Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Movies 'Yankee The M-A-S-H cast still gives a goot John Wayne i God save the Q BY SAM L. IRVIN, JR. Of The Gamecock staff The advertisements for "Brannigan" proclaim. "John Wayne is in London; God save the Queen." Who cares about the Queen; God save us! The idea was clever. Wayne is a legend who has galloped through so many westerns that his name has become synonymous with the genre. So, the obvious thing to do, to attract attention, is to cast Wayne in a nonwestern film. They tried it last year in a little film called "McQ," in which he played a modern-day vigilante a la Billy Jack and Buford Pusser. The film was so cliche and poorly done it never really got off the ground. So now they have tried some of the same once more. "Brannigan" could have been a riot. The ad vertisement used in theatres is one of the funniest, most luring pieces of entertainment that has been seen recently. The problem' is the three minute ad includes all the good parts and rest of the film is worthless and unimaginative. The Duke plays a Chicago policeman sent to London for some detective work; nothing out of the ordinary; you can see it every week on "Kojak," "McCloud," and all the other detective shows. The thing that could have made this trite idea work is that it could have been done as a comedy. The director, Douglas Hickox, is one of the best British directors working today. His "Theatre of Blood" with Vincent Price and Diana Rigg is .a masterpiece of sophisticated British humor. Therefore, it was suspected "Brannigan" would be handled in the same way. Hickox tried his best, and some of the proceedings come across funny, but as stated before, all of these are in the commercial. The fault is certainly not that of Hickox, but the script writers. The screenplay is credited to four writers: Christopher Trumbo, Michael Butler, William P. McGivern, and William Norton. How could four people allow such shameful unoriginality! The Duke goes around flirting with girls who are actually at tracted to his almost freak manner of speech and virtually sickening patriotism and pseudo-manliness. He cuts England down to the ground, and even the chief of Scotland Yard doesn't seem to care. He starts a brawl in a local pub, or saloon as he would call it. And all of these potentially humorous goings on are handled in all seriousness by the four lack luster writes Doodle' ad 1 dollar's worth of entertainment. in London; lueen (and us) The cast is very strong. The Scotland Yard chief is superbly played by Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, now quite mature compared to her early days in films like "To Sir With Love," plays a policewoman assigned the honor(?) of being the Duke's chauffeur and granddaughter-like com panion. She is good, for whatever that is worth. John Vernon, a veteran TV villain (particularly memorable from shows like "Mission: Impossible"), is type-cast as the villian in this vehicle. He is good, but we have seen the same thing a hundred times. Mel Ferrer plays a lawyer who trusts nobody, except of course the Duke. Daniel Pilon has nothing to say, but looks quite menacing as the mysterious hit-man out to get our hero. Ralph Meeker is Wayne's chief in Chicago, and he is adequate. The music score by Dominic Frontiere, a veteran television composer, is loud and obnoxious. The photography by Gerry Fisher is fairly good for the most part, utilizing several nice London locales for everything they are worth. The pace of the film is very slow, when it should have been fast. Hickox obviously had little control over Wayne who was also the executive producer of the picture, but he should have tried to cut the run ning time by twenty to thirty minutes. Editor Malcolm Cooke could be blamed, but the scenes themselves just move slowly. One segment is a big chase scene that seemingly goes on forever, only to climax by finding out they were following the wrong person. "Brannigan" is set in London, but it lacks all British style. It would have been very interesting had Wayne let the British crew have a little freedom. The mystery of the story would have been wonderful had it been done in the style of the British television series "The Avengers." Hickox was responsible for several episodes of that superb series. All the picture amounts to is a poor, trite, American John Wayne vehicle set in americanized London. The only people who could possibly enjoy it are those who idolize the Duke, but then they would be satisfied with just about anything. The picture obviously disap pointed Wayne, because in his next film, he's back in the saddle for the sequel to "True Grit." Entitled "Rooster Cogburn," it also stars, of all people, Katherine Hepburn! Now there's a queen that God will have to save. entertainment indy flick BY CHUCK CROMER Entertainment Editor CAMPUS FILMS MASH--Great satire that can be enjoyed even when you've seen it six times like I have. Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Sally Kellerman, and Robert Duvall are the players in this comic farce about army medical life on the Korean War front. Directed by Robert Altman. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. One dollar. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY-Considered by many to be the greatest musical biography of them all saw James Cagney singing and dancing his way through the life of the fabulous George M. Cohan. It was clearly a role to which Cagney felt a personal dedication, and this depth of emotion engulfs the film with an unmatchable, buoyant vibrant spirit.The film is a breath taking experience moving with onrushing energy from Cohan's birth to the unforgettable moment when the songwriter, now in the twilight of life, dances on the steps of the White House. Cagney won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance. Sunday. ANTONIA: A PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN--A film by Judy Collins (the famed singer), and Jill Godmilow. The New York Times called it "biographical cinema at its best." The Whitney Museum of Art says "Antonia will become a classic of the women s movement." (Reprinted from the Cinematic Arts Film Schedule.) Monday. HIGH SCHOOL AND PRIMATES-This will be a special Fred Wiseman Documentary presentation to occur at the Nursing Auditorium at 7 p.m. Wiseman will introduce and discuss each film and answer questions afterwards. HIGH SCHOOL has his cameras following the difficulties of students in today's modern secondary films and PRIMATE, his latest film, discusses man's inhumanity to lower and less intelligent forms of life when he uses them for experimentation. Tuesday. GREED--Directed by Erich Von Stroheim, this silent icture traces the tragic path of a nice guy gone bad who surrenders his pride and decency to appease his neurotic search for wealth. Wednesday. DON'T LOOK NOW-Chilling quasi-supernatural tale about an English couple, Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, who, after having lost their daughter in a drowning incident, are being constantly menaced by two mysterious daughters who claim to be in contact with the dead girl. Coming April 25-26 $1. DOWN TOWN FILMS FOUR MUSKETEERS--Comic-drama of four frolicking mercenaries who fight Cardinal Richelieu and his henchmen, religious rebels, Milady, and fire to secure France for the ravages of an incompetent king and a flirting Queen. The costumes settings, color, photography and especially the acting make this a must for every student. Richland Mall TT YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN--The finest comedy to appear in Columbia in two years has Gene WiVder as an improbable Dr. Frankenstein who mak.es a light-hearted ridicule of the famed horror genre of the same name. Marty Feldman, Cloris Leach man, and Gene Hackman star. Miracle. DIRTY HARRY and MAGNUM FORCE--Clint Eastwood stars as Dirty Harry Callahan who blows the hell out of everyone he takes a dislike to. Both are bloody, violent, and action-oriented. Richland Mall I. THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER--Positively the last weekend? Good riddance to Robert Redford and George Roy Hill. Dutch Square. THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD--Michael Sarrazin stars as a man who realizes his soul has existed before at some time in the past. The stale smell of murder and death surrounds him as he slowly uncovers the facts about his former life. Margot Kidder and Jennifer O'Neill, both being sex god desses, also star as women that make his existence in his second being a questionable commodity. Jefferson Square. Art on display in Russell House "One Woman Show," an art presentation by Suzi Bellows, has been on display in the Russell House Art Gallery since Monday and will continue through Friday, April 25. The gallery is open from nine to five on weekdays. The art show is a presentation of the Fine Arts Series of the Russell Husenversity...n.io..