The Exhibitor (1966)

December 14, 1966 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 5477 REVIEWS The famous pink paper 5AVEABLE SECTION in which Experienced Trade Analysts evaluate coming product Published every second week, as a separately bound and easily saveable section of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR, this exclusive 29-year-old service is both numerically more complete and informatively more eandid, than any similar analysis. Cumulatively numbered by film seasons (September to September). It is recommended that readers consecutively save all REVIEWS section in a permanent file. The last Issue of each August will always contain a complete annual exhibit to close the season. Combined the every second week, yellow paper SERVISECTION indexes to the past 12 months' product, and ^the alternating every second week pink paper REVIEWS, represent a unique informative service to Please address ag Inquiries or suggestions about these two service features to the Editors of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR, 317 N. BroedSt., Philadelphia, Penea, 19107. SECTION TWO Vol. 76, No. 18 December 14, 1966 ALLIED ARTISTS Run For Your Wife CoMEDY DJ£“A 97M. Allied Artists (Technicolor) (Techniscope) (Dubbed in English) Estimate: Novel comedy-drama. Cast: Ugo Tognazzi, Marina Vlady, Rhonda Fleming, Juliet Prowse, Graziella Granata, Carlo Mazzone, Ruth Laney, Sharon Obeck, Cherie Latimer. Produced by Henry Chroscicki and Alfonso Sansone; directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro. Story: Ugo Tognazzi, an Italian bachelor, arrives on a business visit to the U.S. with his boss and is met by a boyhood friend. Carlo Mazzone, who married an elderly rich widow to become an American citizen, divorced her, and married a beautiful girl on a settlement from his former wife. He winds up living in luxury in the suburbs. Tognazzi is overwhelmed and determined to try the same thing in the brief time that he has instead of returning to a drab existence and an uninspiring fiancee in Italy. Mazzone takes him to Miami to search for the proper mate, but he brushes off older women and winds up with Juliet Prowse in her trailer home. He soon finds out she is married and has a child so he tries again. At the beach he falls in with a wealthy man who invites him to come along to a big party. He finds himself in a plane piloted by wealthy Rhonda Fleming on the way to her Texas ranch for a barbecue blowout. The next morning, he finds himself stranded with little money and unsure English, but he manages to get a partial ride back on a commercial airliner, where he meets Graziella Granata, an Italian-speaking airline hostess. They make love, but she laughs at his desire to do the right thing and marry her. He hitchhikes to New Orleans, where after some misadventures with a teen ager, he meets di¬ vorcee Marina Vlady, who has two children and a house in the suburbs. They become friends and even discuss marriage. He gets to meet her ex-husband and expresses amazement that he would let go of such a fine wife, won¬ derful children, etc. He sells the husband on a reconciliation, and once again he is out in the cold. He finally readies New York, where he even proposes to a call girl, but she has other plans. He has no alternative but to return to Italy with his furious boss. X-Ray: When a foreigner tries to become acclimated and Americanized on a brief initial visit here, the results are sometimes funny and sometimes emotional. America, some of its people and cities as seen through the eyes of the newcomer come off a bit different than when probed by a native. Ugo Tognazzi, com¬ petent Italian actor, is quite good as the visitor, who would love to become a citizen through marriage. However, the uneven situa¬ tions and plot don’t permit the viewer to settle down into a comfortable groove and keep one off-balance. It can serve in the art spots as well as in a number of regulation houses. The use of color provides a good as¬ sist, as do the “names” in the cast. The original story is by Rudolfo Sonego with the screenplay by Rafael Azlona, Ennio Flaiano, G. L. Poli¬ doro. Ad Lines : “The Land of Opportunity Pro¬ vides Fun and Drama”; “A Foreigner Visits America With Highly Entertaining Results.” AMERICAN INT. Hallucination Generation D*A^A American International , (Filmed in Spain) Estimate: Slow-moving but exploitable shocker on LSD theme. Cast: George Montgomery, Danny Stone, Tom Baker, Renate Kasche, Marianne Kanter, Steve Rowland. Executive producer, Robert D. Weinbach; associate producers, Jerome A. Siegel and Morton M. Rosenfeld; produced by Nigel Cox; written and directed by Edward Mann. Story: Young American Danny Stone, sup¬ ported by an allowance from his wealthy mother, joins his friend, Tom Baker, for fun and games on an island off the coast of Spain. They become part of a group of expatriates who follow the lead of older ex-college teacher George Montgomery. They have rejected so¬ ciety and devote themselves to the thrills of drug-taking and sexual promiscuity. The group tries to get Stone to indulge in LSD, but he refuses. Stone meets Renata Kasche, a German girl working in Barcelona, and they fall in love. They marry, settle in Barcelona, but the idyll comes to an end when Stone’s mother cuts off his allowance. Stone fancies himself a writer, but is totally unproductive. Kasche and he fight over this, and he runs away, returning to the island and rejoining Montgomery’s group. He smokes marijuana, gambles with money he doesn’t have, and winds up deeply in debt to Montgomery. The latter suggests that Stone rob a wealthy antique dealer and slips him a dose of LSD. After a series of frightening hallucinations, Stone agrees to perform the robbery. Baker accompanies him and con¬ tinually keeps him drugged. The robbery is a mess, and Baker is forced to kill the antique dealer. He convinces Stone that he committed the murder, and they flee. Witnesses lead the police to Baker and Montgomery is also im¬ plicated. Stone wanders into a monastery, con¬ fesses the crime and waits for the police. X-Ray: The current controversy over the use of hallucinatory drugs provides the spring¬ board for this low-budget offering. As a result of the subject matter, it is certainly exploitable for some situations. Generally, it is a lacklustre piece of work, dragging in some spots and striving to shock whenever possible. This is done more in scenes of violence than sex, and as a result, the film should be seen only by mature viewers. Of course, the mature might well be repelled by such scenes as well. Hal¬ lucinations are depicted in color, and generally involve the murder victim with blood stream¬ ing down his face. A little of this sort of thing goes a long way. George Montgomery is the only recognizable name in a cast primarily composed of new young performers portraying a gang of juvenile drifters. They are all sup¬ posedly protesting something and using sex and drugs as an escape, but a more vacuous band of protestors has seldom been portrayed. All in all, this shapes up as an unsuccessful attempt to cash in on some of today’s more sensational escapades of youth. It can be ex¬ ploited and sold to the undiscriminating, but even they will find they have bought more talk than action. Release is through AIP’s specialty film division Trans American Films. Ad Lines: “Today’s Youngsters On A Ram¬ page”; “An Empty Whirl Of Sex And Drugs . . . Where Were They Going?” COLUMBIA A Man For All Seasons Columbia (Technicolor) (Filmed in England) Drama 120M. Estimate: Impressive, well-made drama should draw considerable acclaim. Cast: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern, Robert Shaw, Orson Welles, Susan¬ nah York, Nigel Davenport, John Hurt, Corin Redgrave, Colin Blakely, Yootha Joyce. Pro¬ duced and directed by Fred Zinnemann; ex¬ ecutive producer, William N. Graf. Story: In the year 1528, Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More is a devout Roman Catholic and a member of Robert Shaw’s (King Henry VIII) high council. He’s caught in a political vise. The King is determined to divorce Cathe¬ rine of Aragon, presumably because she has not given him an heir, and to marry his mistress, Ann Boleyn. The Church had already allowed him a special dispensation when he married Catherine, his brother’s widow, and it is now unlikely that he will be granted a divorce that will antagonize Catholic Spain. One of the most beloved and respected Roman Catholics in Europe, More is pressured by the Chancellor of England, Cardinal Orson Welles, to influ