometimes art is
such a perfect mimic that it actually pre-
figures reality as in the case of the abomi-
nable Strawberry Statement and the Kent
State tragedy. Sometimes reality even
mocks art; The Battle of Algiers, for
example, serves as a guide for the Ameri-
can would-be radical.
Then there are times when art mocks
art. That's where Otto Preminger comes
in. Preminger's new film Tell Me That You
Love Me, Junie Moon (appropriately
enough, that's a line from the movie) is
a lineal descendent of every schlock Amer-
ican movie ever made. Majorie Kellogg,
who adapted her own novel, and O t t o
himself stumble through the thing as if
their only contact with human life is the
hand that threads the projector. Where
did they ever observe behavior like this?
In movies, that's where. Only in movies do
people do the things Junie Moon's people
do, and only in movies do people speak
in Junie Moon's dimestore prose that con-
stitutes "moviespeak." Moviespeak requires
that the viewer suspend his sense of real-
ity; that he accept the fact that he's
watching a movie of a script already once
removed from reality; that he be aware
of the crew standing just a few feet behind
the camera and making things go.
A few examples:
A band of interns are led around to
each of the protagonists' beds just so
Preminger can tell us what ails them.
. Junie Moon (Liza Minnelli) fresh out of
the hospital after treatment for severe
acid burns on her face, is confronted by

a gawking little girl, "Gee! Look at her
ugly face." A fish monger (James Coco)
smiles benignly (He can look beyond the
scars and see a tenderhearted human be-
ing), "What can I do for you?"
Warr'en (Robert Moore), Junie's para-
plegic compatriot, explains his plans to
the hospital social worker. "Well, Junie
Moon - she's the one whose face is scar-
red - and Arthur - he has convulsions
and tremors but the doctors don't know
what's wrong - and I, are going to find
ourselves a little house and live together.
We'd have a good pair of legs, a good pair
of arms and my superior intelligence."
(Warren wasn't really talking to the social
worker; he was talking to US, telling US
that for the rest of the picture he and
Junie and Arthur will be living together.
Thanks, Warren.)
The town's eccentric rich lady (K a y
Thompson) rents Junie a musty, termite-
infested shack and invited the crippled
tenants to a lavish dinner.
Junie, Warren and Arthur (Ken How-
ard) go off to an oceanside resort. Of
course ,they masquerade as a wealthy
widow and her entourage and of course
the resort's management believes them
and of course they blow all their money.
Gay Warren turns heterosexual after a
midnight romp on the beach with an at-
tractive intellectual.
Arthur dies in Junie's arms. His dog
whines forlornly at the funeral. Where
else but in moviespeak?
Preminger is credited with the direc-
tion of this nonsense but he is more an
orchestrator than auteur. The Junker
doesn't create moods; he simply m o v e s
actors. Which is unfortunate because Miss
Minnelli, Moore (stage director of Promi-
ses, Promises and Boys in the Band) and
Howard are all game performers who never

really get a chance. Actually Otto can be
a pretty good director choreographing ela-
borate tangles like Anatomy of a Murder
or Advise and Consent; but Junie Moon
begs for a sensitivity and a subtlety Prem-
inger is incapable of infusing. When he
tries adding a psychological dimension via
artsy ;flashbacks. he cuts about an inch
deep. Even their pasts are written in
movlespeak.
Cheap sympathy would seem inherent
in this tale of a scarred girl, a paraplegic
homosexual and a trembling hulk. In-
stead, the result is an admixture of neu-
trality and suspense - neutrality because
I didn't believe for one second that Junie
had anything on her face but plastic scars
from make-up or that Warren wouldn't
get up from his wheel-chair or that Arthur
wouldn't be perfectly healthy; a preverse
suspense because I constantly anticipated
the moment when Otto would tell Arthur
to do his stuff. Where would he convulse?
In bed? On the street in full view of
hundreds of people? In a field?
Neutrality and suspense though are a
lot better than embarrassment, and Junie
Moon makes you so conscious it's a movie
that it seldom comes close to the wince-
evoking thuds of badly mangled truths.
Not even when some crazyman asks Junie
to disrobe in a cemetery and she complies
while the soundtrack alternates between
Bach and jazz. Not even then. Movie-
speak wins out.
* * * ,
If you have a thing for opening cre-
dits, Junie Moon's are first rank: P e t e
Seeger wails "Old Devil Time" amidst
towering sequoias. Stanley Cortez, ,cine-
matographer of Welles' Magnificent Am-
bersons, photographed it. It's got noth-
ing to do with what follows but it's nice.

(Continued from Page 1) nomics Society is the department- sit on all kinds of committees,"
offered more and courses that al budget. Betsey says that the Everett says, the students are out-
generally have low enrollments of- graduate students will demand numbered by faculty members.
fered less. In addition the group either an increase in the budget "The school of Public Health
will seek to reduce the size of for teaching fellowships or a re- has all sorts of resources that are
classes for upperclassmen major- alignment of the teaching fellow not being utilized," Everett says.-
ing in the department. program to make more money "There are so many different areas
"We have got to break-down the; available., in the school of Public Healthr
inconvenience o f overcrowded In the sociology department, that could be helping.
classes," Gabler says. "I think some undergraduate students have Everett said that PHSA willI
eventually we are going to have demanded an end to the depart- press for programs which take
to push for tutorial programs for ment's practice of closed faculty public health students out into the!
all majors" meetings. community.
"We've also got to equalize The faculty has invited three One of the leftover issues from,
somehow, as much as possible, undergraduates and three grad- last year in the business adminis-
the amount of time a full profes- uates to participate at the faculty tration school is the proposed in-,
sor spends teaching grad and meetings, and has added four stu- stitution of pass-fail grading in
undergrad courses," he says. "As dents to its educational policy some of the school's courses. Stu-
it is now, professors spend a whol- committee, which makes recom- dent Council President Paul Chee-
ly disproportionate amount of mendations on curricular matters. ver says that the pass-fail issue
their time at the graduate level In the English department, the will definitely be pressed this year.
of teaching." Undergraduate Steering Commit- In addition, Cheever says, the
Gabler says that the group will tee has been working for the past Student Council will attempt to
also press for more "problem- two years on altering the concen- gain voting power for students
oriented courses." such as the tration program to eliminate currently sitting on the school's
"Arab-Israeli Conflict" course of- many of the currently requited faculty committees.
fered presently. courses. The proposal would allow Cheever adds that the council
Gabler adds that for the first English majors to specialize in will press for the discontinuance
time, this year political science one or two areas they are inter- of placement exams, which allow
undergraduates will have repre- in. a student to get credit for a course
sentation on the faculty's Under- The most important item on the without taking it. Instead, all
graduate Affairs Committee. The agenda of Students for Educa- graduate students would be re-
committee will be composed of tional Innovation (SEI), the stu- quired to take a four-term pro-
three faculty members, one grad- dent body of the education school, gram.
uate student and three undergrad- will be the implementation of a Barry Baker, president of the
uates. far-reaching proposal for re- Social Work S t u d e n t Union
Graduate students in the polit- organization cc the school. The (SWSU), says that the group will
ical science department plan to',fath rsaented ngpt lobby for an optional pass-fail
continue their efforts to increase ofaato the proposal,inldgth
ofntinuepthlrnclfirgschol ntreosrtegrading system for students in the
the funds allocated for teaching separation of the school into four social work school.
fellows. Last year, the depart- curricular divisions. SWSU is also concerned aboutI
ment's teaching fellows went on Each division would form a the admission of minority group
strike when the faculty voted to Joint' student-faculty executive students to the school, particular-
reduce the teaching fellow budget. committee which would oversee ly Chicano students.
Thistyear, a student-faculty the administration of the division. "The school has always been
'committee has proposed a coin- It's specific powers in budgetary a edriIiort nolet
plete revision of the graduate and curricular matters have yet a leader in minority enrollment,
curriculum, which will soon be to be determined. __th urn_
considered by the faculty. In the public health school, the
The Graduate Association of Public Health Student Association
Political Scientists has established (PHSA) has proopsed extending
a committee which will attempt to the pass-fail grading system to all
recruit minority students. T h e courses in the school. The group
committee is being financed with is also studying curriculum with
monies which are appropriated the hope of eventually presenting
from-the department for scholar- reform proposals to the school.
ships.
Undergraduates in the econo- According to Chuck Everett,
Undegrauats i th ecno-president of the group PHSA also
mics department have developed pesint then gou PHSA lon
a proposal calling for a complete wants to gain more influence on
revamping of the economics con- the faculty committees of the
centration program, primarily in- school. Although the faculty
volving changes in the courses re- "seems to be willing to let students
quired by the program.
Mike Aho, chairman of the
undergraduate portion of the Eco-
nomics Society, says the group has
also presented a proposal to imi-
tiate several courses in the polit-
ical aspects of economic thought.
The chairman of the graduate
portion of the Economics Society,
Charles Betsey, says that this year
the group will continue to press
for the establishment of a system
of course and teacher evaluation,
and for changes in the require-
I ments for graduate students.
In addition, the Career Advisory
Committee of the Society plans to I I
try to ensure the implementation
of planned increases in he enroll-
ment of minority students on both
g r ad u ate and undergraduate
Another concern of the Eco-

school being black." Baker says.
"But this year we only have six
Chicano's, and last year we only
had one."
Baker says that this year the 4
SWSU helped initiate the Minor-
ity Opportunities Committee, com-
posed of an equal number of stu-
dents and faculty, to work for in-
creased admissions of all minority

"We are trying to make the stu-
dent-faculty committees more ef-
fective," he adds. Students cur-
rently sit in parityon every com-
mnittee in the school.

ill

GRAD
Coffee Hour
THURSDAY -
4-6
4th Floor Rackham
Litter doesn't throv
itself away; litter
doesn't just happen.
People cause it-and;
only people can prevent'
It "People" means you.
Keep America Beautiful.
.advertising contributed
for the public good

I

records
The Ban:Escaping dull perfection

By DALE FELDPAUSCH
In recent months a number
of. albums have come out which,
while technically flawless, have
seemed to be lacking in either
the excitement, tension, or to-
getherness which makes rock
and roll the most moving form'
of music (for me, at any rate),
I am speaking of, for example,
the latest efforts of Paul Mc-
Cartney, Crosby, Stills, etc., and
the newly re-formed Traffic.
When I first heard of S t a g e
Fright, (The Band; Capitol re-
cords) I hoped it would aid
Creedence Clearwater Revival in
showing the world that some
established acts were doing
something great in rock and
roll this year. It does.
.There are no radical chang-
es In this album from their
first two, Music From Big Pink
and The Band. The Band has
simply once again combined all
their roots: country, folk, jazz,
gospel, Ronnie Hawkins, and
Dylan, and come up with ano-
ther album of a (brand of rock,
and roll which is nothing but
their own - all of which was
written or co-written by Jaime
Robbie Robertson, The Band's
guitar player and one great
songwriter. Robbie writes pret-
ty songs, dramatic songs, rock-
ers, songs that tell stories,
songs that paint pictures, and
.nearly all of them are as good
as anybody's.
"The Shape I'm In," is a
mean rocker about a man who
"spent 16 years in the j a il-
house/ for the crime of havin'
no dough/ now here I am back
out on the streets/ for the crime
of havin' nowhere to go." It
features two great organ breaks.
"W. S. Walcott Medicine
Show" Ais a lyrical and musical
,description of an old southern
traveling medicine show where
"you'll find saints and sinners/
you'll find losers and winners."j
The Tmusic rumbles along in
time with the wagons and the
people you meet 'seem very real.
Words and music are perfectly
matched, "Daniel and the Sac-
red Harp" is a parable about, I
believe, wanting for yourself
what is holy and belongs to
everyone.
"Strawberry Wine" starts the
album and "The Rumor" ends it.
Both fit their positions well.
The first simply concerns the
bad joys of drinking strawberry
wine ("feel good all the time")
and will get you on your' feet.
"The Rumor" is enigmatic but
moving; it is as dramatic as
"King Harvest" and as uplift-

ing as "I Shall Be Released."
In musicianship, The B a n d
members are top-notch. Bassist
Rick Danko, drummer L e v o n
Helm, and piano-player Richard
Manuel form one of the tightest
rhythm section in rock and
roll. Helm's drumming is a model
of restraint in a field of music
noted for flamboyant displays
of see-how-fast-my-hands-can-
move., Helm just drives it out,
with appropriate flashes here
and there, precisely and with
feeling. He also plays guitar
and mandolin Rick Danko's bass
lines, while not as amazing as,
say, those which grace the Beat-
les' Abbey Road, have a raw
strength which cannot be
matched and fit the Band's
music perfectly. Piano-player
Richard Manuel, who plays
drums when Helm plays guitar,
plays very unobstrusively on this
album, not performing a n y-
where the wild barrelhouse riffs
like on "Rag Momma Rag"
from The Band.
Out of all the electric lead
guitarists in pop music today,
there are maybe three who play
with styles and get sounds that
are immediately recognizable as
their own. They are B. B. King,
the king of the blues, the late
Jimi Hendrix, the electric freak-
out submachine-gun player, and
Jaime Robbie Robertson. A n y -
time, anywhere you hear it, you
can tell when Robbie Robertson
is playing electric guitar.
Throughout this album he punc-
tuates and counterpoints t h e
singers *with what Dylan once
described as "mathematical"
precision. His solos, as in "Just
Another Whistle Stop" a n d
"Sleeping" are completely un-
der control, though in this al-
bum they seem to have more of
the intensity of his live per-
formances than were found in
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LIMOUSINES
for information call
971-3700
Tickets are available
at Travel Bureaus or
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32 Trips/Day

the first two albums. He can also
play a pretty good acoustic
guitar.
Garth Hudson is a keyboard
genius, pure and simple. Not
only can he play great rock and
roll organ, as in "The Shape
I'm In" and piano, as in "Time
to Kill," but beautiful, churchy
organ m u s i c, in "Daniel."
Helm, Danko, and Manuel all
sing about equally well, with
strong, mournful, country-bal-
ladeer voices. You will find none
of the grunting pretensions of a
David Clayton-Thomas or echo-
chamber screams of a Robert
Plant on this album. But when
Manuel moans out "Whooaaa,
you don't know, the shape I'm
in," or when Helm leers "Never
tasted anything sweet as my
strawberry wine," the feeling
communicates just fine.
There are no extravagances
in this album, no 10-minute
drum solos, or five minutes of
somebody going crazy while the
rest of the team runs through
a 3-chord progression over and
over and over. They never real-
ly "solo" instrumentally-there's
always somebody in the back-
ground playing along with the
lead instrument, adding little
counterpoints which emerge
from the complex rhythmic
background to briefly challenge

the soloist. The album may or
may not be technically perfect,
in the way albums such as John
Barleycorn Must Die and Mc-
Cartney are. But in any case it
avoids the sterility, particularly
instrumentally, which these and
other recent albums occasion-
ally show.
Probably the best reason the
Band's music is always potent
and seldom boring is the fact
that they can come into the
studio and lay the tracks for
nearly every instrument down
live-this includes drums, bass,
organ, piano, and guitar, not to
mention vocals. When you dub,
you can't have the time-warp
and spontaneous communication
between musicians, which results
in tight, together music. True,
they must dub in the horns,
other instruments, and occasion-
ally a guitar solo, but these are
are usually fairly minor em-
bellishments and are quite well
done besides.
I don't know if this explains
why or how the Band can play
with great musicianship and at
the same time escape the dull
"perfection" which equally tal-
ented, established musicians
have fallen into-but they have.
Perhaps they are just the poor
boys on the streets that Dylan
wanted to give his seat to

4-

ttDiL 4to/
DIAL 8-6416

of



hI- _______________
ILIAR

Jesus

11I

ENDS
TONIGHT
SHOWS
TODAY
AT
1, 3, 5,
7, 9 P.M.

"Start the
Revolution
Without
Me"'

LUNATIC
OR

Christ

LORD

Dr. Arthur Geisler
from
Trinity Seminary
Friday, Oct. 2,
.M. Ii

Union-Room 3G
7:30 P
Sponsored byr:


I

WITH
GENE WILDER
out of "The Producers"
DONALD SUTHERLAND
fresh from "M*A S H"
"Just Funny, Just Great!"
-Chicago Sun-Times
"A FRANTIC FUNNY
COMEDY . . . one is indeed
made weak with laughter."
-LA. Herald Examiner
THURSDAY
"The ACTIVIST"

KATE
ROMA
Barreihouse
Blues, Ragtime
made the
Philadelphia Folk
Festival come
alive."

TONIGHT?
Make a date especially if you have too much
homework. We can make it manageable by
increasing your reading rate at least 3 times.
The study technique we teach is efficient,
effective and thorough-a definite improve-
ment over unorganized cramming. Schedule a
free Mini-Lesson for yourself.

MICHIGAN CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
(Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship)

J

N.Y. Times

MINI-LESSON SCHEDULE

TUES.-

}

a

The place to meet
INTERESTING people
BACH CLUB
presen'ts a
LIVE PERFORMANCE
of
Quartet No. 12 in G,
Mozart
K. 387

i
a
I
;;
I

U of .M School of Music presents its 2nd annual
-ii
POPS CONCERT
October 2 Hill Auditorium 8:00 p.m.
Michigan Chamber Ensemble University Men's Glee Club University Symphony Orchestra

The RFD.
Boys

NEXT WEEK

Mini Lesson Schedule
1 10/1
University of Michigan 6&
Student Union 6 & 8 prr.
530 S. State

U. Utah
Phillips



I