friday, October 27, 1978
page 12
daily nebraskan
arts and entertainment
'Comes a Horseman' breathes new life into Old West
By Peg Sheldrick
It has all the trappings of a classic wes
tern: a beautiful woman is struggling to
hold onto her ranch against a malevolent
cattle baron who wants the land. It looks
like all is lost when along comes a horse
man, a handsome good guy who saves the
day.
If Comes a Horseman had been made
thirty years ago, that's as far as the story
would have gone. John Wayne and
Maureen O'Hara would have starred, no
doubt. But Comes a Horseman is a new
movie that takes a decidedly modern ap
proach to a stock western stiuation.
Instead of a shallow shoot-em-up, the
film is a rich complex look at the tradi
tional Old West in its last gasps. Dennis
Lynton Clark's terse script reveals, little
by little, the multiple tensions underlying
the deceptively simple surface of this
ranching community. Characters and situa
tions that might otherwise have seemed
movie review
to become involved in a war just as ruthless
and bitter, a war of wills.
Ella and Frank are at odds to begin
with, both strong-willed and unsentimental.
Apart they are formidable foes for Ewing,
but together they're "just plumb awful,"
as one character puts it. cua wam5 u. "V
All of them are struggling against the uncompromising characters with each
land itself and all are threatened by tne omer aim wu wC iu. a,Uu,.u ,...
earlv encroachments of modern technology.
An oil company wants to drill on the land
that Ewing hopes to cover with cattle and
emerge
here with dimension and
tnte
substance.
War of wills
The story is set in the latter years of
World War II. Jane Fonda plays Ella, a
tough, fiercely independent woman
holding on by her fingernails to the ranch
her father built. Jason Robards is Ewing,
the last of the empire builders who dreams
of regaining his lost domain and who
would stop at nothing to crush Ella. As
Frank, James Caan is a cowboy who did his
time overseas and has retunred home only
hotocourtesy United Artists
Jane Fonda and James Caan star in a new western that ropes the audience with its
fine acting and scenery.
fascinating to watch
Fine acting, scenery
Fonda, Caan, and Robards are excel
lent in the leading roles, and, in a support
ing role as Ella's aging cowhand, Richard
Farnsworth nearly steals the picture.
Fonda is especially fine, portraying Ella's
defiance and clenched emotions at war
with her desperate need for help. Robards
manages to inject pathos now and then
into ah. otherwise despicable character.
And as the horseman, Caan in charming
and believable.
The fine acting and script are almost
overshadowed by the settings in which the
action takes place. The movie was filmed in
Coconino National Forest, a place of open
sky, grassy plains, and distant blue moun
tains that has somehow survived modern
life.
Best of the West
The photography is stunning. Even the
buildings are lovely, rich in detail and au
thenticity. Like Fonda, the scenery needs
no bright adornments with its simple,
natural beauty. Michael Small's Copeland
ish score complements the tone of the film
and the slendor of its setting.
The movie is realistic throughout,
neither sentimental or cynical. It starts
slowly but builds to an exciting climax.
Along the way, there are moments of
warmth and humor as well as moments of
violence and horror. The land can be as vio
lent as it is beautiful. The telling of the
story is uncompromising and excellent.
Director Alan J. Pakula succeeds in breath
ing new life into an old, old story. Comes a
Horseman is a film of rare quality, the best
thing to ride out of the west in a long time.
The film is playing at the Cinema 2
Theatre.
Jennings album lacks originality free spirit stuck
By Jeff Taebel
Waylon Jennings is one of a handful of
country western artists who have made a
big impression on the rock music market
without forgetting their country roots.
While the music of Buck Owens, George
Jones and Conway Twitty still may
dominate the Nashville scene, it rarely is
heard on rock-oriented AM or FM stations.
album review
Waylon's oft-heralded collaboration
with Willie Nelson and the ensuing "out
law" persona that has since surrounded
him has immensely boosted his popular
ity with younger audiences. His resultant
financial success has allowed him to freely
lambast the "Nashville establishment" in
songs and interviews.
Waylong may be one of the country
western's black sheep, but he also is one of
the most successful artists in the field.
Waylon's latest release, I've Always
Been Crazy, is his sixteenth, and he seems
to have his formula down rather well.
Hence, there are no strikingly original or
unique selections on this album. However,
I've Always Been Crazy does have its share
of refreshing moments, most of them pro
vided by the lyrics, which gives the listener
an interesting perspective on Waylon
Jennings-the man behind the myth.
Blasts the bust
Side one opens with "I've Always Been
Crazy," an upbeat number that sounds like
"Good Hearted Woman."
The side's second offering "Don't You
Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of
Hand," is much more interesting. Waylon
seems to be suggesting that his cocaine pos
session bust during his 1977 concert tour
was set up because of his "outlaw" image.
Waylon laments: "Don't you think this
outlaw bit's done got out of handWhat
started out to be a joke, the law don't
understandWas it singing through my nose
that got me busted by The Man?Don't
you think this outlaw bit's done got out of
hand." He later adds that a New York City
"posse" came in and "got me for posses
sion of something that was gone, long
gone."
The last two songs on the first side, "A
Long Time Age" and "As The Billy World
Turns," also are interesting. "A Long Time
Age" has some great lines like "women
been my trouble since I found out they
weren't men."
Waylon also refers to himself and Willie
fighting the country western "system," ex
plaining, "We're not the only outlaws, just
the only ones they caught."
Song stealing
"As The 'Billy World Turns" is about
song stealing in the country music indus
try. Considering the serious nature of the
lyrics, Waylon approaches the song in a
surprisingly lighthearted manner as well as
playing a hot guitar solo that is a musical
high point of the album.
Unfortunately, most of the ingenuity
displayed on side one is absent on side two,
which opens with a medley of Buddy Holly
hits.
Recording Holly's music seems to be
quite fashionable (not to mention profitaj,
ble) these days, yet Waylon's readings of
Well All Right," "It's So Easy," "Maybe
Baby" and "Peggy Sue" are so wooden and
constrained that one wonders why he re
corded the songs if he wasn't going to do
anything with them.
The Holly medley is followed by a disas
trous rendition of "I Walk The Line."
Waylon sings the song at an excrutiatingly
slow pace, making it sound like a dirge.
Waylon is not entirely convincing when he
sings this tune, sounding like he'd much
rather be "rambling' " than walking the
line.
Free spirit snagged
The next number, "Tonight The Bottle
Let Me Down" is a fine country western
song, but the subject of drinking away ro
mantic memories is so overworked in
country music that one might expect some
thing a little fresher from a free spirit like
Waylon.
The album closed with "Whistlers And
Jugglers," a fine, mournful song which
features an instrumental break thalsounds
pretty loose for a country western band.
I've Always Been Crazy is a spotty
album, like many of his others. Waylon
is at his best when he's breaking new
ground, not when he's rehashing other
people's material or reworking old stand
ards. But perhaps it's a little late foi
Waylon to be changing his style at this
point in his career. Even outlaws become
set in their ways.
Scalpers feast on return of 'messiah'
". . . . and who should I see coming in
but an old friend of mine from Nebraska
who had called from out of town collect.
She cast that old wandering eye on me as I
flipped off my shoe and threw it to her.
What else could I do. . . .? "
-Bob Dylan
The messiah finally has returned, but
you can't beg, borrow, or steal tickets to
see him.
michael zangari
Bob Dylan's second coming in Nebraska
will take place on Nov. 4 in Omaha, and
tickets have evaporated faster than the
proverbial silver bullet.
The only thing faster than the disap
pearance of tickets was the appearance of
the vultures who feed off the ticket void.
When we're in a generous mood we call
them "scalpers."
Shot and buried
In a somewhat less generous mood it
doesn't matter what we call them, as long
as they are shot on sight and buried at the
crossroads.
Ticket prices for under the table sales
more than likely will not peak until the
night of the show when the cold panic sets
in. There is nothing that disturbs the
American state of mind more than the fear
or being left out.
From what I gather, scalped tickets are
going for anywhere from $20 a piece to
$150 a pair. For $150 you'd better be on
Dylan's lap. At any rate, the tickets range
from very good to somewhere east of
Scottsbluff. All are being horded.
I am of the general opinion that when
the world monetary market collapses, the
medium of world exchange will more than
likely by Dylan tickets.
Somewhere behind the money changers
that are warring with trash can lids behind
my temples, there seems to be something
wrong.
It's not as if anyone is going to hear
Dylan. It's like the kids' day out of the or
phanage. We're all going to the zoo to see
Dylan. To look at the man like he was an
Egyptian mummy of rather funky
reputation.
Phenomenal impact
Dylan is easy to make fun of, but the
man's impact on the way pop music has
gone is truly phenomenal. Since he has
written such an incredible volume of
music, crossing all lines and emotions,
everyone has his own Dylan image.
Hunter S. Thompson's dedication to
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has always
made me smile. In part he dedicates it to
Dylan for "Mr. Tamborine Man." I'd add
"Don't Think Twice," but given half a
chance I'd more than likely add several
albums to that list.
Because of Dylan's place in our recent
cultural history, and the incredible amount
of people he still seems to speak to, it's
hard to look at this as just another concert.
The whole ticket mess really is unfor
tunate. It clouds what by all rights should
be an open experience for anyone who
claims a piece of Dylan's last 15 years.
Dylan will more than likely be around
for the next 1 5 years, and if you can't see
him now, perhaps hell eventually peter out
and they won't be able to give tickets
away.
But don't count on it.