Wednesday, December 12, 1984
Daily Nebraskan
Page 1 1
M3 am E
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iRivtsrs'b
ooc aeliciously dirty
Review by Gcctt Ksrrah
It's become the trend for stage per
formers to experiment with their Uterary
T n o ff rr rtdtril Jiimn en-
I stress Bette Midler and professional vamp
Joan Collins have all recently penned
best-selling dooks. now comedienne Joan
Rivers, who has made a fortune ridiculing
Liz Taylor's waistline and offending nearly
everyone, has written the saga of a licen
tious Jewish tramp, The Life and Hard
Time oi neiai Aerumowuz, jueiacorce
Press, $8.95).
The book opens with Joan's own quote:
"You show me a woman with a naturally
beautiful body, and 111 show you a tramp."
This statement sets the tone for the
1 entire book defamatory and deliciously
I dirty. From cover to cover, it's a witty,
j hilarious satire on the life of a girl devoted
to the sins of the flesh. But the problem is
that it may be too funny to keep readers
uiieresieu.
The story starts out as Heidi cries for
more spanks from the doctor in the deliv
ery room, then inspires the discovery of
penicillin. This ribald irreverence never
u i up and sometimes you wish Rivers
had added some serious relief to the
comedy so the one-liners would be more
surprising and hysterical.
The plot encompasses Heidi's days as a
bimbo baby and a tarty tot to her high
school harlot years and adulterous adult
hood. Rivers sets up each stage of Hei
di's life and gives the sordid details of her
rise to professional trampdom. In each
segment, there are numerousjokes about
her body and her various wacky jobs like
a position on the staff of "Consumer
Reports" as a Vaseline analyst. All of this
outrageousness is as erratic and hard to
follow as it is humours. But the jokes and
James Sherman's engaging illustrations
Movie 's violence overdone
I
make up for the empty and often sopho
moric storyline.
A fabricated "Playboy" interview is the
highlight of the book, but it's ako the
most egregious example of how River3
failed to add much structure to the tale.
One minute youll be reading about Hei
di's latest erotic escapade, then you turn
the page and there's an irreievent section
about the tramp's favorite films. This
book wouldVe been more amusing if Riv
ers had kept it short, but she rambles on
until the sexual puns become stagnant
and insipid.
"Can we talk?" is Joan's most notorious
saying, but can she wife? She can, but to
call this book a piece of literature would
be ludicrous, as it's more like one of the
comedienne's monologues than a novel
Still, Joan's first opus is filled with enough
lubricious wit, sleaze and gossipy detail to
make it sell It's recommended only for
those who can stomach and appreciate
the offensive hilarity of Joan Rivers.
L IMS J
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the screenplay, put the lines in to Madeline Khan plays Burt Rey- coffee is reason for complete an- r-i
a 19303 cops and thugs plot, and nold's girlfriend, and portrays a nihilation of the coffee-spilling
voila, Dirty Harry and Hooper rich bimbo who is really smarter thugs. L-l
biuc uu me uiuu iii a cuuicujr- uiaii sxic icts uii. iiic iiuu uiigiit opvi is its sets iJ 11 r i
"City Heat is cleverly packaged seedy diners, ritzy nightclubs Q OUIldUlt? lUi C."J Q
violence. It is funny, but even and villian's hideaways. The sound- pj -i aaa Q
people being shot to death war- track is good too, with a mix of hi lUUvJ Fl
murder extravaganza.
Burt Reynolds plays a private
detective who left the force to go
into his own practice. Clint East
wood was his partner and is still
nn thp forrp The txsrn nnw ismrlr
ondifferentsidesofthelaw, which puts and come out smirking. As gradients -the sets, music :and 0(408) 377-0360 E3
accounts for the dialogue of sar- in cartoons, violence has no con- funny lines. The plot is hazy, how- nV rvw w' 1
rant a one-liner. Eastwood and
Reynolds galavant their way
through the murders and shoot-
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Review by Esclsel Fred
Dally Nefenutk&a Still C??ort2r
No movie could have been as
bad as I expected "City Heat" to
be. So, after bribing a friend to go
to the movie with me with
promises of a free ticket, all the
popcorn she could eat and dinner
I was prepared for the worst.
The writers collected Burt
Reynolds and Clint Eastwood's
v. t i: c t ! t
ucm lines irum psaai muvtcs iur ra(iHr nnA.Hn0r tratitA Wwoon
nirPPfnrQ, Thonrro them. They do, however, eventu- itoUy!!?0 k i W? u- o
DireCtOrS lneatre team ' 'Egainst t'he dirty through a brawl, watching Rey-
to present plays 'SSSSSX
A children's theater production The plot is hard to follow, but it causing Eastwood to spill his cof-
and a short play by Harold Pinter doesn't matter. The shoot-outs fee, does he decide to get involved,
will be separate presentations of are easy enough to understand. To Eastwood in this scene, spilled
the UNL Directors' Theatre this
week.
The children's theater produc
tion, "An OTIenry Holiday," fol
lows the adventures of three hobos
who are celebrating Christmas
under a New York overpass. When
a stranger, coughing, cold and
near death, enters their festivi
ties, the hobos keep him alive and
warm by acting out three OTIenry
stories.
Suitable for children 9 years
and older, "An OTIenry Holiday"
will be performed at the Nebraska
Directors' Theatre, 1110 Q St. at
7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday,
with matinees Saturday and
Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Judith Kroeger will direct the
play. The cast includes Nancy
Marcy, John Stevens Berry,
Reynold McKean, Annette
Christman, Dan Crawford, Bob
Marion and Dan SwinarskL
The Pinter play and two short
revue sketches will be presented
during "Late Night Pinter," to be
performed at 9:30 p.m. Thursday
through Saturday and at 8 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 16.
The work by Pinter is titled "A
Kind of Alaska," and explores the
sleeping sickness epidemic of
1916-17, and the results of using
the wonder drug cure, L-DOPA.
The revue sketches are titled
"The Black and White," and
Request Stop."
Catherine Madden, a former
Nebraska Directors' Theatre board
member, will direct Associate
i'rofessorofThesterllarcmGrund
and theater arts graduate stu
dents Jeanne Lee and J. Chris
topher Wineman in the Pinter
one-act.
Tickets for "Late Night Pinter"
or "An OHenry Holiday" will be
available at the door. The tickets
are $3 for the general public and
V for students and senior
citizens.
SUGAR BOWL
WEEK
CONDO
French Quarter
o
old jazz tunes and bluesy piano
numbers. O
'City Heat" has some good in- jnj
Call
ever, and it lacks a good script.
They just can't seem to tell a story
without a lot of needless bullets.
for details.
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roll shoes to the Im Ear Ttosdny, Friday an-d Saturday.
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SUGAR BOWL TICKETS
NEEDED
Will pay $35.00 per ticket.
(
Robertson Travel
Post-lnc.
2732 Cahaba Road
Birmingham, ALA
35223
(205) 879-C4S1
(2C5) 822-8249
evenings
Call Collect
GOOD LUCK
HUSKERS