'Youth and Age'
•
THIS POWTAIT of an old woman
and a young girl is a photograph by
Jan Kreicsbergs, a Latvian who has
sent some of his work to a friend in the
United Statk. The photographs are on
display on the second floor of Car
negie.
Latvian's work displayed
Carnegie Building
Jan Kreicsbergs, a 35-year-old Latvian photographer, has 27
prints on exhibit in the second floor of Carnegie Building. The
exhibit has .been assembled from prints the artist sent to
Robert Jaskovskis, a photographer-friend.
Kreicsbergs' work appears regularly in Latvian fashion
magazines, periodicals and newspapers. This showing covers
a number of years and diSplays a wide variety of styles.
Pattee Library
Mixed-media paintingg by Michael Allison using a wide
range of materials are on display in the library's east corridor
lobby.
•
Oil paintings and water colors by Dennis R. Hutchings, of
Port Royal, Pa. will take the place of the Allison Show. Hutch
ings' work is predominantly traditional landscapes.
Rick Hoffman. a:graduate of the Tyler School of Art, will be
showing acrilics in the library's circulation lobby.
Manuscripts, fiistr editions and memorabilia by novelist
John O'Hara_, a Pottstown na6e, will be on display in the
Rare Books Room. The O'Hara exhibit opens tomorrow.
Photographs by . Dennis Douvanis (graduate-philosophy)
are being shown in the west lobby through Oct. 15.
b 4.1
An exhibit i on the occult will be tea tired in the west side of
the main lobby. The display has n set up to tie in with
Colloquy's guest speakers on the Sa e subject.
The east side of the main lobby has an exhibit called "Four
Easy Pieces" of Penn State history. It's about.the Goodyear
blimp, student publications, the names of Penn .State
buildings, and traditional class rivalries and related hijinks.
Senegalese group
is Artists Series'
dance replacement
This has been a bad year for dance to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the thilversity
companies and for the Artists Series' Auditorium.
dealings with them. The Senegalese' National Dance
When the Artists Series drew up its Company has perforrried t thioughout
original 1974-75 schedule last spring, - Europe, South America ' r and the United
the National Ballet Company was States. The group's dances portray the
supposed to come to Penn State this fall: history, the aspirations and the preoc-
The company folded this summer cupations of the Senegalese People.
because of financial difficulties. "A superb African dance ' ensemble
The Artists Series countered this with an exciting proram," Anna
setback by signing thp. Agnes De Milleec Kisselgoff, dance critic for The New l'r!
York Times, wrote of thel company.
Heritage Dance Theatre for a per
formance on Oct. 3i, with a special "(They) are not to be missed."
performance Nov. 1. Financial deficits Maurice S. Sengher, the company's
forced the group to cancel the remainder director, visited about 200,, villages,
of its U.S. tour. covering 4,000 miles in Senegal to gather
Now the Artists Series has scheduled
information on the dances of his nation.
With his collaborators 4 has watched
the Senegalese National Dance Com- listened to 2,000 singers and dan
pany. The group will appear in ,andcers, shot 250 yards of film and taped
Uniersity Auditorium 8:30 p.m. Oct. 13. hours of songs from all parts of the
Tickets for the Agnes De Mille Heritage , country.
Dance Theatre will admit patrons to the All this information goes into making
performance.
r up the company's varied dances, which
demonstrate the, tales arid rituals of
Senegalese folklore in the fashion that
Sengher witnessed in the villages. -
A matinee performarice_at 3 p.m. Oct.
13 also has been scheduled. Tickets for
this performance go on sale from 9 a.m.
'Seagull' to open
University Theatre
Anton Chekov's drama "The Seagull"
µ•ill open the fall season for the
University Theatre.
Directed by Archie Smith, assistant
professor of theatre arts, the play will
open Thursday at the Pavilion. A student
preview has been scheduled for Wed
nesday.
The box office for
."The Seagull" and
University Th3atre's other fall
productions, "Surrealism A
Celebration with Two' Plays: 'The
Wedding on the Eiffel Titiwer' and 'The
Breasts of Tiresias' " and Lanford
Wilson's "Lemon Oky," will open
Monday.
The box office, located with the
playhouse in the Arts Building, will be
open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through
Friday. On performance days; it will be
open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
University Theatre Works in two
theaters on campus the playhouse,
which has a conventional proscenium
• Exhibits
stage, and Pavilion, which has an arena
or theater-in-the-round stage.
The University's production of "The
Seagull" will include several passages
cut out of Chekhov's original script by
Russian censors who seemed the
passages dealing with sexual
relationships too sensitive.
Ushers are needed for all the
University Theatre productions.
Students signing up to usher must be at
the th6ter half an hour before the house
opens. They seat the patrons and hand
out programs.
Ushers are guaranteed a seat for the
performance. Anyone interested in
ushering may call Helen Weston at 863-
0381 or come to the University Theatre
office at 137 Arts Building.
Reservations for "The Seagull" and
other fall productions may be made by
telephone by calling the box office, 865-
1884, during its regular
.hours.
Museum of Art
"Manayunk and Other Places: A Francis Speight
Retrospective" will continue in galleries A and C at the
Museum through October. The Museum staff has collected
about 60 oils, watercolors and drawings which illustrate
Speight's work over a 50-year period.
Gallery B currently houses an exhibit of pieces from the
Museum's permanent collection.
The Museum is open noon to 5 p.m Tuesday through Sun
day. Museum tours are scheduled every Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
Chambers Gallery
Jeanne Steven-Sollman will be showing her drawings and
paintings until Oct. 18.
Kern Graduate Building
Bob and Susan Duncan, residents l of Morril, Maine, are
exhibiting their oil paintings in the Graduate Commons
Gallery through next week, •
Denis Faleski is showing' her ceramics in Kern's display
cases through October.
Zoller Gallery •
Super Mud '74, the annual student invitational ceramics
show sponsored by the Department of Art, opens Monday.
Penn State ceramics students will be exhibiting their work
along with those of studentsfrom the Universities of Chicago,
Georgia, Delaware, and Montana and Ohio State University.
Arts Building
Bruce Horowitz, a Penn State graduate, will be Shomftng 20
OhologrAphs of children in Room 212 of the Arts
through October. Horowitz is a youth worker with a 'tom
munity association project in Rochester, N.Y,, where he
works with elementary school-aged children.
All of the photographs in his exhibit were made with inex
pensive dime-store cameras which Horowitz uses for desired
visual qualities.
Polanski's 'Chinatown' engaging
By TONY D'AUGELLI
of the Collegian Staff
Roman Polanski's decision to include John
Huston in "Chinatown" was hardly accidental.
Huston's "The Maltese Falcon" remains a classic
of its genre, the highly entertaining literate
detective story which was so well done that its basic
emptiness is all but ignored. Set in stark
dichotomies, especially good vs. evil, the often
convoluted plot serves as a backdrop for a drama of
human frailty. In this genre, deception is the rule.
money the goal and simple greed the motivator.
"Chinatwn" is Polanski's modernistic detective
story, an updated version with a heavy dose of
Polanski's dark humor. Compared to Altman's
"The Long Goodbye," "Chinatwon" milks the
genre, exploiting the audience's knowing con
ceptions of what to expect. Whereas Altman threw
out the old style and turned the genre on its head,
Polanski uses the conventions of the detective story
to full advantage, creating his best film in years.
The film is unquestioningly engaging. Robert
Towne's screenplay is a marvelous blend of humor,
suspense and veiled social commentary. The greed
nere is buried under maneuvering of real estate by
high officials. -It is a subtle but fasoinating intrigue:
illegally diverted water will be used to develop land
deviously bought by Mali Cross, a local millionaire
played by John Huston. When a water authority
'Bank Shot' enjoyable
By PATRICK SOKAS
of the Collegian Staff
_
Scott is sprung from prison in order to master
" Bank Shot" is a witty and basically enjoyable mind a 'bank shot" on the Mission Bell Bank,
movie that suffers from the Chinese food syndrome: temporarily located in a mobil home. He formulates
an hour after you leave the theater, you feel like you . a plan for the holdup. "It's very simple," Scott
haven't seen a movie. 1 states, wincing visibly. "We don't rob the bank, we
For a feature film, "Bank Shot" is unusually STEAL the bank." And so to goes.
small caliber entertainment. At about 80 minutes in 1
length, it would fit quite well in a "movie of the ne of the major flaws, obviously, is in the
week" slot. Aside from the involvement of George
nds more or less stilted. Sometimes it is difficult
screenplay by Wendell Mayes. Most of the dialogue
C. Scott, the film is almost indistinguishable from a• sou .
better-than-average made-for-television film. to figure "out just what the actors are trying to say.
Scott is the only major talent involved. Most of the onsequently, some of the funniest sequences are
thor in which ' nothing need be said. On its hest
supporting cast is familiar from the television lev 1, "Bank Shot" is a satire of the affection
guest-star circuit, although the co-star, Joanna Americans &general, and Southern Californians in
Cassidy, is a newcomer. But it is an extremely
particular. hold for vehicles..
likeable collection of odd characters. c. I
ik
Actually, it's the congeniality of the cast that The humor comes from counterpointing various
keeps the movie going as long as it does. odd Vehicles. One of the best scenes in the film is an
The plot, such as it is; comes from a novel by opening sequence in which Scott, escaping from
czyCollegian arts
By CHARLES MISREAD
of the Collegian Staff
Lots of people have had hits with Ran
dy Newman's songs. Three Dog Night
made a smash out of "Mama Told Me
Not To Come." Peggy Lee had a success
with "Love Story." Harry Nilsson re
corded a whole album's worth.
It seems that just about the only one
who hasn't had a hit with a Randy
Newman song is Randy Newman,
despite the fact that he plays better piano
and has more hair than Elton John.
Undaunted, Newman has come out
with his fourth effort, "Good Old 80y5, , "
It's basically about the redneck South.
The opening song is called "Rednecks",
as a matter of fact.
"Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a
TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew.
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox,
And the audience laughed at Lester Mad
dox, too.
Well, he may he a fool but he's our fool.
If they think they're better than him
they're wrong."
Most of the songs that have been writ
ten about the so-called "Southern
crackers" wouldn't have gone beyond
the fifth line. Newman, however, doesn't
AWB new Scottish export
The nation of Scotland is generally
best known worldwide for exports such
as wools, tweeds and several brands of
exceptional Scotch. Unlike its neighbor
to the south, England, it is not par
ticularly noted for that high revenue
producing commodity of the 60's and 70's
rock and roll bands.
The "Average White Band," af
fectionately referred to as "AWB," is
changing both the balance of trade and
the listening habits of Scots, Britons and
an evergrowing number of Americans.
Initially signed to the MCA record
label, AWB had but one release, "Show
Your Hand," on that company's vinyl.
"Show Your Hand" was a relatively
minor success financially, although it
did receive critical_ acclaim in the trade
papers. If the first album did anything at
all for AWB; it was in the reflection of
incompatibility between artist and label.
Fortunately, AWB has since changed
affiliations to the Atlantic Records
stable, a company long known for its
R&B traditions, much in line with AWB's
particlar musical style. In direct
comparison to the treatment accorded
rinromAn-
Now ! n Play g twwaw
o.
3144 M
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offical (who also happens to be Cross' son-in-law)
refuses to go along with the plan, he is killed. J.J.
Gittes (Jack Nicholson), a suave private detective,
is hired by the widow (Faye Dunaway) to track
down the murderer. Gittes quickly learns what
happens when he sticks his nose into other people's
business: he gets it sliced.
Gittes is a man who doesn't learn. His cynical
recognition of human dishonestly doesn't prevent
him from deeper involvement with the Mrs.
Mulwray. Working with others' desperation, he
tries_to control his own. He can't see beyond the
present far enough to see how he is reliving his
disastrous past. Dealins4 with Mrs. Mulwray's
weaknesses, he forgets his own.
Mrs. Mulwray's past is also snaring her. Gittes
becomes involved, first because of professional ,
',
interest, later for more personal reasons. Their
relationship is inevitably doomed and is a replay of
Gittes ;tragic relationship with another woman in
Chinatown. Gittes must finally come to confro4t
himself, Co recognize the guilt that led him to flee
Chinatown. Mrs Mulwray brings him back
Chinatown, where the film ends tragically.
Polanski has inspired excellent performanc
from his actors. The big surprise is Faye Dunaway,
whose career has gone downhill since "Bonnie and
Clyde." She brings humor and depth to her role, her
impassive and coldly attractive face trying to
uonald Westlake, The author of "The Hot Rock"
which was a far more successful film.
Record reviews
A hit for Randy?
take the traditional liberal "sophis
ticated" attitude.
Newman is aiming at anyone who
thinks of Southerners as ignorant bigots
with these lines:;
"Down here we're too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free.
Yes, he's free to be put in a cage in
Harlem in New York City."
The inspirational figure for the album
is Huey Long, ;governor of Louisiana
from 1928 to 1935 His photograph adorns
the - back of the jacket Newman
describes him and his like in "Kingfish":
"I'm a cracker,
And you are, too.
But don't I take Ood care of you?"
Newman sympathizes with the Huey
Longs and their followers, but he sees the
sadness and hypocrisy, too. Long's own
words are sarcastically set to a sprightly
piano accompaniment in "Every Man A
King":
"Evr-
ry _ a king, ev'ry man
For you can be a millionaire."
- -
But there aren't too many millionaires
in Newman's Southland. More typical is
the voice of "Birniingham":
"Got a wife, got a family,
Earn my livire with my hand
the band at MCA, Atlantic is providing
them with a full-blown promotional trip,
definitely due an act of their stature. The
package include§, the proper blend of
direction, productibn and hype under the
auspices of two 'of the masters of the
contemporary music world Jerry
Wexler and Arif Mardin.
With financial and commercial sup
port no longer a question, the logical
inquiry is one of musical talent. The
answer, in every possible conceivable
aspect, is an unqualified yes, in abun
dance.
Vocally they are
to
with two of
the finest singers to emerge from British
or American shores in Hamish Stuart
and Alan Gorrie. Their respective vocal
ranges and use of their voices as ad
ditional instruments is uncanny. One has
to hear segments from the Atlantic
debut album, entitled "AWB," to believe
the phrasing and over-all excellence.
The rhythm and horn sections are a
complete delight as they seem to rejoice
in laying down riffs that constantly
stimulate and amaze. The band is ef
fective in jointly showcasing the in
The Daily Collegian Friday, October 4. 1974-
I'm a roller in a steel mill
In downtown Birmingham."
"I work all day in the factory," says
Newman's protagonist, "and that's
alright with me." But he has his gripes
too, as is shown in "Mr. President (Have
Pity On the Working Manl":
"I know it may sound funny
But people ev'rywhere are runnin' out of
money."
Newman's arrangements are a little
more complex on this album. The
heretofore rarely used strings and brass
are heard with much greater frequency.
Newman has even resorted to using
background vocals, with Eagles'
songwriters Don Henley and Glenn Frey
doing the honors on several tracks.
The album contains two love songs.
One of them, "Marie," is worth the price
of the record alone.
Newman's piano playing is as in
ventive and refreshing as ever. He even
uses - the electric version of the in
strument on a couple.of cuts.
It's comforting to know, from listening
to this album, that one of the very few
true originals in American pop is as good
as lie ever was. If only a few more people
would listen to him!
dividual and group efforts, a difficult
task indeed in this era of "flash bands"
which generally lose the concept of
group in exhibiting self.
From the opening notes of "You Got
It" to the final wailing strains and scat
singing of "There's Always Someone
Waiting," AWB just grabs hold and
refuses to let go. Each and every cut is a
masterpiece fully capable of standing on
its own unique merits. There is no filler
on the AWB album; in fact, the cuts are
so captivating you almost tend to forget
that Scottish bands are not supposed to
be that soulful, if in fact they exist at all:
Do yourself a favor and pick up on
AWB. They are going to be a monster
act, so you might as well get in on the
ground level and enjoy them from the
beginning. If you get the opportunity to
experience them live, don't pass it up,
for they are truly a great stage, as well
as studio, act.
Perhaps the next time -you think of
Scotland, visions of AWB will replace the
Royal Scottish Bagpipers as title music of
the land. They are a hell of a lot funkier.
contain past hurts. She holds her own with Jack
Nicholson, an actof with such impulsivity and
strength that he automatically dominates. He, too,
is fine. This is probably his best acting since "Five
Easy Pieces," a remarkable portrayal of a man
enjoying his facile flirtation with danger. As is
typical of the detective story, Gittes' inner life is
only hinted at, but Nicholson easily transcends the
two-dimensionality of Bogart's detectives. PolAnski
also has managed to fill his film with marveloits bit
parts. Even the role of a snotty office boy is done to
perfection.
"Chinatown" is an excellent example of how
collaboration in film can work. With a literate,
intriguing script and excellent performances,
Polanski can do wonders. He is aided by a great
score by Jerry Goldsmith, an outstanding example
of how a film score can be a "character." Alternate
ly nostalgic and terrifying the music adds to the
overall effect of the film in inestimable ways.
"Chinatown" is not without flaws. The ending is
really an anticlimax, the locale is not used well, and
the violence is excessive. The romantic scenes
between Dunaway and Nicholson are curiously flat,
making their relationship hard to believe.
Still, by his shrewd blending of humor and pain,
by his demonstration of the desperation of
closeness, Polanski has added maturity to the
detective story. 'The lure of "Chinatown" is
irresistible.
non-movie
prison in a gigantic earth mover, eludes the prison
warden, following in his golf cart.
In later scenes, an antique car is pursued by a jet
airplane and a traffic jam is formed between a
tractor trailer, an ice cream cart and assorted other
vehicles. •
Aside from these novel ideas, "Bank Shot" seems
to have drawn most of its humor from the old jokes' ,
home. An film' produced in 1974 which tries to find
humor in feeding prisoners saltpeter (so.th.ey won't
think about-you-know-what) has got a dating
problem. Such things were buried about 20 years
ago.
Even Scott's performance seems more than a
little strained. Presumably upon order of the
director, Scott lisps copiously throughout the film,
as if someone had stolen his teeth. He never opens
his mouth wide enough to let us see if that is indeed
the problem,
Despite these flaws, "Bank Shot" manages to be
good clean fun if you're in an undemanding mood.