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SUMMER NEBRASKAN
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 1970
Theatre review
'h. What a Lovely War'
shows the lunacy off wear
by Denis M. Calandra
Department of English
You can usually judge how effective a
theatrical production is by the nature of
the silences the come over the audience.
- On rare occasions something electric
"happens between the folks up on stage
and the folks in the pit and everything
stops for a split second while the even
ing's stored up sensual and intellectual
Impulses register their effect. Zap!
and all the usual snorting, chortling, pul
. ing, and scratching of sneezy noses heard
to- even the most attentive houses
abruptly cease. Even the goddamn air
conditioner rumble seems to let up. At
. moments like this the rag-bag art form
known as "theatre" communicates as
. only it can.
What all that hifalutin' talk in the first
. paragraph is leading up to is the fact that
while Oh What A Lovely War! is another
in the recent line of macabre-comic anti
also a high charged theatrical
experience. To watchtheplayandabsorb
(or more accurately caricature), it is
xperience. To watch the play and absorb
its feeling is exciting one is thoroughly
entertained and artfully forced into the
realization that war and the patriotism
which breeds it are lunacy. From
eavesdropped lobby-chatter at in
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July
Movie Review
'Airport' is soapopera
packed into 'G' movie
By Kelley Baker
Arthur Halley's "Airport," the
albatross of the airways, crash-landed In
Lincoln last week, spewing forth Us cargo
of poor story, bad llnesand worse acting.
Tht theater has been decorated ala
high school prom to resemble someone's
idea of an airport. The girl at the candy
counter wears a stewardess' hat, you
walk to your seat via the red or blue
concourse and you are treated to "flight
announcements" over the public address
system.
The only thing the management failed
io provide was air sickness bags for the
nausea that developed before in
termission. Perhaps nausea is too strong a word,
but "Airport" is the kind of film you can
wallow in ... sort of an airborne soap
opera. Within a twelve hour period there
are two broken marriages, three love af
fairs, one run-away daughter, an unwed
mother, a pathetically insane demolitions
expert, poverty, violence and more
enough material to run "Love of Life" for
l year and all with "G" rating.
The plot is slightly less complicated
than a labyrinth, but it goes like this:
Burt Lancaster is the manager of Lincoln
Airport (the film was shot in Min
neapolis, not our fair city.) He's married
to Dana Winter, feeding socialite, but
their marriage hae conveniently been on
the rocks for years. Dana (unbeknownst
to Burt) has been seeking solace with
another and Lancaster, in his stoic way,
has been much attracted to Jeaa
Sebwg.
His sister Is Barbara Hale a woman
l.
termission I gather there were many in
Saturday night's audience who needed to
be nudged into that realization. The
"silences" mentioned above obviously
gripped both skeptics and sympathizers
in Oh What A Lovely War's best scenes,
especially in the furiously paced second
act A slide screen announces the
average life span of a machine gunner
under fire (4 minutes); a red cross nurse
hypnotizes us with the sentimental song
"Keep The Home Fires Burning;" the
Americans enter from the rear of the
house, armed with righteousness to beat
back the Hun, and singing "Over There."
They reach the stage and turn to deliver
a sardonic last line: "And we'll all be
buried over there." The slide screen
flashes another of its relentless statistics:
"Loss 17,000 men gain: 1,000
yards." The total effect is exhausting as
the songs grow cheerier (Oh oh oh what a
lovely war!) while the details of the
fighting grow increasingly more
gruesome. There is something inten
tionally perverse in forcing the audience
to look at a slide projection of a snarled
unknown soldier during the musical cur
tain call. Enthusiastically as one might
applaud for the high quality entertain
ment, the facts the show presents cannot
be forced from one's mind.
It is very difficult to give special credit
t
who's had trouble keeping a man's at
tention since her Perry Mason days, and
this applies lo her playboy pilot husband,
Dean Martin. Martin keeps in trim by
trying to sabotage his brother-in-law and
by exercising with Jacqueline Bisset.
Bright little stewardess Jackie stopped
taking her birth control pills (without
telling Martin) because they were caus
ing her weight problems and now she's
expecting a gain of about fifteen pounds.
The birth control .bit is a little hard to
swallow and it requires suspension of
disbelief to think that anyone could be so
stupid, but the change in Martin is
equally Incredible. When Jackie tells him
that she's pregnant they go into a
moralistic song and dance and we
discover that all it takes to straighten out
the bastard is a bastard.
Meanwhile, back in the ghetto,
disturbed ol' Van Heflin kisses Maureen
Stapleton goodbye, packs his bomb-laden
briefcase under his arm and sets out for
the airport Put most of these people on a
plane for Rome, add a terrible blizzard,
blocked runways, a little old lady
stowaway (Helen Hayes) and George
Kennedy and stir well.
The mess that you get Is a typical Ross
Hunter production. Hunter, whose artistic
aspirations have never been known to
rise above the level of cash register,
claims that he gives the public (and not
the critics) what they want. Judging from
"Airport", he doesn't think very much of
the public.
My main regret, other than seeing the
film, was that Van Heflin hadn't used
more dynamite and ended the show
sooner.--
to anyone in particular for the success of
Oh What A Lovely War, all of the
elements work so well toegher. There is a
unit of conception in the style of the
show, probably the director's (Bob Hall)
achievement, which never allows any one
element to clash with another. For in
stance, the hundreds of slide projections
(color and black and white period
posters, line drawings, photographs)
never become obtrusive as they comple
ment the action. The sheer force of pro
jected numbers (statistic after stastistic
chronicling the numbers of dead and
maimed) becomes a haunting reminder
of the abstract entity a man slaughtered
on a battle field is in the war "game."
It's like the nightly Vietnam good-guy
bad-guy run down on the Huntley
Brinkley show
The singing and dancing in Oh What A
Lovely War are superb, and each actor
proves himself by sliding in and out of
several different "parts" in the show.
Among my favorites were Dana Mills'
master of ceremonies and Betty Gnuse's
vamp. And I only wish Margaret
Hawthorne had the opportunity to sing a
few more solos; her voice is thrilling to
listen to. Oh What A Lovely War is easily
the best entertainment to be found in
Lincoln.
Tickets are available at Howell Theatre
for all performances through August 21.
International
club is for all
(Editor's note: this column reflects
the author's opinion).
By Bachittar Singh
One of the problems a university that
has thousands of students has to face is
keeping these students informed of what
is going on.
Of the numerous activities that are
staged on our campus, some do not come
to the attention of many students. This is
true of some organizations, too., One such
victim of this phenomenon is the In
ternational Club.
Except for most foreign students, many
of us are unaware of its existence
those who do know of its existence, are
either misinformed or totally unaware of
its objectives. It is the belief of many
American students that International
Club is exclusively for foreign students.
But this is not true.
The membership of International Club
is open to all students and anyone who
may be interested in fostering interna
tional understanding. The main objective
of International Club is to foster better
understanding between foreign and
American students on campus.
The International Club tries to achieve
this goal by planning and executing
numerous programs like International
Week, International Buflett, Cultures on
Campus and various panel discussions,
movies and social get-togethers.
But due to various reasons the In
ternational Club has not been truly suc
cessful in its programming, the major
hindrance being lack of membership and
active support by the students, both
foreign and American. Thus, more or
less, right now the International Club
exists just as a name.
But this can be changed if enough
students could be made aware of the
potential that is being left unused. Its
rich source is being left to waste.
There are approximately 450 foreign
students on campus now. According to
the Foreign Students Advisors about 350
have been accepted for the coming
academic year. These students come
from practically all over the world. They
have their own diversified cultures and
ways of life. Coming to a "strange" land
they need some help, in the way of
friendship. This opens a vast resource for
the American students in that they have
an opportunity to come to know these
students from other countries. At the
same time the American students can
help in Informing the foreign students
about American customs and ways of
life.
International Club needs active
members to plan and execute its pro
grams. A number of activities are being
plunned for this summer and the coming
academic year.
All those who would like to help plan
and become members should call the
Foreign Students Office, 345 Nebraska
Union for further Information.
A lot of exciting and rewarding ex
periences await you. So come on and get
involved in helping foster international
understanding. It will be an exciting and
rewarding experience.
Med director
on committee
Dr. Samuel I. Fuenning, med
ical director of the University
of Nebraska Health Center and
University Health Services,
and associate professor of Pre
ventive Medicine, has been ap
pointed to a Harvard Univ
ersity Visiting Committer
Dr. Fuenning. who has head
ed the University of Nebraska
health facilities on the Lincoln
campuses since 1946, was sel
ected by the chaZrrjin of the
Board of Overseer of Har
vard College to be a member
of the committee to visit Univ
ersity Health Services on the
Cambridge, Mass.. campus.
The appointment is for one
year.
3
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Skinnydipping in nearby stream is the best way to keep clean during three days of rain, mud, heat and
crowds of half a million at the Woodstock Festival. This picture is now reproduced on the front of the
Woodstock album.
Album review
Woodstock' is 'Vibrant
by KELLEY BAKER
By the time we got to Woodstock
We were already half a million strong.
Joni Mitchell
500,000 people, many of them propon
ents of a counter culture to the traditional
American way of life, gathered for three
days of pop, rock and pot on Max
Yasgur's meadow in Bethel, New York.
Postage stamps, pencils
replace the classroom
by ANNE SLATTERY
The son of an embassy official in Mos
cow, the daughter of a missionary in
Africa, the student in India, and the han
dicapped boy in Nebraka have at least
one thing in common a teacher.
Miss Dolores Van Hove, 62, 2500 J St.,
is a ninth grade English instructor with
the University Extension Division. Miss
Van Hove, who taught in Nebraska public
schools for 27 years, has been with the
University for 10 years. She never sees
her students the postage stamp is her
teacher's desk.
"I can read my students like a book
after the first or second lesson," Miss
Van Hove said. "I feel that it is possible
to develop close relationships with
students, because 1 am the only outside
contact for many of them.
"I missed working with young people at
first, but I now find satisfaction and
rewards through the letters I receive
from students," she said.
"I believe that if a teacher puts forth
effort, she will get good work from
s t u d e n t s . . . I can determine
scholarship and capabilities from the
lessons and letters I receive."
Every country in the free world has
been represented in Miss Van Hove's
English course. Miss Van Hove said
many of her students are children of
missionary families in Africa, South
America, Europe and Mexico. One stu
dent, the daughter of a missionary in a
remote part of Africa, has Just completed
her 101 h grade work. Next year, the girl
will leave her family to go to a boarding
school.
The children of embassy personnel
have also been students of the University
Extension division. At one time, a student
living at the American Embassy in
Summer
Nebraskan
lw
utint Manager
Liura Prtch
Linda Ruu
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to 31 Nofcraika Hall or callad In to 471-JJH. TKa
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Catch a sparkle
tram the morning sun.
Hold the magic
of a sudden breoze.
Keep those moments alive.
They're yours
lor a liletime
with a diamond
engagement ring trom
Orange Blossom.
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5 rvi,4 Lincoln Sine 19QS
1129 "0" STREET
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Michael Wadleigh, director of
"Woodstock," captured these momentous
days on over 300,000 feet of film and eight
hours of recorded sound. It took over half
a year to edit the material to movie
length and the result is a tremendously
exciting and entertaining documentary.
The driving life force of the film is the
music and the list of performers reads
Moscow was writing English
assignments. Miss Van Hove remarked
that air mail is used frequently to send
lessons to and from foreign countries. In
some cases, it may take from two weeks
to three months to exchange lessons by
mail. For the Moscow student, lessons
were sent to a designated place to be
picked up and delivered to the student by
embassy pouch rather than by direct
mail.
The working day for Miss Van Hove
begins at 7:30 a.m. Each day she corrects
and comments on 16 or 17 lessons. It
takes at least 30 minutes to correct each
lesson, and she said it is not unusual to
use the red pencil for 9V4 hours a day.
William D. Lutes, assistant director,
said the University Extension Division
presently serves 8,000 students with 165
available courses. At the present time,
there are 16,000 independent study
courses out.
Ninety foreign countries and all 50
states use the services of the University
Extension Division, Lutes said.
Computer
Programming
V
Classes begin Juno IS for
NETUETQN TECHNICAL INSTITUTE
9 tfMsis.1 of
LINCOLN SCHOOL OF COMMERCE
1821 K Street 432-5315
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Copyright 1970 by Www Brat. Inc.
like the "Who's Who" of acid and folk
rock. Interviews with the townfolk, skin
ny dipping scenes and crowd shots were
amusing and paced the action, but the
vibrant pulse of "Woodstock" came from
the music.
Now "Woodstock" has been released on
polyvinyl acetate two hours of magic
on a three-record album. Half of the
magic comes from memories of the film
but the music can speak for itself.
Among the performers there are: Arlo
Guthrie; Joan Baez; Crosby, Stills, Nash
and Young; Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the
Family Stone; The Who and Santana.
The Butterfield Blues Band and the
Jefferson Airplane didn't appear In the
film but have cuts on the album. Rich
Havens, Country Joe and the Fish, Ten
Years After, Canned Heat, John Sebas
tian, Sha-Na Na and Joe Cocker round
out the performers.
You'll chose your own favorites but
mine are Richie Havens and Sly and the
Family Stone for the tremendous level of
response they generate in the Woodstock
and movie audiences with "Freedom"
and "Higher."
Santana, with two sets of conga drums,
guitars and a regular set of drums, plays
an absolutey mesmerizing piece called
"Soul Sacrifice." They're a West Coast
group who've been asked to stop their
concerts several times because the au
dience was becoming too excited and the
police thought they might become
dangerous. One time the management
even pulled the electricity on their
guitars but the three sets of drums kept
the concert going.
If you've neither seen nor heard
"Woodstock," I'd suggest that you drive
to Omaha and see it first. That way you
can preview the album for one-fourth of
its cost.
J
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