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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1973)
4 - nf- y dailu nib Desert, hopelessness mark tale of 'good cop' Elt.rtni Glide in Blue the intelligent and well-crafted directorial cebjt of 27-year-old James William Guercio. It is also c : cf the better American films of the year. Guercio's film is about the loneliness of a 5 ft-4 inch motorcycle cop named John Wintergreen on the long, empty stretches of the Arizona desert highways. Robert Blake (you may remember him as the nervy little killer from In Cold Blood), as Wintergreen, and a fellow patrolman called Zipper (Billy Bush) work a desert beat where stopping overloaded trucks and vehicles without bumpers are often the most exciting things that happen. Zipper spends most of his time sitting on his bike h the shade1 reading comic books. Wintergreen longs f jr the day when he can be promoted to a position as a homicide detective and thus escape a job where there simply "ain't no action." Guercio maintains a fine sense of style throughout most of the film. He has a liking for extreme close-ups of variojs objects i,nc; the film's opening sequence is nothing less than biilliant. The constant use of tight close-ups in a film can often become irritating but Guercio's shot selections are not o.ily fascinating but they are edited so there's no difficulty in following the action. They form an effective err tret to the long shots cf the vast Arizona desert and miles of straight, endless highway. Veteran academy award winning cinematographer Conrad H.ill (Cool Hand Luke, In Cold Blood, Butch Cassidy d ihe Sundance Kid) has done his usual masterful job. I couldn't help seeing though unlikely, paraliVi ; with a similar form of i paranoia felt toward C::. the establishment in vv motorcycle policemen by 1 We see Wintergreen o the film taking pot no" Hopper and Fonda o i of both films are n .. reversed. Easy Rider grep far trj Gli'Jo as a close, E;::,y Ihdr Cjth deal -.ip( !:;-. -V v'tid the ; Ann rlc, jr.. i Hilly by ,rr :f, r ,,),.; 'f( toward :.-!. i i t'lnctrj Glide. ;(.! ii u r.irigt: early in : :',.!t olossir: poster of ,'.!.'. We endings '".;.:.' '.' the roles . ; - :. : ' VVyatt t. ( and Billy by ., establishment, whil destruction of one two scared, misuncler Guercio uses iwc character actors in sl stubborn, local corci k bug-eyed, slobbei r performances. And E. and hard-nosed in the ' r it '. jpdinq . ; S the .!,-.-.'v,nt by 'olo-t senior :l D-.1MO, as a ) Jr. as a give good iy iolti kind , : Cuercio and screenwriter Robert Boris. We know he is a good cop and a nice guy, yet we see he still cannot escape the stereotyped role of an unpopular traffic cop. Elcctra Glide is a well paced, reflective film, with biting, often bitter, contrasts between both the dangerous jobs and the quiet moments in a motorcycle cop's life. It is only during the middle of the movie, when Wintergreen is promoted to assistant to a fiustrated homicide detective that Guerco seems to let this control and quality slip through his grasp. Except for a well staged motorcycle chase scene, this section seems disjointed, tense and even uncomfortable. I actually thought for a while that Guercio had lost it, but the latter part of the film finds Wintergreen back on his bike. Blake plays a good traffic cop, yet we realize his limitations. Even the irn he helped solve a murder case, he st'M was a ier ;:: detective. We would have liked to see him get a break from his world on the desert highways, but we realize that it ($ probably where he is at his best. G.,ercio might have tried to be a bit too artistic at thr Pit's end. A backward shot along an end'ess st .' 'i .f highway just keeps going on and oie and on 'v.Ji nothing to back it up other than a song with ihe emiic refrain of the words "God Bless Arnoi ica." Gijcf-io also composed the music for the fil ii. li:it despite ifs flaws, Electra Glide In Blue 'f-n a a worthy contribution from a new cirecor Wesleyan to present Brodie A young teacher at a girls' schoo: v. pupils in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodiv Wesleyan University this week. The story is set in Scotland in the 19 the teacher, is in her prime as awomar, young charges to approach their own matu "Brodie really has some fantastic teac! uses them in the wrong way," said Henry the Wesleyan production. She tells the truth, goodness and beauty, but really she and shallow, Blanke said. Brodie conv.nc' l,:e. h" sr, , ! t ! Ii ' ' P' .;ri e n,.i; i ' '( s c, : ii :': . i i w !:n n:v tt.id out they aren't they bc oiTit ' ' en's adept on of Muriel Spark's novel the ;. :"-'M',t'. j! ser.es of flashbacks. - -;o i !! i M.ve i jpidlv with u rnir i i. ' ; .-r. I . into tin: iil'ii " , !.( ev I no .n.lcrs move fron ret ,i it-. Thiesciiiy-Saturday, and 2 p.m. Siiti'.ui,' Tickets are Si. a; i'. v;.;ts must b; reserved through the box office, Aliich is open lioiv 2 to 5 o.m. at 4G6-2374. All performances are in the E nid Miller Theater on the south edge of the campus. , ""jf, i 1 1 4,1.-. II 'SF a.. . U XX K'V?-!td t I'll J i 'it .-i: k', . -i' . -i Ui :f . L'".' ' J.f-M ?. k f T I ".iff " ' 1' "J" " 1 i' " 'I ?r " t 1 if ff. 1 t jr ,.-: I 11 UT Fiddler on the roof A big chjti'je is in store for opera goers this season. University ( pera students vi!l b ; frosi nting the University's first musical, I iddlur on the Root, t.s their fall production. Roger Stephen,, r irector and choreographer for the musical and assistant vuir.e pie fessor, said that during his interview for the teaching position, both Melvin George, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and John Moran, director of the School of Music, expressed interest in his experience in acting and directing musicals. "I hey were interested in getting away from doing only operas at the School of Music," he said. Stephens said he thought some students, accustomed to pet toi nary :n opei i ., night feel they are "lowering" themselves by being in a musical, but said he thought musicals could be ailistic endeavors as well. He said he questions how much easier a musical will be to stage. It will give tho students a different type of production experience, he said. "The singers not only have to have a good singing voice, but a good speaking voice and some acting talent," he said. Fiddler on the Roof is the tale of the struggles of a family and community of Russian Jews at the turn of the century. The fiddler, a symbol of Jewish tradition, follows them even as they ate forced from their Russian homeland. The musical opens Thursday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. and plays through Dec. 4, when there will be an additional 3 p.m. matinee. All seats must be reserved; for tickets call 472-2506. Photos by Mike Theiler .J.rv? "i t . 1 ' 'if Mult ' 1 v 4 1':-' .. -TUiS. It .Mt. Mk .tv. J A ' - ' t . ' ' . ": ' ;'.- ' . 4'- ' . " " I fcwiiiiiM"'i " ''-1- : - 1 .-1 y ilmr rtr-r- n -iniii- - - r n-w- nan .-1Trllrn rnmfo y1"' " " daily nebrdskan Wednesday, October 31, 1973