°Tuesdoy, January 14, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Doge Five
Tuescidy, January 14, 1975 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five
Looking
back at
74's
best
By DAVID BLOMQUIST 3
Despite rapidly faltering eco-'
nomic conditions and a severe:
energy crunch, 1974 was nothing
short of a fantastic year for1
the American film industry.
Thanks largely to The Sting and1
The Exorcist, 1974 was the big-
gest box office year for motion
pictures since the introduction:
of television first stole away,
cinema audiences in the late
'40s.
But 1974 was a solid year in
an artistic sense as well. There,
was the usual share of -com-'
mercial trips (like Airport 1975
and The Towering Inferno). In;
general, however, the escap-
ism trend of recent times seem-
ed to fade in 1974 in favor of
a more aggressive and intro-
spective sort of American film.
Perhaps that is why there has I
been so little unanimity in the!
latest version of the annual pro-
liferation of critics' "best"
lists. The choices this time
around are far less clear cut
than in 1972 and 1973 (when the
biggest competition was often
a film like The Poseidon Ad-
venture).
licks
recently become disgustingly
visible.
Best Actor - Jack Nicholson,
"Chinatown." Nicholson brought
his own special sense of flair to
the tough but ever-faithful de-
tective role of Chinatown. A
memorable performance.
Best Actress-Faye Dunaway,
"Chinatown." In her best role
since Arthur Penn's Bonnie and
Clyde, Dunaway impressively
handled difficult and emotional
dialogue with sensitiivty and
true class. Another memorable
performance.
Best Supporting Actor-Robert
DeNiro, "The Godfather; Fart
II." Although DeNiro plays a
young Vito Corleone in God-
father II, this is no imitative
acting job-no p h o n y M irlon
Brando impressions. DeNiro, in
fact, seems more expressive
than Brando, and thus brings a
more character-oriented appeal
to the part.
B e s t Supporting Actress -
Cloris Leachman, "Daisy Mil-
ler." Leachman, an extremely
flexible actress, here played a
scatterbrained y e t genuinely
concerned mother with v ibe
At the risk of offending more warmth. She was the best fea-
than a few filmgoers, then, this ture of an often dismal picture.
critic's fearless "best" list for
1974: Best Director-Francis Ford
Best Motion Picture-"China- Coppola, "T h e Conversarion."
town," Paramount Pictures. The year's best use of the sub-
T h i s stunning multi-faceted jective camera and novel edit-
mood piece from Roman Polan- ing came in this unassuming but
ski must rank as one of the terribly striking Cannes Festi-
most unique films of the ast val winner. Coppola's slow but
cinema d e c a d e. Outwardly, revealing exposition in Conver-
Chinatown, is a punchy, per- sation provided a chilling post-
haps even somewhat humorous scriot to the year of Wattrgate.
film evocative of the great de- dest Foreign Film - l Aniar-
tective pictures of the '30s. But iors, tis fr. )m ah
there is more to it all, than mionsas it is, this latest frm nthe
that. Disguised within is a aor- master of Italian cinema is no
simple comedy. Set in the zenith
rifying look tat th sower-vyears of the Mussolini era,
oriented society which has soAmarcord is a tender look at
.i
i
{
. i
i
a -
i
{
hest Director-Fran cis Ford Coppola
Golden Ring plays traditional
1
E
I
3
year's
By JOAN BORUS
Last weekend, the Ark offic-
'ally reopened with its tradi-
ional first concert of the New
Year featuring the Golden Ring.
This marks the sixth year that
his group has assumed this tra-
ition.
Actually, the Golden Ring can-'
ot really be termed a musical
roup in the usual sense. As
arry Guffee, one of its pres-
nt members says, it's more of:
event that a group. Per-
taps a feeling or a certain spir-
t might be a better way to de-
cribe it. You go to hear the
-- - -- - - -
first concert at Ark
1
E
I
3
the way we really were-~aught
somewhere between the twilight
zones of fantasy and life.
I have high hopes tha- 405
will equal or- surpass :h2 (qual ty
of its predecessor. Studio caffers
are full now; perhaps that
means that Hollywuood may be
willing to finance more experi-
mental pictures (like 1'3's
American Graffiti). If that hap-
pens, 1975 may turn out to be
a very exciting year for Ameri-
can cinema.
Golden Ring not so much to
hear their music but to absorb
a certain aura of harmony and
general good feeling.
For unlike other groups,
which are dependent either up-
on a special kind of music or
upon specific individuals to give
them their mystique, the Golden
Ring is constantly evolving and
changing with the various per-
formers who are at any one
time a part of it.
The spirit behind its creation
-of bringing friends together to
play, sing, and listen - is the
unifying force that guarantees
that the Golden Ring will never
suffer a demise.
The history of the Golden
Ring goes back to 12 years ago,;
when in 1962, two of its present
members, Ed Trickett and Ruth
Meyer, got together with three
other prominent folk musicians,I
Howie Mitchell and George and
Gerry Armstrong, to rehearse
for a New Year's Eve Concerti
at the Old Town School of Folk
Music in Chicago. Subsequently
they appeared on Studs Terkel's
"Midnight Special" program on
WFMT where they made some
tapes. The name of the group
came from one of the title songs
of the tapes. These activities
formed the original nucleus ofI
the Golden Ring; since then it
has expanded to include more
people such as Barry O'Neil
'and Joe Hickerson and has ap-
peared at prominent folk festi-
vals. Regardless of who is cur-
rently in the group or how
loosely connected it is, the
Golden Ring has always return-.
ed to Ann Arbor to give the
first concert of the winter sea-
son.
Currently the group is com-
posed of Trickett, Meyer, Guf-
fee, a New Haven architect and
Harry Tuft, the manager. The
first three all reside in New
Haven, where Ed teaches and
Ruth is a child therapist. De-
spite their diverse backgrounds,
they have a wonderful rapport
with each other, which reflects
itself in their relaxed perform-
ance and the warm audience re-
sponse. This latter aspect is in-
dicative of the intent of the
Golden Ring, for getting the
audience involved and curious
about folk music is one of the
Golden Ring's primary goals.
Perhaps the high point of the
group's Saturday night perform-
ance came when the group per-
formed the "Song of the Month"
that is printed on the monthly
program cards distributed by
the Ark. It was a beautiful way
of conveying to the audience
the richness of the folk music
that is readily available to them
in their own community.
Thus it's no wonder the Sig-
lin's have booked the Golden
Ring on the first performance
of the New Year for six years!
now. Because providing a re-
l a x e d atmosphere among
friends to play; listen, sing and
learn together is a goal com-
mon to both an inspiring way
to begin the New Year.
UAC Concert Co-op
Join The
Daily
x. . Psi. . 4 -. J ' s . ,
,. ,; X; > ;' tt, .r ..,. . . ~Y rte: . pw r Ft T r.
CIRCLE K IS ..
Daily Photo by STUART HOLLANDER
Ceccato returns
Aldo Cecato conducts the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and pianist Loren Hollander at Hill
Auditorium last Saturday in works by Bach, Dvorak and Strauss. The concert was part of the
University Musical Society's Choral Union series.
Stoppard s
'Hound'
at Arena
If you have ever sat up late
with a bad case of insomn a
some Saturday night an I torn-
ed on the late show .aal suffer-
ed the pains of an Egush
murder mystery, then you can
ejoy the state of the two
critics, Moon and [lirdbaot, in
Tom Stoppxard's hi'arious Aga-
tha Christie spoof, The Real In-
spector Hound, which is to be
presented in the Arena ik eatre
in the Frieze Building, January
19-21 at 8 p.mn
The Real Inspector bound .,~/..
A
Leadership
Involvement
Co-ed Service:Projects
Conventions,
Environmental Concern
Campus Life
Cooks Outs Sports
Meeting People
Fellowship
Student Concerns
Membership
Key Clubs-Kiwanis
is Making Friends
Social Activities
Good Feeling Inside
Presents
LINDA
RONSTADT
Tues., Jtan. 21
Hill Auditorium
8 P.M.
Reserved Seats
$6. $5.50, $5, $4
Parties
... Fun
Experiencing New Things
Service to the Community and Campus
Total Organization
I