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Show PageM Thursday, December 17, 1981 The Newspaper by Rick Brough A Classic Recommended Good double-feature double-feature material Time-killer For masochists . only Buddy Buddy Walter Matthau is a soury, precise hit man for the mob; Jack Lemmon plays a suicidal, suici-dal, abandoned husband. The famous Odd Couple have never been so old or so well cast as a crazy pair of characters. But the premise doesn't build up to the farcical fireworks you expect. ex-pect. Both men are fresh and funny working under director direc-tor Billy Wilder, who first paired them in 1966's "Fortune "For-tune Cookie." As Trabucco the executioner, Matthau talks in a Damon Runyon accent and glides along walls J ' I it! k til f A I rfl I i 1 3 1 T f i-r,'i r, k I Pint I ' . ' : ' 'My:-:i . ,,,-, , -- m , . nnniift MtmlMmmmammntit Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are JDUUUJ OUUUJ. like the villain on the cover of a crime novel. Trabucco is stationed in a hotel room, ready to pop off a government govern-ment witness when he arrives ar-rives at the courthouse across the street, but his meticulous preparations have to be unprepared every time Lemmon, in the room next door, makes a noisy attempt to do himself in. As Victor Clooney, Lemmon Lem-mon throws up a lot, in toilets looks like he's been flushed down the pipes a few times himself; and striking pathos and farce at the same time, develops a blind puppy-dog affection for his "Buddy" Trabucco, who's really trying to kill him. You expect a riotous slapstick ending, but you never get one, and Wilder spends too much time setting up obvious gags. (What happens when Lemmon tries to hang himself from a water pipe? You guessed it!) He also fails to develop a sub-plot about Lemmon's M?l'l ' d rMfi IS! 'ill H U h 1 1 ill a? jlsh- Js-. 1 j kl I r ' . i x jL i.iiijufe' iP A ten-unit luxury condominium Rising above mass produced mediocrity. A custom project by Montgomery Real Estate. 50 feet from Gondola. Sales information: Montgomery Real Estate, 649-6536; or Hal Taylor Realty, 649-8181 wife running away to a sex clinic. The quack doctor is Klaus Kinski, the off-beat star of German films who looks even creepier transplanted trans-planted to an American comedy. Paula Prentiss (Mrs. Clooney) is fun when she insists she isn't brainwashed: brain-washed: "Not totally! I'w only reached the fourth plateau." Dialogue like that and the two stars are enough to make this picture bearable. 2 Rollover Can you make an exciting, topical melodrama when your main characters are the unstable dollar and the falling yen? Not this time-not time-not with Kris Kristofferson giving a lackadaisical performance, per-formance, Jane Fonda going through the motions, and the talented director Alan J. Pakula putting a lot of emphasis on the glamorous backdrops of international finance. teamed up as yet another !5a;!ia'Sij55 .--iK-vv-.i-jjss. Msm. "is:-,.. !. . -,:-s ;;::.is ; y-mnm As in "China Syndrome" and "9 to 5" star-producer Fonda is trying to shed light on a serious question of the day: What would happen if the Arabs, with their vast holdings in oil dollars, decided de-cided to play Monopoly with world currency markets? Kristofferson, as the trouble-shooter brought in to save an ailing Wall Street bank, discovers funds are being siphoned off by Arab depositors. And the plotters are willing to murder to keep that fact secret. We're supposed to find high drama in the bullpit frenzy of the money brokers, and in the romance between Kris and his depositor-lover Fonda. Unfortunately, we never fully understand the plot. (One of Kristofferson's functions func-tions is to occasionally explain it to us. To his credit, he successfully navigates his way through speeches like, "Get me the maturity figures fig-ures on those Saudi Euro odd couple in f Interest rates as low as J, he dollars!") Quite illogically, the Arabs murder some of the people who stumble onto their scheme, but others they simply warn off. The love affair never comes to life. And, considering consider-ing this picture stars Jane "Economic Democracy" Fonda, it's weird that it plays up the glamorous, suffering rich their fancy dinners, lush suites, glittering glitter-ing clothes. It's like a mutiny, took place on the set and Ross Hunter (producer of such glossy soap-operas as "Airport") took over. In this kind of picture, a good character actor can steal the show. So you might watch for a little gem of a performance by Macon Mc-Calman, Mc-Calman, as a federal bank examiner whose guts are churning with guilty knowledge. know-ledge. The film also comes to life in a chilling climax as the world currencies go into meltdown, so to speak, and populations panic. Here, at least, the picture achieves its promise. I.A.E. actor auditions set The Intermountain Actors' Ensemble is holding auditions audi-tions for two of its upcoming productions, "The Real Story of Rumplestilskin" and Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew." "Rumplestiltskin" is an original play written by Utah resident Quint Bishop. Bishop will also direct the play, which will be presented in the Prospector Theatre the evenings of Feb. 11, 12 and 13 at 6 p.m. Bishop is looking for 10 adults to create the children's play. Auditions will be held in the Prospector Theatre at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 21 and Tuesday, Dec. 22. The play and its companion com-panion piece, "Richard the None," are the first in a series of children's theatre productions to be presented byiAE. The company has also 9.5 . Se habla Espanol. The right teacher can have you walking on air The cast and crew of "Peter Pan" were making nervous jokes Monday night about having Peter Foy in their presence at the Egyptian Egypt-ian Theatre. And no wonder. Foy is a theatre craftsman who has flown some of the greatest Peters (Mary Martin, Mar-tin, Sandy Duncan) and has worked with some of the most sinister Captain Hooks (Boris Karloff). But he does not consider himself a special-effects man or a technical expert. "The technical thing is a nuisance," he said. "I am basically an actor-writer." And the effects are valuable, he said, for their creativity. Foy was training the stage crew for the Park City Performances' production which opens this Thursday, the 17th. Forty years ago, stage "flying" was not as fluid as it is today. The actors were swung around in rigid, angular motions, like a released advance notice of auditions for Park City's first Shakespearean production, produc-tion, "The Taming of the Shrew." Tryouts are scheduled sche-duled for Monday, Jan. 18 and Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Prospector Theatre. Thea-tre. Ron Burnett will direct the production that offers parts for three women and 10 men. Burnett says actors are being asked to prepare a scene from the play or any other Shakespeare production produc-tion for the auditions. The play will be presented at the Prospector Theatre March 24 through April 3. For information on any of the IAE auditions, call Ron Burnett at 649-6208. Men and women of all ages and abilities interested in a learning theatrical . experience, exper-ience, are encouraged ,lto participate.1 " ' - construction crane. "The big difference I brought to it was the variety," he said. One of the first "Peter Pan" productions he worked on was a version with music by Leonard Bernstein. (Contrary (Con-trary to what you might think, the story has always had music, Foy said, going back to the original James Barrie play.) In that production, produc-tion, Boris Karloff was Captain Hook. "He could play lines lovably, and be horrible at the same time," said Foy The effervescent Peter Pan was played by Jean Arthur, who was in real life painfully shy. "If the audience didn't respond to her, she had no ability to fight back and win them over," he said. "Her voice would fade out." He worked with Mary Martin on the '50s version, the same one being staged by the Park City Performers. She played it like a star, someone set apart from the rest of the cast, he said. "Sandy Duncan, on the other hand, was more of a street urchin." He told the story of how Martin forgot to hook herself up to the wire one night, when she had to finish a swordf ight with Hook and fly off his ship. "Miss Martin," Foy said from back stage. . ."Miss Martin!. . ."MARY, YOU'RE NOT HOOKED UP!" He has various favorite Peter Pans, but he said his favorite Captain Hook was the late English actor Alas-tair Alas-tair Sim, noted for his great film portrayal of Scrooge. Boris Karloff, Cyril Rit-chard Rit-chard and Sim are heady competition for Rai French, who said this was his first lead. "I had my first big part in high school, but that was 35 years ago." His first acting in a long time was a church play last winter in Heber. That was followed by a role in a Promised Valley Playhouse production in Salt Lake, and , roles this summer in the Intermountain Actors' En-' En-' semble production of "The Fantasticks" and "Bye Bye Birdie." How should he play Captain Cap-tain Hook? "Don (Gomes) told me, 'Think about Liber-ace'," Liber-ace'," said French. Another important factor is that Hook is also Mr. Darling, the father of Wendy, Michael, and John. "There are some things that tie them together," to-gether," French said. "They're both prissy, they use a few of same phrases." While French labored on the part, the stage was swarming with people dressed dress-ed as Indians, chickens and bears. It looked like a bad day on Captain Kangaroo. "Don't mind the costume for Nana the dog," said a member of the crew. "We're going to get something later that doesn't look so much like Snoopy." All of this is old hat to Peter Foy, whose family has worked in the theater for 300-400 years. "My father was a comedian. He worked in circuses and traveling tent shows." Foy flew on stage at the age of 14, in a 1939 play called "Where the Rainbow Ends." "I was a seawitch." After a hitch in the Air Force, Foy started writing sketches, revue material and special material for singers. One of his sketches called for a lot of flying. The experts said, "It can't be done. You're asking stagehands stage-hands to work the effects in time to music." Foy proved it could be done. And he's been proving it ever since. His future projects include a stage production with Liberace, and a Broadway version of "The Little Prince," with Michael York. "Peter Pan" plays on Dec. 17 and 18 at 8 p.m., the 19th for a 2 p.m. matinee; the 23rd and 26th at 7 p.m.; the 27th at 2 p.m., and the 28th and 29th at 7 p.m. Prices are $5 for adult members of Park City Performances, ($6.50 for non-members), $3 for children under 12 belonging to PCP ($4.50 for non- members), and $4.50 for senior members, ($5.50 or non-members). |