Conan -runs, amo
k again in summ
er seoue.
Ey Geef Gscdwin
If you like sword playscantily dad
females, nice scenery, and men on horse
back, Conan the Destroyer is for you.
Arnold Schwarzenegger returns once
more as the brawny barbarian. He euts
quite a figure in his Calvin Klein loin
cloth as he dashes from hither to yon,
removing body parts from those unlucky
enough to get in hb way.
Grace Jones makes her film debut as
Zula and does a great job. No one can
snarl better than Grace. Unfortunately .
for her future career there just aren't
that many roles that call for snarling.
This film also features the cinematic
debut of Wilt Chamberlin, the seven
foot man-mountain out of the Univer
sity of Kansas.
Wilt must have taken some acting
classes at KU because he does a great
job of playing a seven-foot: captain of
the Queen's Guards. Go, Wilt!
Unlike the previous Conan film this
movie actually has a plot. Conan escorts
the queen's niece to a distant castle
(guarded by a magician of course) -where
they have to take back a horn
that goes to a statue that makes a
monster that Conan has to kill that
gets blood on his Calvin Klein loincloth
and then . . . Well, you get the idea.
Basically, though, a film like this isn't
going to get much from a strong plot
anyway. People want to see Conan run
amok, not discourse on Einstein's
theory of relativity. (I'd like to hear his
views on the nuclear arms race, but
that's strictly a personal preference.)
The worst thing a movie like this can
do is take itself too seriously, and the
makers of Conan avoid that trap. There
are even a few moments of humor
mixed in with the gore.
The ending i3 predictable (Anyone
who followed Chamberlin's basketball
career knows that Wilt is going to go
down in the seventh game. After all, he
was never a match for Bill Russell, let
alone Conan.) but still full of action
and that's all we can ask for from the
big lug.
If you've already seen "Temple of
Doom" 30 times but still haven't had
your fill of summer escapism give
Conan a chance.
- Conan the Destroyer is currently
playing at the Plaza 4 and the East
Park 3.
vV A V. y v-y Y Xv )
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By Sarah Sieler
I have never quite understood my
grandparents' stories about living
through the Dust Bowl era.
Pictures speak louder than words.
Bill Ganzel's photographic chronicle,
"Dust Bowl Descent," recently publish
ed by the University of Nebraska Press,
helps me understand the effect of the
Dust Bowl on my grandparents' gener
ation as well as the continuing effect of
environment on the culture of the
Great Plains.
Ganzel illustrates vhat life in the
Great Plains has been like using pairs
of photographs taken during two dis
tinct periods of time, the 1930s and the
present.
The older photographs were taken
by talented photographers such as
Dorthea Lange for the Farm Security
Administration. The recent photo
graphs are Ganzel's. He has spent years
photographing the people, places, or
themes of the earlier collection.
The result is a collection of photo
graphs that tell the stor ies of people's
lives during the after the Great Depres
sion. The Eleventh Street Gallery, 305 S.
1 1th St., is developing a resource cen
ter for artists in the community. The
center will feature self-help informa
tion for beginning artists, as well as
slides, manuscripts, musical scores and
resumes of local artists, writers and
musicians.
Peter Tooth, who is in charge of the
resource center,said the center's pur
pose is to help local artists "find their
way through the market mire" and to
make information about the works of
local artists available to the public.
The gallery is eager to receive any
creative work that the creator would
like to make available to the public.
73 .
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The Sheldon Film Theatre will show
two films this week. Jean Renoir's
"Grand Illusion," a French film starring
Erich Von Stroheim, Jena Gabin, and
Pierre Fresday, will be shown Tuesday
at 1 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Admis
sion will be by donation.
"Confidential ReportMr. Arkadin ,"
an Orson Welles' film about a financier,
will run Thursday through Sunday.
Screenings are set for 7 p.m. and 9
p.m.. with Saturday and Sunday mati
nees at 3 p.m. Admission is $3.
Antelope Park will be the setting for
three concerts this week. Trilogy, a jazz
group with Dennis Taylor on six- and
12-string guitar, is scheduled for Fri
day. Tex and Mary Schutz will be fea
tured Saturday. The Lincoln Municipal
Band will perform Sunday. All three
concerts will be held at the bandshell
from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
By Mary Lomise Knapp
The glitter, glamor and good fun of
the 1920s flapper era are portrayed
delightfully in the UNL Music Theatre's
production of "The Boy Friend," which
opened Saturday night at Kimball Rec
ital Hall.
The musical comedy was written as
a spoof on the 1920s by Sandy Wilson,
Theater
eview
The Chicago Symphony br oadcasts
its grand finale concert of the season
Wednesday night. The concert will be
received locally on KUCV 91 FM. Sir
George Solt will conduct "The Roman
Carnival" (an overture from Kector
Berliz's opera "Benevenuto Cellini"), a
performance of the Paganini "Violin
Concerto No. 4, Op. 6" by 12-year-old
guest violinist Eunice Lee and the
"Symphony No. 4 in F minor" by Tchai
kovsky. On Television
Two lndependep.ee Day Concerts
highlight July 4 on NETV, Channel 12
or 13. "Live From the Esplanade," airs
Wednesday at 8 p.m. It's a concert
party on the banks of Boston's Charles
River and the season premiere of "Eve
ning at Pbps.The live 90-minute broad
cast will feature music by John Philip
Sousa, Johannes Brahms and Leroy
Anderson, m well as a fiery rendition
of Tchaikovsky 81 2 Overture Sole
nelle." "Evening at Pops" will be followed at
9:30 p.m. by "A Capitol Fourth 1934," a
National Symphony Orchestra concert
on the U.S. Capitol Lawn.
Tuesday. July 3, 1984
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an Englishman, and is set on the French
Riviera.
The plot is simple a rich girl, Polly
Browne, falls in love with Tony, a mes
senger boy. Polly pretends to be a
secretary at the VUla Caprice, the fancy
finishing school she attends, in order
not to frighten Tony away.
But Tony is also pretending he's
really the son of Lord and Lady Brock
hurst, a wealthy English couple who
have come to the Riviera in search of
Tony.
Polly's widowed father, while visiting
Polly, discovers an old love, headmis
tress Madame Dubonnet. Polly's four
girl friends spend their time alternately
captivating and rejecting their beaux.
As it should, all ends well at the stroke
of midnight in this lighthearted product
ion. Staged and conducted by Greg Tall
man, director of the UNL Music Thea
tre, the comedy moves at the fast pace
one would expect from flappers and
their shiek3. The dance numbers, which
include the Charleston, are choreo
graphed by Mary Jane Mastalir and
energetically performed.
The orchestra sounds like a jazz
band of the 20s, with plenty of percus
sion and piano sounds. Overall, the
music and dance effect is excellent.
The sets are among the most elegant
and well-crafted found in a Kimball
production. The drawing room of the
Villa Caprice is dominated by a huge,
circular "stained-glass" entrance.
Potted palms and flowers are every
where, effectively conveying the idea
that academic subjects are perhaps
not the main focus of the establish
ment. The beach scene on the Riviera in
Act II is an "excellent and faithful
reproduction. However, the back
ground, the stage's black curtains with
a sun shown as part of the scenery
rather than created by the lighting,
seem to give the effect of night rather
than an afternoon at the beach.
The final scene, on the terrace of the
Cafe Pantaplon, is breathtaking. For
that scene, the stage was framed with
small lights, as were the steps and
background of the cafe. This set, as
was the set for the Villa Caprice, is lush
with potted plants and other touches
of elegance.
The glitter and sparkle is in the cos
. tumes as well. Even on the beach, Polly
and . her friends are never without
some formof dazzling jewelry.'"
As heroine Polly Browne, Kris Olson
did a very nice job of portraying a
young girl whose one desire is to have
that essential thing "The Boy
Friend." In fact, before she meets Tony,
she invents one. Polly is obviously a
leader among her schoolmates and
Olson plays-this role well. At times she
seems almost too mature for the rest
of her friends.
Paul Elichman also does a good job
with the role of Tony. The couple's
adventures are entertaining and amus
ing. The character who really steals the
show is Madame Dubonnet, played by
Judy Cole-Shannon.
As a woman who has not forgotten
youth and love and has avoided becom
ing stuffy in middle age, Cole-Shannon
is excellent and extremely funny.
The scenes in which she tries to get
Percival to relax and enjoy himself are
some of the funniest in the show.
Richard Grace is excellent as the
sober and responsible Percival Browne
who finds fun and new happiness with
Madame Dubonnet.
Lance E. McCord, who plays Bobby
Van Husen, the rich American beau of
Maisie (Aimee V. Patawaran), does a
perfect representation of a carefree
youth of the era.
Polly's other friends, Dulcie, Fay and
Nancy, played by Catherine M. Lococo,
Amalia Moorehead and Laurie Mar
tinez respectively, and their beaus,
Marcel, Alphonse and Pierre, "played by
Bill Sucha, Steven Andrew and Kim
Claybaugh respectively, add their high
spirits and glamor to the production.
Jay Scott Chipman is hilarious as
Lord Brockhurst, an old gentleman
who still has an eye for a pretty face.
Jean Abt, who plays his haughty,
proper wife, is equally as amusing as
she tries unsuccessfully to keep her
husband from straying. '
For a good, light summer comedy
and exceptional visual delights, The
Boy Friend" is a hard one to beat.
"The Boy Friend" shows again July 6
and 7 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 or $5
regular, $4 or $3 for students, children
and senior citizens.
, Dally Nebraska!
