Sunday, January 21, 1973
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
Sunday, January 21, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three
Due to overwhelming response
will be conducting new
GROUP LESSONS IN GUITAR
Beginning January 29th
Rental instrument kits are available at a
nominal charge applicable toward purchase
of the instrument. Private and group les-
sons are also available in guitar, flute, re-
corder, banjo, and drums.
For information call 769-4980
dun d4a lc # 4ic Wat
Mad artist a boor
in Savage Messiah
336 S. STATE
MON.-SAT. 9:30-9:00
By BRUCE SHLAIN
Ken Russell, demonstrating a
peculiar zeal for portraying ar-
tists as buffoons or worse, has
now added The Savage Messiah
to his previous embarassment of
Tchaicovsky entitled The Music
Lovers.
This time the subject matter, in
Messiah, is a stilted biography of
sculptor Henri Brzeska. The in-
tent, or rather the only side of
the film in which any intent is
discernible, is to equate the ar-
tist with the Life Force, to por-
tray him asnfree, unshackled,
even messianic.
But what passes for freedom in
Russell's conception of the ulti-
mate artist is mere boorishness.
The hero is seen at various times
grappling on the floor amid some
spilt beef stew, heaving a sculp-
ture of his own making through
an art-shop window, and even in
one sequence stuffing cigarettes
up his nose and prancing about
on all fours in a brilliant imita-
tion of a pig.
There is no doubt something
loftily romantic about the "mad
artist," about Van Gogh painting
at night in a cornfield with can-
dles burning around his straw hat
to give his weary eyes light, etc.,
but Scott Antony, in the role of
Brzeska, provides little m o r e
than a portrait of a frenetic slob
who loves to lie in the gutter and
always misses his mouth when
taking a vigorous swig at some
stale coffee.
There is much in The Savage
Messiah reminiscent of Morgan!,
that British farce of a few years
back in which David Warner
spent two cinematic hours run-
ning about - in gorilla costumes
while trying to seduce his wife,
Vanessa Redgrave, while she was
trying to divorce him. Morgan's
identification with gorillas was
supposedly a highly moral decis-
ion, seeing as gorillas are power-
ful pacifist vegetarians, notice-
ably more satisfied. than anyone
who is so loony as to want to
join bourgeoise society.
Messiah tries to develop t h e
same mood, that of an identifica-
tion with the artist at the ex-
pense of the rest of the world.
The absolutely uncontrolled an-
tics of Brzeska, if ridiculous and
unnecesary, are supposed to be
seen in light of his honest re-
action to his environment, an en-
vironment in which even his art
friends are hopelessly stuffy and
self-contained.
But, far from being able to see
Brzeska as a universal martyr, I
was barely able to sympathize
with him at all. For one thing,
anyone who acts as irrationally
as this character and does so
without a trace of humor is to
-
ARTS
I
COME TO
MASS MEETING
U of M Riding Club
Tuesday, Jan. 23
7:30 p.m.
University Club Lounge
761-9555
f 'f
UiJL'rU k CALE'N DARk
FILM-Cinema Guild shows Hitchcock's 39 Steps in Arch.
Aud., Sunday at 7 and 9:05; Cinema II presents Bunuel's
Tristana in Aud. A., Sunday at 7 and 9; On Monday, Cine-
ma Guild shows Cockettes' Tricia's Wedding; The Check-
ers Speech of 1952 in Arch. Aud. at 7, 8:30, and 10.
ART-31 faculty members of the University's Dept. of Art
exhibit their works beginning today at the Museum of
Art.
MUSIC-Milton Bailey plays tenor at 2:30 in the School of
Music Recital Hall. Today, at 4:30, Wayne Brown plays
baritone in School of Music Recital Hall.
MUSIC-SPECIAL-The Bahai Community of Ann Arbor pre-
sents a musical celebration of World Religion Day featur-
ing music, prayers, and chants, this afternoon at 3 in
the Law Club Lounge.c
77w sene
Sunday & Monday: Quarter Nights
(BEER & WINE)
Tuesday: '/2 Price Night
Dancing Every Night from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
341 South Main 769-5960
- - - - - --1
me largely boring. And even
though I am in full agreement
with R. D. Laing, it would still
be convenient to label him as
"crazy" and be done with him.
All martyrs get it in the end,
and so does this one. He goes off
to war and gets his fool head
shot off. His female companion,
his "Mamalooshka," weeps for
him as she has wept for him all
during the film. Indeed, the act-
ing of Dorothy Tutin, in the role
of Mamalooshka, is Russell's
only saving grace.
While we are forced to repeat-
ed look at an army photo of Brze-
ska taken just before his death,
a slow pan of his sculptures clos-
es out the movie. The effect
would have been highly evocative
if only there seemed to be some
connection between the sculptur-
es and Russell's parody of Brze-
ska, but connecting the two ele-
ments is liky trying to imagine
that Guernica was done by Gold-
ie Hawn.
Daily Photo by TOM GOTTLIEB
Bruce Phillips
Bruce Phillips: Strengthening
By DIANE LEVICK
Interested in moose turd pie?
Bruce Phillips, who appeared at
the Ark this weekend, is always
well - armed with absurd stories
about such delicacies as well as
with more politically - oriented
songs and jokes.
Phillips, who goes by the name
of "U. Utah Phillips," is first
and foremost a union organizer
for the Industrial Workers of the
World (IWW). (Yes, folks, it's
still around.) His music - songs
about trains, hoboes, and unions
-is a tool to drum up union sup-
port.
And Phillips knows whereof he
speaks. Originally from Utah, an
area that 'he says is "wall-to-
wall fascists," Phillips has "been
around," to put it mildly.
Just back from a tour of Eng-
land and Scotland, he has work-
ed 'as a warehouseman and a mu-
sic archivist for the state of
Utah for seven years. He has
helped build a hospital on a Na-
vaho Indian reservation, and he
was a soldier for three years.
Basically he made a living doing
"anything that came up." Only
relatively recently has he taken
to singing for a living.
Phillips, who sports blue jeans,
a red plaid flannel shirt, and a
vest and hat as might be ex-
pected, now performs for union
and college audiences with Mor-
ton Grosswendt and Nancy Katz.
Grosswendt plays above - av-
erage guitar, dobro, mandolin,
and banjo. Katz, University of
Michigan Folklore Society's for-
mer president, plays adequate
banjo. Both blend well with Phil-
lips' harmonica and clean, but
usually simple, guitar strumming
and pattern - picking.
Half of Phillips' show, how-
ever, is not the songs, but his
rapid barrage of one-liners which
union
confirm that there is indeed such
a thing as really good "bad
jokes." You can at least get good
groans out of his jokes that
aren't laughable. Who couldn't
get an enjoyable cringe out of
the following:
"I come from Utah where
'rollin' your own' (cigarettes) is
considered a form of incest," and
"Morton was born under a
staircase. Being a stepchild ..."
His jokes and satirical stories
are what perhaps makes his sim-
plistic political ramblings toler-
able to college audiences. Of
course, Phillips explains that the
oversimplified statements in his
songs were meant for uneducat-
ed workers who learned the his-
tory of "rich capitalists" instead
of their own class.
"That's why you, have the
problem of union rednecks to-
day," he says. "The purpose of
this kind of singing is to help
build pride among the working
class people so they don't let
capitalists abuse -them.
Still, it surely must be possible
for Phillips to revise his dia-
logue for audiences like the Ark
who may very well agree with
some of his anarchist sentiments
but resent such blatant attempts
at mind manipulation.
The overflowing crowd at the
Ark Friday night, however,
seemed to enjoy Phillips' lyrics,
some of which were extremely
clever or touching. With a po-
tentially impressive but slightly
off-key voice, Phillips, who is
one of an increasing number of
train freaks, sings about the dis-
appearing mode of transporta-
tion:
Daddy, what's a train? Is it
something I can ride?
Does it carry lots of grown-up
folks and little kids inside?
It is bigger than our house?
toI
I
0
e~nthusiasm
Well, how can I explain when
my little boy asks me
"Daddy, what's a train?"
He may be powerless to stop
the disappearance of the trains,
but Phillips is intent on keeping
radical union spirit alive.
SHOP THURSDAY ANC
UNTIL 9:00 P.M.
D FRIDAY
-
-
If
4.4
a
he west. . .
est look on
ene. ..faded
nim with
st stitching.
sazes 5-]3. ;
jacket with
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:offs, $24. /
w ith
16
The most remarkable film
I have seen this year.
-Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
UWter
Mkatthau:
"A COMEDY THAT
WILL MAKE YOU
LAUGH & CRY, IT
COULD BE THE BIG HIT
OF THE NEW SEASON."
-Detroit Free Press
I t Vf
5th HIT
WEEK !
PG i
Carol
Burnett
AN INTELLIGENT
COMEDY WITH SOME
OF THE CLEVEREST
LINES IN YEARS ...
THE SURPRISE COMEDY
HIT OF THE YEAR."
-A.A. News
Ti1lie"
DIAL 662-6264
OPEN 12:45
Shows at 1, 3
5, 7, 9 P.M.
Sat., Sun. and
Wed. at
1 P.M. and
7 P.M.
Promptly
Mon.-Tue.-
Thur.-Fri. at
7 P.M. only
tonight
6:00 4 News
7 Move
"The Lone Ranger" (56)
9 UFO
50 Star Trek
56 Movie
"The Blue Angel" (30)
6:30 4 NBC News
7:00 2 TV 2 Reports
4 George Perrot
9 Engelbert Humperdinck
50 Lawrence Welk
7:30 4 World of Disney
7 Half the George Kirby
Comedy Hour
8:00 2 M*A*S*H
7 FBI
9 Beachcombers
50 Mancini Generation
56 An American Family
8:30 2 Mannix
4 Columbo
9 Bandwagon
50 Johnny Mann's Stand up
and Cheer
9:00 7 Movie
"How the West Was Won" (62)
9 Canadian Figure Skating
Championships
56 Ma erpiece Theatre
50 Golddiggers
9:30 2 Dick Van Dyke and the
Other Woman"
50 Detroit Show
10:0 4 Return to Peyton Place
9 Weekend
56 Firing Line
50 Lou Gordon
10:30 2 Evil Touch
4 Profiles in Black
11:00 2 4 7 9 News
11:15 9 Religious Scope
11:30 2 Movie
7 ABC News
9 Movie
50 For My People
11:45 7 Movie
"Rawhide" (51)
12:30 4 News
1:30 2 Movie
"Fall Girl" (60)
1:45 7 News
3:00 2 News
MONDAY
6:002 4 7News
9 Courtship of Eddie's Father
50 Flintstones
56 To Be Announced
6:30 2 CBS News
4 NBC News
7 ABC News
9 I Dream of Jeannie
50 Gilligan's Island
56 360 Degrees
7:00 2 Truth or Consequences
4 News
7 To Tell the Truth
9 Beverly Hillbillies
50 I Love Lucy
56 To Be Announced
7:30 2 What's My Line?
4 Mouse Factory
7 Let's Make a Deal
9 Wacky World of Jonathan
Winters
50 Hogan's Heroes
8:00 2 Gunsmoke
4 Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in
7 Jane Goodall
9 Bobby Goldsboro
56 Net Opera Theater
50 Dragnet
8:30 9 David Frost Revue
50 Merv Griffin
9:00 2 Here's Lucy
4 Movie
"I Love My Wife" (70)
7 Movie
9 News
56 skating Spectacular
9:30 2 Doris Day
9 This is the Law
10:00 2 Bill Cosby
9 Nature of Things
50 Perry Mason
56 Ten Outstanding Young
Men '73
10:30 7 What About Tomorrow?
9 Man Alive
11:00 2 4 7 News
9 CBC News
50 One StepBBeyond
11:20 9 News
11:30 2 Movie
"SevennBrides for Seven
Brothers" (54)
4 Johnny Carson
7 Dick Cavett
50 Movie
"God is My Co-Pilot" (45)
12:00 9 Movie
"The Pad (and now to Use
It)" (66)
1:00 4 7 News
1:30 2 Movie
"n Old California" (42)
3:00 2 News
1214 s.' university.
-CAMPUS
Cinema 5 Presents
The Sorrow and The Pity
Directed by Marcel Ophuls
I
rA1
from out of t
Miss J's new
the casual sc
blue cotton der
detailed contra
By Little Foxes,
Smocked shirtj
belted bock an
pretender pear
on front and c
Front-zip pants
yoked back, $1
4"
presents
A CELEBRATION OF
PRESIDENT NIXON'S INAUGURATION
TRICIA'S WEDDING
The fabulous "Cockettes," a West Coast
group of transvestite actors, presents their
version of the Royal Wedding at the White
House. What happens when Eartha Kitt
sneaks some LSD in the Reception Punch?
Come and see, you won't believe your eyes!
Plus the Great American Tragi-Comedy
CHECKER SPEECH OF 1952
Richard Nixon and Doggie address the Nation.
I
JOHN HAWKES
WILL READ
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 24
AT 8:30 P.M.
IN THE
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE
AUDITORIUM
RECEPTION FOLLOWING IN GREENE LOUNGE
A CHRYSALLIS PRESENTATION
p._
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CINEMA II
TRISTAN
046
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