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THE V BAW-°6 iyi
FANNY SHOULD HAVE LOOKED SO GOOD! If she had, she
wouldn't have been a “Funny Lady.” Barbara Streisand stars in
another “biography" that's largely fiction.
with Steve Warren
Three musicals--two hits
and a miss--openedaround
the country in March.
The miss is MisS Cybill
Shepherd, who is promot
ing her personal relation
ship with Peter Bogdano
vich into the ruination of
his career--first with
"Daisy Miller,” and now
with “At Long Last Love.”
This new. 30s-style
musical has the ingre
dients of a winner: Burt
Reynolds, who is usually
funny; Madeline Kahn who,
until now, could do no
wrong; 16 Cole Porter
songs which are good even
when they're bad; and
mostly black-and-white
sets and costumes to give
an intriguing look, like the
Ascot sequence of ‘‘My
Fair Lady.’’
But the stars can't sing
or dance, and Bogdanovich
can't think of anything for
them to do but pretend that
they can. Reynolds occa
sionally sounds like Dean
Martin, and Shepherd fre
quently sounds like chalk
scraping across a black
board.
There’s one scene at a
horse race, where the 4-
legged creatures prove to
be the most graceful' in
the cast!
“Funny Lady’’ is only a
semi-hit. but Streisand
fans will love it. .Barbara
repeats her Fanny Brice
role from ‘‘Funny Girl”
in this uncreative sequel,
directed by Herbert Ross,
which tries to top all the
successful elements of its
predecessor.
Fanny marries again,
this time to Billy Rose
(played by James Caan, a
good actor who can hold
his own against the star,
but who bears no resem
blance to the original). It’s
not an exciting romance,
and the marriage soon fiz
zles .out; so Barbara/Fan
ny’s given a torch to carry
for good oF Nicky Arnstein
(Omar Sharif), first hus
band, to provide the film
with some love interest.
The first half is just-for-
fun musical-comedy that
everyone will enjoy: but
the rest is soap opera,
strictly for Barbaraphiles.
The best of the new
musicals is “Tommy,”
Ken Russell’s film of the
rock-opera by The Who.
The director's flamboyant
imagination has fleshed out
Peter Townshend’s
original concept about a
deaf, dumb and blind boy
who becomes a “Pinball
Wizard” and a pop mes-
siah: and he's peopled it
with an all-star cast of
actors and rock musicians,
and a couple who are mak
ing the transition from one
to the other.
Ann-Margret, as Tom
my's mother, reveals a
surprisingly tough set of
pipes in her songs, some
of which have been added
for the film. She also gives
her best performance
since “Carnal Knowledge.”
Roger Daltrey, of The Whey
has the title role, and plays
it well. We’ll have to wait
for Russell’s next movie,
in which Daltrey will play
composer Franz Liszt, to
see whether he has more
than this one role in him
“Quintophonic Sound,”
being installed for the
film's first engagements,
adds an extra dimension,
making the center channel
seem to hover somewhere
over the twelfth row; but
as long as it’s played loud,
"Tommy” can get along
without this gimmick.
I saw “Tommy”,
"straight” the first time,
and even enjoyed it that
way: but next time,. I’ll.be
ready for it!
The very best of the new
movies is Warren Beatty’s
“Shampoo.” If you can
handle the fantasy-co’ncept
of a non-gay hairdresser
(Beatty), and the rough dia
logue doesn’t turn you off
(When's the last time you
freaked out at a mention
of cocksucking?), there’s
nothing not to like in this
sex farce-plus.
Beatty’s character,
George, became a hair
dresser because he wanted
to get closer to more wo
men; and most of his
Beverly Hills clientele are
after a wash, set and
screw. Among them are
Julie Christie, Goldie
Hawn and Lee Grant, all
of whom are terrific. Best
in the cast is Jack Warden,
as Lee’s husband and
Julie’s sugar daddy, from
whom George is trying to
borrow money. Do you be
gin to sense the complica
tions? Also, Julie and
Goldie are best friends,
and George has a scene
with the daughter of Jack
and Lee. . . .
“Shampoo” gets extra
laughs out of being set on
Election Day, 1968, when
Nixon was elected. I sup
pose that qualifies it as a
“disaster movie.”
Three other Eastertime
releases mix comedy and
drama in varying propor
tions, with varying results.
Because “The Prisoner
of Second Avenue” was
written by Neil Simon,
you’ll probably expect at
least a laugh a minute. But
this is a serious comedy
about unemployment and
nervour breakdowns, which
won’t be so amusing to the
many who are experiencing
them right now.
Jack Lemmon is Mel Edi
son, who cracks up after
being laid off from the job
he’s had for 22 years, on
top of having his apart
ment burglarized, not to
mention a number of the
petty annoyances that go
with big city apartment
living. He’s good, as
always; but his funny
scenes look like a re-run
of “The Out-of-Towners.”
Anne Bancroft is less suc
cessful as his wife.
I’m not saying Neil Simon
can’t write’ a good drama,
but he hasn’t yet. “The
Prisoner of second
Avenue” is neither fish
nor fowl.
Well, it’s not fish. . . .
The cast of “The Four
Musketeers” found some
thing fishy when they
finished making “The
Three Musketeers,” got
paid for one movie and
learned it was being re
leased as two.
Now the lawsuits have
been settled, the first part
has grossed a fortune, and
Part Two is out--with a
new title--to complete the
story.
D’Artagnan (Michael
York) is a full-fledged
musketeer now, and is in
volved romantically with
Milady de Winter (Faye
Dunaway) as well as Con
stance Bonancieux Raquel
Walch). The political intri
gues continue, and not
everyone survives to the
finale.
Director Richard Lester
doesn't get as much slap
stick into this portion, but
he doesn’t take the story
any more seriously.
If you ever get a chance,
see M-G-Ms 1948 version
of “The Three Mus-'
keteers” ( with Gene Kelly,
Lana Turner, etc.), and
you’ll see why I can’t ap
preciate the new one.
That’s entertainment!
And then there’s “The
Great Waldo Pepper,”
which isn’t great.
Robert Redford plays a
WWI pilot who kept ‘em
flying after the war by
barnstorming- - travel
ing the country selling
rides and doing stunts in
his own biplane.
But federal regulations
put an end to his kind in
the late 20s, and this is
the story of their death
rattle, and the blaze of
glory in which some of
them went out.
The aerial work is ex
citing, if a bit monotonous;
events on the ground are
more monotonous, but less
exciting.
If you just like to look at
Redford and old planes,
* ‘ The Great Waldo Pepper’ ’
offers plenty of both; but
the story’s not very in
volving. It’s strictly a star
vehicle and a vehicle
vehicle.
Special to our Atlanta
readers: If you missed
“Something for everyone”
in its recent run at the
Film Forum, startbadger
ing George Ellis to bring
it back again; and be sure
to see it next time.
Angela Sansbury and
Michael York star in
Harold Prince’s delicious
black comedy set in cen
tral Europe. Lansbury,
whose high camp perfor-
ance out-Bette Davises
Bette Davis, is a fading
countess trying to main-
rain the appearance of
wealth.
York, who may have done
this as a screen test for
his bisexual role in
“Cabaret,” is willing to
do anything to attain his
Continued on Page 8
WILL D’ARTAGNAN STICK MILADY? Michael York takes aim at
Faye Dunaway's neck in “The Four Musketeers."
Daisy Chain or Chorus Line? It doesn’t matter —the stars of “At
Long Last Love” can't do anything right. From right to left, they
arc: Cybill Shepherd, Burt Reynolds, Madeline Kahn and Duilio
Del Prete.