Impact (Mar 1972)

March may be the month that sees a change in the weather, but this year at least, there will be little changed in the movie theatres. Easter is late, and therefore the film distributors are holding off until everyone is in the holiday mood again. One film of note is expected to open in the middle of the month: The Godfather, based on Mario Puzo’s bestseller. It stars Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Al Pacino, and Paramount expects (and hopes for) a blockbuster reception. The other epic to be presented this month is Mary, Queen of Scots. Starring Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I, and Vanessa Redgrave as Mary, this film is produced by the same crew that created Anne of a Thousand Days. Charles Jarrot directs; Hal Wallis, the producer, first tackled this period in 1939, with Bette Davis and Errol Flynn in Elizabeth The Queen. Of course the film contains the obligatory meeting scene between Mary and Elizabeth; dramatic tension is therefore helped considerably, but history students are hindered because the two never met in real life. But since the rest of the horizon is bare, we brought out the Official Impact Crystal Ball and gazed into the future a bit further. Here, then, is a summary of the movies now in the editing or production stage, due for release during the next eight months or so. Joseph Losey is following up his success of last year, The Go-Between, with The Assassination of Trotsky. Starring Richard Burton and Alain Delon, it is just finishing interior shooting in Rome. We are sad to report that after X, Y, and Zee, no films are planned at this time for Liz. A moment of mourning will be observed. Speaking of stars, Jesus Christ, Superstar is planned for production by Norman Jewison. And Franco Zefferelli of Shakespeare fame (Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew) moves up from the immortal Bard to The Assassination of Christ. And that will be a hard act to follow. Two plays will appear as screen adaptations during the next few months. A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, starring Alan Bates and Janet Suzman, explores a marriage relationship through the methods each parent employs to cope with a par alyzed, vegetable-like child. And Child’s Play, a thriller concerning life in a boarding school, will soon go before the cameras. Of course one other play deserves mention: Play It Again, Sam. Woody Allen has adapted his own theatre work for the screen. And in the greatest stroke of type-casting ever, Woody will also play the lead in a film version of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask. Presumably it will be a comedy. Some of the all-time greats are returning, too. Garsin Kanon has written and will direct a film starring wife Ruth Gordon. And pioneer director George Cukor is filming the Graham Greene comic novel, Travels With My Aunt; it stars Katharine Hepburn. Alfred Hitchcock presents his contribution with Frenzy, filmed in London last fall. Another great director, Carol Reed, has completed London filming of The Public Eye, with Mia Farrow and a thin Topol. Robert Mulligan (Summer of °42)~ is working on another project, tentatively titled The Other. And Peter Bogdanovitch, director and writer of The Last Picture Show, is currently shooting a comedy, What’s Up Doc, with Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal. Barbra’s next project is a biography of Sarah Bernhardt, directed by Ken Russell. And Stanley Kubrick is planning a biography of Napoleon. But for now there is still plenty to see, because movie production is increasing constantly. And watch for next month’s Impact, when we will reveal all about upcoming attractions for Easter.