Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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At the Julius Editr Nte: henone eviws' aShakespearian production, the temptation is almost overwhelming to Imitate the Elizabethan style of writing when composing the review. Let it be said to my credit that I wrestled with this particular demon and overcame It. You remember Shakespeare. He wrote plays better than anyone who has ever tried it. (Sorry, Tennessee, you had to know sometime). One of his plays is en titled Julius Caesar. The main theme of the play might be summed up by tie question, "Do you at your best friend if you think his political ambitions threaten to destroy the country?" The answer given in the play and in history is yes. But you probably know this already. No doubt, at some time in your high school career, some perverse English or world history teacher forced the story of the bloody Ides of March on you. If you don't remember the story of Caesar that well, there is a motion picture in town called (sur prise, surprise) "Julius Caesar." It's playing at the Jefferson Square and on the surface, it has all the ingredients of a good Hollywood film. It has big name stars, big name actors . (there is a difference), lots of bottle scenes and a scantily clad breast or two. The big name stars are Charleton Heston, Robert Vaughan, Richard Chamberlain and Jason Robards. The actors are Sir John Gielgud, Richard Johnson and Diana Rigg. The battle is named Philippi and no, I didn't catch the name of the breast To get down to particulars, Jason Robards as Brutus, is absolutely wooden and acts as though he were reading his lines from a Tele-Prompter. When he makes his speech justifying the assassination, one is inclined to say who cares? When he is on the porch of his home during the night storm and Portia (Diana Rigg) comes and asks him to come back to bed and stop worrying, you wish he would because then you wouldn't have to listen to any more of his boring chatter. Sir John Gielgud, who is in contention with Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson fo' the best living actor title, is frankly embarassing as Caesar. He, too, acts as though he were reading his lines from a Tele-Prompter. If that were not bad enough, he seems as though he has reached advanced senility. Sir John seems to be saying, "I'm only here to give this production a little class and to rip off a whole lot of money from stuvid American gringoes. Pardon me, Caesar is about to have an epileptic fit." STUDENT NIG: Tuesday - 5 PM til Clo RIB-EYE STE) DINNER Tender, luicy Rib-eye Baked Potato Tossed Salad Gerflc Teest TP 548 KNOX ABBO' movies . Caesar --.B-------.-RY Bob Craft Richard Chamberlain as Octavius Caesar comes off as a little kid playing in the big leagues. His darling blonde curls add to this impression, although I don't know how he pried Mr. Alexandre away from Liz. Charleton Heston as Anthony, is as always Charleton Heston. He, too, had a really nice hairstyle, although it looked more like a Vidal Sassoon. His "noblest Roman" speech came out mocking and cynical, but ten, so did most of his lines. To Heston's credit, he was probably less wooden than anyone else in the picture. Robert Vaughan as Casca got a laugh with his, "I know not, it was Greek to me" line and was more sinister thsn was really necessary. Diana Rigg, the late Mrs. Peel and more recently, on Broadway with "Heloise and Abelard," gave the impression during her first few lines of really trying to break the mold of mediocrity that had a death grip on the movie. Her begging Brutus to tell her what is wrong had the makings of being a high point of the picture. But she too, slipped back into the shadows. However, Richard Johnson (Cassius), God love him, tried valiantly to overcome the boredom that enveloped the picture. In this particular instance, he was the noblest Roman of them all. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it by himself. The dialogue delivery degenerated though the movie and by the time of the dramatic meeting of Cassius, Brutus, Antony and Octavius on the plains of Philippi, it sounded as though they were saying "Nyah, Nyah, you big sissy. My legions are better than your legions." This is not to say there Were not good points to this film. As mentioned above, Richard Johnson fought tooth and nail to deliver a good performance and occasionally one of the actors would snap out of his trance and give a really good delivery of a line. But there was more than this. The minutes leading up to the assasination are tense and tight and you feel, although you know what will happen, that they might be discovered and stopped. Also, it's generally a kick to see Shakespeare done, and on that level, Caesar should be seen. It is also a good picture to see if you wanna impress somebody with how much couth and culture you got. However, if you wish to see a good movie, "Julius Casesar" is not your best bet. Many pictures have come and many have been forgotten. So let it be with Caesar. [ T sing STAGE Red Car Monday thr 5:30to Prime Rit IA Sandwiches, Soup 634 HARDEN rT at Five I Possession and consumi Theatre pri 'Playboy' r USC's Theatre will present John Millington Synge's "The Playboy of the Western World" Nov. 17-19 at Drayton Hall. Dr. Kay Bethea is directing the production in which Hamp Smith plays the lead role of Christy Mahon. Curtain time is 8:15 p.m. each performance, and tickets, at $2.50 for adults and $1 for students, may .be reserved by calling 777-4288 or purchased at the Theatre office in Drayton Hall. Assisting Dr. Bethea in USC's production of the Irish comedy are scene designer Frank Mohler, costume designer Erin Wer tenberger and technical director Seminar on drugs this week The Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation and USC 's Colleges of Pharmacy and General Studies are spon soring a seminar for journalists on "Drugs, Narcotics and Alcohol" Sunday-Wednesday (Nov. 7-10) at USC. Pharmacy Prof. Robert L. Beamer of USC. is chairman of the seminar, designed as an educational program for members of the press. Faculty for the seminar, in addition to Dr. Beamer, are 0. Wayne Corley, Columbia lawyer; Sgt. Brendan T. Galvin, Columbia Police Department; Earl W. Griffith, director, education and information services, S. C. Commission on Alcoholism. Also Prof. Larry D. Milne, USC College of Pharmacy; Dr. Ben jamin 0. Stands, Columbia pediatrician; and Prof. David E. Stenmark, USC Department of Psychology. pet Hour u Friday 6:30 wr .t-Up Dinuter s, Salads, Desserts I ST REE T poInts oducing kext week Jack Shirk. The story of "The Playboy of the Western World, has essentially a serious theme, but the characters - - their speech and action - make the show a moving comedy. Caroliniana has Garrett work display An exhibition of materials of George Garrett, author of the critically acclaimed novel "Death of the Fox," is on display through Nov. 12 in the Manuscripts Room of the Caroliniana Library. The display features letters, notes and revision comments on some of Garrett's works, including that of his recent novel, which is an imaginary version of the death of Sir Walter Raleigh. Garrett is writer-in-residence and professor of English at the University. He has received the Writer of the Year Award from Contemporary magazine, published in Atlanta. The purpose of the exhibition, according to USC graduate student Karen Boyle, who assembled the display, is to call attention to Garrett's versatility on the occasion of publication of his "Death of the Fox." #~e A NL ET tmG .only $1 Cliff's Notes are designed to help you be calm, cool and capabto in the toughost literature courses. They're witte by enperts to give you the sutsido-.f-class help you need to understand (and enjoy) your reading assignments. Look them over. Your dealer has nearly 200 titles available covering the most frequently assigned plays and novels. V P. 0. Box 80728, Lincen,n Naer.aan50