Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1963)

r our ror lexas %U4iH€44, IZattH? GOO Sinatra and Martin feudin' and fussin' in bit of shallow nonsense. Strictly for the escapist-minded trade. In color. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, feudin', fussin', and fightin' their way across the wild, wild west, provide their devoted fans with the kind of nonsense that seems to satisfy escapist-minded filmgoers. This Warner Bros, release has all the expected ingredients: comedy, adventure, fisticuffs, scenic glories, and the beauteous forms of Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress. Robert Aldrich's sumptuous Technicolor production, which he directed, also includes bits of completely irrelevant fun by The Three Stooges and Arthur Godfrey. Discriminating viewers, however, are likely to balk at the level of humor, much of it very, very tired, and at the "inside" jokes which tend to slow down the proceedings. The screenplay by Aldrich and Teddi Sherman, a whacky bit of nonsense, casts Sinatra as a gunslinging gambler, Martin as a gambling gunslinger. The two men find $100,000 hidden in a secret compartment of an overturned stagecoach and, rather than share the loot, each tries to cheat the other of it. Martin finally makes off with the money and heads for Galveston where he illogically saves Sinatra's life when evil banker and gunman Charles Bronson try to do him in. Meanwhile, the boys dally with the damsels, Sinatra with the amazonish Miss Ekberg, a lady barber ( !), and Martin with the svelte Miss Andress, a rifle-toting hellion who goes by the name of "Max." Miss Andress convinces Martin that he should transform her dilapidated riverboat into a gambling ship. On opening night, Sinatra and his buddies arrive to claim half ownership. A riotous free-for-all breaks out and then Buono's henchmen enter the fracas, determined to do away with the brawling heroes. Sinatra and Martin ally themselves, overcome their adversaries, and decide on a partnership and a double wedding. W rner Bros. 124 minutes. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anita Ekberg, Ursula Andress. Produced and directed by Robert Aldrich. "Ladyhug, Ladyhug" Perry team of "David and Lisa" fame have less success with this one. Mild art house entry. Frank and Eleanor Perry, the husband and wife team who created "David and Lisa," have come up with a downbeat civil defense story that figures to be only a mild art market entry. Individual sequences surge with power and the climax has a nerve-shattering intensity, but, on the whole, this United Artists release, more pacifist polemic than drama, is too uneven and verbose to win general market bookings, except, perhaps, in special class houses. Effectiveness often is vitiated by a disturbing inadequacy in casting and by producer-director Perry's tendency to linger too long over obvious symbolisms. Although Mrs. Perry's screenplay (based on an actual incident) is timely, it would have benefitted from a more naturalistic, less selfconsciously arty production. In the large, unknown cast, some of the children perform with sensitivity, but the adults, largely off-Broadway performers, are unable to dispel exaggerated stage mannerisms. A quiet day at a rural schoolhouse is disrupted by a sudden, ominous buzz from the air-raid alert system. The principal (William Daniels), convinced that nuclear attack is imminent, orders the children sent home under the supervision of teachers. Reactions of children, their parents, and teachers are shown. In one heart-wrenching moment, a nine-year-old (Linda Rogers) hugs a goldfish bowl and seeks refuge under her bed, but a later episode i which a mother (Elena Karam) drags her two children to their knees for a session of hellfire-and brimstone prayer is embarrassing. By the time school authorities learn that the alarm was set-off by faulty mechanism, some of the children have taken refuge in a bomb shelter. When a panic-stricken classmate (Marilyn Rogers) is refused admission to the shelter, she crawls into an abandoned ice-box and locks herself in. Her boyfriend (Christopher Howard,) leaving the shelter to find her, hears an approaching plane. As the noise from its engines fills the air, the camera draws closer and closer to the lad until only his mouth is seen screaming "Stop! . . . Stop! . . . Stop! . . ." United Artists. 84 minutes. William Daniels, Christopher Howard, Marilyn Rogers. Produced and directed by Frank Perry. "America, America" Often stirring, but far too lengthy tale of Greek boy's burning desire to come to America. Should do well in art houses, but lacks popular elements for general market. Elia Kazan has fashioned a cinematic odyssey of power and inspiration, brutality and beauty — but not a very commercial movie in "America America". It was made with obvious disregard for boxoffice values. Filmed in Greece with a cast of unknowns, parts of the story are vague and difficult to follow, and the early scenes require an understanding of history that few viewers will possess. In the nearly three-hours' running time, producer-director-writer Kazan lingers too lovingly over details and irrelevancies, and he concentrates too intensely on the ugliness and — for some — the futility of life. There are subtleties and undercurrents of thought that will reward only patient viewers with a drama that becomes a deeply-felt experience of life. Best prospects are for art houses, for this will be one of the most talked-about and admired films of the yeir. Word-of-mouth and critical response will be encouraging factors in better class markets, but, unless the film is drastically shortened (and thereby simplified), this Warner Bros, release is hardly likely to find favor with general market patrons. Newcomer Stathis Giallelis, playing the central role, conveys the intense, brooding spirit of the eager, hopeful immigrant. Kazan's fluid direction is stunningly set-off by Haskell Wexler's sharp black-and-white photography and by Manos ("Never On Sunday") Hadjidakis' ethnic-flavored background score. The story is based upon legends within Kazan's family. It begins in Turkey in 1896, when the Greek and Armenian minorities suffered severe oppression. An opportunity for young Giallelis to journey from his mountain home to Constantinople to enter a cousin's rug business awakens the Greek boy's dreams of someday reaching freedom in America. On his journey, he is robbed of all his possessions and money and is forced to kill a treacherous Turk (Lou Antonio). Hardened by his experiences, the boy's dream becomes an obsession. Seeing no future in his cousin's threadbare business, he takes menial waterfront jobs, then aspires to wealth though marriage to a homely heiress (Linda Marsh). Absconding with the girl's dowry, he books third-class passage to America. Aboard ship, he continues a flirtation with a woman he had met earlier, Katherine Balfour, the wife of an American rug buyer (Richard H. Harris). When Harris discovers the lovers, he is almost strangled by Giallelis who is taken into custody and ordered back to Turkey. The boy escapes and hides out in the hold of the ship where a quirk of fate enables him, reluctant I v, to substitute himself for a dying tubercular youth (Gregory Rozakis) he had earlier befriended. Giallelis takes Rodakis' place as an indentured shoeshine boy, and rudely, brusquely — in the American way — eventually earns enough, through tips, to bring his entire family to the New World. Warner Bros. 174 minutes Stathis Giallelis. Produced and directed by Elia Kazan. Film BULLETIN December 23. 1943 Page 13