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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1977)
psga 12 cbily ncbrsskcn frlday, march 11, 1977 , 4 I ft FBDrca" Fitzgerald's last Tycoon 1 too nebul ous vorv By WEI Huffman F. Scott Fitzgerald, like so many great authors, has always resisted successful transfer to the screen. The qualities and style which make his writing great seem to nebulous and unique to be captured on film. Both Tender is the Night and The Great Catsby have been previously filmed, the latter three times. However, all were con sidered both artistic and commercial failures. No matter the amount of talent and money lavished, the end results never quite measured up to the source material. Sadly, the new film version of The Last Tycoon (currently at the Cooper) must fit into the above description. It's sad because the film is a product of extremely talented people who evidently spent a great deal of time and care in adapting the novel. . Producer Sam Spiegel, director Elia Kazan and writer Harold Pinter from a trio that literally radiates prestige. The Last Tycoon, Fitzgerald's unfinish ed novel (he died in 1941 after completing approximately half the book) tells the saga of Monroe Stahr, a successful young Holly wood producer. Stahr is actually a thinly veiled portrait of Irving Thalberg, the "boy wonder" of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer before Marionettes to perform with adults in mind His work has hold of him by the strings, but Albrecht Roser, master puppeteer does his work by manipulating his marion ettes. He will perform his program "Gus taf and His Ensemble" in the Nebraska Union Ballroom Saturday at 8 pjn. Roser's puppet carving career began shortly after World War II. His earliest suc cess came with a marionette clown Gus taf. From Gus taf, Roser created the En- out on the weekend Films and TV Not a Pretty Picture and Rape Culture 3, 7 and 9 tonight and Saturday Films on the Arts: Lichtenstein in London and Art in Revolution, 3 p.m. Sunday UPC Foreign Films: Playtime, 7 and 9 p.m. Sunday Howell Theatre When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday Kimball Recital Hall Symphonic Band, 4 pjn. Sunday Other Events Albrecht Roser, puppeteer, Union Ball room, 8 p.m. semble which include;: Professor Doctor Friedrich Wilhelm Ambrosius, The Modern , Singer Clown Punktchen and the Granny from Stuttgart. "Gustaf and His Ensemble" appeared at the first International Puppetry Festival 19S8 in Bucharest, Hungary where Roser received the gold medal for his perfor mance. The two hour show is composed of 14 vignettes. Each vignette features one marionette operated by Roser, who is dressed in black. Through his marionettes, Roser ex plores human frailties and emotion by using humor, pathos and drama. He oper ates in full view of the audience on a slight ly elevated platform. His most famous marionette, Gustaf, is an impish clown that embodies all kinds of mischief. The final vignette in the show features Granny, the only character who speaks. Granny sits in her rocking chair, knitting and chatting with the audience. Her com ments are pointed -so much so that when Roser was invited to perform in Moscow last year, he was asked to leave her behind. Roser's performances are designed for adults and it is recommended children under 15 not attend. Tickets are available at the Union South Desk and Dirt Cheap: $liO Students and $2.50 General admission. his sudden death in 1936. , Stahr is presented as a. hard-driving but compassionate individualist working in an increasingly impersonal industry. Fitzgerald describes him thus: "From where he stood (and though he was not a tall man, it always seemed high up) he watched the multitudinous practicalities of his world like a proud young shepherd to whom night and day never mattered." De Niro looks right As portrayed by Robert De Niro (pro bably the most versatile actor in movies today), the Monroe Stahr of the film comes very close to the Stahr of Fitz gerald's novel. De Niro's performance is, undoubtedly the best in the movie. He even bears a strong resemblance to Irving Thalberg and always looks exactly right in the role. We watch Stahr run the mammoth studio with aplomb and skill. He plays nursemaid to an aging-matinee idol worried about impotence (Tony Curtis). He coaxes a volatile English writer (Donald Pleaseance) into injecting more action into his scripts and efficiently but gently fires a veteran director (Dana Andrews) who is having trouble with a temptuous leading lady (Jeanne Moreau). Stahr chances upon a young English girl named Kathleen Moore (Ingrid Boulting) who reminds him of his late wife, a famous movie star. Obsessed, he subsequently pursues her. And then the film begins to run into trouble. Fitzgerald's brand of romanticism, as interpreted by Pinter and Kazan, cbmes across as soft and mushy on film. The long sequences between De Niro and Boulting just don't have the force of conviction to give the film the center it needs. Boulting possesses a unique beauty, but opposite De Niro she comes off as too slight, quiet and subdued to arouse any . intensity. Matters aren't helped any by the in sertion of a distracting and totally un necessary 10 minute intermission right' in the middle of the main De Niro-Boulting sequence. Pressures mounting Stahr, a doomed and tragic figure from the outset, begins to feel the pressures mounting from both sides at the studio. The tough studio chief (Robert Mitchum) and his shrewd New York lawyer (Ray Mill and) can't understand Stahr's desire to make u prestige picture that may lose , money. Meanwhile the studio's writers are aroused by a Communist organizer from the Eist (Jack Nicholson). Stahr begins to lose his grip on both his personal and public lives, Kathleen leaves him. Deserted and defeated, in the final shot of the film we see Stahr quietly en gulfed in the black shadows of a huge sound stage. Despite De Niro's performance and able support from the other roles (the con frontation between Stahr and Nicholson's labor organizer is particularly sharp, compared to the rest of the film) much of The Last Tycoon seems to drift aimlessly. The film is long on character and atmos phere. What, it lacks is overall coherence. The scenes at the studio and the scenes with Stahr and Moore never quite gel, with the result that the film seems fragmented. The sets are elaborate, the photography lush and the music evocative, yet only occasionally does the film manage to truly get inside Fitzgerald-usually when De Niro is on camera alone. However, those moments are relatively rare. Too much of the time The Last Tycoon captures the look and the feel of Fitzgerald, but not the emotion. Ml M U UIVItJ w fidnigtit Movies pressstt "Zecharish" Country Jo and tht Fish Friday and Saturday Admission Just $1.C3 S ntHHUimr fcf CC7l2,3 radio R3AY CC3T VZiXZSn COVII "BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS" hwwaiwmwil liJ (PG) u m 1 1 n n TT (j3t) Band highlighted The UNL Symphonic Band will present two public concerts in Kimball Recital Hall, today at 3 pjn. and Sun day at 4 pjn. Today's concert will feature Joseph Wagner's 4Con certo Grosso", James Christensen's "Trombone Country" and "Three Dance Episodes" from the ballet "Spar tacus". Highlights of the Sunday performance will include Moussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Milhaud's "Concerto for Percussion". J V r' i 500 V n. -464-7421 Today At 6:40, 9:15 Sat. And Sun. At 1:40,4:10,6:40,9:15 A Sam Spiegel-Elia Kazan Film mil i i Robert De Niro Tony Curtis Robert Mitchum leanne Moreau Jack Nicholson Donald FJeasence Ray MSand Dana Andrews tingna uouiang 5p" Technicolor A Paramount Release 5 m I J Today At 5:45, 7:40. 9:35- Jr J I Saturday And Sunday At 2:C5. 3:55, 5:45. 7:40. 9:35 NOMINATED FOR THREE ACADEMY AWARDS including Best Actress Br liwitiw B m4 V fyu f" ?T?J B 1 rv2 Li yis. Err, I W Liz South. Cosniopolitan '"r- M fmmm 4 mjiS'AAl . BwecWiNtafraofi. t-.-y ' i J y1 I i Vincent Canby. hK' icmrr mm i fx-?. awn OMsraaf SMMw O0 lOU ttmi QW tMMCMMO bMlMmi worn O-u IX lihmm film! tf fres& 477-1234 H Today At 5:50.7:40. 9:33 - J ' j Saturday and Sunday At 1 1 2:10.4:00.5:50,7:40,9:33 3 1 f i TODW ' " W r-ry ,.iii-rr'.-..i.,n..-.....-3 ' V i J Sirs i r S if ifL I I f ,J i ruiiiL.iitL.i.aa.i o a mxium Em uhites afRXER BROW and B5r CCRB t:tm mi'"-- -S