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Show Page Bl WW MwJz4?vMzsW mmmmmBmmmm wis - L: tin -fSr v?Kh- - ft) V ' J'M X l -I t er'ivy - fS;f 'TCI--? ( ' r V f . , i WtW ' " ' v 1 " '! ,y ":Mt ; - - '-x-Z' ; J Four desperate East Germans race against time to plan an escape-via-balloon before the authorities discover them. The stars of Disney's "Night Crossing" are (left to right) Jane Alexander, Glynnis O'Connor, Beau Bridges and John Hurt. (Ml?nO(Bg byRickBrough A Classic - Recommended Good double- , feature material Time-killer For masochists . only Night Crossing The story of two East German families escaping over the border via balloon in 1979 looms out of the headlines as a sure-fire adventure. And once the plot gets rolling, director Delbert Mann capably develops it to knuckle-grinding suspense. But the film is loaded down with plodding, unbelievable characters. The usual Hollywood absurdities ab-surdities glare mightily in this real-life story. None of the stars even attempts to speak in the right accents, and you're left to wonder if the heroes are really East Germans, or the descendants descen-dants of a tour group maybe stranded behind the Iron Curtain in the 1950s. The good acting moments are rationed. The best goes to John Hurt who, after the first escape attempt flops, shakenly meditates on the first major failure of his life to wife Jane Alexander and plucky son Doug McKeon. There's little interest, however, how-ever, in the other relationshipsbetween relation-shipsbetween Beau Bridges Brid-ges and his wife (Glynnis O'Connor), who opposes the escape plan; or with Alexander Alexan-der and her beloved mother, who will be left behind the Curtain. The script subtly evokes the stifling atmosphere beneath be-neath the mundane surface, where food supplies are short, and students on after-school after-school assignments are likely circulating propaganda propa-ganda petitions. It sets up the audience to cheer for the families as they battle bad weather, limited gas supplies, sup-plies, and snoopy neighbors to slip over the booby-trapped booby-trapped border zone before a wily Communist officer (Klaus Lowitsch) catches up to them. It's unfortunate this unique triumph of the human spirit looks so much like a routine suspenser. Vz They all laughed feter Bogdanovich starts with two private detectives (Ben Gazzara, John Ritter) who fall in love with the women they've been assigned to tail by their husbands. And he expands the picture until you find that everybody around them including their friends, family, coworkers co-workers is scamming off a little romance in their own way. The movie is stocked for all vintages of romance. There's the whiskey-sour affair between Gazzara and Audrey Hepburn, and the draught beer aura suggested by characters like Gazzara 's hairy-hippie colleague (Blaine Novak) and the lady cabbie (Janis Hansen) who pops into the movie with almost magical timing. (Her relaxed sexuality behind the wheel suggests she could ooze right out of her clothes and through the floorboards.) floor-boards.) Or you might prefer the chocolate-malted naivete of the romance between Ritter and his dreamy blonde, Dorothy Stratten. But, to cut the analogy short, some drinks are more watered down than others. One of the picture's aggravationsand aggrava-tionsand one of its charms is that the love affairs don't run at the same speed. Bogdanovich follows some throughout the picture, but barely hints at what others are up to. One player who seizes the opportunity to scene-steal is Collene Camp, as a sardonic, nutty, over-weight-in-the-rump country singer. (The best bit in the movie is her offer to touch-massage touch-massage John Ritter. ("It'll make you feel like a cloud in pants," she promises.) The saddest irony is that the tragically-murdered Dorothy Stratten evidences no personality at all in the film. (Was she killed before completion?) A grief-stricken grief-stricken Bogdanovich has purportedly seen the film as her testament. But she's only a dream object here seen from afar and pursued with pratfalls by John Ritter, who, in glasses and five-o'clock five-o'clock shadow, somewhat suggests Bogdanovich. Project adjacent to P.C. FOR SALE Approved 12 unit condominium complex. For information call Gary Knudson, 649-9313 or 1-531-731 7. Discount the cruel tricks of fate, however, and "They All Laughed" is a welcome end to Bogdanovich's dry spell. Dial M for Murder Or maybe that "M" stands for muddy. Alfred Hitchcock's Hitch-cock's cat-and-mouse murder mur-der movie looks like a grimy window. Course, maybe this reviewer had the glasses on backwards. You have two choices. Either make sure you've got your glasses on right, or watch the film on television. This excellent precursor of the "Columbo"-style detective detec-tive story is worth the wait. The story is first, a murder plot. (Ray Milland is a jealous husband who dispatches dis-patches a killer after his wife); then it's a back-up plot (the wife kills the assassin instead, and Mil-land Mil-land must quickly arrange evidence to convict her of murder); and finally, it's a counter-plot as a wily old Scotland Yard inspector traps Milland. The film, adapted from the Frederick Knott play, is stagy, but the fun comes from watching Milland construct con-struct his "fool-proof" murder mur-der scheme like a house of cards, and defend it from sallies by the other characters. charac-ters. His urbane villainy leads a uniformly fine cast, including includ-ing Grace Kelly, lovely and gripping, as the wife, John Williams, as the droll detective, detec-tive, and Anthony Dawson as Milland's old school chum, blackmailed into attempting the murder. Only Bob Cum-mings, Cum-mings, as Kelly's lover, seems staid. Hitchcock must have seemed a natural for 3D. with his fondness for swooping, swoop-ing, floating, or making some trivial objects (a glove or handbag) suddenly loom forward as the pivot the whole plot turns on. Added to Hitchcock's artistry, the process pro-cess seems intrusive and unnecessary like installing Dolby speakers for the back rows of a live concert. 1 2 Private Lessons A horny-teenager flick which is obviously aimed at a younger age than its R rating allows. The film's TV ad tells the 14- and 15-year olds "What happened to him should happen to you!" But it probably won't happen, unless, like Philly (Eric Brown) you're a rich Jewish kid who's been left on the family estate for the summer with a surly chauffeur chauf-feur (Howard Hesseman) and a teasing French housekeeper house-keeper (Sylvie Kristal). Kristal encourages Phillv's advances from dress-peeking up to bathing together which usually has him stammering stam-mering and bugging his eyes to beat the band. After every adventure, he runs off to tell his fat, leering buddy (Patrick (Pat-rick Piccaninni) what's happened. hap-pened. After this happens for the 10th or 11th time, the movie begins to lose its buzz. Aside from the heavy breathing, the movie throws in a stupid sub-plot about Hesseman trying to extort money from Philly. Most of the film, however, is devoted to the male puberty daydream day-dream that a willing, even eager older women is prepared pre-pared to lead us through the ropes of sexual initiation. Like Philly, you too can become a Junior League cock-of-the-walk in one summer. sum-mer. Kristal and young Mr. Brown keep a straight face through all this. But Hesseman Hesse-man looks embarassed enough for everybody. Resort Thursday, February 25, 1982 Now playing at the Holiday Vijjage Cinemas: , '2 Taps . ' l2 Absence of Malice and The Seduction 3 t fdSir 1 J' fatm!? At the LETTERHEADS BUSINESS CARDS FLYERS BROCHURES FORMS POSTERS ADVERTISING PMT A DO ESETTING DESIGN BUSINESS CARDS BROCHURES FORMS FLYERS LETTERHEADS POSTERS ADVERTISING LABELS LOGOS MAILERS PMTS TYPESETTING DESIGN R I N T I N CsiNc LETTERHEADS BUSINESS CARDS FLYERS BROCHURES FORMS POSTERS ADVERTISING LABELS LOGOS MAILERS PMTS TYPESETTING DESIGN FLYERS BROCHURE 6 4 9 - 9 0 1 4, ERHEADS POSTERS MAILERS PMTS ADVERTISING DESIGN LOGOS LABELS TYPESETTING ATSILVERSPRINGS Xf, SPACIOUS FLOOR PLANS-SOME WITH LOFTS EUROPEAN STYLE ALFONO CABINETS G.E. APPLIANCES INCLUDING REFRIGERATOR REDWOOD DECKS 2 FIREPLACES, ONE IN MASTER BEDROOM, ONE IN LIVING AREA 2 CAR GARAGE WITH AUTOMATIC OPENER PRICED FROM: $128,000 FINANCING AVAILABLE DEVELOPED BY: HUNTERCHAMBERS PHONE: 649-9380 Models Restaurant Seafood Beef Prime rib, seafood, steaks and oyster bar. Serving dinner nightly from 5:00 Resort Underground parking. now open 649-7778 |