University of South Carolina Libraries
t By Chuck Cromer Hollywood biographies of famed American musical, literary and historical figures have during the years been notably high-handed in distorting the truth behind their subject matter. The biographical fiction films Hollywood created in the 1940s (the decade that Hollywood biofantasies were at their zenith) brainwashed us into believing that Errol Flynn, in his role as George Armstrong Custer in the film They Died With Their Boots On, was a paragon of justice who sincerely felt the Indian was a noble American. At the same time, propaganda pictures made during World War II presented the "complete and untainted truth" concerning the sadistic and barbarous Axis hordes that peace-loving Americans needed to rise up in arms against to meet the threat to their families and world democracy. This type of picture dominated the screen. Holly's attempts to rewrite history have faltered during the vears when World War II and fhp threat of a massive world communist takeover subsided. In the 50s and 60s Americans encouraged Hollywood to provide them with realistic movies of contemporary society and light comedies satirizing American institutions. Moviegoers wished to be entertained, but not lied to. Americans' need to escape In recent years, with the onslaught of recession, inflation and a stagnant economy, Americans have once again felt the need to escape into a world of fantasy. Many Americans have with_r iu. m. uaciwii niiu uic aucicijf ui me cms hoping to displace their difficulties by adopting the lifestyle of an era that was more prosperous and easy-going than our own. Sensing this transition and our engrossing phobias for nostalgia and fantasy. Hollywood has at tempted to art ?? nur vehicle for James Brolin Entertain briefi Music concert set Wednesday Music of the recorder and harp sicnora win oe presented ui n p.m. Wednesday in Fraser Hall. od fan oc n n r?i c f nntinnc Kir earning \ZUVM|^>UV iuviui itJ i-/j OV/1 VIII g UO Jaws and The Exorcist to satisfy our fetishes for shock sensations while producing films like The Towering Inferno and Earthquake to meet the demands of the disaster lovers. In the past year Hollywood has also resurrected the fictitious film biography that was prevalent in the 40s. but has somewhat chanced - - - O the format. Instead of bios about historical figures, Hollywood filmmakers chose to produce flicks about their own movie star legends such as Clark Gable, W.C. Fields l m i ni aiiu Ejiroi riynn. Gable-fact or fiction? If the most recent example of this genre, Gable and Lombard, is anv indication of what wp miaht expect from it in the future, the series will be shortlived. Any producer or director who initiates or perpetuates such ^,1 ?i i-i: ' aidiiuciuus Iiiisiepicseiiutlion OI facts about Hollywood's most memorable stars as this film does should be run out of town on a rail for lack of good taste. As a study of the six-year romance of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, the film is a fictitious farce. The only truth conveyed to the viewer through the torturous 131 minutes of the film is that these two excellent film stars were actually in love with each other, something we knew from the beginning. This love Gable and Lombard shared from 1935 to 1942 was indeed an excellent subject for a feature film. Gable was undoubtedly the most worshipped American film star of the 30s. During that decade, affectionally called the Golden Age of Hollywood, he was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Actor and he won that prestigious hnnnr Vtto om/ia ?% iviiui ivri Ilia pvL IV! IliailkC 111 UIC movie It Happened One Night in 1934. Gable was the epitome of masculinity-rugged, handsome, virile, gentle and amazed with his success. All men imitated him while women transformed their :-4- J 1?*- - ^ ? uwu uectus iiiiu ureuiniiKe uaDie replicas. Gable was voted "The King" of Hollywood by the American public in 1938 and was at the height of his success after his immortal characterization of Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind in 1939. Carole Lombard was perhaps the finest screwball comedian that Hollywood had in the 30s. She was sexy, amusing, elegant, glamorous, sophisticated, serious and wealthy. She also was demanding?and receivingtiie Ann ~ 1 *i? l ? * - fiu,uvu a (jitiuic uy inc laie ws. Even though their love affair began in earnest in 1936, the two wmmmmmmmmm ment ? Carolina music faculty membei Jerry Curry will play solo worki for harpsichord by Blow anc Geoffroy. Recorder player Jeffrey 1/H V IO VYIII ^/Vl 11/1 111 WU1 ivr> ui Telemann, Handel and Senaille The public is invited free of charge tasizes 1 C The Gar Entertai ryM-^" ' - s??H 3?>~ ; -J-;..?,. p .: ,;=-;.Aiv;;-: ; v ;"7:? ^ s * 'JF V X v., . James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh s 1930's who fell in love and defied com Lombard," a Sidney J. Furle Film am had been distant friends since 1932 when they starred in their only film together, No Man of Her Own. Between 1936 and 1939, Gable and Lombard shared a love affair that was never reallv keot a secret from the Hollywood press or the consumer public. Almost everyone knew they were constantly together and would eventually marry when Gable's wife, Ria Langham, granted him a divorce, which she agreed to do in 1939. Gable and Lombard were married in March 1939 and lived happily together until her death in a Diane crash in Januarv 1942 The film Gable and Lombard would have us believe otherwise with its total distortion of the facts. Scriptwriter Barry Sander decided to rearrange their lives for the picture to make it more melodramatic and commercially ** i-wl ^ 4. ~ 12 dcccpiauit; iu a muss auuience. Sander's version has Gable, played by James Brolin, and Lombard, played by Jill Clayburgh, secretly meeting at hidden rendezvous for almost three Music trio to play Tuesday 'PU ^ KT X 7 1_ n . me i>ew ioik ^aineraia, a highly acclaimed musical trio, will perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Fraser Hall. The performance will feature works of early masters as well as contemporary music. r ine concert will be open to the > public, free of charge. 1 While in Columbia, the group will / also conduct a lecture demon/ stration, discussing the technical and interpretive aspects of the new music which they perform. xeroes' 1 V neeock towMt I ' r Hk. B ' ' B j^SBSHP^KJ : in* IBSi <ry $m ,JB J W ?MM tar as the two screen idols of Use mention in Universale "Gable and [1 Harry Korshak Production. years in hope that nobody would detect their relationship, supposedly because it would abruptly and totally end their film careers. To further the insult, Sander rigs a phony 1939 paternity suit against Gable where only the testimony of ionium u uttii rescue mm oy leinng the public know the truth about where Gable was spending all his nights and with whom he was shacking up. In essence, for the sake of romantic fiction, Sanders hopes we will apppnf Hie nnnconca fViof HoKln wr ?m? >*1U IIVIIOVIH7V UlOl VICAUIV^ and Lombard were sacrificing their careers as the truth (?) about their relationship was disclosed. In reality, there was a paternity suit against Gable in 1937 that was the joke of Hollywood that year. ml ' -i-i 1' * uie case: was quicKiy aismisseo from court when the plaintiff was indicted for fraud and perjury. Even if the suit had occurred as Sanders depicted it, Lombard's and Gable's careers would never have been shattered, as they were the most noDular film Dersonalities publicly and financially that 'Frogs' shown today in coliseum * The Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble, a 10-member theatre company, will be performing today r\ ?i f 1 ^ i i o c / k 1 1 UaiU'A t\<> t i /v 1 mi iiic ivuoouii uuiioc pauu di i p.m. Their main performance will be "Frogs". The performance is open to the public at no charge. lives Hollywood had at that time. A critical disaster Artistically and critically, Gable and Lombard is also a disaster. Director Sidney Furie (director of such films as Little Foss and Big Halsey and Lady Sings the Blues), is a continuous bore. His motionless camera lulls tne viewer to sleep. Michael Legrand's musical score is also dull and extremely repetitious, showing a tntnl lonlr nf imartinalinn WVUI VI UllU^llIULlUll. Allen Garfield portrays his usual character actor stereotype as the coniving, manipulative MGM studio chief god Louis B. Mayer. His entire characterization in the ftlm t o fnf ollvr okl/i 1UI11 10 IUW41IJ pi ^U1V.M1UIC. The dialogue is quite trite and amateurish. Name-dropping of Hollywood's most famous movies and stars of the 30s constantly bombards the viewer along with predictable conslusions of comic lines and episodes. Our sympathetic regrets should be forwarded to Brolin and Clayburgh for ever attempting to portray such difficult roles as Gable and Lombard. Brolin particularly requires our pity because i. a *l? ui iiis suiuicit i leiiueiicies. rus depiction of Gable as an unsophisticated, easily-manipulated ! _t_ 1 1 -1 1 LI iuck is niueeu uepiorauie. The viewer must really fantasize to pretend Brolin is Gable, and to accomplish that, your imagination would certainly have to run away with you. Not even Marcus Welby, m m rv 1 J * * - ai.u., couia penorm a miracie 10 save this performance. Clayburgh could not act her way out of a kindergarten recital. Her shallow rendition of Lombard as a no-holds-barred hellraiser, who is foul of mouth and obsessed with an inferiority complex about not meeting the qualifications of a full wuiiiau, m ijuiic caa^ci aicu auu totally overacted. On the other hand, the average moviegoer knows nothing about Gable and Lombard and could care less about the accuracy of the film's facts or its merits as a work of art. This viewer will indeed find this film quite entertaining and funny. Some comic episodes do exist-on a simpleton's level-that could be construed as funny. For example, the supposed initial meeting between the couple, when Gable wrecks his car while avoiding a fake ambulance Lombard uses for one of her jokes, could be mildly amusing if it were not so pathetic. It is hard to believe this film had a budget of $4.5 million. With that kind of money, a quality product which would stand as a timeless memorial to Gable and Lombard should have been produced. Instead we got garbage that will initially make a tremendous amount of money and then be rini/^lrlv fnpffnHan V|UIV IMJ 1*/* ^ViVVII. Wine, cheese preceed show The University Players' Wine and Cheese Theatre production, How the Other Half i/oves, a comedy by British author Alan Ayckbourn, will be presented March 30, 31 and April 1, in the M & N lounge. The lounge will open at 7:00 with o xr Q \r nf urinAi* w vc4i ivij ui v? iivo, v,11i aiiu crackers. The curtain is at 8:15. Advance tickets may be purchased at the Russell House Ticket Office and at the door. Tickets are $3. .... /.V/ - .