The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 26, 1980, Page Page 7, Image 7
Ententi
Matth
By David
FHm Crt
The Spy Movie is a relatively
needs is a handful of secret ag<
centric hardware, a halfway d<
funny script. If the people who n
this year can do it, virtually any<
But to poke fun at spy mov
within the confines of the genre
had been done successfully only
And since 007 has always bee
becoming even more so, the fi
within the boundaries of the gem
of reality is Ronald Neame's Hof
Neame originally struck me as
such a project. His most recei
venture, The Odessa File and h
dication of his talent for com
however, I realize why producer
him. Hopscotch, if the punch 1
actors played it straight, would
even gripping ? CIA chase film.
Neame keeps the picture mov
there's not a minute of superflu
script, by Brian Garfield and ]
Garfield's Edgar-winning novel
clever, though not so much so
contrivances, and the acting is fi
Walter Matthau, in what may
inventive performance yet, stf
operative who, after 30 years of
Agency is in the business of play
Since Kendig can't seen to ti
boss, G.P. Myerson (Ned Beattj
and confines him to a desk job,
retirement. But Kendig refuses \
He steals the CIA file on him
Beatty I
By David Baker <
Film Critic C
Ned Beatty is one of the
busiest actors in the motion ]
picture business. Already '
this year, he has appeared in
"1941," "Promises in the
Dark," "The American
Success Company," and
"Wise Blood," not to men
non me television
miniseries, "The Guyana
Tragedy." Two more films,
"The Incredible Shrinking
Woman," with Lily Tomlin,
and "Superman II," with
Christopher Reeve, are in
the can, waiting to be
released early next year.
Beatty's current film,
though, is "Hopscotch,"
which opens today nation
wide. In it, he portrays G.P.
Myerson, a hot-tempered,
foul-mouthed CIA boss who
fires a field agent named
Miles Kendig (played by
Walter Matthau), only to
have Kendig write a book
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ainmer
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Baker
tic
easy genre to spoof. All one
?nts. a warehouse full of ec
;cent cast and a marginally
lade The Nude Bomb earlier
me can.
ies while remaining rigidly
is something that, until now,
by the James Bond pictures,
in rather cartoonish and is
rst spy spoof to stay safely
re and also within the bounds
jscotch.
i being an odd choice to helm
nt films (The Poseidon AdAeteor)
certainly give no inedy.
After seeing the film,
s Edie and Ely Landau chose
ines were removed and the
still be a rousing ? perhaps
inff at a hr?aknpolc napp anH
ous footage to be found. The
Bryan Forbes and based on
of the same name, is always
that it calls attention to its
rst-rate.
De ms most likaDie ana most
irs as Miles Kendig, a CIA
field work, believes that the
ing games.
=?ke espionage seriously, his
0, removes his from the field
where he can quietly await
:o sink into oblivion.
self, puts it through a paper
L
msy wi
exposing the CIA's dirty
i^alings.
Because he was busy
Filminc "Thp Inorpdihlp
O
Shrinking Woman" right up
until the time "Hopscotch"
began shooting, Beatty
didn't have time to make a
great many preparations for
it. "But," he explained, "this
is an adventure piece with
comic overtones. So it's the
kind of movie where what's
happening takes precedence
over the people.
Beatty's acting career
began rather oddly. He
attended an open audition
with a friend, with whom he
had sung in his college choir.
The friend desperately
wanted the job, and, of
pniirco DoatKr rfnt it incfaaH
wua uvj JL/VUVVJ o * i??<jvvau.
He spent the next few years
in repertory theater, and
that, eventually, led to his
being cast in "Deliverance."
"They wanted to do
"Deliverance" with
IP ,
?> & 1
irald Heaton as 'Crow.'
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is game in'
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Jackson and Matthau in 'Hopscotch.'
th'Hopscotch'
unknown aptnm " R?attv ?A..u ?? *u. :?<
?? .... , ?vw?v i.uuiu u1c huiiiuiai
said. "John Boorman, the coming long before it
producer-director, originally tually came.
wanted to use four guys that "By the time I got
movie audiences had never script, it was already kno
seen before. at least around New Y<
"I've never had this that Mr. Jensen was
confirmed, but I really think Academy Award part,
the way I got the part was "it was the perfect
that, at the last minute, the ud." Beattv eontinu
studio chickened out and trying to control
didn't want to use unknowns, laughter. "It was like
Now Boorman is the kind of Marlon Brando part
guy who doesn't like to give 'Apocalypse Now.' You 1
in easily, so he and the studio this magnificent movie ;
compromised. They used almost every moment o
two known actors, Burt was devoted to getting to I
Reynolds and Jon Voight, one character. So, by
and two unknown actors, time you got to him, he cc
Ronny Cox and myself. So scratch his nose ? whicl
my career started on a basically what Brando di<
compromise." and he'd look imports
That compromise led to There was no way to d<
roles in such hit films as badly, so yeah, I though
"White Lightning," "Silver could get an Acade
StTPflk" flnH "Nptu/nrlr " for t u i
. ?, ?" nwaiu. rvnu i wisii it iiai
which Beatty received an I'd like to have won."
Academy Award nomination
as Best Supporting Actor. Beatty added, howe
Beatty admitted that hp that he doesn't undersl
By Janet Gib
Staff Wrttor
"The Tooth of Crime,"
Showcase production at
welcome break from the
play filled with mysticism
fantasy.
Lo LLlli f"""" Qui
nm uit AH oi 3LCHC, nic
troduced to the "hero,
musician caught up in
world. Hoss is played by
enters the stage on a rop<
the ceiling, gliding down i
his rockin' songs. Holn
acting are impressive, bi
| energy level in the first j
, grand entrance.
Hoss, the frustrated rev
obviously stoned, and fr<
flHBigB^B3 His frustrations become
the first ten minutes and
comes out in him: 'Tmju
I need a kill...I was born I
Hoss fears he is no longer
his field, and he ultima
achieving his musical go
happiness ? only to depre
Hoss turns in frustratio
, and manager, Becky (SI
1 iiii^mi -.--jg*:w
w *
Hopscotch
X-l At M.' rr- A . rt ? 1 I . . . ..
siueouer, uien mes on 10 saizDurg, wnere nis old flame,
w Isobel von Schmidt (Glenda Jackson), is waiting. He borrows
r her typewriter and sits down to write his memoirs, in which
[' he exposes just about everything there is to know about the
1/ CIA the KfJR and pvprv nthpr intpllioonro aoon^u in iK/i
|| world. One by one, he mails the progressively more revealing
^ chapters to Myerson and the other heads of intelligence, who,
J after chapter two, all come gunning for him.
Delighted by their interest, Kendig leads them on a playful
(at least to him) chase across Europe and the Eastern
* seaboard of the United States.
The chase is a howl, what with Kendig leaving clues right
and left, calling in his whereabouts to his Agency
| replacement (Sam Waterston) and, at one point, renting
IMyerson's summer home under an assumed name. (The
scenes taking place at Myerson's home were filmed last
November in Savannah.)
One of the reasons Hopscotch works so well is because it
never condescends to its audience and it never insults. And
considering the number of bullets that fly across the screen
during its two hours, it's refreshing to note that there is not
SS nnp Hron r?f hlnnH chart in thn nl/?fnr? TKn "D" ?
v??(# VI u?vvu unvu 111 VIIV piv.vuic. A lie XV Idling CUIlid*
% solely as a result of a few four-letter words Myerson spouts
I during his hilarious (and frequent) fits of rage.
If there's a problem with Hopscotch ? and in my opinion
there's only one problem with Hopscotch ? it's that Matthau
and Jackson are separated for the biggest part of the film.
Thus, most of their banter takes place over the telephone,
though their chemistry is undeniable. This is the duo's second
I pairing (Howard Zieff's 1978 House Calls was the first) and,
5 hopefully, it will not be their last.
mere simply aren't enough favorable adjectives to
describe a film that's as delightful as this. At the end of the
screening I attended, the audience burst into applause.
Admittedly, that was a stupid gesture, but it does prove that
I'm not alone in considering Hopscotch one of the highlights
of the year.
BhL <k
ac X
tJie B B Jwi k^.
t it Ned Beatty in 'Hopscotch.
ny
_ why the public is so in- But audiences do love the
fatuated with the Academy Awards. They're the best
Awards. "From a promotional tool for films
/er, professional standpoint," he that anybody has ever
and said, "they're nonsense. thouehtuD."
?' sure to please
ice at I .nnostrpet
ton does a good job of playing a tough lady with
, some "sound advice."
his seasonis irs Throughout all the overly-ter.se action,
Longstree , is^ a comjc relief is provided by George Nan;onven
lona a nerello, who plays a cocaine totin' doctor.
, symbolism, a T^e southern-spoken "doc" is a humorous
Hivcrsinn until nno rAnAfini^/u.
? > ?? v??v * HUd^> CA"
, arenCC ,S mJ treme frustrations.
Hoss, a rock What lacks in the first act is soon made up
lis own frenzied for jn t^e second, when Gerald Heaton is
Jim Holmes, w o introduced as Crow, a new wave musician
suspended irom Qn r-ge w^Q ajSQ happens ^ the major
na singing one ot source 0f Hoss' anxieties. Heaton moves
es singing and wejj in act _ sjnging dancing, and
it the action and outsmarting Hoss in every way.
ct lags after his J
Probably, however, the most impressive
. and energetic part of the Obie Award'neticailv*
viol'ent' winning PlaV is the A" the sonSs
were composed by USC student Michael
ZkUlorLunc. Bethca ^'"8 guitar is renowned
it getting hungry Columbia performer Hob Crosby
,, n . ^[7' "The Tooth of Crime" was written by Sam
^ ,, r ' SheDard in 1973. The images Sh<*r>?rd pvnkps
i\umr>er unp in f . . " "r~~ " y ~~
plv rpali7ps thi! of the rock-drug culture and the "Wild
lis has not led to West" are aPParent in this unique show
ion Director Engel explains, "It's a show about
?v.iidii^c ui w uci , t ui pywei,
l to nis confidante ancj one man's struggle to be free in a
lirley Mills), who restrictive society.