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8 - THE BARB, February 1977
•GAT-IN© T€ THE HCVIES
with Steve Warren
1976’s year-ei
releases weren’t
disastrous as those
the first eleven montf
but neither would th<
make any doubte
believe in Santa Claus.
> The biggest in tern
of publicity buildu
.cost and other thinj
that are no assurance
quality, are KIN
KQNG and A STAR
BORN.
Both are remakes <
well-loved films, ar
both are about women j
love with apes. Becaus
the ape in STAR 1
BORN is Kr
Kristofferson, th
woman, (Barbn
Streisand) may find
more people in th
audience sympathizing,
with her .
Set in the rock world,
which is sketched in
with carefully-staged
scenes that are sup
posed to come off as
natural, the picture
never drifts away from
its basic love story for
very long. Kris’ tippling
has him toppling from
the top when he meets
Barbra, who’s battling
at the bottom. He in
troduces her to the fans,
who. are hungry for
someone to replace him
with; but then he can’t
deal with being married
to someone who’s more
famous than*he is.
Surprisingly, since
Streisand and her
boyfriend Jon Peters
produced, Kristofferson
..walks away with most of
the picture. But she’s
not stupid, just saving
her energy ; the finale is
Barbra’s - a super
seven-minute medley in
which her expression
gives new meaning to
songs introduced
'.earlier; You’ll leave
remembering her, even
though she coasted for
two hours.
For all its faults, I
enjoyed A STAR IS
BORN. It’s a chemistry
experiment, and the
chemistry - between
the stars - is good.
You won’t find the
KING KONG formula
in your textbooks; a
forty-foot ape and a
normal-sized woman
make oil and water look
compatible.
The funny thing is,
the love story works!
WHERE’S JON PETERS? Kris Kristofferson seems to be trymg to
straighten Barbara Streisand’s hair in this scene from “A Star Is Born.”
IN THE HANDS OF LOVE— Jessica Lange gropes for words while her
lover, “King Kong,” just gropes.
What isn’t funny is that
all the horror has gone
out of it ; to make Kong
lovable, they’ve made
him too human, the
most three-dimensional
character in the story .
Jeff Bridges (yea!)
is the ecology-minded
paleontologist who
stows away on the ship
of Charles Grodin
(hiss!),, researcher for
an oil company l(boo!).'
In the middle of the
ocean, they pick up
Jessica Lange |(sigh!)i
who is shipwrecked, but
gorgeous.
They invade Kong’s
island, where the 1
natives choose Lange as
a (more-or-less) virgin,
sacrifice. Kong carries
her off, pursued by
Bridges and company.
But while Lange
screams a lot, in bet
ween small talk that
comes as close to camp
as anything in the
picture, it soon becomes
apparent that she cares
as much for the ape as
he does for her - she’s
just too practical to get
involved.
Like Streisand,
Lange outlives her
lover; but she doesn’t
get to sing about it.
KONG isn’t bad; but
there are a lot of people
in Hollywood (and
elsewhere) who could
have given you a dozen
better movies for what
it cost to make.
Here’s how some
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other holiday
releases lived up to their
potential:
THE PINK PANTHER
STRIKES AGAIN
Clouseau, but no
cigar. RETURN OF
THE PINK PANTHER
was a welcome sur
prise, because we’d had
ten years to forget how
funny Peter Sellers can
be as the bumbling
French inspector. But,
we hardly had time to
stop laughing at that one
before the fourth in the
series came along.
The plot is bigger
this time - one of those
James Bond ‘doomsday’
things - and so are a lot
of the gags. Instead of
Sellers’ superb subtlety,
we laugh more at the
editing, the script, and
Blake Edwards’
direction. As long as
you’re laughing, this
distinction won’t bother
you; and you’ll probably
laugh you ass off at THE
PINK PANTHER
STRIKES AGAIN.
SILVER STREAK
On the other hand,
you will be lucky to jar
one cheek loose from
laughing at SILVER
STREAK. This, too, is a
pretty good movie; but
it throws away a lot of
potential for greatness.
Gene Wilder, who
can be funnier than
most actors when he
tries, soft pedals it here,
going for more of a Cary
Grant image. He and
Jill Clayburgh are
strangers on a train who
get involved with each
other and a murder
mystery.
Director Arthur
Hiller has no flair for
balancing the intimacy
of the love story with the
epic sweep of a train
crossing the country to
its date with destiny at
the terminal in Chicago.
There is no suspense,
until the last few
minutes; there’s not as
much humor or
romance as there should
WE
IT’S NOT WHAT IT
LOOKS LIKE!
Inspector Dreyfus
(Herbert v Lom)
prepares some plastic
explosive in his
ongoing attempt to
destroy Clouseau
(Peter Sellers) in “The
Pink Panther Strikes
Again.”
ENTRAINING FOR
ROMANCE-Gene
Wilder has the
champagne, Jill
Clayburg has the rest,
for a night of love
aboard the “Silver
Streak.”
be, either.
Richard Pryor, who
appears in the second
half, is obviously
restrained by the script
- a criminal waste of his
talent for ad libbing; no
one can write dialogue
for Pryor better than he
can for himself. Like
everything else about
SILVER STREAK, he
Continued on page 11
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