TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1963)

■■:■'■. i ,-■'■, KM &-.<v;^ ^ »• ■-2S" K* ^ To see or not to see: George Cuttingham answers your movie questions Nine Hours to Rama 20th century-fox cinemascope, color On a day in 1948, Mahatma Gandhi, the saintly leader of India, was assassinated by a fanatical young Hindu. This is the story of that day, made into an interesting and colorful film. The plot unwinds in tight cops-and-robbers style: A police superintendent (Jose Ferrer) tries to convince Gandhi of the danger he is risking, but the gentle old man refuses to guard himself. Meanwhile, the assassin (Horst Buchholz) waits for the fatal hour. He drinks, picks up a girl, falls asleep, drifts back into the memory of another affair. . . . The suspense lags a little at times (the picture is over two hours long) but the unusual story, excellent acting and direction, plus fine color photography of India, all add up to good entertainment. I Could Go on Singing united artists; color Here's Judy Garland in a part that could have been — and maybe was — written for her. She plays Jenny Bowman, an international singing star, who, unhappy for all her success, wants to recover the son she surrendered in favor of her career. The sketchy script leaves much to be desired, and Dirk Bogarde is not entirely convincing as the old flame who fathered her child, but Judy is terrific: alive and warm, motherly, funny, and, finally, pathetic. Scenes filmed at London's Palladium have an electric spontaneity that captures all the excitement and terror of what it means to be a performer. The Courtship of Eddie's Father mcm; panavision, metrocolor In the mood for a little schmaltz? In this folksy comedy, a sad handsome young widower picks a new wife, with the help of his cute little red-headed son. Nothing very surprising happens, but there are some pleasant moments as man and boy discuss women. Glenn Ford is the father; Shirley Jones, Dina Merrill and Stella Stevens are the girls. Love at Twenty EMBASSY This picture is the work of five young directors from different countries, each of whom was asked to film a tale of young love in his country today. Of the five entries, two are pretty good fun, two are rather strange, and one is a bore. (There isn't much love in "Love at Twenty," I'll tell you that much.) The experiment wasn't entirely successful, but with the five different locales, new faces and fresh story ideas, you have more than enough to make this film worth seeing. Madame EMBASSY; TECHNICOLOR This romantic comedy about a laundress and a soldier in Napoleon's time comes from a famous old French play — but a lot must have gotten lost in translation. The action is right out of the funny papers, and the English dialogue that has been dubbed into the mouths of the French and Italian actors is so bad that at times it's hilarious. So, send the kiddies, let them learn a little history — that is, if you don't think all those shots of Sophia Loren leaning over cannons in that peasant blouse won't be too much for little junior. Mondo Cane TIMES FILM; COLOR This is a cynical travelogue: film shot in various parts of the world as proof of man's bestiality and foolishness. It has sardonic humor at times (as when the camera slyly studies the faces of young men in the hometown of Rudolph Valentino), but much of it is obviously contrived or just cheaply sensational (pigs being battered to death in New Guinea, bulls being beheaded in Nepal), As does any freak show, the film has a certain sickening fascination. Follow the Boys MCM; PANAVISION, METROCOLOR I guess this is supposed to be a followup to "Where the Boys Are," but there aren't too many moments that live up to the original. This comedy about Navy men and their girls is somewhat tired stuff. If you're a Connie Francis fan, or a Paula Prentiss fan, or even a Dany Robin, Janis Paige, Russ Tamblyn, Richard Long, Ron Randell or Roger Perry fan, you may find something about the film to enjoy. 88