University of South Carolina Libraries
\ -JHA Vu Yy<&%'Aatfy?y^5iSy?^?j?#^ajdjSfc^rtwBj|^^^^BMMBBpP^^^ * fl^QU H^Ex - HQ IBr*^ ^|p ^i " Horst Janson, right, duels with William Vampire Hunter, a Paramount Pictures Hobbs, whom he suspects to be responsible release. The film drama was produced by for a plague of vampire murders, in Albert Fennel and Brian Clemens. Hammer Productions' Captain Kronos: frnR Sunnnffiil jMjV' x B mm A SM,;'--' 9P "> 'Ji |^as ' " SB ^ Woody Allen and his gang blow a holdup exam breakers In the Russell House attempt In the hilarious film Take the Theater. This was Allen's first film that he Money and Run to be shown as one of the both directed and wrote. Coming April 28. The Gam En#aei?M! Cinematic a exam-brea By Chuck Cromer and Sam L. Irvin Jr. The Russell House University Union Cinematic Arts Committee brings its spring semester film program to an end with the exam breakers. Always popular as a diversion or escape from the tediousness of studying, the spring exam breakers run the gamut from comedy to costume adventure with representative works of Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Woody Allen arid Federico Fellini being featured. Beginning the series on April 27 is a unique little film called Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. Set in a remote area of Europe in the 1600s, the story details the quest of one Captain Kronos to destroy a plague of vampirism. It is not a typical vampire film by any means. First and most important, it is a "whodunit" mystery in the Agatha Christie tradition. Kronos is a master swordsman, and (luring one of his many swashbuckling scenes, he fights with two swords. It is interesting to note that the sword fights were arranged by the same man who did Three Musketeers. Brian Clemens not only directed this film, but wrote and produced it as well. He is responsible for the famed "Avengers" television series which is stylishly borrowed from in this film. The following night, April 28, Woody Allen's Take the Money and Hun (1969) is scheduled. This was the first film Allen wrote and directed. Although uneven at times, iokes and sicjht uaoc , j ?c-.v uuuiiuaill, making this a must for students of humor. In Take the Money and Run, Allen portrays Virgil Starkwell, a convict who is the product of an unfortunate childhood: broken glasses, neighborhood "bully," bickering parents, acute cello-playing and a neurotic tendency to win a girl by stealing money. In one hilarious sequence, Virgil tries to break out of prison using a gun he carved from soap and coated with shoe polish. Everything seems to be going perfectly as he nears the prison gate with his hostages, j ii ? ana men it oegins to rain-turning his pistol into soap suds. April 29, the film will be Minnie and Moskowitz directed by John Cassavetes. It is a brilliant comedy which mixes an undertone of light drama. Gena Rowlands stars as a straight-laced conservative lady who falls in love with a wild hippie-type to the surprise of all her friends ; a love story of the oddest of couples. On April 30, the greatest swashbuckler of them all, Errol Flynn, stars in Captain llnnJ < 1 nor \ *1 ' uiuuu une ui ine unest costume adventures ever made. Flynn was cast as Dr. Peter Blood, a physician who, sold into slavery, escaped from his island prison and led a revolt of his fellow slaves, turning them into seafaring pirates. With his bold declaration, "We, the hunted, will now hunt," Captain Blood roused his audiences into such excitement that innumerable thousands became instant i 1 - i ' ? " " anu aecncaieti tans ot Klynn. Captain Blood and Flynn made millions for Warner Brothers Studios in 1935. With Flynn, the film starred such greats as Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone and Lionel Atwill and was directed by the renowned Michael Curtiz. Captain Blood introduces the prototypical U/hich M/tlO t/l * 11 ? m r* ?# *11 ..oivn ttul) ui v.iiuiu.\ every i' lynn swashbuckler. In one sequence, Flynn battles Basil Rathbone on the rocky seashores of Tortuga, the haven for all pirates, after Rathbone threatens de Havilland's life. Even though Flynn was never a great actor, the public will never forget hiin. As one biographer wrote, Flynn embodied the ' > ecoek gnmegf ) rts to show ker movies MimmiMwuH ?. L; JK9|V MBm / ' wftff mSM screen hero too brave, too foolhardy, to consider the consequences of his actions. "The bold vigor and gallant chivalry, laced with wry impudence, that characterized his most colorful performances is his testament to succeeding generations of moviegoers. What a drab world it would be if there had never been an Errol Flvnn." On May 2, the screwball comedy Topper (1937), the film that inspired the "Topper" TV series that is being rerun on one of our local television stations, will be shown. Cary Grant and Constance Bennett star as a young, carefree couple who die in an automobile smashup and return as spirits. Overwhelmed in life, they turn their attentions to a respectable and henpecked bank manager (Roland Young) in order to free him from his humdrum inhibitions. What follows is an assortment of classic comic situations as the couple causes panic, fights, drunken tears and general consternation as they appear and disappear whenever they sense a chance to create mischief among mortals. Topper is a masterpiece of trick photography and sound effects as well as an excellently acted picture. Roland Young even received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Cosmo Topper. May 3, will be graced by a film entitled Kronos: The Ciiant Monster, not to be confused with the vampire film of similar title on April 27. Instead of Kronos being a vampire hunter, this film uses the name for a giant metal cube that lands on earth to soak up all the electric and atomic energy. This wonderfully cliche "giant-monsterthreats-the-world" yarn is in the tradition of ?n it ... . a 11 muse wonuerous science fiction horror films of the 1950s. It makes exams seem less threatening. The final exam-breaker film, on May 4, is Federico Fellini's The White Shiek (1952). The movie satirizes the "fumetti"--Italian magazines in which actors pose in serialized comic strip adventures-its heroes and those readers who believe them ronl Considered by some critics to be Kellini's most humorous film, it contains broad farce, caricature and the fantastic, circuslike atmosphere typical of his world. But as one critii' wrote, "The subject also gives Fellini an opportunity to deal with a theme which is central to his more serious works: the danger of living in a world of one's illusions."