Friday, February 28, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Poge Five
4 --r---" rM-.,..
Pick of the week:
0
I
Antonia
Educational Media Center
Schnorling Aud., SEB
Fri., noon
Most of the film 7jroducid
around the world in tne first
few years after Thomas Ldison hibit the magnificent (if short) destine week in Spain. Diring us about male-female relition- novel version of Strangers on
developed the commercil mo- career of Antonia Brico and il- their ramshackle week in sun- ships. At times it falls back on Train.
tion picture camera was dcu- lustrate just how tragic a lass ny Spain, they decide to con- gimmicks and obvious manipula p
mentary footage - short clips her forced withdrawal from the tinue their affair, much to the tions which seems all too trans- Dishonored
that briefly showed glimpses of concert stage has been. detriment of the striking Ms. parent..
turn-of-the-century life. Jackson. -Dan Borus Cinema II, Auditorum A,'
Within a few years. howaever, The outstanding element of; * Frt., 7, 9
Antonia is the superb pacing: Eventually, as one could pre-
the temptation of the thecater I ; Three distinctive qualitiF
market shifted the accent of everything moves along at a dict, Segal must choose he- y highlight any Josef von Ster
filmmakers away from d not-too sluggish yet hardly rush- tween his wife and kids or As.**soPlaying. * berg film - an elaborate mi
mentaries and into fcional ed tempo ("moderato", if you Jackson and Ms. Jackson fin- Purple Noon en-scene that results i orna
ventures. And with hethe exepwill). It is a lesson for begin- ishes a strong second. spectacles; a lush texture pr
tintoavery few pictures p- ning filmmakers to note well. Cinema II, Auditorium A, duced by innovative and precis
tin favr e itrs-There is a touch of class in Sat., 7, 9 lighting and a subtle sophis
perhaps most notably R.o b e t -David Blomquist A Touch of Class and it's toundS 7t.e
Flaherty's Nanook of the North * * * in the dialogue, which is strong, Rene Clement (Forbidden cation of tone which is lace
- the trend has continued well A T Ic of witty, wise-cracking, flippant Games, Rider on the Rain) di- with sexual innuendo and a fe
into the present. ass and a number of other enjoy- rected this 1960 thriller about of decadence. So prevalent a
One of those rare ex,.p'ions Ann Arbor Film Co-op able adjectives. an American playboy murdered these qualities that they are s
is Antonia, a most perceptive MLB LEC No. 3 on his yacht by his young :rav- nonomous with von Sternberg
use of the cinema medium to Fri., 7, 9 1 But it's characterizations, its eling companion (Alain Deton). name. Brooklyn born, vi
convey a haunting portrait of Melvin Frank's A Touch of premises, its eternal triangular- Following the crime, the .om- Sternberg first earned his fan
a talented woman or hestra Class is what passes for witty ism are pedestrian, floated out panion gradually assures t h e in his made-in-Germany B 1 i
conductor forced to suffer the romantic sexual comedy these for the occasion. A half do-en playboy's identity and weal h. Angel (1931), a story of Weim
degrading slurs of ra musical days. A married American man Lubitsch movies have ta:ki.d To this mixture, Clement ends decay.
world oriented exclusively to- working in London (George Se- the theme with a different arid with a classic surprise. The In that film he worked for t'
ward men. gal) and a divorced English wo- more enlightened sensi)tlty theme of identity trade-off has first time with an actress who
Directed with restraint and man '(Glenda Jackson, who, by than Frank brings to Class. I Hitcockian overtones, which is name became synonomous wi
visible respect by Judy Ceiins, the by, won an Oscar for this Class is too self conscious about not all that surprising consider- his great films, Marlene D
Antonia uses a remarkable ser- little performance) meet by1its position, it tries much too ing the film was scripted by trich. Dietrich and von Ster
ies of montage to at once Ex- chance and decide upon a clan- i hard for what it wants to snow Patricia Higsmith, author cif the berg collaborated on sev
1 if;1re of rtrhirh iehnn
krend
ie
a i Critics have found Sergeant ,General Della Rovere
1York schizophrenic. The first Cinema Guild
portion of the movie concerns Architecture Auditorium
the internal struggle of Alvin ri , 9:30
York, a Tennessee farm boyF
played to Academy Award win- Rossellini launched his come-
s Wing style by Gary Cooper. York back in this 1959 film abouta
esnn( tleb ayCopr o swindler chosen by the Nazis to
But it is not Rossellini's direc-
tion that has captured the rav-
es as much as it is Vittoria de
Sica's acting. A renowned di-
rector in his own right, de S;ca
reaches what Pauline Kael caUs
"his acting peak" as the swind-
ler-turned-revolutionary.
* * *
Met Me in St. Louis
Cinema 11 Auditorium A
Sun., 7, 9
Vincent Minelli crafted this
sweet little musical about the
conflicts of worldliness and in-
nocence. Set -in St. Louis in
1904, Meet Me in St. Louis
deals with the planned .move of
a family just before the World's
Fair opens up.
Predictably the children, led
by Judy Garland, who gets m
the marvelous "Trolley" aum-
ber with Margaret O'Brien, are
I unhappy.
But since this is a musical all
ends happily and Garland con-
cludes St. Louis is a wonderful
place to live. "Imagine," s h e
says, "all this in St. Louis.".
You'll have to try awfully hard.
n-
d
ate
ro-
se
ti-
ed
el
re
g's
ron
me
ue
ar
he
se
ith
ie-
rn-
ren
is forced to decide whether he
will fight in, the "war to end
all wars" or stand by his pre-
viously announciated pacifist
principles.
The second half of the movie
finds York on the Western front
impersonate a Resistance lead-
er they have inadventantly shot.
He is sent to prison to ferret
out information from political
prisoners, but soon adopts his
persona as his personality. Real-
izing they have created what
working his way towards being they originally destroyed, t h e
the most decorated Ameri.'an Nazis execute him. Filmed in
hero in WWI. York's internal six weeks, this low-budget film
change happens suddenly and gained much international ac-
is responsible for the mixed re- claim, including the G r a n d
action to the film. Prize at Cannes.
M
FI
_ _
Rossen'sLilith' and The Hustler'
My own, admittedly minority, opinion is that The Hustler I Vincent must mediate between that self indulgen
(famous in 1961, now less so) and Lilith (1964) are two original, pressures of the allegedly real and less interesting w
unusual and brilliant films by an original, unusual and, yes, bril- does come to terms with life. Vincent doesn't, at leas
liant filmmaker, Robert Rossen. One might even say in self- film, and his failure is made all the more poignantI
flattery that the films (and Rossen) have not yet found their that. Lilith is Rossen's last testament, a dying man
time; though the culture-lagging Hollywood of the late 60s had on his culture and his life.
moved in Rossen's direction with its gloomy, honest and occa- Despite the odd "feel" of the film - its long
sionally excellent little films, it still never seemed to catch up ambiguities, its dramatic use of space, its visual b
to him before tucking tail in the 70s and running back to Air- The Hustler seemed to pass critical inspection becau
port, The Sting, and Chinatown. This isn't a knock against the was urban and that somehow made it blue-collar. Li
new Hollywood, whatever that is. It's merely a recognition' that other hand, was jumped on for its European flavor
Rossen, who began conventionally enough as a social realistj arty, a snobbish indictment that is hardly ever lev
screenwriter in the 30s (Roaring 20s, The Sea Wolf) and then those foreign films which are arty. The charge can
director in the 40s (notably All the King's Men), came to rea- only by watching the film and seeing whether or n
lize the limitations of his own conventions. And in crossing the its magic on you as it has on me. It is an extreme
bounds of social realism, Rossen adopted a new style which is cated and upsetting picture; it does not wield its se
so peculiarly his, so delicate a mechanism, that I'm hard put to and it is full of little things we can't intellectuall
find any descriptive label save "Rossenesque." Lilith whispering to some small boys an invitatio
The Hustler and Lilith, Rossen's last two films, define Ros- hear; her strange untranslatable language; Vincen
senesque. Both films drive over the same outline: a young man who is mentioned only once and Lilith's brother whon
compelled by his society to be successful (and this is Rossen's see but who apparently contributed to her illness.
social criticism) attaches himself body and soul to one endeavor is made explicit; very little is told to us, and the fi
and tries desperately, for these films are packed with despera- very worst when it's at its most conventional: an ex
tion, to find meaning. As in most of his work Rossen is con- schizophrenia and a group therapy session. Rossen isr
cerned with the pressures to define ourselves and the courses when he stays at the edges of things: as Claude Olli
we ultimately choose. For Fast Eddie (Paul Newman) the pool ten of The Hustler but equally true of Lilith, "One h
cue is the - source of meaning, and it. is only after his callous stant impression that something else is happening
obsession had precipitated the death of the one person who pro- caping, being only briefly suggested by acting an
mises possible salvation that, somewhat melodramatically, he with two meanings."
arrives at self awareness. For Vincent Bruce (Warren Beatty), One final note: No discussion of Lilith, however br
the hero of Lilith, the situation is complicated by Lilith's own plete without mention of Jean Seberg. As Lilith, sh
example: an inmate of the insane asylum which employs Vin- tional.
cent, she has shrunk the world to fit herself. It serves her, but --N
ce and the
orld. Eddie
st not in the
by the fact
's reflection
pauses, its
leakness -
se it milieu
ilith, on the
and called
eled against
be refuted
ot it works
rely compli-
crets easily
y dominate:
n we can't
nt's mother
nm we never
Very little
lm is at its
planation of
much better
er has writ-
has the con-
that is es-
d dialogues
rief, is com-
he is sensa-
eal Gabler
turns of whii i IWsonored
(1931) is the third.
Structured around the Mata
H-ari myth, Dishonored proves
a showcase for the Dietrich
mystique - the exotic, myster-
ious, impervious to emotion wo-
man. Her cool before the firing
squad does nothing to shake that
image.
In addition to Dietrich, Dis-
honored features a co-starring
performance by Victor Mc-
Laglen and lighting by the
incomparable Lee Garmes.
I
Bones artist Danforth
eivens Union crowd
By GEORGE LOBSENZ
Noon - time loungers were,
treated to a truly unuSual musi-
cal event at the Pendleton Cen-
ter in the Union yesterday, as
"master of the, bones" Percy
Danforth held forth with an
exhibition and explanation of
ragtime's classic rhythm in-
strument.
Perhaps best known 'to Uni-
versity concertgoers as the cen-
tral rhythm performer at the
recent Professional 'Theatre
Program production of Bread'
and Roses and William Al-
bright's second annual Rag-
time Orgy, the affable, mus-
tachioed Danforth easily 're-
created - if only briefly - the
age of Scott Joplin and Zez
Confrey.
"Bones" are just that - two
rib bone-shaped pieces of wood
about three to four inches in
length. They are held in be-
tween the first three fingers of!
the hand, somewhat like chop-
sticks.
By keeping one "bone" firm-
ly against the heel of the hand
and leaving the other one free
to swing about, the two "bones"
knock together, producing a
clacking noise. And when done
properly, bones can be used to
create rhythmic patterns amaz-
ing in both speed and variety.
Although bones originated'
during the 18th century, they
were not frequently used until
ragtime emerged in early 20thI
century popular music. And it!
was at this advent of ragtime
that the elderly Danforth first
took up this unique form of
percussion, picking up much.
of his technique on Washing-
ton, .D.C. street corners during
his youth.
But yesterday's performance.
showed just how much thea
white-haired bones wizard had
refined his uncommon hobby,
into an art over the interven-1
ing years. Waving his hands
about in palpitating patterns,l
Danforth resembled a frantic1
conductor leading an invisible
orchestra.
Accompanied on piano by Jim.
Ford, Danforth opened the aft-
ernoon with Raggin' Scale, a
lilting little piece designed to
attract attention. Danforth then
followed up with a mini-lecture
which included such other rag-
time numbers as Ragtime Rev-
elation, Twelfth Street Rag, and:
Sweetie - Pie.
But the best part was saved:
for last: Danforth came equip-'
ped with a whole pile of bones
and distributed them to the au-
dience, leaving all concerned
happily wriggling their wrists
and tapping their toes as the
Sergeant York
Cinema Guild, Architecture
Auditorium
Fri., 7
Howard Hawks is a man's
director. His films are gritty,
rough and tumble, dealing with
the problems of integrating mas-
culine drives into a societal
framework without a resultant
sacrifice of integrity. T h e r e
are no frills or fluff in Hawks'
style. Honor, pride, and duty are
p r o b 1 e m s which stimulate
Hawks' mind and fuel his cin-
ema.
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I
,_
light - hearted
to a close.
program came
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Doily Photo by KEN FINK
mommomm
Percy Danforth
r.
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