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Show The Summer Chronicle, Thursday, July 17, 1975 Page Six ite the Bullet' starts with bang, ends in whimper by DAVID PROCTOR Chronicle Staff "Bite the Bullet" is a film that starts with a bang, ends with a whimper and covers so much ground in between one has to wonder exactly what Director Richard Brooks had in mind when he began the film. If he did have a clear concept to start, he lost it half-wathrough. If he was looking for one he never found it. is a good The basic plot-liny e - one- a turn-o- f theentury 700-mil- e horse race, endurance a news creating sponsored by would which bring newspaper, together a host of divergent is a concept for contestants-- it which Brooks, as writer of the film, must receive due credit. But between the concept and the finished script lies the wasteland of poorly executed ideas. "Bite the Bullet" ultimately must join the pile. The opening scenes are the film's strongest. As the contestants converge for the start of the race, each is identified with a cliched role for easy idenFor tification. introductory works well, device this purposes allows the never Brooks sadly, more than become characters to the cliches w e meet in the first 30 minutes. Sam Clayton (Gene Hackman) is the with a range-hanweakness for animals, lost children and lost causes. Miss Jones (Candice Bergen) is the with the heart of gold. Luke Matthews (James Coburn) is the happy-go-luckgambler with an eve for the good life. M ario Arteaga, "the Mexican," which Brooks clearly favors, quietly rounds out the top four riders. Vincent plays the "tough punk out to gain a reputation," Ben Johnson is "Mister," the venerable old Civil War vet out to win his last race after a life of second places and Ian Bannen completes the group as the rich, adventure-seekin40-is- h "Butch Cassidy," "They Shoot Horses Don't They?" and "National Velvet." d ex-hook- er y Jan-Micha- g Englishman. The material is there. The plot, the the stars, needed to put audiences on the edge of their seats and lumps in their throats. But Brooks lets it die on the table settings-everythi- ng by losing his grip and never allowing the cliches to rise from the paper into full blown characters and situations. Instead of the thriller the film starts out to be, we get bits of "The Wild Bunch." dust-in-the-mout- h ANNOUNCING UNION MOVIES SUMMER FLICKS ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S On the allegorical side, there is a clumsy swat at "winning as the American way" that never to become more than a manages mere play. Again, the material was there to pull it off. Brooks has no one but himself to blame for not making it happen. d After the rousing start of celebration, lusty ladies and exciting camera w ork, things move well enough until Ben Johnson dies. His. death scene is a strong one, filled with American-Westermacho and Hackman ruins it but honesty, dust-choke- n e miles, and the part Coburn plays is the same part he's played since "Our Man Flint," and the punk kid turns good guy, and Hack-ma- n is tempted to turn greedy and win the race but can't do it everybody learns the lesson of fair play... well, it becomes a little taxing. Richard Brooks proved his ability as a director with "In Cold Blood" and much of "Bite the Bullet" restates that ability. His failure is in his cliche-riddlescreen play and it is that which dooms the film. We are told one no that repeatedly remembers a loser. "Bite the manages to stay stunningly Bullet" will not be long beautiful through the entire 700 remembered. d w New theatre group gives fresh display of 'The Fantastiks' by H. CHRIS SORENSEN Chronicle staff Salt Lake has yet another theater group to its credit with the opening of "The Fantastiks" by the American Players Theater at the Salt Palace Little Theater. The company is both fresh and experienced, which is the perfect combination for a show like "Fantastiks." Veterans like Robert Peterson and Coleman Drake Creel, Jr. combine with younger talents like Pam Groo and Gary Maskarinec to give a reality to the contrast of innocence with experience that is the main theme of the show. The characterization of Matt (Maskarinec) plays well against the worldly mature El Galo (Peterson) in many ways, but most importantly because Peterson sounds mature and worldly and Maskarinec boyish and dreamy. Pam Groo does an excellent job of portraying the girl Luisa, particularly in the way she is able to make a continued on page 7 : ji ' I K- - ii ' 1 c V 1 Robert Peterson, who is playing El Galo in "The Fantastiks" signs autographs following his i y JULY 18 & 19 UNION THEATRE 7 and 9:30 p.m. - TdYLOR I t with student I.D. lLi V SUMMER UNION MOVIES 7 and 9:30 p.m. Union Theatre i i I I I 1 CONFESS July 18 and 19 I CLASS OF '44 July 25 and 26 PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT Aug. 1 and 2 J ' I I V '1 P iummer of 'IE A MURDERER CONFESSES TO A PRIEST- STARRING MONGOMERY CLIFT 1 - United Concerts Presents ICOMFESS $1 with the killing line, "I didnt even know his name." It's down hill from there. On the cinematic side Brooks is more successful. His colors are the emphasize spare and bleakness of :he terrain and the unglamorous side of western life. No one dresses in Bonanza-stylStetsons or hand tooled leather. His photography of the desert scenes is remarkable for the starkness he achieves, almost as if he were filming in black and white. But when the Hooker-starts to go bad but realizes the error of her ways and . Salt Palace Saturday July 26, 8 P.M. tickets $4.50, 5.50, 6.50 available at: Salt Palace, Z.C.M.I., Tape Head, Toad Tape |