dtatzCollegian arts
IN . .;
,
ON
I_l •
By LEAH ROZEN
of the Collegian Staff
"Bahr :luth: The Legend Comes to
Life" is author Richard Creamer's
largely successful effort at pinning down
that immense bulk of both fact and fic
tion that is Babe Ruth.
Ruth, the first and only man to hit 60
home runs in one season (if one doesn't
count the disputed effort of Roger Maris
and a decade later, who even remem
bers his year .of glory?) played baseball
more excitingly than any other player at
a time when baseball was truly the
national sport. Ruth was America's
biggest sports hero in an age of hero wor
ship
Statistically, he deserved the ac
colades. Ruth hit the-011 more times and
farther than anybody,baseball had ever
seen before or is likely to see again.
These heroic feats on the baseball fields
contrasted with his private life, which
was less than white knight-ish.
Creamer writes, "He (Ruth) went to
bed with a great many women... He could
drink extravagant amounts of liquor, and
he got drunk a lot and raised hell,
especially in the earlier years. He awed
people with the amount of food he could
eat. He disliked tules, objected to
authority, and mpst of his adult life did
what he damned well wanted to."
Ruth was a whooping, gleeful child en
cased in the body of 'a gargantuan man.
His tendency to do just what he:wanted to
made Ruth a big child. He was charac
terized as such by many of his 'peers and
'Voyage'
not the best
of de Sica
By LEAH ROZEN
of the Collegian Staff
"Voyage." now playing at the
Cathaumi was directed by the late Vit
torio de It is not the film for which
he will lie remembered.
De Sica, the director who made "Shoe
Shine," "The Bicycle Thieft,l and the
recent "Garden of the Finzi-Continis," is
so overwhelmed by the star presence of
leading players Sophia Loren and
Richard Burton, and so hampered by a
lousy script, that the film lacks his more
personal stamp.
It concerns the romance between the
Iwo leading players, largely one of
longing and missed chances. Taken from
a Luigi Pirandello short story, the film
features a plot more appropriate to an
old Irene Dunne tragic vehicle or a
suffering Bette Davis weepie.
You see, Sophia and Richard have
always been in love, but she marries his
younger brother. The brother then dies
is a spectacular car crash.
Things are beginning to look bright for
our stars when Sophia starts to have
little coughing fits. When a movie star
coughs and has trouble getting up a
flight of stairs, you know that tragedy is
lurking around the corner waiting to
spring in the final reel.
Simply, the plot of the film is boy loses
a vi
eeRl
KERN epri,
1111ZWV V V V V II ZIMIT TM VW WV TM V V V 1713111711"Inr
g 4
C 4 INTERNATIONAL
g 4
g SOCCER 4
g 4
g 4
g Winter Meeting Friday, Dec. 6 4
4
g 6:30 p.m. 4
g 111 Kern International Center 4
4
g ' trii
indoor practices & Tournaments
tic__tic'~_~,~_~,i~c._i~_~,i~,ic_ir~i~_i~~i~_f_~.~~ ~_~~i~~~'ie'r'"-' ._
Book on the Babe
brings legend alive
Creamer seems to agree with this
viewpoint.
Creamer skillfully recreates the
Babe's life from his early years spent in
a reform school, his beginning
professional baseball career as a highly
successful pitcher with the Boston Red
Sox, his triumphant years wearing the
number three jersey for the champion
New York Yankees, and the final sad
years when Ruth yearned for the call to
manage the Yankees which never came.
But Ruth was denied a hero's death. He
died of cancer, wasting away to merely a
thin shadow of his former bulk.
Greamer writes well. He details Ruth's
life on and off the field, giving the reader
a fully rounded picture of a remarkable
man and athlete.
Ruth's baseball statistics are im
pressive. He will probably never be
equalled, at least in the mind of the
public.
, Added to Ruth's baseball playing
record, Creamer gives the reader a
definite flavor of the man. He tells of the
time Ruth excused hiriiself from a dinner
table comprised of both men and women,
saying, "I got to piss." A friend followed
him into the bathroom.and informed him
that one really didn't say "piss" in front
of women. Ruth, ashamed at his
gaucherie, came back to the table and
announced, "I'm sorry I said 'piss."'
He also once genially remarked to
President Hoover, who was standing
next to Ruth during a ceremony at a
Now playing downtown
girl, boy gets girl arid then boy loses girl
again. That's the problem with this film
it is nothing more than plot, and there
is very little of that. 1
Characterization is minimal, because
of the dumb plot and the script.
Therefore there is a lot of empty space in
the movie.
De Sica tries to fill it in with really
gorgeous exterior shots of Italy. These
are beautiful, but scenery doesn't make
a movie.
Visually the film has the same look as
"The Garden of the Finzi-Continis." Ail
of the outdoor scenes look as though it
had just rained.
The script is awful. As Sophia kisses
Burton, knowing that the end is near, she
mutters, "The only thing that matters is
that I'm happy, so terribly happy."
As she lies in Richard's arms, gulping
down her last breaths, she whispers, "I
waited for you, I always waited for you,
always."
This kind of dialogue, coupled with the
yearning stares with which the leads are
required to look at each other, makes the
film somewhat trying.
What can be said about the leading
players? Physically, they both look
attractive. Burton seems somewhat less
pasty than in recent performances, and
Loren appears as stunning as ever.
With the exception of its lovely visual
quality, "Voyage" is the sort of film the
studios used to crank out. It looks ex
pensive, it features competent acting
and craftsmanship, but its plot is inane.
It's a movie without a heart. Those
involved with its making seem only to be
passing time.
De Sica was a great director, but
"Voyage" only fleetingly demonstrates
his abilities.
baseball game, "Hot as hell, ain't it,
Prez?"
Because of incidents such as these and
the author's intelligent approach and
writing style, Ruth's biography is
tremendously enjoyable. One only
wishes that Creamer had been a little'
more daring, a ,bit more willing to
speculate.
For example, the two paragraphs he
devotes to the sudden appearance of Fire and brimstone will ,descend on the stage of the
Dorothy, Ruth's adopted daughter, University Auditorium at 3 and 8:30 p.m. tomorrow as an all
whom other biographers have speculated star production of George Bernard Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell"
was really the Babe's illegitimate child is performed.
from an eaa-marital relationship, do The show sponsored by the Artists Series, will feature
nothing more than to present the con- ; Myrna Loy, Ricardo Montalban, Edward Mulhare and Kurt
flicting facts and Creainer's lame con- Kasznar under the direction of John Houseman.
clusion that Dorothy's appearance and The play is really the third act of Shaw's lengthy work,
parentage" were "always a bit of a "Man and Superman." "Don Juan" is, however, a complete
mystery." play in itself and often
, i,s performed alone.
What's Creamer's theory on this It features Shaw's usual ridicule of conventional attitudes,
mystery? Henever tells. : . marriage, politics, women's rights, war and other problems
he found worthy of his attention.
This is a continuing problem . John Houseman, director of this production, won an
throughout the work. Creamer basically Academy Award last year for his supporting role in "The
sticks only to the facts, shying away from Paper Chase." He was the founder, along with Orsen Welles,
the emotions. One has to read between of the Mercury Theatre and worked with the Federal Theatre,
the lines to try and glimpse how the Babe producing the famous all-black production of "Voodoo
felt. . Macßeth." - He is now managing director of the City Center
This biography, however, is superior t 0 . ,, Acting Company.
the other Ruth books now glutting the, Myrna Loy was a movie star when the word meant
market. It presents the most accurate, something. Although she worked during the final years of
unexaggerated account of the life of a silent movies, her first big hit came when she played opposite
man and athlete who dominated and con- William Powell in "The Thin Man."
tinues, iii spirit and on the record books. This film featured Hollywood's first married couple who
to dominate the sport known as the seemed to enjoy fighting with each other as much as their
American pastime. more romantic moments. She continued to rank among the top
'Odessa File'
a dreadful
movie
By JEFF DeBRAY
of the Collegian Staff
There's this dreaded organization of
former Nazi war officers, you see, called
Odessa. They've all kept in touch after
the war, and now (1963) they've hatched
this dreadful plot of supplying the
Egyptians with weapons and bomhs to
wipe Israel and the dreadful Jews off the
face of the earth. •
Only one man can fight Odessa.
Crusading German journalist Peter
Miller (Jon Voight) is the man for the
dreaded job. Can he do it? Will he be able
to battle Odessa single-handed and come
out of it alive?
If you really care, go see "The Odesa
File," baked on Frederick Forsyth's
novel of the same name.
If not for the dreadful acting, direction
and dialogue, the film might have had a
chance. The location photography of
Hamburg and Vienna by cameraman
Oswald Morris is about the film's only
virtue but not enough of one to make
"The Odessa File" worth seeing.
Director Ronld Neame seems to have
become waterlogged (or shipwrecked,
for that matter) after having directed
that grossest misadventure of all time,
"The Poseidon Adventure."
The film's plot, which really resem
bles an old "Mission: Impossible"
Four-star production
The stars go to 'Hell'
episode, does have some good cinematic
possibilities. After all, "The Day of the
Jackal," based on Forsyth's first novel,
contained the same grade-B spy story
material. But in the hands of a highly
skilled director, Fred Zinnemann, the
material was transformed into a
crackerjack, top-notch (thriller.
Neametls no match for Zinnemann as
a director, though, and in his hands "The
Odessa File" is just a bore. The film's
climactic scene, in which Miller faces
the head of a German concentration
camp responsible for murdering hun
dreds of thousands of Jews, is poorly
handled and is laughable with none of
the intended suspense.
In fact, most of the film is unin
tentionally funny, especially the Ger
man accents. Most of the actors in the
film are German, but in great movieland
tradition, of course, they all speak
English, naturally with German ac
cents. Voight's accent and his various
facial contortions (I think he used three
different ones) are the most atrocious of
all. Somehow the scenes in which Voight
is in a German - train station reading la
German newspaper and everyone Es
speaking English seem a little far
fetched.
Maximilian Schell, playing an old Nazi
war criminal, is also in the cast,
although he doesn't really do anything
worth mentioning. What's worth noting
is that, in the flashback concentration
camp scenes (shot in black and white to
make sure even the least observant of
moviegoers knows it's a flashback),
Schell speaks in German, while in all
other scenes he uses English.
It's all in keeping with the film's
farfetched nature.
"The Odessa File" is a dreadful film.
Dreadful.
FOUR STARS OF STAGE AND SCREEN will appear on campus this weekend in the Artists Series V
production of George Bernard Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell." Starring in the show are, from left, Ed
ward Niu'hare. Ricardo Alontalban, Myrna Loy and Kurt Kaszner.
"Pardon My Blooper" brings to mind
the British quotation first used in Oliver
Cromwell's time and later cited against
Neville Chamberlain "You have sat too
long for any good you may have done."
Bloopers, for the unenlightened, are
malapropisms, spoonerisms and double
entendres spouted by announcers in the
course of their duties. "Pardon My
Blooper" is a compilation of these made
by Kermit Shafer, who has spent the
better part of his life hunting down the
mistakes of others.
Many of the bloopers are truly funny,
such as the news from Washington
rumored to come from "a high White
Horse souse," and the weather report
from the cool BBC announcer which
ca116:1 for "incest and rain . . . pardon,
that should be incessant rain."
Unfortunately, bloopers ate best taken
in small doses, and after about a half
hour the audience begins to squirm. The
filmmakers attempt to compensate for
that by including progressively larger
doses of sexual innuendo, but after a few
jokes based' upon the multiple meanings
of words like nuts and balls, that sort of
SHOP OUR I I r ': 111/ ) 11P/'
DOL - Eiff
E HAVE RED TAG REDUCED 1000'S
OF LP 'S TO sew •
MCA 2128
Elton John
GREATEST HITS
I':La
OPEN:
Mon-Sat
10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
127 S. Allen St.
237-5876
;' , •.gi! - % . tiit . ..itill! . lXl,tr.,,ti:E.!.l!ii,l - !!.•.:i1 . !"16 . ti!ii":.,Ifi'111t:;:1. 1 . - !1; . ::: . ii:i?:1= . :i:l.iiP!'..1'i : :-;i',:iill:..';1!:i . 15;E:ii.i=ii . k.iii•ig!)i;
,r•
" 4 k.
•
,
•
film stars, gaining prestige for her portrayal opposite Fredric
March in "The Best Years of Our Lives."
She was seen most recently on Broadway in the revival of
"The Women" with Alexis Smith and Rhonda Fleming.
Ricardo Montalban, who plays the title role of Don Juan,
began his acting career on Broadway playing opposite
Tallulah Bankhead. He went into movies, often playing the
romantic Latin lover, and also has made frequent television
appearances. •
Edward Mulhare, the Devil, a veteran of both British and
American stages, is probably best known to American
audiences as the handsome ghost who tempted Mrs. Muir on
the television show. On the silver screen, he has appeared in
"Von Ryan's Express" and "Our Man Flint."
Kurt Kasznar has made more than 40 fill•• and worked
steadily on stage and television. He played Uncle Max in the
original Broadway production of "The S..und of Music" and
repeated the role in the film.
His other film work includes "Kiss Me Kate," the Selznicic
remake of "A Farewell to Arms" and "The Last Time I saw•
Paris." ""Kaszner played Commander Fitzhugh 'on the:
television series "Land of the Giants."
Tickets for the afternoon performance of "Don Juan
Hell" are still available at the box office in the University:
Auditorium and at the HUB. Tickets are available today from
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon and then at
2 p.m. for the matinee performance.
Speaking
bloopers
By PATRICK SOKAS
of the Collegian Staff
' A . *: 4 ;
' • 15 4.4ti 16, Ali
Including
The Daily Col
thing becomes exceedingly tedious
The production itself, done by K-Tel
Records, is hideous. It has a perfectly
awful title song sung by a perfectly
awful singer. Many of the incidents have
been obviously and tackily restaged,
although all are based on actual oc
currences.
Actually, however, it is the nature or
the humor itself that is the film's un
doing. A feature-length film composed
entirely of bloopers is more than a little
like a seven-course meal consisting
solely of after:dinner mints. Certainly
they're good, but they're not THAT good.
This does not absolve the filmmakers
for their almost complete loss of sense of
humor and sense of taste. In pointed
contrast with the otter subjects, which
run at most a minute in length, they
spend an interminable length of time
depicting a late-night telecast of por
nographic films by an
_unidentified
television station. The supposedly funny
part of this was the calls which flooded
the station switchboard, which were the
most obviously, itaged (read "fake")
part of the gntire production.
Significantly, although this segment
indicated that the telecast was an ac
cident, it did not indicate how such an
accident happened.?
In the end, the reaction of the
audience, which was large, told the
story. There was a lot of laughter during
the movie but few smiles as the audience
left. As when a blind puppy stumbles qlto
the furniture, you can't help laughing at
the time, but yop just feel uncomfortable
later. In the end, "Pardon My Blooper"
is an hour and a half of blind puppies
WARP
gegtratg:%U.
PLUS!
OVER 150
TOP HITS AND
NEW RELEASES
ON SALE!!
MCA 464
t!-
$4.29
Wishbone Ash
THERE'S THE RUB
1 "