Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 6, 1970)

Page 6 CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY February 6, 1970 movie reviews They Shoot Horses, Don't They? In 1935, Horace McCoy wrote a novel entitled They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? which told the story of an exhausing dance marathon and the innocent, but extremely pathetic, participants who desperately sought to win the big game. Many critics of the book thought that it would make the ideal motion picture. Director Sydney Pollack and Robert E. Thompson, who adapted McCoy’s novel, have made a truly remarkable motion picture, one that is certain to be an Oscar candidate. For approximately two hours, we watch several hundred characters try to win $1,500 by staying on their feet for over one month. Many hope to be discovered by Hollywood, many are only in it for the food and shelter, but all want the big money. The audience pays to watch the suffering, and it certainly gets its moneys worth. Jane Fonda, Red Buttons, Susannah York and Bonnie Bedelia are marvellous in their roles as the kids who are trying to make the easy money. Gig Young, as the big promoter, definitely deserves an award for his portrayal of the promoter, or better still, the exploiter, who urges the weary, suffering victims of his master plan on to greater degrees of pain. Everyone who had anything to do with They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? should be congratulated. They have made an entertaining yet nerve-wracking movie, a movie which make take place yesterday, but is so much about today. It’s deserving of every praise it gets! KS Oi = she Z (He Lives) The Greek/French production Z, directed by Costa Gravas, has been described as “the most absorbing suspense thriller of the year”, “great story-telling”, “a work of art” and “enough intrigue and excitement to eclipse James Bond”. John Kenneth Galbraith has declared Z “not one, but two films, each more remarkable than the other”. The film is just that — entertainment, as well as insight. Those who go to the film to be entertained will discover one of the most exciting political thrillers put on the screen. The story is based on actual fact and it is so disturbing, that it is banned in the country in which the original incident took place. Z means “HE LIVES”, and the “HE” refers to a Greek political’ figure who fought for freedom and peace but who was silenced forever by his government. Yves Montand brilliantly portrays this man who could not make enough people understood that maybe his way was right. As in all similar situations, much controversy arises, enough in fact to start people thinking about their circumstance. Jean-Louis Trintignant, plays a magistrate who is not expected, by his government, to change his mind. The problem is that he realizes who is right and he must see that justice remains. For those people who care and worry about their freedom, Z will speak for them. For those people who don’t think that freedom is actually fought and died for, Z will enlighten them. Z should be seen by everyone, everywhere. It also speaks about yesterday, in behalf of forever. that the NFB “is not threatened NFB cutback not so severe State Secretary Gerard Pelletier has indicated that the layoffs of personnel at the National Film Board resulting from the government’s austerity program will not be as severe as first reported. | Basing his conclusions on a study of already-accomplished personnel cutbacks made by government representative Andre Saumier, Pelletier told the House of Commons with imminent paralysis as certain people have been given to understand during the past few weeks.” He insisted that the film board’s “vital creative staff will be maintained and emerge stronger from its present crisis.” In his report, however, Saumier sharply criticized both the government and the NFB management. He felt very strongly that each contributed greatly to the existing crisis. Saumier noted that the government bears a measure of responsibilty for not having filled the post of film board chairman from March, 1966, through July, 1967. He also felt that “a comprehensive policy with regard to information or cultural affairs” was lacking. The report stated that the NFB management is a “largely unseasoned team”, operating from Montreal and uninformed on government plans and problems peculiar to film production and distribution. “The hostile reaction of the NFB to the cutbacks was predictable”, the report observed. A union representing NFB employees called the report “meaningless”’. It did not understand how a government official could possibly conduct an impartial inquiry into a union/government dispute. The union said that it had not approved the choice of Saumier and that it refused to take part in the inquiry. US critics are pro NFB feature Prologue, a new National Film Board feature film directed by Robin Spry, received rave reviews from the majority of critics following its world premiere in New York on January 29. The film, which delves into the turmoil among today’s youth was given a three-star rating by Kathleen Carrol of the Daily News, “it has the frankness of the New Left radicals, the off-hand warmth of the flower people and is so pleasantly open that for once the alienation of these young people seems clear. Writing in the New York Post, Archer Winsten praised the footage of the riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago and said that ‘“‘as a straight-forward view of the longhair protesters and idealists, Prologue can be placed in the record of our times as an Exhibit A”, One of the warmest reviews came from Brad Darrach in Life’s new movie magazine. He _ described Prologue as a “beautifully open movie that tunes in on Yippies and Hippies, the power and the flower people of the New Left and gives us a discriminating sense of where their heads are at. Director Spry sees his generation steadily and sees it whole. Spry faults his contemporaries for making a cult of experience, but he likes their nerve because he believes that under the new hair-do, they are trying a new head-do.” Although National Film Board premieres are rare in the United States, Prologue is slated to open in Canada at Toronto’s Odeon Coronet Theatre on Feb. 20. Variety Club of Toronto Tent 28 Weekly Newsletter Toronto’s Variety Club, Tent 28, is attempting to bring “variety” into its membership program. Meeting at the Colonnade, entertaining parties with the Variety Trio have been planned for Saturday evenings, Tuesday is poker night and Thursday are devoted to gin rummy fans. An art auction will soon be announced. A special Valentine’s Day party has been planned for February 14. Any evening, Monday to Friday, the club is available for private parties. For information or suggestions, you are advised to call Mike Peckan. American International (Continued from Page 3) pal photography has already been completed on 17 of these films on the new program and four features are currently in pre-production, Nicholson and Arkoff reported. “We are aware,” said the AIP heads, “that due to exorbitant overhead and excessive negative cost investment, some film companies have taken steps to divest themselves of studio properties,. curtail production of motion pictures, trim personnel and revise their policies and _ procedures. American International has no intention of changing its policy nor does it contemplate any retrenchment moves,” they declared. “It is now obvious that American International’s policies and projections have been the right ones all along,” said the company chiefs. “Through judicious cost controls in supplying a constant and uninterrupted flow of diversified entertainment to the nation’s screens, AIP has enjoyed steady increase in revenue and earnings over the past 16 years with resultant corporate and physical expansion.” In American International’s record releasing program through September of 1970, the company will distribute from one to four feature film attractions a month to the nation’s theatres. Launching the new year releases in January will be The Dunwich Horror and The Savage Wild, followed by Bloody Mama, Horror House, The Crimson Cult, Cycle Savages, Witchcraft °70, Tough Time For Bachelors, Wedding Night, Gas! Or It Became Neces sary To Destroy The World In Order To Save It, Edgar Allen Poe’s Cry of the Banshee, A Bullet For Pretty Boy and Mafia. Canadian distributor for AIP is Astral Films Ltd.