Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wednesday, November 25, 1970 0
cinema
Another inequitable
offering on marriage
By NEAL GABLER
First of all there is the wedding, a ludicrously pagan ritual
with fat relatives, a five-piece orchestra playing "More' and "Moon
River," a chicken or roast beef dinner with a hard ball of mashed
potatoes, a lovely bride, (of course), decked out in gown of white
(symbol of purity), and an obnoxious photographer torecord the
glorious event.
And then comes married life and with it the rude awakening
that all those movies you saw left something out. Marriage isn't
glamorous. It's a custom you somehow got duped into going along
with. It's wiping the runny noses of those kids and cooking their
meals and cleaning up their mess and buying their clothes and
pushing St. Joseph's aspirin down their throats. It's free sex but
with an emotional price: the agonizing adjustment to the habits
of that other creature who shares the bed. At best, it may be a
little company on what would otherwise be a lonely night in front
of the TV set. But love? No; marriage is to love as church-going is
to true faith.
But we shouldn't be too discouraged, I'm told. Broadway's
Company takes its scathing look at marriage, then concludes that
it isn't especially good but it's all we've got. And now Lovers and
Other Strangers comes along, based on the play by Renee Taylor
and her husband Joseph Bologna, telling us basically the same
thing. "We're all strangers," Richard Castellano's Frank counsels
his son. "But after a wlile you get used to it; you become deeper
strangers." "I want more." "More! Everybody wants more! That's
all there is!"
So much for our peculiar institution. I'm in no position (for-
tunately) to take sides. As a reviewer, however, I am in the position
to say that Lovers and Other Strangers is only .a moderately suc-
cessful film that had the potential to be very good and blew it.
We've become more honest about our lives (or we're at least more
willing to tolerate someone else's honesty) since the Spencer Tracy-
Elisabeth Taylor days of Father of the Bride. You know how it
goes. There's a little family spat. Hubby is spending too much time
away from home. Another woman maybe? But no, he's only taken
on another job to get more money for wife and child. And every-
body loves everybody else. And their sex lives are just wonderful.
And the kid grows up and wears a crew-cut. And there are no drugs.
No VD. No neuroses. No divorces. Ain't life grand!
Lovers and Other Strangers ridicules that sham idyl. Mike
(Michael Brandon) and Susan (Bonnie Bedelia) are a young couple
who've been coupling for about a year and finally decide to tie the
knot with a priest presiding and fat relatives and the whole bit.
Their wedding is used as a backdrop for a much-too-temperate,
Love American Style look at marriage: Susan's sister Wilma (Anne
Meara) is a sex-starved housewife hitched to a nature boy (Harry
Guardino) with a less voracious appetite. Her father (Gig Young)
is carrying on an affair behind her mother's back. Her future
brother-in-law is filing for divorce. One of her bridesmaids is
staving off a wolf. It is supposed to be funny-with secret trysts
in a WOMAN's washroom, some over-eager and unsuccessful at-
tempts to score, some wriggling on the marriage hook by the pros-
pective groom-but the jokes soon wear thin. There are just too
many cheap laughs.
But there is also Richard Castellano, and that's quite a bit
any way you look at it. Castellano, who looks like a cross between
an ox and Mayor Daley, is the groom's very Italian father, a coarse
but tender man caught between the reality of wife, job and sleep,
and what might have been if he had married Mary Rose, a school
teacher he once knew. Castellano is, fantastic, lighting up the screen
with a performance that is both hilarious and moving. He -is what
the film should have been about-the sorry gratefulness of mar-
riage..Instead Lovers and Other Strangers is a naughty TV comedy.
It could have been much more. Right, Elizabeth?
Those of you who read my piece in the Daily Magazine last
Sunday, may have suspected that my typewriter suffered from a
seizure. Actually, a funny thing happened to me on the way to
New York. I started out writing an article on how the Times
homogenizes its film criticism, and I wound up with a meta-article.
Death, taxes and editors. 'Nuff said.
Spend An Evening With
THE FIFTH
ry aDM E NSON
THE JIMMY
HAZ CASTOR BUNCH
Friday, November 27, 1970 at Cobo Arena
Show starts at 8:30 P.M., Doors Open at 7:30 P.M.
Tickets are: $3.50, $4.50 and $5.50. Tickets on sale now at all
J. L. Hudson stores, Grinnell stores and Cobo Arena Box Office, 1
Washington Blvd., Detroit, Michigan 48226. Phone No. 962-
5870.
An Aruse Production
MONDAY, NOV. 30, 1970
CINEMA GUILD PRESENTS:
DR. CH ICAGO
dir. by Ann Arbor's own George Manupelli, 1969
"Profound, profound, profound."
Laird warns
N. Vietnam
(Continued from Page 1)
to use every measure available to
free them."
Ky spoke at a jammed lunch-
eon meeting of the National Press
Club after he had met with Presi-
dent Nixon and his top advisers at
the White House for more than
three hours.
In the Senate committee, critics
of the rescue operation said it
might have made worse the plight
of American prisoners.
"At a time when Americans are
dying in captivity, some have
claimed that this rescue attempt
might have jeopardized the lives
of American men held captive,"
Laird said. "... It is my firm belief
that the lives of our American
prisoners are in danger every day."
Sen. J. W. Fulbright (D-Ark.),
the committee chairman, said no
one is questioning the heroism of
the volunteer soldiers and airmen
who raided the Son Tay POW
compound Friday morning-only
to find that American 'prisoners
were no longer there.
In a nationally televised ap-
pearance before a Senate panel
that has often been critical of
U.S. policy in Southeast Asia,
Laird said he hopes the adminis-
tration "may count on influential
bipartisan support and assistance
of this committee and the Con-
gress" in its efforts to negotiate
an exchange of all prisoners of
war.j
He said some 3,000 Americans
are suspected to be prisoners in
North Vietnam.
Laird said he first received con-
tingency plans for a POW rescue
attempt late last summer, ap-
proved continued preparations for
the venture, but delayed any final
recommendation.
"It goes without saying that I
took into deep and careful con-
sideration the possible effects of
such a rescue attempt on the
status of other prisoners of war
held in Southeast Asia," Laird
said.
City offers
counseling
(Continued from Page 1)
Because it is self-supporting, the
clinic charges a fee, based on a
sliding scale.
In addition to these services, in-
formal counseling is available
through the Office of Religious
Affairs which is working inten-
sively in the area of abortion
counseling and referral.
"We look at abortion counseling
as a response to student needs."
It is important that women have
several places to choose from to go
for counseling," staff member Dale
Scot says. "There are counselers
in all offices who know the safe
abortion facilities and can prepare
a women for the abortion experi-
ence."
The Ann Arbor community has
several services available to stu-
dents. The Crisis" Walk-In Clinic
on N. Fourth Ave. has a 24-hour
telephone service (761-9834) and
a staff of psychiatrists, psych-
ologists and social workers.
The center is crisis-oriented,
and anyone can walk in at any
time during the day. The center
evaluates the problem and then
makes a referral to the appropri-
ate agency.
The Drug Help Center and
Ozone House are autonomous units
both working from their new loca-
tion on 302 E. Liberty.
3020 WASHTENAW 434-1782
THE PICTURE
OF THE YEAR ...
r,
AROSS HUNTER PRODUCT"0f
AIRPORT
BURT DEAN
LANCASTER* MARTIN
JEAN SEBERG
JACQUELINE BISSET
GEORGE KENNEDY
HELEN HAYES
A UNIVERSAL PICTURE
TECHNICOLORS Produced inTODO-A"
© ALL A"$SAS4ITT4 .ieO
I
For the student body:
FLARES
by
'~Levi
- Farah
*, Wright
Tads
Sebring
State Street at liberty
a
0
II
Show Times-Mat.: 1:00 & 3:45
EVE.: 6:30 & 9:15
-Daily-Jim Judkis
Homeward bound, no doubt
On a traditional holiday, it's nice to see a traditional scene-a
lot of students waiting as they shiver in front of the Union yes-
terday to get out to Metropolitan Airport to fly away for a few
days rest.
KRASNY STATEMENT:
Deny agents on campus
p a
I
IT'S SO NICE TO HAVE..
JACOBSON'S YOUNG ADULT CHARGE ACCOUNT
is cued to your campus needs and we will be
pleased to accept your aphicatton for a
0
Itl--+i-,.nil f.-- 13n-- tl
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(Continued from Page 1) the liaison group, saying that "it
campus groups the opportunity fills a void between the police and
to talk to an administrator or be- the University." He hoped that
fore planned demonstrations. the officers would help change the
He said these conferences could 'dumb cop image" he said so
"set the ground rules for dissent, many students have.
and to protect the freedoms of Both Ferguson and Atkinson are
those who come into contact with college graduates and should be
the dissent." able to communicate better with
Vice President for Student Serv- the students because of this, Kras-
ices Robert Knauss, described the ny said.
new police liaison team to the He added that the men will pri-
campus as "providing an impor- marily be available to answer
tant information flow." The two
officers have been assigned to questions for students, including
Knauss" office. offering advice on the legality of
Krasny pointed out the need for demonstration tactics.
Drug Help, funded by the
Kiwanis Club, is concerned speci-
fically with drug information and
problems. The center operates a
24-hour phone (761-:HELP) and
will send teams of people to help
someone on a bad trip. Six doctors
are on call for emergencies.
Jacobson
Card Yo
will spee
greater s
Apply fo
" Charge Account Identification
ur personal account number
d your purchases and give you ,
hopping convenience
i yours soon
Jacob~ons
Ozone House was established to
meet the needs of high school stu-
dents in Ann Arbor, and partic-
ularly students who have run away
from home. Although Ozone House
is geared to high school-age peo-
ple, University students have
taken an active part counseling
the run-aways.
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Our Spanish-shawl flowers blossom anew
in camellia embroideries copied thread by thread
on soft, slippy rayon tissue faille. Cut into billowy
bloomers and blouses, flouncy skirts and dresses
that go with the quieter mood of today's way to
party. These are black, dark green or slate-grey,
for 5 to 13 sizes, *18 to 450. Come see and try them
on, along with lots of other put-ons we'll have in
our Co-ed Shop on Friday and Saturday, Novem-
ber 27 and 28. It'll be kind of a fashion show where
you are the model, our mirrors are the audience.
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VERY t2 /
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LOW