The Michigan Daily-Sunday, Oc The Michigan Daily-Sunday, Oc Page 4-Sunday, October 30, 1977-The Michigan Daily FILM/christopher potter city of trees 4' £r4 .l The travesty of late-night TV I MISS OLD MOVIES on late-night TV. I don't especially miss them anywhere else, but somehow my small, eerily-glowing screen, in the wee mid- night hours, seems a conducive time- suspension setting in which to worship these icons of the past. It's been thirty years since the mass advent of that comppact machine known as the boob tube, the idiot box, and other less complimentary names. Television's impact on motion pictures carried the force of an atomic bomb: "Why go out and pay for entertainment when you can have it free in your living room?" The economic shock waves were immediate and devastating-a 70 per cent drop-off in movie attendance, the abrupt closings of theater after theater across the country as we became increasingly a nation of night- time stay-at-homes. The reverberations sent a panic- stricken film industry scrambling into a frantic survival search for methods to lure back its lost fans. This meant not only the launching of such visual gim- micks as 3-D and Cinerama, but more significantly caused a profound and permanent shift in production em- phasis from the many to the few. The big studios used to churn out feature films almost as fast as TV series com- panies do today, but the sudden desperation economics of the time necessitated an ever-increasing relian- ce on a relative handful of splashy, large-budget, mostly on-location pic- tures geared to offer dwindling theater audiences things they couldn't get on TV._ It was a radical, calculated gamble that by and large paid off. The film medium didn't perish, as many predic- ted it would, and aesthetically speaking it's healthier today than in pre-TV times. I subscribe to the notion that for all their imperfections, movies are bet- ter than ever; to be sure, a prevailing thematic timidity still hangs over the industry and probably -always will so- long as profit supersedes artistry as a motivating factor in filmmaking. But ironically, it was the same financial necessities that forced the movies to wrench themselves out of their safe never-never land and start to grow up in both technical skill and emotional maturity. And the pronounced, if limited, creative freedom that resulted will probably ensure that the classic studio tyrants of the L. B. Mayer ilk will never again quite wield the under-the- thumb dominance they once exerted. D OMESTICALLY, WE produce per- haps a tenth the number of films we did three decades ago. Yet compare the very best of the present repertoire with the best of the previous era, and one will realize that cinematically, as well as in so many other socio-economic planes, "The Good Old Days" were ac- tually something very much less than that. Of course, the supreme irony of this media vs. media competition is that TV See FILM, Page 12 (Continued from Page 3) Jerry Cavanagh dreamed of riding his Motor City into the White House garage, while five-hundred thousand black folks dreamed of owning a four bedroom bungalow on Detroit's north- west side. Martin Luther King still dreamed of a day when whites and blacks would walk hand in hand to the promised land. Stokely Carmichael dreamed of becoming Secretary of State in a Black American Republic. H. Rap Brown had visions of flames engulfing America (sing along) from sea to shining sea. Newsweek had consecutive cover stories in July on Leslie Uggams, as the vanguard of the new Negro in show biz; on the pot problem in America, describing one type of chronic user as the ghetto inhabitant who indulges in the evil weed as an escape from the degradation and despair; and the bat- tlefields in American cities. ** * THE RIOT was centered in an area three blocks past the Park's far western border. For an entire week, people huddled in their houses; snipers and "law" officers alike sought out the best perches available; tanks, jeeps, thousands of Guardsmen-all charac- terized by the drab olive green of their military coloring. Michael Ray Smith lived right across the street from Detroit. Three blocks from his home on 'Thompson, masses of outraged black folk took to the streets to demand justice. Or more specifically, a certain racist officer's head. Or possibly the black population merely wished an ex- cuse-any old excuse-to get in the streets. There are not many things which are as unpleasant as a hot July day in Motown when the grey resins take up residence above the town and command the entire populace. Somehow, people find it no longer tolerable to sit inside and watch Gomer Pyle while the air swelters their patien- ce away. The aftershock of that muggy after- noon was to be heard years later. As a - 'Now I get nightly rel Kojak, Guinness trospectives on holders and other cc sentatives of contempoi World record )matose repre- rary kitsch . .. matter of fact, ti was even mo noticeable than Mother City endu Park could boast population and a property tax-supl In the space of c September '67 t white-to-black ra flip-flop. Now majority. Unfortu exodus-as the m the tax base for ti been a self-supl with a sympathet turned into a toy who occupied s property and cou millages. As the c blacker, the ele resounding rebuf needs of child weren't solvent the quality of t Every year, sci would warn th desperately needi tp be shut down tailed. Sometime in Highland Park began finding an of fungi growing c elm population. I city officials woul 90 per cent of the have to be elimi been stunned by elm disease.- The Smith fa Montreal in late. (They had arrive .imperial welco bestowed upon Driving back to" along Queen's hi 23, Mrs. Smith wa kids to "shush" fa "Shush, y'all. . Mike Smith ha road, intermittin not to become hy "Listen ... list The announcer story. The stati with blankets, mr and food, becan even a page rust keep you posted ments while we w up in flames. national newsme summers ago. ' Detroit as a 'Littl "Well, I'll be tence short as together and ste road. "I wonder the city?" They reached' Windsor and D later, and he was quality that see air. The bridge, mile-long line on bereft of -autos Squire. As Mike green Detroit R hard look in the Park. He saw a of smoke marI drove on into th Everything, eve a soul walking I few cars cruisi stopped at the fi BRIDGE/ ken parsigian Cityscape, 1977 Daily photos by Andy Freeberg M Y CAR WAS IN FOR repairs, so I asked Jim, who was playing that night, to chauffeur me to the club. He picked me up early, but I was worrying whether I could endure a 15-minute ride with his incessant yakking about all the latest bidding conventions. The last time he drove me, he insisted we try bidding 1 no trump and 6-8 points when not vulnerable! Insanity! At first it seemed I might be spared a detailed analysis of yet another highly artificial and complex method of bidding simple, ordinary hands. But it was not to be. "I noticed you and Frank had some trouble bidding a hand the other day," he began in tone that-portended the ab- surdity which was to follow. "You opened a heart, and Frank -had four hearts to the queen plus a singleton club and about 12 high card points," he said to refresh my memory. "I recall the hand," I said, "but what was the problem? I bid and made 6 hearts." "Yes," he replied, "but you had a hard time bidding it because you didn't know about your partner's singleton club. If you'd been playing splinter bids it would have been much easier," he said smugly. "What on earth is a splinter bid?" I asked, feigning interest since I knew full weli he would lecture me on the vir- tues of these silly things regardless of ter partner has opened the bidding 1 heart or Ispade. In response to such an opening, a double jump (eg.: 4 diamon- ds over 1 heart) shows good four card trump support, 11-15 high card points, and a singleton or void in the bid suit." "That sounds, uh, interesting," I replied cautiously. "Wonderful!" he gushed. "We'll play it tonight." "But uh, what about. .." "Oh, don't fret," he said condescen- dingly, pulling up to the club. "You won't forget it." Jeff and Frank had already arrived, so we cut for partners. The gods must have been against me, for I drew, of course, Jim as my partner. "Don't forget our new bid," he reminded. I nodded grudgingly, and dealt. The first rubber was fairly uneven- tful. We won by a few hundred points when Jim managed-quite acciden- tly-to execute a double clash squeeze to make 6 diamonds. Then fate reared its ugly head and dealt the following:- North(me) S QJ1082 H AJ95 DQJ62 C _ West(Frank) ,East(Jeff) S S 965 H H 8743 C AKQJ10 C 98765432 South(Jim) S AK743 HKQ 1062 D AK4 C Jim dealt and opened 1 spade, and Frank set the stage for a bizarre auc- tion by passing his 13-trick hand. Frank reasoned that if he simply jumped to 7 clubs he would be announcing a 13 club hand to everyone, and no one would risk a double. But he wanted more than just 7 clubs making; he wanted to be doubled and redoubled, so he passed, figuring that if he simply bid 7 clubs over whatever contract we ended up in, Jim would construe it as a sacrifice, and double. His reasoning was well- founded, and he could not be blamed for the ensuing debacle. I nearly bid a forcing 3 spades, when I remembered the splinter bids we had discussed earlier. My hand was perfect for a splinter: a void, good trump sup- port and 11 high card points. Accor- dingly, I bid 4 clubs, which Jeff passed. Jim's face brightened when he heard my bid, and he looked confident as he called 4 diamonds. Since he had started cue bidding (4 diamonds showed the diamond ace), I assumed he had under- stood my bid. As I was soon to find out, that was not the case. ace by bidding 4 hearts. Now Jim an- nounced the diamond king with a bid of 5 diamonds, and I turned my thoughts to a grand slam. Since I had a void in clubs instead of a singleton, we had no losers in that suit. Partner had promised the ace of diamonds and I had the heart ace, so the only problem seemed to be in spades. I wanted to be in 7 spades if there were no trump losers, and 6 spades if there was one, so I bid 5 no trump-the grand slam force, calling for partner to bid 6 of the agreed trump suit (spades) with one top honor in the suit, and 7 with two.. Frank passed again, and Jim shocked me by calling an impossible 7 no trump. I was dismayed, but there was nothing I could do, so-I passed. Frank, who had nearly. fallen off his chair when he heard Jim. bid no trump, doubled in a loud voice. Jim redoubled confidently, and all passed. Frank was laughing uproariously as he leaned over and showed me his hand. "What's down 13, doubled, redoubled and vulnerable," he asked, "something over 7000, I should imagine." And with that he placed the club ace on the table. Out of reflex, I nearly tabled my hand, but partner quickly pointed out that I was the no trump bidder, having called 5 no trump conventionally. "Oh well," said Frank, "you're still going down a bundle. Partner will just * S----------- - -~Seep F! 1 Y f t R*F 4 9 F q 1F S 44 * r '93 V F'a9 'b Ar t4 '! S ] S.