Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1962)

IS OSCAR DOING HIS JOH? (Continued from Page 17) panned the program or ignored it altogether. It fact, even some of filmdom's staunchest supporters among the newspaper scribes took the movie colony to task for what a majority termed a dull display of hardware that lacked glamour and excitement. Typical of the criticism were these comments by syndicated columnist Bob Williams: "More than two hours after the start, the program ached for something to jolt it from the doldrums. Every year, I find myself apologizing for the lumbering Academy Awards ritual, contending that its built-in suspense is sufficient to overcome the stilted ceremony. But this year the affair generated only boredom." Unfortunately, instead of a promotional pitch for moviegoing, there was emcee Bob Hope. Undoubtedly the best man for the job, Hope in the past few shows has, through his barbed remarks, become something of a detriment to industry's good name. This year the comic delivered a particularly deleterious blow to a cinema sore spot: adult films. Currently in the throes of maturity, but, at the same time, forced to proceed carefully by would-be censors, the movie business must have groaned collectively when Hope noted that children now go to see films about subjects they used to get slapped for mentioning before. Also: "When a picture receives a seal of approval the director says, 'Where have we failed?' " It is obvious where his writers have failed, but the question is, how to go about letting them know. Maybe, as one movieman suggested, it is time to deliver this ultimatum to the Academy: "Don't continue to misuse the greatest billboard in the world. If you want to make Oscar night an entertaining, exciting pitch for going out to a movie, drop some of the extra weight and build up the dramatic and showmanship muscles of the production. If you just want to present awards, take it off the air and have a banquet." As for the honors, themselves, dominated by "West Side Story's" 10 Oscars, they clearly underscored two current filmic trends: a growing respect among Academy members for independentlyproduced product as against studiooriented films, and a new respect for foreign talent in Hollywood. Of the six top awards — best picture, best actor and actress, best supporting actor and actress and best director — every one went to a film of truly independent origin. Mirisch Pictures' "West Side Story", turned out for SCH ELL— BEST ACTOR LOREN— BEST ACTRESS release by United Artists, won out for top prize; Maximilian Schell( "Judgment at Nuremberg") and Sophia Loren ("Two Women") both gained Oscars for lead roles in independently-produced pictures. Ditto supporting talent George Chakiris and Rita Moreno, both of "West Side." Directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, who guided the famous musical, rounded out the list of non-major studio winners. Significantly, "The Hustler," a 20th-Fox entry, considered by artistic devotees to be a gem from all standpoints — acting, directing, writing — failed to walk off with a single important honor. Likewise, foreign-born Schell and Miss Loren copped top acting laurels, the tempestuous Italian beauty becoming the first woman to earn best actress for a role in an import. Oscar continues to be the movie gentleman most widely discussed by the "outside" world, but the feeling presists that he might do the industry a real service by speaking up for his bosses in a more forceful way. "QucteJ "from thc ncw york critics FOREVER MY LOVE (Paramount) ". . . The cold facts in a picture brimming with warm wholesomeness and almost overwhelming sweetness are that the performances range from feeble to broad and the dubbed, kindergarten dialogue is plain ludicrous . . . Adults can expect to squirm and gape alternately at an exquisite, genteel juggernaut moving at a royal snail's pace . . ." NEW YORK TIMES (Thompson) ". . . The lack of synchronization of lips to voices is rather disturbing in close-ups . . . The dialogue as well as the tone of the film is in the old-fashioned manner . . . May be recommended to anyone wanting a respite from the grimmer standards set by recent pictures, except that the respite is not brief . . ." HERALD TRIBUNE (Beckley) ". . . Plushly mounted but overlong and very slowly paced costume drama of 19th Century court life . . ." JOURNAL-AMERICAN (Pelswick). ". . . Gorgeous panoply of color, costume and scenery . . . The experience is a long one, but should not fail to please all Americans who, in their heart of hearts, miss the pomp of royalty and the circumstance of true love which conquers . . ." POST (Winsten) ". . . Some of us may choke occasionally on its heavy sweetness, but it strives only to be innocently coy and sentimental . . ." WORLD TELEGRAM AND SUN (Cook) ". . . Old-timers should be tremulously affected . . . Only passably dubbed into English . . ." N. Y. MIRROR (Gilbert) EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (Columbia) ". . . Once the film begins to roll, the excitement won't give you time to bother about minor implausibilities . . . The most exciting thing of its kind to come along in many a moon . . ." HERALD TRIBUNE (Beckley) "... A straight exercise in melodramatics, a calculated build-up of menace, mystery and suspense . . . For those who have not become exhausted with such fare on the television screen, there should be a few starts of goose pimples and a couple of gasps of astonishment in this film . . ." N. Y. TIMES (Crowther) "... A devilish demonstration of trickery in fright and suspense that should scare people half out of their wits . . ." WORLD TELEGRAM AND SUN (Cook) "... A pretty good dangler, certainly better, much more sensational cinematographically than the average . . ." POST (Winsten) ". . . As directed by Blake Edwards, the script frequently goes off on some not too relevant detours which tend to slow up and prolong the action, but for the most part it moves well . . ." JOURNAL-AMERICAN (Pelswick) Page 18 Film BULLETIN April 16, 1962