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PAGE 6-May 29, 1975
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Film Classifications
A - Section I - Morally Unobjectionable for General Patronage
A - Section II - Morally Unobjectionable for Adults, Adolescents
A - Section IU - Morally Unobjectionable for Adults
A - Section IV - Morally Unobjectionable for Adults, Reservations
B - Morally Objectionable in Part for All
C - Condemned
USCC DIVISION FOR FILM AND BROADCASTING
OPOXOOOOOOOO'('jOO'Of)Q :
/ /7 /////' 111'
W.W. AND THE DIXIE DANCEKINGS
(Fox) .. . Burt Reynolds is a good or boy -
or is he a bad ol’ boy?
In this film set in 1957 Burt Reynolds
plays W.W., a Southern con man whose desire
to deceive begins to outrun his ability to pull
his cons off. His troubles begin when he sheds
his lone-wolf status and becomes involved
with a group of local entertainers called the
Dancekings and their vocalist, Dixie, played
by Conny Van Dyke. Reynolds takes refuge
with them when he runs afoul of the Georgia
State Police in the course of carrying out a
unique dlstribution-of-wealth program
whose input comes solely, and unwittingly,
from SOS, a huge Southern oil conglomerate.
Spurred on by Dixie’s admiration and by
the scornful skepticism of the leader of the
Dancekings, Jerry Reed, Reynolds vows that
he will lead them all the way to the pinnacle
of Country fame, the Grand Old Opry in
Nashville. He succeeds but has to contend
finally with Art Carney, who plays a
fundamentalist preacher-turned special agent
whom SOS has put on his trail.
This is a thoroughly disarming and
frequently very funny film. The director,
John G. Avjldsen, has kept a light touch
throughout but has invested his principal
characters with enough humanity so that they
never, with the notable exception of Carney’s
preacher, become mere caricatures.
The three sequences at SOS gas stations,
incidents in W.W.’s distribution-of-wealth
program are skillfully wrought comic set
pieces. Here and throughout the film,
Avildsen is helped by nearly perfect casting.
Conny Van Dyke is sweet, funny, pretty,
altogether believable as the romantic but
vigorously high-principled Dixie, whose nose
turns red when she becomes emotional. Burt
Reynolds, while his character lacks something
of the authenticity so evident in most of the
rest of the cast, gives the right touch to
W.W.’s charming mix of duplicity and
sincerity. A single scene throws into doubt
the film’s suitability for adolescents. (A-lll)
CORNBREAD, EARL AND ME (AID) A
case of mistaken identity turns a routine
police action into a stark tragedy, in this
occasionally forced but more often forceful
melodrama about black urban life. As a result
of the accidental shooting by police, an
exemplary and popular high school athlete is
killed -- and in the wake of his death comes a
considerable amount of bungled response
from the city government, plus a lot more in
the way of bad vibes on the part of the
community. Events come to climax in a
heated coroner’s inquest, which exposes the
misguided efforts of the city first to cover up
and then to try to soften the circumstances
surrounding the case. Credit the film with
some fine acting by Rosalind Cash as a
community-minded mother, Moses Gunn as
the lawyer who challenged officialdom, and
Bernie Casey as one of the policemen who
shot the boy. If the film occasionally lapses
into a simplistic sort of romanticism, it
nevertheless maintains focus on the difficult
complexity of black-white relations, and it
does no wild banner-waving for either side.
(A-lll)
THE TERRORISTS (Fox) Sean Connery
stars in this thin but taut contemporary
adventure, which deals in the now-familiar
realm of political hostage-holding and
hijacking. When the British ambassador to an
unspecified Scandinavian country is abducted
and held hostage until the release of certain
political prisoners (an airliner hijacking is
added to complicate things a bit), Connery is
called to head an international team of
supersleuths. His mission is simple: get back
the diplomat and free the plane, all without
spilling a drop of blood. The resultant action
and reaction is rather well presented, with the
crispness one associated with Connery’s style
of acting, and with just the right note of
desperation to keep him and the others on
edge and watching the clock. An added bonus
is an element of political seriousness that
raises some issues for thoughtful audiences to
ponder. (A-lll)
DON’T CRY WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL
(New York) enables us to spend a vicarious
summer in the country, somewhere in the
southwest of France, the guest of a carpenter’s
family -- father, mother, grandmother, and
two daughters, one about 12, the other in her
mid-teens. Human events flow by without any
great fuss — a visit from relatives, the end of
school, the onset of menstruation, the death
of an old woman, a sudden downpour, marital
love-making, the daily job, a drink with the
priest, the frivolous actions of the young — alt
of this very controlled, all of it well done as
to textures. The only element of tension
comes from the older daughter’s impending
loss of virginity, although the film does not
exploit the sexual elements of the story. On
the other hand, after about 40 minutes of
viewing, one begins to wish that it did exploit
something. DON’T CRY aptly illustrates that,
popular sentiment to the contrary, art
consists of something more than merely
holding the mirror up to nature. One must
take some kind of risk, one must make some
kind of interpretation in order to get beneath
the surface of things. (A-IV)
TV Movies
USCC DIVISION FOR FILM AND BROADCASTING
SUNDAY, JUNE 1 — 8:30 p.m. (ABC) -
MY FATHER’S HOUSE - Made for TV
Movie. Cliff Robertson stars as a busy, busy,
busy executive type whose life is suddenly
turned topsy-turvy by a heart attack. His
prognosis is pretty good, but the recuperation
times bring on some heavy thinking about the
future for him and his family. The upshot is
that he decides to start anew by working
backwards in time — by remembering the
simpler, purer time in which he grew up, in
“his father’s house.” The movie is well done,
with some effective cross-cutting between
present and past time frames, and with nice
acting by Robertson and wife Rosemary
Forsythe in the segments set in the present,
and by Robert Preston as Robertson’s father,
Eileen Brennan as his mother, in the parts set
in the past. Your move, nostalgia buffs.
TUESDAY, JUNE 3 — 8:30 p.m. (NBC) --
WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE? -
A good question! Peter Graves, as head of a
desperate family trying to survive among the
ruins of human civilization following a
nuclear blast that released a world-wide attack
of deadly virus, scrambles for the answer. Part
two of the question, of course, is how to get
the people back. Gripping fantasy.
8:30 p.m. (ABC) - THE HATFIELDS
AND THE MCCOYS - You heard of the
story, now see the movie. This is a rip-snortin’
adventure based on the legendary family feud
between the Hatfields and the McCoys, deep
in the heart of hillbilly country. Shucks! Jes’
wait’ll yew see Jack Palance, Steve Forrest,
and ol’ Richard Hatch set them gun’s
a-biazin’. Thar’s a thrill-a-minnit, jes you bet
on it. And it all started with an innocent
lovers’ kiss across family lines.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4 — 8:30 p.m.
(ABC) - BETRAYAL - Amanda
(GUNSMOKE) Blake plays a widow who
becomes the unwitting victim of a sinister
scheme when she hires a young woman to be
her companion. The young woman and her
boyfriend have lean and hungry eyes for the
wealthy widow’s dough. Tish Sterling and
Sam Groom are the nasty kids.
THURSDAY, JUNE 5 — 9:00 p.m. (NBC)
- : ELVIS - THAT’S THE WAY IT IS (1970) -
This is one of the best, most fascinating, and
most musically enthralling “rockumentaries”
ever put together - and if you’re a fan of old
swivel hips, then the feast is all the better.
The film provides an intimate close-up of one
of our era’s super-superstars as he goes
through the intricate preparations for a gala
opening night at the International Hotel in
Las Vegas, back in 1970. The rehearsals and
exhausting preparations provide us with a
glimpse of Elvis that most folks never realize
exists, much less get to see. And by the time
we sit down in the front row to watch and
hear him perform, we’re as nervous and
excited as he is. The performance itself
captures the quality of the man as performer,
and conveys that special Elvis magic that is
part put-on and part solid singing conviction.
This is a winner, and there are thirty - count
’em. 30 - songs to savor. (A-ll)
9:00 p.m. (CBS) - NIGHTMARE -
Richard Crenna, Patty Duke and Vic Morrow
inhabit this suspenseful drama about the
wishy-washy businessman (Crenna) who gets
involved in thb investigation of a murder he
THINKS he witnessed, and ends up wishing
he had washed his hands of the whole thing.
Miss Duke is supportive as his fiancee, and
Morrow is the jaded detective who at first
won’t believe Crenna’s story. Shades of
Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW, but only
shades.
FRIDAY, JUNE 6 — 8:00 p.m. (CBS) -
THE GAMES (1970) -- This is an Olympic
sports film, but it seems more like a marathon
event than a sprint. In fact, it is centered in
the international competition of the
marathon event, as the movie traces the
personal stories of the various competitors
and their national origin^, etc. Erich Segal was
responsible for the script, which probably
explains its fatuousness and phony rings (or,
should we say, thud.). Ryan O’Neal is
perfectly pbnoxious as the braggart American
runner, Michael Crawford is all strained skin
and bones as his British counterpart. Athol
Compton is an exploited underdog Aborigine
from Australia, and Charles Aznavor plays a
Czech runner-for-the-State whose unique
handicap is to own the stumpiest pair of legs
in long-distance running history. Forget this
one, it goes on and on and on to no point.
(A-lll)
»
9:30 p.m. (CBS) - ZIG ZAG (1970) -
Insurance man George Kennedy discovers he
has a malignant brain tumor. He sets himself
up to be convicted of an unsolved crime and
arranges that his wife will receive the reward
offered by the insurance company. There is
an amazing amount of complication involved
while he lays the phony clues leading to his
arrest and arranges for the money. Eli Wallach
as the lawyer and Anne Jackson as Kennedy’s
wife are both lost in the jumble of events, and
the incredibly contrived ending detracts from
what merits the plot may have had. Kennedy,
however, puts in a fine performance as
always. (A-ll)
SATURDAY, JUNE 7 —9:00 p.m. (NBC)
- THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT (1967)
Peter Sellers stars in this slightly
whacked-out comedy about a fair-to-middlin’
concert .pianist whose pursuit of
extra-curricular love is foiled by the unwitting
but persistent efforts of two teen-age girls
who just may be his only fans in all the world.
Paula Prentiss co-stars. (A-ll)
9:00 p.m. (ABC) - THE MOLLY
MAGUIRES (1970) - This is a fact-based and
hard-hitting drama based on the bloody
upheavals in the Pennsylvania coal mine areas
during the middle of the last century. The
Molly Maguires were a select and secret band
of miners who inaugurated a reign of terror
against mine owners and their minions in an
attempt to force labor reforms in mining. The
owners, of Course, fought back with equally
harsh methods. The people in the drama are
Sean Connery as a Molly leader, Richard
Harris as the Irish agent imported to ferret
out men like Connery, and Samantha Eggar,
whose family loyalties placed her in the
Molly’s camp, but whose heart joined itself
with Harris. Frank Findlay contributes a
sinister performance as Harris’ police contact,
and Anthony Zerbe gleams darkly as a Molly
whose enthusiasm for violent reform proves
fatal. Thoughtful and exciting but requires
some endurance to see it through. Martin Ritt
(SOUNDER) directed. (A-lll)
RELIGIOUS HIGHLIGHTS
SUNDAY, JUNE 1 — 10:30 a.m. (CBS) -
LOOK UP AND LIVE: THE PERMANENT
DIACONATE -- This documentary focuses on
the history, the education, and the secular
and the religious roles of the Permanent
Deacon and his family. The office of
Diaconate is a position that has existed in the
Church since the first century. It has been
traditionally understood as a role of service to
people. It fell into disuse in the 5th century
and it was restored in the Catholic Church in
1969. Rev. Robert Kearns, director of the
Josephite Pastoral Center, Washington, D.C.,
serves as commentator. The program was
filmed at this center which conducts a
continuing educational program for
candidates for the Permanent Diaconate. We
view the training of Mr. John Fairfax who
entered the three-year program after his
retirement from government service.
1:00 p.m. (ABC) -- DIRECTIONS:
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES, THE NEW
TEMPEST-TOST - The commitment and
volunteer work of the national religious
community to the resettlement of the
Southeast Asian refugees is the subject of
today’s program. Panelists are: Rev. Msgr.
Francis J. Lally, Secretary for Social
Development and World Peace of the U.S.
Catholic Conference, the former editor of the
PILOT; the Rev. Paul McCleary, Executive
Director of Church World Service of the
National Council of Churches; and Rabbi
Marc H. Tanenbaum, National Director for
Interreligious Affairs of the American Jewish
Committee, ABC Correspondent Frank
Reynolds serves as moderator.
“HOLY CHRISTMAS, IT’S A GIRL” - When her baseball helmet flew
off during a game, a rival first baseman who thought Ann Cortellino was
one of the boys yelled in surprise, “Holy Christmas, it’s a girl.” Ann (left)
tosses to a cutoff man from her outfield position with St. Mary’s high
school, Jersey City, N.J. and cheers for a teammate. The 5-4, 17 year old
junior is the first girl to play with a high school baseball team in New
Jersey. Her coach said, “I needed outfielders and Ann showed she could
do the job.” (NC Photos by Dan Zehnder)
REVIEWS
JESUS: A LIFE OF CHRIST, by
Lord Longford, illustrated by Richard
Cuffair. Doubleday and Co., Inc.
Garden City, N.Y., pp. 184. $5.95.
REVIEWED BY ROBERT NOWELL
(NC News Service)
An old-style life of Christ is basically
what Lord Longford has written, an
attempt to use the materials of the
Gospels to present a biography of Jesus.
There might perhaps still be room for
such an essay were the familiar story
retold with such poetic intensity as to
bring out what we had long forgotten or
preferred to ignore. Unfortunately, this
is not the case. The language is often
tired and banal in the extreme.
But Lord Longford has not only
failed to do well what he set out to do.
More to the point, he failed to ask
himself whether it was worth doing at
all. There are two fundamental and
weighty objections against attempting
the kind of exercise he has undertaken,
and to neither does he seem to have
given any consideration.
The First is what may be termed the
artistic or esthetic objection. Each
Gospel writer selected events and
sayings from the tradition to build up
his own individual picture of Jesus.
What each Gospel offers us is a
distinctive theological interpretation of
what Jesus said and did.
If anyone is going to bring these four
distinct interpretations together, then
the only justification can be that he or
she has another interpretation to offer
us - “a new angle on Jesus” would be
the journalistic cliche. An example of
this is the way in which today we are
aware of the extent to which Jesus was
essentially subversive - an interpretation
captured on film by Pier Paolo Pasolini
in “The Gospel According to Matthew.”
But even if one brings the four
Gospel accounts together there are great
gaps. There is not the material for a
biography. We have signposts rather
than facts. And this is where the
theological point comes in. Somehow
what we are offered is enough for us to
have the necessary firm basis for belief -
but nowhere near enough for us to be
able to pin Jesus down in the normal
categories of human life and behavior.
In other words, what we cannot do is
to reduce Jesus to the purely human.
Even working on the documentary basis
of the New Testament texts we cannot
upset the Chalcedonian balance of
“truly God and truly man.” What we
have is enough to awaken faith, but not
enough to supply irrefutable proof and
conviction.
Indeed, at the end of his Gospel John
points out not only that he has had to
make a selection from all the things that
Jesus said and did (John 21:25), but
also that the purpose of this selection is
“that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing you may have life in his name”
(John 20:31).
Today there may well be need for a
book that will bring back to the Gospels
the reader who dismisses them unread as
no longer relevant to our time. But such
a book would be anything but a crude
and rather slapdash attempt to
harmonize the four Gospels. Rather it
would bring out their differences of
approach and at the same time tackle
head on the aspects of their several
accounts that cause difficulty today,
such as the infancy narratives and the
miracles. And it would throughout
recognize that Jesus cannot be pinned
down. In Him we see the God not of
man’s past but of man’s future. Always
He has surprises in store for us.
(Robert Nowell is London correspondent
of The Catholic Review, Baltimore
archdiocesan paper, and author of “What a
Modern Catholic Believes about Death,"
Chicago Thomas More Press, 1972.)
ft LIFE IN MUSIC
BY THE DAMEANS
The Way We Were/Try to Remember
HEY, you know everybody’s talkin’ about the good old days, right?
Everybody . .. the good old days, the good old days.
Well, let’s talk about the good old days.
Come to think of it... as, as bad as we think they are, these will
become the good old days for our children.
But, why don’t we . . .
Try to remember the kind of September when life was slow and oh so
mellow.
Try to remember and if you remember, then follow.
Oh, why does it seem that the past is always better?
We look back and we think . . . the winters were warmer, the grass
was greener, the skies were bluer, and smiles were bright.
Can it be that it was all so simple then, or has time rewritten
every line.
And if we had the chance to do it all again, tell me, would we,
could we?
Memories like the colors of my mind
Misty water-color memories of the way we were.
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind.
Smiles we gave to one another, for the way we were.
Can it be that it was all so simple then, or has time rewritten
every line.
And if we had the chance to do it all again, tell me, would we,
could we?
Memories, may be beautiful and yet,
What’s too painful to remember we simply choose to forget.
So it’s the laughter we will remember, even though we remember
The way we were. Remember . . . the way we were.
(c) 1975 Buddah Records, Inc.
“The Way We Were” - M. Hamlisch-A&M Bergman
“Try to Remember” - H. Schmidt - T. Jones
Performed by: Gladys Knight and the Pips
Ah, do you remember the good old days? Let’s sit back and just think how
great they were. There were no major worries like the political and economic
woes of today. The institutions of society provided a lot of security, especially
the Church and educational institutions. Child rearing was easier. People shared
more basic values and philosophy of life. Ah, the good old days . . . “the winters
were warmer, the grass was greener, the skies were bluer, and smiles were
brighter.”
Gladys Knight and the Pips sing a nice medley that summaries some of the
more recent comments that this column has addressed itself to concerning the
nostalgia present in current music. By combining an introductory reflection, a
few lines from the song “Try to Remember,” and parts of the song “The Way
We Were,” we find a good balanced attitude about the past “the good old days,”
and the present challenge to embrace life as it is.
The basic attitude that I pick up from the medley is that the past was good,
but probably not as good as we remember. Time has covered many of the bad
points and we have the ability to “choose” the things we wish to remember.
What are the things we usually save around the house? Yes, there are the
scattered pictures of the “smiles we left behind.” We know struggles were there
but to protect ourselves, we refuse to dwell on them and tend to push them
away. Usually, the external momentos we have hanging around, or the memories
we preserve in our minds are the good experiences with the bad ones fading with
time. As the song says, “it’s the laughter we will remember.” Yes, the good old
days. “Can it be that it was all so simple then?” Was life really that “slow and
mellow?” Would we return to those days if we had the chance? Has time
“rewritten every line” so that we have forgotten the struggles and even false
securities?
The medley proposes a challenge to us. It says “try to remember. . . and if
you remember, then follow.” Yes, follow the things that are good and the things
which will bring peace and happiness. Be a people who can be critical and
evaluate the things of the past as well as the things of the present. We don’t have
to be defensive in proving that one age is better than another. Each have their
weak points and their strong points. The important thing is to know what things
are of lasting value. It is this that needs to be preserved. We don’t just accept
everything of the past or the present but rather we evaluate and are critical of
the things happening around us. We don’t accept everything without thinking
but use discretion (the power of free decision) and discernment (keenness of
insight).
Our task as living people is to make our lives, wherever and whenever we find
them, authentic and true. Take a good look at what is around you, all the
present and past influences. Be critical and discerning. Embrace what can offer
happiness, fulfillment and peace. With this in mind, there will not only be
memories of the “good old days” but today won’t be so bad either.
(All correspondence should be directed to: The Dameans, P.O. Box 2108, Baton Rouge,
La. 70821.)