Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1963)

"The Leopard" SutiK&te RcxtitQ © O Plus Rating is strictly for art and select class houses, Pictorially handsome, but dramatically too obscure and slow-paced for tastes of average filmgoer. Lancaster provides marquee power, but play-off will be limited. While a somewhat longer version of this film won the best picture award at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, there will be much to overcome in selling its merits to the American public. Burt Lancaster gives a powerful, beautifully shaded performance, one of the finest of his career — but unless one has read the Guiseppe di Lampedusa novel on which the film is based, the story never becomes clear and, eventually, the spectator's attention will wander away from the images on screen. Pictorially, "The Leopard" is superb, but the pace is slow, very slow. Where audiences can accept this — for two hours and 45 minutes — it stands a chance of achieving some success, but it must be concluded that this will be limited to houses and select class situations. Certainly the names of Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, director Luchino Visconti ("Rocco And His Brothers"), and the reputation of the novel, will carry some weight with discriminating moviegoers. This Titanus production, produced by Goffredo Lombardo and released by 20th Century-Fox, was photographed in Cinemascope and DeLuxe color on location in Sicily. Landscapes, village slums and princely villas are captured as if by an artist's master strokes. However, director Visconti, as if overcome by nostalgia, appears more interested in preserving and extending these atmospheric touches than in presenting a human drama. With the exception of Lancaster, who has the only really large role, the players are so vague as to be almost anonymous. The screenplay by Visconti, Suso Cecchi D'Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, and Enrico Medioli covers a transitional period in Italian history, the 1860's, the time of the Aribaldi uprising and the unification of Italy. At the forefront is middle-aged Prince Fabrizio (Lancaster), called 't'he Leopard" after the beast on the family coat of arms. The prince senses the social change, but is reluctant to come to terms with it. When his beloved nephew (Delon) becomes infatuated with a low-born, but wealthy commoner (Miss Cardinale), Lancaster, impressed by the girl's dowry, arranges a marriage between the two. At a fashionable ball, he reluctantly consents to dance with his nephew's bride and then realizes how complete is the decline of the aristocracy. Afterwards, the Prince walks home alone, musing over a way of life that is past and a future that is beyond his understanding. 20th Century-Fox. 165 minutes. Burt Lancaster. Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale. Produced by Goffredo Lombardo. Directed by Luchino Visconti. "Rampage" SdtUtCte 1&tftH$ © O Plus Actionful melodrama about conflict between two big game hunters over a beast and a beauty. Mitchum, Technicolor add boxoffice values. This Seven Arts production for Warner Bros., in Technicolor, shapes up as a fair-plus attraction in the general market. Devotees of robust, outdoor action fare will be most pleased. The taut climax, in which a huge, deadly jungle cat terrorizes a West German city, and some good jungle footage should hold the interest of the male contingent and particularly delight the youngsters. Warners' promotion problem is to make "Rampage" seem appealing to the fern trade. Robert Mitchum provides some marquee value, and displays his virility in barehanded battles with jungle beasts. He also takes on gun-toting Jack Hawkins in a fight for the love of Lisa Martinelli. Phil Karlson's direction gets the most out of the thrill elements, but the screenplay by Robert I. Holt and Marguerite Roberts, adapted from Alan Caillou's novel, wastes too much footage on a trite love triangle that retards the pace, especially in the early going. Producer William Fadiman found some exciting locales in Hawaii and San Diego and managed to make them simulate the places in Malaya and West Germany where the story takes place. Mitchum, a trapper of wild animals, is hired by a zoo to capture the elusive, Enchantress", a rare species of combination tiger-leopard. He is to be accompanied by biggame hunter Jack Hawkins and the latter's girl friend, Elsa Martinelli. Before the safari starts, Mitchum and Hawkins spar over Miss Martinelli's favors. In the jungle, guide Sabu leads them to the "Enchantress", and Hawkins, to prove his virility, throws himself into a cave with the beast. Mitchum rescues Hawkins and traps the animal. On the train enroute to the zoo, a demented Hawkins frees the beast from its cage, expecting it to kill Mitchum. Instead, the animal leaps from the train and rampages a city. Mitchum and Miss Martinelli stalk the beast, and Hawkins, armed with a high-powered rifle, hunts Mitchum. In the end, the animal devours Hawkins, Miss Martinelli snags the beast, and Mitchum bags himself a bride. Warner Bros. 98 minutes. Robert Mitchum, Elsa Martinelli, Jack Hawkins. Produced by William Fadiman. Directed by Phil Karlson. "Wall of Noise" i Lurid, slow-moving meller of illicit romance and race horses. Strictly for the lower slot and drive-ins. A turgid melodrama, mixing equal portions of lurid motel romance and horseracing, this Warner release will elicit little more than yawns from most audiences. An unpleasant moral tone, the lack of excitement in the racing scenes and dull blackand-white photography — not to mention a vague, meaningless title — are among the adverse factors that will limit its audience appeal. The cast offers mild marquee value, but not sufficient to raise its booking prospects above the second-feature level. "Wall of Noise" will fare best in the drive-in market. Suzanne Pleshette is saddled with a hopeless other-woman role, while Ty Hardin, who apparently could love either Miss Pleshette or Dorothy Provine, loved he not his horses more, is surly and unconvincing. Miss Provine and Ralph Meeker fare comparatively well in their small roles. Richard Wilson's direction is formless and much too leisurely paced. The repetitious screenplay by Joseph Landon, who also produced, opens with Hardin leaving the bed of his fiance (Miss Provine) to ready his horse for a big race. He tells her to bet their combined savings on the nag, and after she fails to do so, he berates her (even though the horse was disqualified), and she walks out on him. He soon meets sultry Miss Pleshette, the unhappy wife of a caster), called "the Leopard" after the beast on the family coat a furtive affair, with each constantly dropping motel keys in the other's hand. When Miss Pleshette finally tells Hardin that he must choose between her and his horses, she finds herself left with her husband. Meanwhile, Miss Provine, who now regrets having walked out on her lover, tries to help him out of a financial jam by offering to sleep with lecherous Simon Oakland if he will mark Hardin's loan paid-in-full. Oakland becomes so overexcited in his effort to rush his lovely victim to a motel that he drops dead of a heart attack. Miss Provine lifts the loan receipt from the dead man's pocket and returns to Hardin. Warner Bros. 112 minutes. Suzanne Pleshette, Ty Hardin, Dorothy Provine, Ralph Meeker. Produced by Joseph Landon. Directed by Richard Wilson. Page 18 Film BULLETIN August 19, 1963