The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 12, 1980, Page Page 14, Image 14
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By David Baker
Film Critic
With The Blue Lagoon,
Director Randal Kleiser has
taken banality out of the arid
halls of Hollywood and intc
the clear blue skies of the
South Pacific.
Based on the 1903 novel by
Henry DeVere Stacpoole.
which was filmed once
before, in 1948, with Jean
Simmons, Kleiser's followup
to the megahit Grease is
an unsavory cross between a
Coral Sea travelogue and
coffee-table porn..
Two children, cousins
rather than brother and
sister (we couldn't have
incest ift this day and age,
now could we?), are shipwrp^lfpH
nn a HpcortoH
tropical island. When the
man who brought them
ashore dies, they must learn
to survive on their own.
So, for the bigger part of
an hrnir ujpVp cnhwtoH tn
almost silent scenes of the
kids growing up, swimming
naked, eating guavas,
swimming naked, building a
split-level hut and swimming
' naked. Eventually, their
skinnydipping leads to their
havinc* spy and that nf
course, leads to the girl's
having a baby. Exciting
stuff, especially for dirty old
men and women who get
their jollies out of seeing
nude bodies writhing
; together, rather imnf?rsnnflllv
nnH#?ru/at#?r
But even the raincoat
crowd ? the only audience
\ that could conceivably
I * . i ^ 1 . _~
? i ^ _ r "\r ~
w i: _ / * : t;._: > -./-; ? ..:i -^-.--;
} f J "j!- i jri-i :-r C--^- -%:; ^;"*:v". ?
I- ' . ^ v^:,V:r,; v".! . E? . ; '
B
..... Atkms andShkti
v '
ainmer
ioe Be
mt worthk
on'adu
_ j. -1.
z-iau le
derive pleasure from rubbish
like this ? is bound to be
taken aback by the sanitary
way in which Kleiser treats
sex. When our two vapid,
suntanned mannequins get
RnBSk-V
I H 1 vVv -
Mp& /> ;? >;X-.?: :: ''^ l
Brooke Shields?
beyond the heavy petting
stage, Kleiser invariable
cuts away to some outlan
dish close-up of a tropical
bird or turtle.
Over and over again
Kleiser states the movie'i
thesis that sex is not dirty
but he lacks the conviction t<
mmaam
*?'\ - -p'r -
>dfello
By Lisa Mil?
Stan Writer
Workshop Theatre's opening nig
Bedfellows" went on as scheduled
the production is a sure-fire succesi
The play, set in the fervor c
movement at the turn of the cent
the lives of a household of gentler
attitude adjustments as the pi
Florence Ryerson and Colin Clemi
Droblems faced and surmounted b
suffragette struggle for the vote.
The main characters, consisting
who disagree about the female's :
Bailey as Senator William Cronr
played by Bette Herring, Hei
wry sense of humor ana wisdom 1
deserves much credit for its succe
Beth Burnside as Addie Hamp
DuBose as her husband Gifford.
characters to be won over to "the
I communicating the personality o
content to remain subordinate. SI
19th century version of an air-head
Feminist leader Clarissa Crom
strange bedfellow Matthew (David
in their roles. The conflict arising f
ff i f
\n traveio
porno gr
persuade us that it's true. By ke<
cutting away from the ms
voiinstprs mnkino Invo ho
only reinforces our deep- cy]
seeded belief that sex is the Stc
filthiest thing two human pic
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N % v . Manni^v
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and Christopher Atkins star in
; beings can possibly hope to^ s
r do with one another. n
And if Kleiser was so inl
tent on presenting us with s
sex in its most innocent tl
, form, why on earth would he ?
! Vi i i*n Di?aa1/a CUi a1 sir* fVi/t f
> tin v/ jlji \a;ivu ouiuiuo lllc
, Lolita of the 1980s ? as one a
) of his randy teen beach- v
combers? With her beestung v
lips, darting blue eyes and 4
seemingly endless array of 1
come-hither facial ex- s
pressions, Shields is about as t
I close to innocence as a c
i Dragon Lady. \
t
And as her lover, It
Christopher Atkins looks t
more like a young tennis pro 1
(and we all know how in- s
Inoceni tney re supposed 10
be) than someone who has to
forage through jungles every *
I day in search of sustenance. i
I I suppose Kleiser's errors J
| in casting could be forgiven 1
I if either Atkins or Shields 1
I could act his or her 1
respective way out of a
U..4 L * 4 At 1
** (Ntpvr MUi aucu m IIUI uie '
case. To them, acting is 1
ws9 SI
18 V
tl
i.a j a. * r tint I!
ni proaucuon 01 airunge I
Wednesday evening and e
5. ^
?f the women's suffrage
ury, deals comically with %
nen and women and their
ay unfolds. Playwrights
ents accurately depict the j
y women (and men) in the
1
; of three married couples right
to vote, include Bob
iwell and his wife Julia, i
'ring, whose character's
makes the play a true joy,
ss.
torn is paired with Billy
Addie is one of the last
? cause." She does well in
f a well-bred lady who is
he, too, is humorous as a
well (Julie Britt) and her
I Lee) are equally up to par
rnm turn nnnncintf nnintc rtf
* Vllt VTfV V|/|/VUIII^ VI
que of
aphy
eping a straight face while
iking pretty for the
mera. I haven't seen
phers like these since The
>pford Wives and, in that
:ture, the actresses were
* l|r^ "'
Si;.: v ^JS:'?;-r.
'The Blue Lagoon.'
upposed to be portraying
nachines.
Kleiser has mentioned in
tsverai recent imerviKws
hat what goes on in The
Hue Lagoon is "natural." In
act, "natural" is the key
idjective in the film's adertisihg
campaign. But
v i t h the accent on
'natural," how could
Cleiser have included the
icene wherein Shields gives
>irth? I could not possibly
:ount the number oi hoots l
leard when Shields squated,
as if to relieve her
)ladder, only to have the
)aby fall out. No fuss, no
ness. And it falls right into a
iwaddling blanket!
I'm sure that somwhere,
it snmp timft a movip as
worthless as The Blue
Lagoon has been flashed
(pun intended) across a
theatre screen, but if so, I
was lucky enough to miss it.
What I wouldn't give to be
able to say I missed this one,
tOO. ' ?
iccessful
iew and the love that surmounts it is obvious, especially
hrough Ms. Britt's characterization. She effectively comnunicates
all of Clarissa's logical emotions: her frustration,
xhaustion and determination, whether directed towards
women's suffrage, her marriage or her own sense of identity.
Satin furnishings, sashed draperies
i nd voluminous costumes commented
on the excesses of the Vic
_ _ m
ror/an Mge.
Drucilla Brookshire, who plays a prostitute reminiscent in
dress and demeanor of Belle in "Gone with the Wind," is
superb. She builds into her character a dimension of honesty
and integrity through her inability to be anything other than
herself.
Just admiring the set was a pleasure. Luxuriousness
exuded from every corner of the Senator's parlor. Satin
furnishings, thick, sashed draperies, expensive assessories
that glittered under stage lights and breath-taking,
voluminous costumes commented on the excesses of the
Victorian Age.
It appears that Workshop Theatre has begun its second
season in its new theatre with a success. "Strange Bedfellows"
will run through September 21.
i : 1
Great Jazz
By Robert W. Brazell of sorts; he u&es the
staff ?vyrhar words and natural
Tuesday night is jazz rhythms of a song to
night at Greenstreets. perform a novel,
That's when five in- nnnfrf ?vi *-*1 r>rlvr f Uof to I
^IICI IIICIUUJ tiidt to
dividuals, known gone before the audience
collectively as the Dick realizes what hit them.
Goodwin Quintet, stand,
sit or slouch on stage and Percussionist Hall
make some of the best complemented every lick
jazz heard in this city ancj tempo change with
anytime. imagination and taste.
Last Tuesday night I fhe multitude of accents.
walked into Greenstreet's style changes and timbre I
and was very pleased changes made me realize
>mth what I saw and every member of the
heard. The 'group' - quintet must be a
Dick Goodwin on professional with many
trumpet, Jim Mings on years of experience. Hall
guitar. Jim Hall on supplies a sturdy and
percusssion, singer Jim entertaining musical
TTprunsnn anH .Tnhn r i_i:
D iuunuauon.
Emche on piano ? sat
onstage dressed in ritual r . ..? . !
jazz attire and played Last, and possibly best,
with a casual air that was guitarist Jim Mings.
surprising ? considering munj jma S
the thoughtful sounds everything he did sound
they were producing. Not easy, even his rapid-scale
one note was out of place improvisations (which at
or too prominent; every ^ne were tlying
sound produced had a from his instrument so
Duroose fluidly I began to wonder
One of the first things I ,j?s were Play^g the
noticed about the quintet world s first push-button
is that they "play guitar). Emche said
together and stav Mings is west coast in
together." For example* stVle. but added "He's so
one of the tunes played everything else, too. The
was "Scrapple From The n's? incredibly verApple,"
a Charlie Parker satile.
1 _ r a. ' 1 t
song wun a iranuc oeoop
solo at the beginning.
The solo, played on SotTfG Or tho DBSt
trumpet, piano and hvarH in thi<5?
guitar, was almost ' nBafu til IMS
flawless. Another CltV BnVtimB.
example of the tight
playing exhibited by this
group was also my Versatile is, in fact, the I
personal favorite of the way to' describe the
evening, * /\n me mings Goodwin Quintet as a
You Are," an excercise in whole. While there is
attack and release that heavy #op influence in
was performed ad- this group, they could just
mirably. For a precision as easily slip into Latin,
music fan it was an rhythm and blues or just
earful. about any other style.
I Although Emche This most certainly
claimed he was "out of makes the quintet apit,"
he did not play that pealing to people with
way at all, particularly varying musical tastes,
when he was improvising.
Emche built his im- Although rock and punk
provisational solos from fans might be disapthe
ground up, using pointed with the Dick
rhythm, melody and Goodwin Quintet, anyone
dynamics to the greatest who wants to hear a fine
advantage. group with a tight perThe
same can be said cussion sound and a close,
for the vocals of Jim easy personality is urged
Ferguson, who sane the tn pn tn r.r<>pnctrw?>c n?vt I
therne to the old Tuesday night and hear
television program, the quintet for them"Route
6G." Ferguson selves. I know I'll be
could he called a jazz poet there.