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Show Me! WroirM Park City News Thursday, March 3, 1983 Page B5 bv Iliek Brough lords' plays to both sides of issue r x A Classic Recommended Good double-feature double-feature material Time-killer For masochists l on'y V2 The Lords of Discipline American movies at the present time are carrying on a lovehate affair with the ideas of military life. Unfortunately, Unfor-tunately, the pictures we've seen so far don't express this tragic ambiguity. Mostly, they're just confused. Last year, we had "Taps," the story of a group of teen-aged teen-aged military cadets who seized their school rather than see it closed by the owners of the institute. The message was intended to point out the dangers of raising our young in a cocoon-like atmosphere of unrealistic military ideals. Youngsters were killed in the movie. The military values rang hollow. But the film's message backfired. Even if they were misguided, cadet leader Tim Hutton and his mentor, George C. Scott, attracted sympathy for their idealism. And the authorities on the outside looked more bellicose and militaristic than the kids, hastily threatening the cadets with hordes of police cars, tanks, and national guardsmen. This year's summer hit, "Officer and A Gentleman," has the same double message. The Air Force officers' of-ficers' training base is supposed sup-posed to drill discipline and honor into its recruits. But it does nothing to change the cynical sex games practiced between the male officers and the "Puget Sound debs." And the military tradition is rigidly blind. Sid Worley (David Keith) doesn't really want an officer's commission. com-mission. His family pushed him into the training. But he pursues it so far that by the time he finds the false end of the rainbow, he's left with no identity and only self-destruction self-destruction as a way out. On the other hand, we're supposed to believe the training gives a purpose to the loner, Richard Gere. Love may lift him up where he belongs, but the climactic thrashing from Sergeant Lou Gossett hits him where he lives. At the end, he gets both love and an identity Trfivfia Tesit within an institution. "The Lords of Discipline" has a contradiction, too. It is both expose and affirmation. This is another story set in a military academy, here, in the early '60s. And David Keith, ironically, is the film's central character a survivor who manages to have integrity too. Keith plays senior cadet Will McLean, who discovers a secret that threatens everything he ever learned at Carolina Military Institute. In-stitute. For the first time, the new batch of recruits includes in-cludes a black man, Pearce (Mark Breland) Will's mentor, men-tor, the kindly colonel called "The Bear" (Robert Prosky), assigns him to shield the black from more than his share of hazing. But the job is tougher than Will expects. He uncovers The Ten, an elite fascist society of students who weed out the undesirables through terrorist tactics like driving the pudgy Poteete (Malcolm Danare) to suicide, sui-cide, or inflicting torture on Pearce. The script doesn't have too many black or white characters. charac-ters. But you're left to ask, are its people meant to be complex, or just contrary? The general at the institute (G.D. Spradlin) is a villain, but gets a moment of sympathy sym-pathy when his son dies. Will's roommates help him fight The Ten, out of personal per-sonal loyalty rather than idealism. And it's a little hard to figure The Bear, who is a racist, but still determined deter-mined to protect any of his "lambs," regardless of their race. There are not many good answers for why the cherished military traditions in the film have congealed into fascism. We see plenty of hints that the school isn't dedicated to a U.S. military tradition. Confederate flags hang on the walls and rebel marching songs are played on the parade ground. But this looks more like sentimentality sen-timentality than subversion. We see a lot of hazing. And the heroes even interrogate one of the villains by using a method The Ten would be proud of tying the guy to railroad tracks before an oncoming on-coming train. There are no disquieting hints that this kind of activity is only a shade different from the brutality of The Ten. "Lords of Discipline" plays to both sides of opinion without much real feeling for those who either hate or value the military. In this, we can only say it is not an original sin. Jacques Brel is still alive and well Park City's Intermountain Actors Ensemble will once again present the musical revue, "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris," in the Kimball Art Center's Main Gallery March 1 1, 12, 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. According to Director Ron Burnett, "This show is a fast-paced look at life and love through the eyes of Flemish poet Jacques Brel." The production stars Barbra Bramble, Curt Graff, Roxanne Shapiro and Kim Balou. Tickets for the production are $5 for adults, $4.50 for Kimball Art Center members, and $3 for students, children and senior citizens. Tickets will be on salt at the Kimball Art Center, or persons can make reservations reser-vations by calling Intermountain Actors Ensemble at 649-6208. Each performance will be preceded by a wine reception at 7:30 p.m. ar City Village Ice Seating Center Kow Open! Located at Park City Ski Area Offering ice skating classes Register Now! Classes for all ages and abilities Beginning February 21, 1983 Open for Public Skating from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Skate Rental Skate Sharpening Private Instruction Group lee Rental Broom Ball n ft J For more information call 649-01 9ior 649-3803 f - John Vrabel Vrabel wins again John Vrabel showed us last week his F. Scott Fitzgerald and other elements of trivial culture. John correctly answered that Jay Gatsby's pet name for his friend Nick was "Old Sport." But this wasn't enough to win a sandwich from the Main Street Deli. He also knew that the late '60s movie star in our quiz was Michael J. Pollard; and that the large Mountain Fuel advertisement was on Page B7. This week, the trivia world celebrated the last episode of MASH. The show will never die, of course, as long as there are reruns. So we offer the following questions in that spirit. If you've got the answers, phone the Park City Newspaper at 649-9014 or come to our offices at 419 Main Street. 1. What was the name of Hotlips Houlihan's husband? 2. What MASH regular played two different characters during the run of the series? 3. Name the new search-and-rescue dog at ParkWest. Ann-Margret films at Salt Lake Library Ann-Margret started as a sex symbol in the early 60s, but she has survived the years to emerge as a serious actress. The Salt Lake City Library has assembled some of her most famous films for its March film festival. Each movie plays twice on Fridays. On March 4, Ann-Margret plays a seductive 18th-century 18th-century lady in the 1977 farce "Joseph Andrews," based on the Henry Fielding novel. The director is Tony Richardson, who shaped another Fielding novel, "Tom Jones," into an Oscar-winning movie. "Pocketful of Miracles" (March 11) is a sentimental 1961 Frank Capra tale from a Damon Runyon story. Here, our heroine is a young girl, educated abroad for many years, who " is coming home to meet her aristocractic mother (Bette Davis). Actually, her mother is a Bowery character named Apple Annie. But to save face, a gaggle of gangster friends (including Glenn Ford and Peter Falk) stages an elaborate masquerade to turn her into a lady overnight. The next film, on March 18, is "State Fair," one of the most famous pasteurized youth films of the early 1960s. The romantic pairs include farm boy Pat Boone and singer Ann-margret; farm girl Pamela Tiffin and reporter Bobby Darin; and farmer Tom Ewell and his prize hog. "Bye Bye Birdie" (March 25) is the famous musical about an Elvis-like rock star, drafted into the army, and the chaos caused by his farewell appearance. Margret is the girl who gets the chance to kiss him good-bye, and her co-stars include Paul Lynde as her father, and Dick Van Dyke and Janet Leigh, as the rocker's agents. All the films play at 2 p.m. (for 25 cents admission) and 7 p.m. (for 50 cents admission). The library is located at 209 E. 500 So. For further information, call 363-5733. Location ... Quality ... Convenience ... Prestige ... 4U 5 ' , L 3-bedroom condominiums at Silver Lake visit our model open 12-6 p.m. daily or call your favorite broker, for information telephone 649-3995 or 649-1200. Deer Valley ... a place for you Bo X lira. DEER VALLEY ujlfa tiB,ilfciritifniiirffilii lfim Hi.i.iftiL Mi. tk. illti..iwlftii lfiiii'1fni'-TiArTii-i-rTTr lf- n l4im 1. 1" i ir ti i -im i iw.ianifrMi i 1 i 1 I i |