Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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BY ERIC ANDERSON Of The Gamecock staff The Lef t Guard brought a touch of big city rock n' roll to Columbiaa for three days last week with a show featuring the New York Dolls a gut level rock band that has made the cover or insides of every rock journal worth its salt in the last two years. Gut level, yes; overly simplistic, to be more accurate. And yet, I found by and large the Dolls pulled the show off well. An appreciative crowd flooded the small dance floor as the Dolls from New York City spun a clumsy but exciting musical web that ensnared practically all within earshot. I arrived early for a night per formance to pick up on the Dolls' pre-show atmosphere. I saw them more than a year ago at Richard's in Atlanta and had been pleasantly surprised to find the Dolls much better in the flesh than on vinyl. I looked apprehensively at the handsomely panelled walls and flat ceiling of the Left Guard and worried about the shape my ears would be in by the end of the evening. The acoustics looked poor and the sound system awesome. Mayson, who had played the Left Guard previously, was the opening act. Recording artists for the Atlanta-based GRC records, Mayson proved a very competent band with interesting musical ideas. For the most part these ideas were executed with a generous helping of creativity. Mayson is blessed with technical talent, including a very percussive drummer (who somehow managed to sing, also), a blindingly fast 'Four A SAM L. IRVIN JR. Of The Gamecock staff In 1972, Alexander Salkind and his son Ilya announced that they would make a new film version of "The Three Musketeers." No one in the industry seemed to raise an eyebrow since the Salkind family's last film, "Bluebeard" with Richard Burton and Raquel Welch, was a critical disappointment. Then, it was announced Richard Lester would direct the film. Again no distributor was knocking on their door with financial offers, since Lester had done a few Beatles films like "Help," and on the surface, seemed incapable of handling a really big-budget picture. Then, the Salkinds started casting the movie. Oliver Reed was one of the first stars to sign to the film. He was at the time, and still Is, one of Europe's biggest box office attractions, having starred in such films as "Women In Love", "The .Devils," and the new rock opera film "Tommy." Raquel Welch was cast by the producers because they believe she has very promising talent as a comedienne, and her - performances in both "Bluebeard" and "The Three Musketeers" leave little food for contradiction. Christopher Lee, the European - 'king of horror films', was cast as the main heavy in the film. Faye Dunaway, of "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Chinatown" fame, was chosen as Lee's evil mistress. And what all-star cast would be com plete without Charlton Heston, who plays Lee's empl6yer. The Musketeers are played by Reed, Richard Chamberlain and Frank Finlay, with Michael York playing the real leading part in the film as an aspiring Musketeer. The rest of the cat featured such New Yor simplisti '... by and large the Dolls pulled. the show off well.' keyboard man and a guitarist who sang and played baritone sax, flute, recorder and clarinet. The guitarist also indulged the electric piano in occasional duets with the regular keyboard player. Their material, all original with the exception of Traffic's "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys," was refreshing and varied, from mainstream rock to ballads. My hunch about the acoustics proved true, though, and the band was painfully loud. However, Mayson seemed a promising band which could go far given the right breaks. After Mayson left the stage, one could feel the tension building as people filed in from the street in mod regalia for Columbia. The attire included bleached portions of hair, concho belts, filmsy Iuskete A " uchy' stars as Geraldine ("Dr. Zhivago") Chaplin, Simon ('WYoung Winston") Ward, Jean ("Murder On The Orient Ex press") Pierre Cassel, and comedians Spike Milligan and Roy Kinnear. Casting was the factor which made the big film distributors stand up and take notice. Once the Salkind family gained attention, they were ready to invest what must have been at least $15 million into a four hour film of epic proportions. The filming went beautifully, and everyone was ready for the World Premiere which was held in Paris in late 1973. Then, shortly before its debut, the Salkinds announced the film had been divided into two films. Suddenly, reports went flying all over the world the stars had not been in formed of this plan, and they were ready to sue the Salkinds for all k Dolls c, good evening gowns, turbans and hats of all description. In a word, these kids were dressed to kill, making average local college gear look neolithic by comparison. The New York Dolls came on at 10:50 p.m., stylishly late and wearing red plastic pants. One of the guitarists sported a red plastic tie worn over a red teeshirt. Lead singer David Jo Hansen greeted the crowd with the obligatory "Alright, Ya'll," and whipped the band into the night's show. The band laid down !ts distinc tive brand of decidedly simple rock n' roll, looking positively idiotic in their movements, but then that's the whole point, I think. They remind one a great deal of the Rolling Stones circa 1965 or so. Hansen, especially, is full of Jagger-isms: strutting, pulling the sides of his mouth down with the line "down in the mouth," hand clapping, shaking his tail and fish mouthing. Guitarist Jphnny Thunders looked like Keith Richard would if he let his hair grow too long and shaggy. Pop philosophy poured out of the band this night. Introducing the song "Down Town," Hansen an nounced "that's with a capital 'T'," and followed "most of the F?rs Col 7situation. they were worth. "The Three Musketeers" premiered iri Paris with a running time of close to two hours, with previews for a film called "The Four Musketeers" tacked on the end. It was evident the producers went ahead and cut the film into two features. All the reports of law suits came to a mysterious halt, and I for one, was extremely curious about what had happened. Late last summer, Christopher Lee explained the situation. Lee was asked when he was notified about the divison of the film and he said, "J was told definitely a week before the premiere in Paris." He does not want the situation to take on "sinister Implications because It is not sinister in any way." He continued, "There are certain facts. We made a picture called "The Three Musketeers" for 31 weeks. We had ne script alled people who live there are spelled with a capital 'a'...with wings." Dedicating their hew single "Girls" to "all the females here tonight," Hansen quipped "be looking for it in your local Woolworths," and, being aware of localisms, he added as an af terthought "or the Piggly Wiggly." Most of their material was their second album "Too Much Too Soon" and from a soon to be released third album. The only song familiar to this reviewer was a number from their Todd Run dgren-produced "New York Dolls," their debut album, entitled "Pills." The Dolls music is cretin in its simplicity, but what of it? That's "the crux of the bisquit," as Frank Zappa might say. Like them or not, the New York Dolls are as American as mom, apple pie and Alice Cooper. Only in America can a kid from the slums of the Bronx (the later day equivalent of Abe Lincoln's log cabin) grow up to be president, or, better yet, a rock n' roll idol. The New York Dolls left the crowd wanting more, and most stayed for the second set, which was practically identical to the first. They left a distinctive mark on those who saw them and put a feather in the cap of the Left Guard. The Dolls are the epitome of "punk rock," just a bunch of street kids who have a lot of extra steam to let off and who understand what pure, very basic rock n' roll is all about. Musical? Maybe not. Entertaining? Definitely. itinues "The Three Musketeers." There was a part one and a part two of the script divided by seasons; the first took place in summer 'and the second part was in the winter. What we ended up with was a film that lasted four and one-half hours. Now it is quite obvious that you cannot show a film that runs four and one-half hours.. So they had two possibilities: 6ne was to cut that picture down to at least three hours which would be an appalling waste* of production money and indeed screen time for all the stars; or, two was to divide the film into two parts enabling everything each star did to be on screen. Now the producer asked us all which we preferred and of course we all agreed upon dividing the film into two parts assuming we would be paid extra since the producers would be getting more out of two films instead of one. Faye Dunaway and I have tremendously larger parts in the second half than in the first-. The second part will be called "The Four Musketeers." So you can see there are two sides to the coin, and I find the arrangement more pleasing than the original one." Both Faye Dunaway and Michael York agreed with Lee the final settlement was better than the original idea. So, "The Three Musketeers" became the title of the first half of the film, and it was released in early 1974 in America by 20th Century-Fox. It received rave reviews and the audiences swamped the theatres. 'Tey had to wait more than a year to see the second half which was just released, "The Four Musketeers." Now that the entire film has been released, it is appropriate to review both as a whole. The entire production is excellent. It is a washhnckne-enmedy siable fr. Russ J*ffcoat A New York Doll tale audiences of all ages. It contains much social comment amid the campy antics and adventurous plots. It follows the Alexander Dumas book very closely, so even purists ought to be satisfied. The costumes and sets are nothing short of elegant, and the photography captures all the spectacle of both. The music for the first half is by Michel Legrand, who was responsible for such scores as "Summer of '42," "Lady Sings The Blues" and "The Thomas Crown Affair." It is his best score to date, making it a superb achievement. The score to the second half is by Lalo Shifrin, famed for his music for the television series "Mission: Im possible", and such films as "Dirty Harry" and "Bullit." It is not quite as good as Legrand's score to the first half, but it is still nice. Compliments must be aimed toward director Richard Lester, who has done a job of remarkable brilliance. He never lets the camera linger and is constantly afraid the viewer will become bored. So, he has sweeping pans, and continuous intercutting, making the entire spectacle a visual delight. Each set and costume is photographed from every angle. He keeps the comedy in the air at all times until the more serious climax. What is even more interesting to note is he builds the comedy gradually. The peak of comedy is reached during the second half of the entire production (half way through "The Four Musketeers."). All of the acting is great : you can feel the actors were having a ball making the film, and this adds to the enjoyment of it all. The production has an almost in describably magnetism to it that hopefully will be repeated in future productions.