Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Entert Goldi By David Baker FMm Critic Goldie Hawn has been traveling across the country for the past few'weeks in conjunction with her latest film, "Private Benjamin," which she produced as well as stars in. I was able to talk with Ms. Hawn when she made a lateOctober stopover in Ft. I.nuHprHalp Pin Thp following is an excerpt from our most enjoyable interview. GAMECOCK: In "Private Benjamin," Judy Benjamin's father, her husband, her sergeant and her fiance are all portrayed as being rather villainous. Why are there no sympathetic men's roles in the picture? IIAWN: That's a good point. The movie's a satire, really. It's not what you call a great slice of life. All the characters are overdrawn. The truth is we're trying to tell a big story in an hour and 50 minutes and there are certain things we had to do. The point is that the men who came into Judy's life were certain kinds of men and they made her the way auc was. nci iciLiiei, x cue <her husband> ? these are kind of men who gave her the basis of what she was to have for the rest of her life. And as she was confronted with 'Private good-n By David Baker FHm Critic There are literally dozens of reasons why one should rush to see Howard Zieff's "Private Benjamin" if he U ~ 1 1.. U..A ..M iiasn i uu eauy, uui undeniably the most enjoyable one is to witness the emergence of Goldie Hawn as the premiere female comic performer in America. I don't mean to suggest that Hawn's performances in such films as "Shampoo" and "Foul Play" were anvthinc less than delightful, but "Private Benjamin" presents the saucer-eyei leading lady with the chance to carry the weight of an entire film on her own shoulders for the first time. And she is remarkably successful in doing so. In the film, which was Private Judy Benjamin (i (Armand Assante) in the I m : ainmer e Hau ~ ~r 41 ? c?vu uiic ui uiciii, uacii one promoted a change. GAMECOCK: Do you relate to the character of Judy? HAWN: Sure I do. First of all, it was written for me. Secondly, I understand this girl. I understand what it's like to be told you're not smart. Certainly you know I would understand this. I'm told this every day, with this dumb blonde image. GAMECOCK: Surely DeoDle don't still think of vnu as the dingy girl from "Laugh-In." 11AWN: I think there are people who think it's in the past. I think also that there are people who don't want to think I get any smarter because they don't like to see people change. There are people who get divorced because suddenly their mate changes. They grow and change, then suddenly it's "I don't know you anymore." GAMECOCK: Is that what happened withyourmarriage to Bill Hudson? HAWN: I'd rather not talk about that. GAMECOCK: Well then, back to "Private Benjamin." How do you like the *Benjan latured \ written by Nancy Myers, Charles Shyer and Harvey Miller, Hawn portrays Judy Benjamin, a pampered, 28year-old Jewish princess, who, as the picture opens, is about to enter her second marriage. When her husband, Yale (Albert Brooks), dies on their wedding night, Judy realizes _i ..iA i_. i a 1 J uiie in uueny iosi in a worm where you can't make a living unless you know how to do something. After spending eight days secretly locked inside a dreary hotel room examining the pieces of her shattered life, Judy is talked into joining the Army by a sweet-talking recruiter (Harry Dean Stanton). He convinces her that boot camp is like spending a weekend at Lacoste, that each soldier is entitled to a private condo in the city of Go!die Hawn) falls in love A/arner Bros, comedy "Priva 7in is n< job of executive producer? HAWN: Producing is not something I want to make a life with. It's very difficult. You need brains and you ihoaH frv rtnf in wvvu iw gvi ill IIIC1C CI IIU ilglll to show them that you're right. And once you do that, they're yours. But if I wasn't at the point where I am in my career, I could have gone in with "Gone With the Wind" and they'd have said, "See you later, alligator." GAMECOCK: Is it more difficult for a woman to become a producer than a man? IIAWN: I have come up against people not particularly wanting to accept me strength ot my decisions or of my own feelings and observations. I've found a lot of men threatened by my position, as far as power is concerned. There are a lot of ways to put down a woman just because she's successful ? I'm not saying this happened to me, because nobody not caned me ieminine ? and I have seen a lot of men say, "Well, she's not feminine anymore. It (power) has taken away her vulnerability." GAMECOCK: Before "Private Benjamin," were there any films you wanted to produce? i in'is zomedy her choice, and that if she doesn't like Army life, she can always quit. When next we see Judy, she's being tossed out of a bus by a hulking drill sergeant who then forces her to give him 10 push-ups. A few hours later, Judy's ^1-4 1 1 / nil piaiuuu leauer iiMieen Brennan, in a deliciously evil performance) has her scrubbing out the latrine with her electric toothbrush. The military life eventually helps Judy pull herself together and by the midpoint of the film, she's running obstacle courses with ease and parachuting out of airplanes. Part of what makes Judy such an irresistible character is that she is so easily scared by what happens to her, and we are never sure wemer or noi sne will be able to overcome her /' " : ""V.-' V. " ; \ with wealthy Frenchman te Benjamin. " odum HAWN: "Foul Play'' is another picture I wanted to buy and produce five years before it was actually produced. I went around and tried to get people interested in doing it because I wanted to produce it and I wanted to act in it. And good directors ? I won't mention any names ? said "What is it? Is it a comedy? A drama? A caper?" GAMECOCK: Speaking of "Foul Play," you and Chevy Chase will be co-starring in another film this Christmas, WBSOmM Goldie Hawn, who port! new movie "Private Ben film's executive producer fears. Even after she becomes quite confident in her abilities, she retains her vulnerabilities. A second romance, this one with a French gynecologist (Armand Assante), slows down the film's final third, but Zi^ff never lets the action get bogged down completely as he did in last year's "The Main Event." Zieff's direction here is especially commendable in that he resists the temptation to exaggerate .Judy's predicaments beyond the point of no return. The weakest point of MPrit/afn Unn io m i?An ic ?i A I I VUIV IIV. I I J(l I 1 1 I I I li? IIICU interwoven into the story of Judy's gaining her selfrespect. It safeministtract in which virtually every male character turns out to be an unfeeling jerk. This may be good for a chuckle every now and then, but it hurts the overall effect of the story. If men are all s u c h r e p r e h e n s i b 1 e / ronhirnt tuamon muut K<> superior to them to begin with. Thus, .Judy's triumphs in a male-dominated world seem more like a natural progression than anything out of the ordinary. But this is merely one lapse ot logic in a film which otherwise is believeable, good-natured and infinitely entertaining. b blor Neil Simon's "Seems Like Old Times." What do you think of your growing reputation as the Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn of the 1980s? HAWN: I don't know. It's funny. We just work real well together and we have a damn good time. We haven't made THE movie yet together. GAMECOCK: Right after you completed "Foul Play," you made a movie called "Trip With Anita." I've read rWK jgffl&Gm '. ,'^'S hp / \J wSSmJm TWWWjBHnOnBWB1?ii ays Judy Benjamin in the jamin," a/so serves as the Eddie Hi gives qu performt By Davi Staff The finger-snapping ja/.z < Monday night was ready for s that's exactly what they got the most talented artists ever t Eddie Harris, jazz saxapl recorded some 60 albums and jazz-oriented publications. Ht coming book entitled "I)o You Harris' group which consists drummer, warmed up by niml rhythm. After the lead keyb instruments were featured in t I A L *4 * ^ 1 1 - i,au*r int" KimariM piayeu a crying sensation from th< cooperation of the group was the ability of each member to develop their respective versi* When Harris made the mo\ saxaphone. a round of apj audience. Thev were ready Harrison his specialty instrui Harris' saxaphone is elec thesi/.er" which enables (he n nailed notes: i?ivo tlw? ill r r?* ' y 'v played together. The highlij Harris used the electronic ins sax harmony of mellow ton tronics carried the artistry < human abilities. id that the title has been changed to "Lovers and Liars" and that it's finally going to be released this winter. Why the long wait? HAWN: Have you seen it? GAMECOCK: Not yet HAWN: Then don't see it. It's horrible, I tell you. It's a movie I made in Italy about three years ago, with Giancarlo Giannini, who I happen to think is fantastic. Mario Monicelli directed it and he's one of the great comedy directors of the world. The reason why I made the picture was to be able to work with these people and, as it turned out, it was a disaster. (iAIYIKCOCK: Did you learn anything from the experience? liAWN: I learned a lot about what not to do in making movies, a long list of things. When th'-y took my microphone away and gave it to the clapper boy, I said, "There is definitely something wrong here." There was very little organization on the film and the writers are very backward in Italy. Sometimes there are eight or 10 writers on one script, and none of them have the same point of view. If you didn't know Giannini and you didn't know me, you'd still look at the film and say, "What are these people doing in this movie? They're obviously not bad actors." But it's a bad production and a horrible script About its direction, I'll leave that up to you. GAMSt'OCK: "Private Benjamin" looks as il it's going to be the most financially successful film of the fall season. To what do you attribute its success? see Hawn page 1 1 0 JU I Id ality mce d Green Writer crowd at the Quarter Moon ome good, mellow music, and - quality jazz music by one of o grace the small club circuit, honist and keyboardist, has written articles for numerous ? is also the author of an up Want to bo a Musician?" ; of a guitarist, bass player and bly playing an improvisational oard performance, the other heir own solo moments. lilting rhythm that produced a p guitar. The versatility and demonstrated in this song by take cues from one another and :>ns of the original melody. fc from his Fender piano to his )lause spread throughout the to experience the expertise of nent. trifled, connected lo a "svn istriimcnt to pla\ harmonies ot usion of two saxophones being jht ot the evening was when trument by playing a four part i*s with one instrument. Klec)l Harris into a realm beyond - ?