About The Barb. (Atlanta, Ga.) 197?-197? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1975)
10 , THE BARB CAy-IN© TO TOE MOVIES With Steve Warren Even the end of summer didn’t bring a flood of good movies, but they’re beginning to trickle in. Tops on the list is “Dog Day Afternoon.’’ It’s the story of a psychotic bank robber, so of course he’s gay. But wait! He’s also human and compassionate, played by a major star-Al Pacino- -and the subject of one of the year’s best movies. Life Magazine called it “The Boys in the Bank,” the true story of a young Brooklynite who arranged a holdup to get money for his lover’s sex change operation. Pacino’s performance as Sonny Wortzik is up to his usual stan dard of excellence and should net him another Academy Award nomination, if not the “Oscar” itself. His portrayal builds carefully, from the nervous holdup attempt until things start going wrong. He holds the bank employees hostage as armed police mass outside, ' mounting a siege. Television^ soon arrives, with instant cameras bringing the crime-in-progress into New York living rooms. Sonny comes out to be interviewed, and it’s “Star Is Born” time. At this point, the audience knows only about the straight side to his life, his wife and family. Freak them out too soon and you’ve got a multi-million-dollar production with an unsympathetic hero. ‘ 10/- Then he tells the police to bring his wife to the bank, but the person at the address he sends them to is a man. With the story out, the country has its first (openly) gay folk hero. As things begin to fall apart, I wonder if straights will appreciate the tragedy as Sonny is rejected by the one he did it all for; or will they fust be waiting for the final shootout? \ v Don’t miss “Dog Day After noon.”'' ffla Robert Redford fen “Three Days of the Condor*' noon" nay Aiter- “There Days of the Condor” shows what an all-star cast and first-rate production values can do for what might have been a “B” movie. Robert Redford stars as the CIA functionary who finds himself on the run when assassins wipe out his entire office. Not knowing why it happened, he doesn’t know who he can trust. Playing the odds, he figures there are still more civilians than CIA agents; so he kidnaps a woman at random. A wise move, because she happens to be Faye Dunaway, who has all the funny ines, most of them sexy. Director Sydney Pollack gets a iot of suspense out of the plot, leaving most of the acting to such supporting players as Cliff Robertson, Max Von Sydow and John Houseman. “Three Days of the Condor” is slick, well-made entertainment; it doesn’t try to be more. Neither does “Royal Flash”- which is good, because it doesn’t even achieve that much. It’s a pseudo-historical comedy- adventure, directed by Richard Lester in the same style as his “Three” and “Four Musketeers.” Lester has never let a shortage of comedians keep him from trying to get laughs. But here it keeps him from getting them. Malcolm McDowell is basically humorless in the leading role of Harry Flashman, the fictional character who becomes embroiled with most of the historical figures of the 19th century. Oliver Reed plays Otto Von Bismarck, but would have been better as a wooden Indian. Alan Bates could be amusing, if we were given a handle on his character, who seems to be in the middle of whatever intrigue is confusing the plot. Florida Bolkan wins acting .honors d6fa v itlt/ ‘as’ 'thb r 1h- v -* Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby in “Let's Do It Again"' famous courtesan, Lola Montez. If you want to learn more about her, try to catch Max Ophuls’ “Lola Montez,” a celebrated French film from 1955. “Let’s Do It Again” is a pleasant surprise. It sounds like an unpromising sequel to last year’s unmitigated bore, “Uptown Saturday Night”; but it seems that director/star Sidney Poitier has learned somethirig about comedy in the interim. He and Bill Cosby have better material to work with this time out, although it’s still silly enough to make “I Love Lucy” look cerebral by comparison. Poitier, Cosby and their wives go to New Orleans to con some heavy gambling money out of a middleweight - . championship fight. TVs Jimmie Walker plays the challenger, who can’t lick his sparring partner. How he got in contention for the title is as big a mystery as how he and his muscular opponent can be separated by only five pounds.. But don’t ask questions, just enjoy. Most of the faults of its predecessor have been corrected; so in “Let’s Do It Again,” Poitier does it for the first time. “Whiffs” is funnier than last year’s “S.P.Y.S.,” but itfs still not very good. Elliott Gould stars as an Army guinea pig for chemical test. After 15 ydars of being subjected to every known and newly-created disease, his body doesn’t work well enough to be of any more use to the Army; A side effect of the testing is that his body doesn’t work well enough to be of use to his girlfriend, Jennifer O’Neill, who doesn’t act well enough to be of use to the picture. Gould and Harry Guardino become a holdup team. Gould gasses the victims and Harry robs them. As they grow more and more ambitious, they finally knock out a whole town to knock over its two banks. More potential is wasted than realized in “Whiffs.” Hearts of the West” also wastes some comic potential, but in favor of having serious elements in its story of a mid- western writer of westerns (Jeff Bridges) who goes to Hollywood in the thirties and becomes a stuntman as his naivete slowly wears off. The few hilarious moments which are the picture’s high points make you wish there were more. Bridges is good, and so is Blythe Danner as the woman he Continued on page 16 Pizza for everyone?? ftCSTVttCTCD Under 17 requires accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian weird things can happen on a DOO DRY AFTERNOON STARTS FRIDAY OCTOBER 24th I-2S5 St OLD NATIONAL H’WAY 762-9636 PHIPPS PLAZA 3500 Peachtree Road PhQqq ?61-9i333 ■ ad CJ
