Page Two SOLOMAN * ABORTION REFORM " EDUCATION REFOR - RENT RELIEF * WELFARE REFORM democrat 0state repres paid politic THE MICHIGAN DAILY Saturday, August 5, 1972 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Saturday, August 5, 1972 v LM tentative at advertisement TV CINEMA F. ' A great screwball comedienne rollinger for people Bob Rollinger, a senior political science major at the u, is running for the democratic nomina- tion for Washtenaw County Commissioner in Ann Arbor's 15th district. To put his people- centered ideas into effect-like consumer pro- tection and child-care-he needs your vote. VOTE IN THE AUGUST 8th PRIMARY paid for by People for Rollinger By RICHARD GLATZER Daily FilmeCitic THE LADY EVE: 6:0v p.m. Thursday August 10. ch. a HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT: 1:30 a.m.S Sunday August 6. Ch. 2 About two weeks ago, I re- viewed What's Up Doc for The Daily. In a typically bitter, caus- tic, jaded piece, I complained of the lack of appealing stars to- day, lambasted Peter Bogdano- vich for his inept hand at comic direction, and then turned my guns on Ann Arbor audiences, quick to patronize a modern bit of filmic mimicry, yet never at Cinema Guild when the 'R e a1 Thing' is shown. The inevitable questions arise; "What does he call good comic direction? What stars of the thir- ties and forties were so far super- ior to Barbara Streisand a n d Ryan O'Neal?" Well, channels 2 and 9 have been considerate enough to offer two movies this week that answer those questions somewhat. Preston Sturges' 1941 comedy The Lady Eve is the work of a man who, unlike "Peter Bogdano- vich, knows that you don't film slapstick and pratfalls in dis- tant longshot, that you don't di- rect comic actors like they're going to a funeral, that you don't need a million pieces of shtick in a screwball comedy, j u s t sympathetic characters and a good script. Barbara Stanwyck and Charles Coburn's fine performances com- pliment Sturges' good taste; their pair of crooks intent on con- ning rich Henry Fonda' out of some of his money (that is, un- til Barbara falls for the guy) is always likeable and amusing. The Lady Eve is light, light stuff (unlike Sturges' later social com- edies), expertly handled and com- pletely entertaining. So much for what I mean by good comic direction. As for the kind of star that What's Up Doc lacks, History is Made at Night boasts as its female lead the woman who, to my mind, is with- out doubt the best screwball comedy heroine ever, Jean Ar- thur. It's incredible how rarely Arthur currently teaching drama as Vassar) is recogniz- ed, how unknown she is to a large segment of the movie- going public. Quite an inappro- propriate state of affairs consid- ering Jean Arthur's warm, witty, unique screen presence ("Sim- ple, real, vibrant," says Frank Capra), considering her unmis- takable, poetry-inspiring voice ("Low, husky - at times it broke pleasingly into the higher octaves like a thousand inkly bells," says Capra), considering that several important film peo- ple have called her the best movie actress of all times (Cap- ra, of course, among others), considering that her filmogra- phy (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washingtan, The Plainsmen, Talk of the Town, The More the Merrier, Only Angels Have Wings, Shane, etc., etc., etc.) reads like a list for a Great Films of Hollywood festival. But Arthur is probably very pleased with her current anony- mity. Thoughout her career she The Michigan Daily, edited and man- aged by stud ents at the University o Miehigan. News phone: 7604-0562. Serond Class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich- igan. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104. Published daily Tues- day through Sunday msorning Unaiver- shy year. Subscription rates: $i by carrier, $11 by mall. Summer Session published Tuesday through Saturday morning. Subsrrip- tion rates: $5.50 by erner campus area); $6.50loeal mal tin Mich. se Ohid; $1.50 nan-local mal(tther states and foreign). very quietly fought to avoid any and all publicity. No cheesecake photos, no bathing suit shots. And very very few personal in- terviews. "I find it difficult to give iL- terviews and to let myself go to a person whom I have met for the first time," she says. "It is also difficult for that person to interpret correctly what g say on a first meeting. When I have something to say I'll say it, but when I haven't, then I won't talk for publication." The Hol- lywood Women's Press C 1 u b voted her one of the least co- operative actresses of 1942. And her avoidance of publicity isn't the only un-starlike th'ng about Jean Arthur. For one thing, she always insisted on hav- ing the right to reject scripts that didn't please her; hence her reputation as the rebel of Columbia Studios. (Her five-year contract took nine years to ful- fill, thanks to her having been suspended several times after having refused to act in infer- ior productions). Hence also the extraordinarily high quality of almost every film she has ever starred in. But I have yet to read of any- one, even her enemies, calling her arrogant or willful; adjec- tives like shy, retiring, and self- doubting are much more com- mon. When starring in Peter Pan on Broadway, Arthur insisted that the entire cast vote on any changes she wanted made in the production. "Imagine a s t a r suggesting a vote! She con- ducts herself more like a minor player than like the star of the show," said her producer, Pet- er Lawrence. More unstarlike things a b o u t Jean Arthur; Rather than fre- quent parties - and making many public appearances, Arthur liked to sit home alone or with her husband (Frank Ross Jr.), lis- tening to classical music (Hay- den, Tchaikovsky) or reading Ib- sen. And when in 1944 her con- tract with Columbia expired, ra- ther than accept one of the of- fers being made to her by sev- eral major movie companies, Jean Arthur simply left Holly- wood to study the Humanities at Stephens College in Missouri. (Shehas sincegstudied with pro- See JEAN, Page 9 PETER ECKSTEIN is mad at what's ft goin on in state government.. * State taxes take a larger share of income from a family earning $10,000 than from a family earning $100,000. " Not one of the top 109 positions in the executive branch of gov- ernment is held by a woman. * Local banks use state-guaranteed student loan programs solely as a reward for favored customers. * While there are 9,000 working mothers with pre-school children in Washtenaw County, there are only 1,400 slots in day care centers.. * A person convicted under state law of possessing marijuana can be sent to jail for a year and fined $1,000. " A person can be sent to prison for life for a voluntary sexual act committed within the privacy of a bedroom. " The state of Michigan has never levied a fine against an air polluter. IF THESE ARE THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT MAKE YOU MAD .... Vote PETER ECKSTEIN For State Representative-Democratic Primary TUESDAY, AUGUST 8 paid political advertisement 4 DANCE FRIDAY-SATURDAY AT 9:00 RADIO KING AND HIS COURT OF RHYTHM -and- SUNDAY AT 8:30 . WASHBOARD WILLIE AND HIS Super Suds of Rhythm MONDAY AND TUESDAY AT 9:00 MORE DANCING WITH AMPHAGAS 217 S. 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