Page 30 - 1968 VES Meteor

Movies: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter The Boston Strangler
by Godfrey Cheshire
It is a safe bet that a good portion of the books on this week's best seller list will sooner or later be made into movies, because popular literature has long been a ptime source of scripts for Holly- wood 6lm makers. Directors and producers are constantly scanning the literary horizon, and every year the various 61m companies pay huge sums of money to acquire the 6lm rights to ·certain books. A look at those movies which could be considered popular successes
reveal that a fairly large percentage of tl:.em are adapted from
THE METEOR Continued &om page !Z, column 5
tence . with "Humpty" rather than Humphrey.
The last four speeches, dubbed rebuttals, followed. Kim Eisler, seconding for Gregory, made some of the best points of the eve- ning. He pointed out the weak- nesses of all three candidates:
Nixon's evasiveness, Humphrey's LBJism, and Wallace's politics of fear. He drove the point home why one should not vote for either of the three major candi- dates.
Clay Ferebee rose to speak while pro and anti - Gregory chant and Wallace cheers en- sued. He called for silence; asked for it; demanded it. He received it in totality. What followed was a rare eloquence. His speech came not from a piece of paper, but straight from a sincere mind: 'Which candidate says where he
stands? Nixon says he will end the war. But how? Humphrey says the troops will come home next
December,1968
Holmes Morton, an art class member, sketches his impressions of scenic Reusens.
books; such boxoffice-buster epics as Gone with the Wind and Ben Hur, as well as some more recent items such as The Graduate and In the Heat of the Night were all in print before they were in celluloid. Of course, many other .screen adaptations have flopped, and their names can be found only in the grave- yard of the Late Late Show. Two recent movies both taken from best sellers, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and The Boston Strangler, are current examples of why some of these movies- from-books soar while others die a slow death.
The director of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter must have felt chained to the novel on which he based his 6lm. He at least at- tempted to put on 61m the intri- cate plot structure of Carson Mc- Cullers' book: a task which, con- sidering the limited vision of the
cinema and the short amount of time allowed, was nearly impos- sible. The story concerned the separate lives of two families and two individuals, all con- nected by their relationship with the life of the main character: that is 6ve distinct subplots. Try- ing to cram ten or so important characters into the two hours of the movie did not allow suffi- cient time to develop any of them; when the movie reached
its climax, the suicide of the main character, the emotional impact on the audience which that event might have had was missing because not enough time was spent establishing the man's
personality or his motivation to- ward suicide.
Two pros and several un- knowns give performances that resuscitate a drowning 6lm, and at times make the audience un- aware of the ailing plot. Into a very difficult and crucial role, that of Mr. Singer, the deaf- mute, Alan Arkin, injects a great deal of sensitivity and warmth. Percy Rodriguez does equally well in the part of the embit- tered Dr. Copeland. This movie is the 6lm debut of Sondra Locke, the young actress who
and somewhat amateurish, and and grandson of the former pres-
since they can still aim for the
Julie Nixon, youngest daugh- plays Mick with a zeal that ter of the president-elect, and sometimes seems too rehearsed David Eisenhower, her fiancee
mate.
Reviewing the whole program,
I find that it was certainly too lengthy under the prevailing cir- cumstances. The speeches were too long; the eight minute limit should have been enforced. Hopefully it .did bring much more awareness to the student body of politics and showed some the hardships of public speaking. I propose that the next time the school assembles to air diverse issues that the response be attuned to the enlightened mind, rather than to perform as predetermined cheerleaders.
young people, because that's what they are concerned about." After the conference a METEOR staff member questioned him about lowering the voting age to 18. He said that Mr. Nixon had advocated this and that he
felt it should be done, though Julie and Tricia were more in- terested in the cause than he.
on what he is doing, rather than how much of it he should do.
Motown Records, billed "The
Sound of Young America," is
due for revitalization. The pros-
perous home of some of the
country's top recording stars and
writers has amassed its fortune
on one form of music: the love-
rock-ballad; a song with simp]~
beat, orchestration, and a theme
of love lost, love gained, or love
wanted. This theme has popu-
larized many a Motown act for
years now but Motown appeal
has been markedly less this year.
The latest albums by the Four
Tops (Yesterday's Dreams) and
on the whole, unconvincing. But Miss Locke, as well as those who watch the movie, suffers from a screenplay that seems to be out to prove that good books simply
do not make good movies.
Then along comes The Boston
Strangler and proves exactly the
opposite. Faced with a book that tempt to win youth to his cause
might have become simply an overly violent, episodic, police- manhunt 61m, the director uses the book as a launching pad for a movie that is flowing, coherent and dynamic. He is able to at- tract and maintain our attention wh1le building an atmosphere of
David, a senior at Amherst Col- lege, replied, "He's been talking to the young people for months now. The second he came out with the concept of 'black capi- talism,' the concept of self-de- termination, guiding your own destiny, he was talking to the
Need) may
"Is everybody safe?'' and the iJll· plications of a "Doomsday,
whether it be tornadoes in sas City or the bomb over
saki. The song has its 'tb portions but fails to adhe~eWI
itself; the silences harm tt. Continued on page 8, coiUJIIII 5
tension and suspense by using a variety of imaginative photo- graphic techniques - split- screen, multi-image, hand-held camera and rapid editing. The 6Im is more tasteful and less like- ly to offend-although it still re- tains its suspenseful and violent air-because of these effects: he provides the visual stimulation that would otherwise be pro- vided by explicit physical vio- lence. Just as he does not let his camera linger on any subject, the director keeps the plot mov- ing: from the stranglings to the investigation to the capture of
the Strangler to his psychoanaly- sis and breakd0wn. Finally, the director takes full advantage of the dramatic moments after the Strangler's dehumanizing confes- sion to present the film's message -that a violent society creates violent individuals.
Continued from page 1, column 5 Mr. Lee, who at one time taught a course in probability and statistics at VES, is sharing ~ his knowledge of the stock mar-
ner. "However," he added, "a]] will not be lost to the poorer half
'
prize given to the top three
George Wallace has said where
he stands on the war. He repre-
•
sents the conscience of many in this country. He is serious and intelligent. He will do a better
· job." Lac!c of organization, which Clay readily apologized for, was evident. He failed to enlighten the assembly on the Wallace war
stance. But he told it like he be- lieved.
the March 1 stock quotations, will treat the other half to din-
While their first album, Are You Experienced, was excellent musically, and their second al-
bum, Axis: Bold as Love, was su- perior lyrically, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's I a t e s t recording
add to the school."
By James Roediger
scoob-be-doob-be-doo.") In it· self there is nothing wrong with the love-rock ballad. Some,
not most of the best music in the last few years has been this
type. But these new
seem much more repetitious than ·refreshing and this proves disas- trous in a year when pop music
is becoming so diversi6ed.
Ross and the Supremes took the initial step away in their latest single offer, "Love Child," giving social comment (on fatherless children) rather than the same old hat and the rest of Motown would.do well to follow suit.
When Jimmy Webb and Rich· ard Harris are coupled for an album production the result is one of the year's most interesting albums. Such was the case for A Tramp Shining last spring, containing the monumental
Ward's
Nixon was convincing, but at
Richard
speech
for
times rambling. He defended
Strangler is kept at a consistent- Nixon's early career, attacked venture lacks somewhat in both
The acting in The Boston
ly high standard by several old the Democra.tic use of unions, areas. The two record set, Elec-
pros whose talents complement and claimed Humphrey's whole tric Ladyland, is often tiring, this excellent film. Tony Curtis; philosophy . an outdated, 1930 even boring. Hendrix sacrificed
as the Strangler, exhibits the dramatic talent that we always knew he had when he was play- ing around in those light farces. Henry Fonda and last year's Academy A ward winner George Kennedy, both on the side of the law this time, give performances that do justice to their reputa- tions. However the acting is, as it should be, only a part of a
superior effort by writers, pho- tographers, actors, and the di- rector in achieving a motion pic- ture that is quality cinema as well as a skillful interpretation of a popular book.
New Dealism. He praised Nixon's quality for quantity. The pack- Black Capitalism, hit at Wallace's age would have suffered little by
law by his order, and Hum- the subtraction of side one and
Youth Visit City
HHH's.) Perhaps his most effec- "Come On" Hendrix offers his
posers of the past two years. He has written, arranged, and pro· duced all the Harris material, and Harris is a vocal genius him·
self. Often he sounds like a straining tenor. He possesses a shadowy, quavering, even tre· mulous voice. This quality mys· tifies and enchants song.
The team's latest work, The Yard Goes On Forever, is no less absorbing than the first. The
thematic quality of A Tram?
Shining was in substance; that JS
in each song Harris sang of
something he yearned for, or ha~
lost· an intangible beyond his , a!
reach. In the new album, · though the songs are not so clear·
W ebb nonetheless the
ident, came to Lynchburg in the closing weeks of the presidential campaign.
"We have come to Virginia on behalf of my father's bid ior the presidency," Julie said at an in-.
formal news conference.
ly related
weaves a theme throughout two sides based on the title song;
Asked about Mr. Nixon's at-
"The Yard Goes on Forever · points:
phrey's vagueness. All of Ward's points were valid, though he often forgot to expound on them. On behalf of Hubert Hum- phrey, James Sutherland brought
three.
The album is not completely
without merit. The Experience
enjoys some of its finest musical
moments since "Purple Haze" up many excellent points in a with "All Along the Watch-
speech which lacked any definite organization. He attacked Nixon, saying that he had been against aid to education and the elderly,
tower" and "Burning of the Mid-
night Lamp." The two songs
present Hendrix at his creative
heights, mixing psychedelia with
blues in all the proper amounts.
"Voodoo Child" and its counter-
part "Voodoo Chile" offer the al-
bum an attempt for a theme,
right - to - work
housing. He outlined the three candidates' views on the war and law and order (example: Wal- lace's solution- "Kill''; Nixon's
"MacArthur Park."
Jimmy Webb has certainly
laws, and fair
though the latter is much too
Nixon, Eisenhower solution-he won't say; and then long for its own good. With been one of the outstanding
tive argument was that if Nixon really had the nation's interests at heart then why did he choose
strongest attempt to date at hard core rhythm and blues, It comes off simply and lively. In the fu-
Spiro Agnew as his running ture Hendrix should concentrate
money-makers at the end of the ket with the investment club. year."
The club has given each of its 23 members a hypothetical $50,- 000 with which to trade.
"To spark a real capitalist im- pulse into the market," Lee an- nounced that the less successful
"These new courses would be hat impossible without the diversity
of talents among the faculty,"
pointed out, 'We are interested year. Speculation is foolish. half of the class, according to in what new factors they can
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Ter- ·expounds on two mam .
All I
· ation of it (example: "Do you love me, baby, like I love you-
rell (You're
show some reason for the de- cline. Although the Four Tops show much more varlet}', track after track on both albums pre- sents the same old theme or vari-
W yatt
In looking for new faculty members, he
commented.
'