Friday, June 14, 1974

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Page Fiv

cinemci weekend

Pick of the week:
Citizen Kane
Friends of Newsreel, MLB
Fri., Sat., 7:30, 9:30
This brilliant motion picture
stands as a perfect monument
to the cinematic genius of Orson
Welles. Welles's snappy direction
seems fresh even now, 30 years
after the film first premiered.
"Citizen Kane" is, of course.
modeled on newspaper magnate
William Randolph Hearst. But
this film is more than some
pseudo-biography. The bewilder-
ing and perhaps futile search
for "Rosebud" seems to say a
lot about the human condition
in general.
Welles stars; a fine suppor ing
cast, including the late Agnes
Moorhead, backs him up. Aca-
demy Award winer John House-
man was the producer; the now-
great director Robert Wise was
the editor.
-David Blomquist
Long Day's Journey
Into Night
Cinema Guild, Arch. Aud.
Fri., 7:30, 9:30
Long Day's Journey Into Night
(1962) is not only a classic film
to watch, it's a feeling you've
got to experience to understand.
This is dynamite Brodway thea-
ter adapted for the screen at
its best by director Sidnsy Lu-
met with a passion and kinetic
energy level unrivaled by any
other stage-to-screen creation
of its kind.
Katherine Hepburn stars as
the complex mother, Ralph
Richardson is the pathetiz fa-
ther, and wait until you see Ja-
son Robards as the alcohoic
son.
Dean Stockwell is also feat-
ured in this moody, ni-lodiama-
tic Eugene O'Neill tragedy, a
story of love-hate existing in
a family torn by drug adiction
and emotional breakdowns. in
fact, if you're in the mood, Jour-
ney may very well leave you
feeling like commiting suiide,
especially if this versi os is un-
cut and held intact throughout
the three-hour long proceedl ngs.
Cinematographer Boris rIauf-
man, who also teamed with
Lumet on Twelve Angry Men
(1957) and The Group (1966),
exhibits some flashy lens chang-
ing that will influence things
more than you realize. H i s
other achievements include
grabbing the Academy Award
for filming On the Waterfront

(1954), but it is his wark on
Journey that is truly spellbind-
ing.
The film is brilliant, and-may
possibly live forever. Kate Hlp-
burn already has.
-Michael Wilson
Playtime
Cinema II, lud. A
Fri., 7:30, 9:30
Jacques Tati was a small-time
French pantomimist and bit ac-
tor in the Paris music halls for
years before he struck upon the
idea of creating his own unique
farce on the big motion picture
screen in the form of a hilar-
ious and bumbling fool named
Monsieur Hulot.
And now his quiet, often beau-
tifully unassuming French cam-
edies have recently undergone
a revival in New York where
Tati followers flock to the few
M. Hulot pictures available with
almost precision-like attendance.
Playtime (1968), a fairly new
Tati project, took some six
years to develop and produce.
As M. Hulot wanders about the
almost futuristic steel and plas-
tic Paris of the sixties, Tati's
ever-present formless hat, too-
short trousers and inevitable
pipe and umbrella lend hilarity
to a city that already seems to
be wallowing in desp-rate self-
mockery.
Playtime is a creative mas-
terpiece, a true Tati gem. Like
the automated factory and
house of his Mon Oncle (1958),
Tati's Paris is a csmputericed
nightmare, with sterile offices
and restaurants serving e v e n
more sterile people with smiles
that stare and eyes that don't
blink. It's about time Jacques
Tati got his recognition for be-
ing one of the great comic mas-
ters of the Frencn cinema. ie
justly deserves it.
-Michael t1i san
Arnold
. State
This "whodunit" set in an old
English mansion (where else?)
proves to be mildly entertain-
ing at times - about on a par
with, say, pinball. But -t leaves
one feeling empty at the end,
because we knew all along +hat
it had to be the absent minded
sister, since the otter suspects
were all ways too obvious.
Consider, for example, the
mute Indian servant, complete
with turban, one eye, a facial
scar, and a Peter Pan-isi hook
for a left hand.

Or take Arnold's widow (not
to be confused with his wife,
who he married port mortem)
who had a boyfriend, lever gave
Arnold any love, and who re-
ceived nothing in the will.
The movie vascilates from
good suspense and even humor
to cheap amateurism, spoiling
whatever potential it has.
Frankly, you see the best parts
in the TV ads.
-Lois Meldman

is on welfare, and can't afford
a boyfriend, or even a nusband,
so the relationship is supposedly
doomed from the start. The
photography is worse than most
television commercials, but
there are some unintentional
laughs gained from the social
comments involved within the
screenplay (vasectomy, abor-
tion - this film's so relevant
it's redundant), which supposed-

chigan Daily
Arts

Walking Tall
The Movies, Briarwood
This film was the pioneer of
a technique which is being used
by more and more production
studios - plugging a picture to
death on television. For some
reason, TV sold Walking Tall
and made it one of last year's
biggest box office hits.
As for the movie itself, it
stinks. When it first came out
in 1972, Walking Tall was a ter-
rible bomb - as it deserved to
be.
If you're looking througn Cin-
ema Weekend to find a good
flick for Saturday night, put a
large x through this article -
for the sake of your own san-
ity - and keep on reading.
--Louis Meldrsa'u
Claudine
Michigan
Claudine is a ridiculous vt-
tempt to prove blacas do more
than sniff cocaine and beat up
white people that didn't see
SuperFly. It's one of those
wretched, aim-for-the-heart soap
operas with a banal black maid
(Dianne Carroll, trying to act
serious and hoping people won't
remember her farce of a TV
show called Julia) who falls
in love with a black garbage
man (James Earl Jones, who
stopped acting long ago) that
finds her fascinating.
The problem is, however, she

ly thinks we're all going to take
this junk seriously.
The ads for Claudine s a y,
"When the welfare mother of
six meets the fast-talking gar-
bage man, it's a good time
for all. Can you dig it?" I'd
really like to bury it. How these
films ever get financial back-
ing is simply amazing. They
could've taken the production
costs of Claudine and fed six
families in Harlem for a life-
time.
-Michael Wilson
Black films of recent years
have been dominated by the
black Superman - or woman.
One need only look at Shaft,
or Superfly and other films of
this ilk to understand. There
has been, frankly, a lack of good
black-based cinema.
One exception, however, was
Sounder. Another exception is
Claudine, the story of a woman,
living in Harlem with six father-
less children, trying to provide
for them, and at the same time
to make a life of her own.
Dianne Carroll plays Claudine,
and her performance is one of
merit. She is a little too glam-
orous for the part, however.
James Earl Jones plays t h e
garbage man who falls in love
with her, and his portrayal rates
as high as anything he has ever
done.
Together they try to make a
life for themselves in a hostile
world. The results are often

funny, and very real.
John Berry's direction is plea-
sant without being overly senti-
mental. His handling of the sub-
ject is accurate, but at the same
time not brutal.
-David Warren
Three Musketeers
Fifth Forum
When we last saw director
Richard Lester some five years
ago, he was quickly fading out
of the film scene with a series
of British pseudo - surrealistic
movies after experiencing a
brief success as the direct:at of
the Beatles' pictures. He had
stepped out of this a r e a of
strength - comedy - and the
lackluster nature of his films
showed it.
Then last year the f o r m e r
Philadelphia TV writer who left
in the early '50s for .nglarnd
and the Goon S h o w managed
to drum up financial support
from producer Ilya Salkind and
some Panamanian interests for
another Richard Lester comedy.
The product, The Three Mus-
keteers, is hilarious.
Lester hasn't ironed out all of
the problems that plagued I im
in his Hard Day's Night era -
Musketeers is plagued by some
slow pacing in a few places.
But his subtle, witty toyi-hes are
just magnificent.
Michael York stars as D'.Ar-
tagnan, the apprentice Muske-
teer, and turns in a fine per-
formance. Simon Ward, Raquel
Welch, and Geraldine Chaplin
round out the cast (and by the
way Raquel can act).
-David Blomquist
Thunderbolt and
Lightfoot
The Movies, Briarwoodx
Just what we all needed to
get through the summer - an-
other dull, predictable, and to-
t a l l y absurd police - bad
guys melodrama. Breaking
windshields, fish fights, pulp.
novel - quality dialogue, a n d
wailing sirens abound in t h i a
latest in a string of complete-
ly forgettable nothings from
United Artists.
Clint Eastwood and J c f f
Bridges head up the cast, but
who really cares? After all,
how watchable can a police film
be when the plot calls for toe
bank robbers to use a cannon
to break into the vaults?
--David Blomqoist

'U' dancers schedule special show

Tonight at 8:30 at the Power
Center, University Dancers will
present a concert in conjunction
with the 18th annual national
convention of the American
Dance Guild (ADG) with the sup-
port of the Michigan Council for
the Arts.
Tickets are available at the door.
General admission is $2; students
with ID can get tickets for $1.
Dances included on the program
are Asaka: Celebration, Amoebois-
me, Rubade, Homage, Nerd Dance,
and Chaconne.
This performance is just one part
of the ADO convention, which is
organized around the t h e m e
"Dance as an art form in higher
education." Workshops will be held
on dance and choreography, the
history of dance in colleges and
universities, dance as part of hu-
manities education, and ethnic
dance as a curriculum resource.

Dancers at work .. .