Page Six

FHE MICHIGAN DAILY

Friday, May 21, 1976

P eSix fl-fE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, May 21, 1976

Happenings. ..

All week long
COMMERCIAL CINEMA
The Missouri Breaks - (The
Movies, Briarwood) -A r t h u r
Penn's eagerly-awaited Western
featuring the dream team of
Brando and Nicholson. Public-
ity aside, any Penn usually con-
tains something worthwhile in it,
and this one should be no excep-
tion.
Lies My Father Told Me -
(Michigan) - Weepy, schmalzy
nostalgia tale about the travails
of a Jewish family in the 1920's
in Montreal, focusing on the re-
lationship between a small boy
and his aging grandfather. Di-
rector Jan Kadar has to his cre-
dit tw-, of the finest films ever
made (Tie Shop on Main Street
and Adrift), but this time he's
undercut by a cliche-ridden
script, some blatant ham act-
ing and one of the most obtrus-
ive musical soundtracks this side
of Sound of Music. I'm as big
a sucker for tear-jerkers as the
next viewer, but this entry is
made of plastic.*
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest - (The Movies, Briar-
wood) - The first film in over
forty years to sweep all t h e
major Oscr-s, but for all i t s
accolades, sill just not as good
as it should l've been. Cuc-
koo's Nest is technicaly superb
and splendidly acted, but direc-
tor Mrlas Forman displays a
consisten' insensitivity and
mockingness toward his charac-
ters that does much to under-
mine the saivation theme of Ken
Kesey's novel.' - ,
The Exorcist -- (State)-Care-
fully re-examined, The Exorcist
seems a reasonably compelling
film minus the hysterical public-
ity accompanying its initial re-
lease two years ago, but t h e
picture still falls considerably

short of greatness. Director Wil-
lian Friedkin's decision to film
the Blatty novel in a realistic
msde without any chain-rattling
scare-film cliches seemed sound
in theory but proves out of kilter
with the finished product. Blat-
ty's horrifics seemed frighten-
ing when left to the imagination,
but when transposed literally to
the scssen, the roaring obscen-
ities, green vomit and other
shock effects serve to detract
from, rather than add to the
suspense. The film cries out for
the shadowy, phantamagoric
style of a Polanski or a Scor-
cese; given the risky aesthetic
nature of the story, Friedkin's
visual graphics just don't have
the requirements of invention or
taste needed to make The Exor-
cist a film classic"***
All the President's Men -
(The Movies, Briarwood) -This
splendid film from the W o od-
stein bestseler proves less a
chronicle of Nixon's downfall
than a day-to-day stidy of the
highs and lows of newspaper re-
porting - a thorough, precise
and remarkably absorbing look
at the painstaking detective
work that just may have pre-
served us as a nation.*"
Hedda - (Fifth Forum) - A
faithful if somewhat reduced
cinemazation of the f a m o u s
play, dominated by Glenda
Jackson's fascinating cerebral
interpretation of Ibsen's demon-
ic heroine."'
Friday
CINEMA
No Man of Her Own - (Cin-
ema Guild, Arch. Aud., 7:30 &
9:35) - Clark Gable and Carole
Lombard make their lone on-
screen teamup in this rather ne-
gligible 1932 comedy"
The Adventures of Robin Hood

- (Ann Arbor Film Co-op, MLB
3, 7 & 9) - A splashy, exciting
'30's version of the hero of Sher-
wood Forest. The studio predic-
tibly tacked on the usual happy
ending, and the Sheriff of Not-
tingham has for some reason
been eliminated from the p r o-
ceedings entirely; but E r r oI
Flynn makes a wonderfully
dashing Robin and director Mi-
chael Curtiz knows how to keep
the action moving briskly
throughout. Fun for all.***
The Confession - (Ann Arbor
Film Co-op, MLB 4, 7 only) -
An absolutely wrenching drama
by Costa Garvas (Z), about the
efforts of interrogators to force
a Czechslovakian Communist of-
ficial (Yves Montand) to recant
his sins during the Czech purge
of the late 1940's. Brutally unre-
lenting and certainly rough for
audiences totake, but nonethe-
less the best pick of the
week.****
The Conformist - (Ann Ar-
bor Film Co-op, MLB 4, 9:30
only) - A young Italian joins
Mussolini's secret police in or-
der to gain a feeling of emo-
tional solidity in an increasingly
unstable society. A controversial'
film plotwise, but director Ber-
nardo Bertolucci's directorial
talents are so awesome t h a t
they totally envelop any thema-
tic shortcomings that may exist.
A perverse and brilliant
film.*"
The Killing of a Chinese Book-
ie - (Cinema II, Ang. Aud. A,
7:30 & 9:45) - Ann Arbor pre-
miere of John Cassavetes' new
film,starring Ben Gazzara.
Saturday
CINEMA
Little Women - (Cinema
Guild, Arch. Aud., 7:30 & 9:35)
-- Fine George Cukor film of

the Alcott novel, starring Kath-
erine Hepburn. ***
The Killing of a Chinese
Bookie - (Cinema II,- Ang.
Aud. A, 7:30 & 9:45) - See
Friday Cinema.
Sunday
CINEMA
Tabu - (Cinema Guild, Arch.
Aud., 8 only) - Early adven-
ture film whose mechanical
sharks pre-dated Jaws by forty-
five years. Admission is FREE.
Monday
CINEMA
Gentleman Jim & Captain
Blood -- (Ann Arbor Film Co-
op, Ang. Aud. A, Jim at 7,
Blood at 9) - Arguably, Errol
Flynn's two most enjoyable
films - the former dealing
with the life of former Heavy-
weight Champion James Cor-
bett, the latter chronicling the
exploits of doctor - pirate Pet-
er Blood. The Corbett film is a
thoroughly fanciful, freewheel-
ing interpretation of the box-
er's career that stands in joy-
ous contrast to the dull rever-
ence that has characterized al-
most every other filmed sports
biography; Captain Blood
marker Flynn's screen debut
and remains the quint-essential
swashbuckler, immortalized by
Flynn's volcanic performance
as the dashing outlaw-hero of
the high seas. Certainly a stu-
pendous double bill.****
Tuesday
CINEMA
The Earrings of Madame de-
(Ann Arbor Film Co-op, Ang.
Aud. A, 7 only) - Max Ophuls'
film of aristocratic love, un-
seen by this writer.
The Killing of Sister George
- (Ann Arbor Film Co-op, Ang.
Aud. A, 9 only) - Robert Al-
drich's adaptation of the stage

play about the slow decline of
an aging lesbian TV perform-
er (Baryl Reid), and her re-
lationship to her lover and
apartment mate (Susannah
York). One of the first studies
of gayness on film, but Aldrich
tends to play it too much for its
sensationalist aspects, in the
process obscuring a pretty good
plotline: ***
Scenes From a Marriage -
(People's Bicentennial Com-
mission, MLB, 7 $ 10) - Ing-
mar Bergman's intimate - and
to my mind icy - exploration
of various stages of a disin-
tegrating marriage, and its af-
tereffects. Intricately woven
and phenominally performed by
Liv Ulman and Erland Joseph-
son, but characterized by a kind
of detached sterility that makes
it difficult to get overly involv-
ed in it's characters difficul-
ties. ***
Wednesday
CINEMA
The Long Goodbye - Ann
Arbor Film Co-op, Ang. Aud. A,
7 & 9) - The most recent film
depiction of the Raymond
Chandler detective genre, with
Elliott Gould surprisingly effec-
tive as Philip Marlowe. If the
viewer can avoid physio-psycho
disorientation from director
Robert Altman's annoying pe-
petual motion camera technique,
this will prove a most enjoy-
able flick,
Scenes From a Marriage -
(People's Bicentennial Commis-
sion, MLB, 7 & 10) - See Tues-
day Cinema.
Thursday
CINEMA
Monterey Pop - (Ann Arbor
Film Co-op, 7, 8:45 $ 10:30) -
The first Rock documentary
from the first of the Great
Festivals, circa 1967. A little
crude and small-scale in con-
trast to the technical wizardry
of its gargantuan successors,
but a glorious nostalgia trip
through the likes of Jimmy,
Janis, The Airplane and other
saints of the Age of Peace and
Love. ***
USING NATURE'S
OWN METHOD
B R O W N S V I L L E, Tex
(P) - The warm, dry climate of
this Gulf Coast area is being
used to create a wastewater
treatment plant that employs
solar evaporation to achieve
absolute zero - discharge. This
totally eliminates pollution
from the process waters used
in making chemicals.
The new environmental pro-
tection system, according to
Union Carbide's plant manager,
Bill McManus, is like ature's
own method for handling
wastes. The process water is
collected and pumped into an
evaporation pond, where the
liquid.waste materials are oxi-
dized to harmless carbon diox-
ide. The hot climate evaporates
the water from the pond, and
with the help of aerating pumps
to speed the process, leaves
only minute quantities of solids
behind.
The filly Top Flight won all
seven of her races as a two-
year-old in 1931. She earned
$219,000 that year.
S STYLING
is the way to go.
U-M Stylists

at the UNION
DAVE, HAROLD
& CHET


LEVIS FROM SA 1S STORE
SAM'S STORE
207 E. LIBERTY 663-8611