Page Four
Upon walking into the hotel
cafeteria, the future Honey Bruce
or Aerie Perrine) spied Dustin
}k ''man sipping coffee at a
dis' nt table. "Who's he?" she
her manager.
.iw, that's Lenny Bruce, some
lousy comedian", he replied.
"He's cute." Here the audience
must make a distinction: yes,
Dustin Hoffman is cute, but no,
ctin Hoffman is not Lenny
B - ce. He might as well be
B. - *min Braddock attempting
to -arve out a new life after the
solution of his ill-fated
r., .Triage to Elaine Robinson.
Ti-aman makes those ob-
s- uiously timid noises of his
th_pughout the film, and to each
Br. _e shtick he enacts, he at
:es a hopelessly peurile
al.
bruce was neither timid, nor
•bsequious, nor a moralist. He
was an iconoclast: his was not to
right wrongs, only to expose
them. In the course of one
monologue, Lenny Bruce (Dustin
Hoffman) admits, "I'm no
moralists." on a voice-over track,
as the camera cuts from one
symbol of his opulence to another
but Lenny, the film, refuses
to allow this admission to guide
its theme.
As a biography of the saturnine
social critic, Lenny ignores
Bruce's childhood, the years
spent with his father and
fabricates an ofttimes mercenary
manager. However, Julian
Barry's screenplay needn't be
faithful to either the Julian Barry
play of the same name or the
Albert Goldman biography. The
film is its own artistic creation
and a director must be granted
the liberty to present his personal
statement or his individual in
terpretation of another work. Yet,
even judged on its own terms, the
film is found wanting due to Bob
Fosse's (the director) reluctance
to discuss some highly germane
issues suggested by the plot.
Lenny never satisfactorily
explains what caused the
protagonist to develop his par
ticular brand of humor. Cer
tainly, the scene in which
Sherman Hart (Gary Morton)
pretends to advise Lenny Bruce in
order to gain his wife's attentions
is not sufficient motivation,
despite a splendid portrayal by
Mr. Morton.
The tension created by Lenny's
sudden rise to notoriety and his
fleeting wealth remains
relatively unexplored. Surely, the
switch from $7O-a-week oblivion
in a third rate strip joint to $7OO-a
-week appearances in a respec
table club, record albums and
ever-increasing engagement
requests cannot but have some
effect on any man. His doping (I
refrain from labeling it addiction)
is indecisively offered as the
effect, but it seems only to co
exist with the tension created by
his success rather than inhere in
it.
A third, unfortunately un
derdeveloped, theme is the in
teraction between the judicial
system, the political
arrangement that empowers it
and Lenny. Although the ob
scenity charges brought against
the late comedian are the stuff
that made him the figure he is
and supposedly destroyed him,
Director Fosse presents us with
an insultingly simple exposition of
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the dynamics involved worthy of
a Yippie polemic.
Finally we must ask ourselves,
why has this film been made? If it
ventures to raise our moral
consciousness, it is a decade too
late. Ironically, the sketches that
once brought prosecution, now
bring only an "R" rating. If it is a
serious endeavor to investigate
the Bruce phenomenon, it
misconstrues him. A glaring
possibility is the desire to
produce or cash in on a new, hip
generation idol. Such a motive
would be antithetical to all of
Bruce's ideas, as well as show a
regretful disdain for the
audience.
Lenny seems pointless, but
within its vague statement many
Library Offers Programs
By Carol Von Zastrow
The Erie Metropolitan Library
is only a half hour bus ride from
Behrend College. It can be in
valuable while doing a paper. It is
located on Perry Square in a
fantastic piece of Erie
Architecture. Just the building is
worth seeing, but it also offers
some FREE programs, that may
be of interest to Behrend
students.
Every other Wednesday
' evening at 7:30 in Room 4, movies
are. shown. They range from
Coming Again
Behrend Radio Series
The Behrend College ' Radio The program is to be aired on
Series will present this week, the WQLN-FM, Stereo 91.3, at 7 p.m.
"Myth Making and the American on Thursday, April 3.
Hero."_ _ A ll Behrend College students
The show is to be narrated by are urged to listen to this in-
Arno Selco, and the guest formative and interesting
speakers this week are Pat segment - of a series of programs
Holland, Charles Redenius, and presented by the ,Behrend
Wayne Scott. College.
ATTENTION TRANSFER STUDENTS TO U.P.
..M
good actors move and much
technical skill is displayed. Jan
Miner is excellent as Lenny's
mother, Stanley Beck is con
vincingly despicable as his fic
titious manager and Rashel
Novikoff as Aunt Mema could
have been my Bubba Katz. Given
her first chance to act, Valerie
Perrine plays an empathic, if
unrealistic, Honey.
Bruce Surtee's lyrical black
and white camera and Bob
Fosse's use of semi-documentary
style are too incisive for Lenny.
Nevertheless, Fosse handles the
flash-back and -forth technique
.and the semi-documentary style
with finesse, and Surtee's
goallessly searching camera
manages to bestow some
moments of grace on the film.
Classics to Experimental films.
Showing this term will be :
April 15 Lonliness of a Long
Distance Runner with Laurence
Harvey.
April 29 Camping, A Key to
Conservation; Grand Canyon;
and Mysteries of the Deep.
. May 13 The General; Dream
of Wild Horses; Grandma Moses;
and Dangerous Females.
May 27 King Kong.
In addition to these free films,
there are also free lectures given
every week. These, too, take
place at 7:30 in Room 4. For our.
Special Announcement on Housing and Food Service
Contracts - 1975, 1976 For University Park Campus
Students are reminded that filing a contract for housing does not constitute approval to transfer
from a commonwealth campus to University Park. This approval must be cleared through the
Assistant Director for resident instruction at the Commonwealth Campus.
Contract Cards with $45.00 Advance Payment MUST be submitted to the Office of the Bursar, 103
Shields Building.
April 15 is the deadline date for priority consideration for branch campus transfers.
Assignments will be made according to date contract is received. If applicants contract is received
before all available vacant spaces have been assigned, he or she will beassisgned to the resident hall
requests. If all space has been assigned foK the specific residence hall requested, consideration for
space in the residence hall area will be given until space available has been depleted.
Should no space be available in areas requested, assignments will be made in areas having housing
spaces available.
IF SPACE IS NOT AVAILABLE, HOUSING CONTRACT WILL BE CANCELLED AND AN AD
VANCE PAYMENT REFUND WILL BE PROCESSED BY MAY 31,1975.
IF STUDENT IS NOT APPROVED TO TRANSFER TO UNIVERSITY PARK BY JUNE 13 1975
HOUSING CONTRACT WILL BE CANCELLED AND ADVANCE PAYMENT REFUNDED. ' '
ADVANCE PAYMENT WILL BE REFUNDED IF STUDENT NOTIFIES THE ASSIGNMENT
OFFICE IN WRITING BEFORE 5:00 p.m., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1975, THAT HE WISHES TO
CANCEL HIS HOUSING AND FOODSERVICE CONTRACT.
ALL STUDENTS WITH HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICE CONTRACTS, IF ENROLLED FOR
THE ACADEMIC YEAR, ARE OBLIGATED FOR THE FULL CHARGES IF THEY FAIL TO
CANCEL THEIR CONTRACTS BY APRIL 30, 1075.
Students desiring residence hall .accommodations at University Park Campus for Summer Term
1975 may obtain contracts at the Commonwealth Campus they are presently attending. NO AD
VANCE PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR SUMMER TERM. ,
A SEPARATE CONTRACT MUST BE FILED FOR FALL-WINTER-SPRING TERMS.
APPLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE BEHREND COLLEGE RECORDS OFFICE
Behrend Coll - •ion
SUMMER TERM 1975
***********************
SIN CONN'
Note: This is the thirteenth in a
series of weekly articles.
Jacob had twelve sons.
Jesus Christ had twelve disciples
There were twelve tribes of
Israel
And there are twelve signs in
the Zodiac.
Genesis reads : "In the
beginning ..." and the world was
created under the sign of Aries.
Christ's death marked the age of
Pisces - an age we are still
moving out of.
Astrology and religion are
closely entertwined. Astrology,
when studied seriously, is more
than a frivolous pastime. In his
book: Meditations on the Signs of
the Zodiac, John Jocelyn states:
"In an age when humanity has
become conscious of cosmic
space, the traditional and con
ventional religious views are
inadequate to fit the changed
conception of our universe. As
larger clothes are needed for the
theater enthusiasts, David
Matthews, of the Erie Civic
Theater, will give a talk on the
Erie theater scene Wednesday,
April 16. Lectures about local
Erie History are given on
Thursday evenings as follows:
April 3 "What Influences
Erie Politics" with Dr. William
Garvey of Mercyhurst College.
April 10 "Early Northwestern
Pennsylvania History" Alan
Perkins, Curator, Drake Well
Museum.
April 17 "Let's Preserve
Early Erie Architecture" Robert
A. Krider, architect.
April 24 "The Beginnings of
the Oil Industry in Northwest
Pennsylvania" Michael Davidson
of the Drake Well Museum.
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(201) 933-6222
. Termpaper & Thesis Research - Lowest rates from 52.50/pg.
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CAMPUS JOBS AVAILABLE
By Rosa Myers
growing child when it has
outgrown its old ones, so enlarged
spiritual concepts are needed for
evolving humanity. This principle
was recognized by Jesus Christ
when he said: "I have yet many
things to say to you but you
cannot bear the now." (St. John
16 : 12)
The study of astrology
inevitably results in a better
understanding of mankind. One is
not so quick to criticize and
belittle. Instead our capacity to
tolerate and understand becomes
greater. People who believe only
in that which can be revealed
through the senses will never
understand the beauty of
astrology. - Astrology gives life a
definite pattern. One slowly
begins to understand the cycle of
birth and death and life does not
seem such a puzzle anymore. The
famous astrologer, Zolar, once
remarked that students of
astrology are generally religious
or close to God. I suppose he
meant that the study of- the stars
and the heavens in all their
splendor can only be com
prehended by one who is con
tinually amazed at the powers
that be. And he does not
necessarily mean those who
accept the orthodox God because
witches, who worship the Life
Force and other deities, are
nearly always caught up in
astrology.
It is an old art (six thousand
years old) dating back to a time
when man was more of a spiritual
being than he is today. It is the
true psychology—man's first
attempt at understanding himself
and the'world around him. In the
next few articles I hope to explain
the construction of a horoscope
and the various attractions ex
perienced by human. beings as a
result of the positioning of certain
planets. I also hope to briefly
discuss compatibility among the
sun signs.
April 3, 1975