St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 37

Jan. 21, 1983 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Kevin Kline Is Choice In New Movie Julius Hunter -i 1 Mark Twain (right) next to David R. Francis in 1902. president of the 1904 World's Fair, served as St.

Louis mayor, Missouri governor and secretary of interior. St. Louis: Kudos And Kicks describe them in geological terms, "Old Silurian and Post Pliocene." When asked by another visitor to this city how one was supposed to Fox and others all add their individual talents to the huge canvas, and Fox, as General Dyer, the villain of Amritsar, is simply chilling. Ian Charleson, the ministerial student of "Chariots of Fire," is a full-fledged minister here, and a supporter of Gandhi over many years. Indian actors like Alyque Padamsee, as Jinnah, and Roshan Seth, as Pandit Nehru, also are outstanding.

There's also a lovely touch in the casting of Athol Fugard, the South African playwright who has battled apartheid and persecution for so long, as Gen. Jan Christiaan Smuts, the longtime South African prime minister who orchestrated it. If the film falls short, it is in Gandhi's relationships with his wife (Rohini Hattangady) and children, and with his English disciple, Mirabehn (Geraldine James). There is an argument in South Africa and a few conversations here and there, but a shortage of information on the man himself. But that's a very minor shortcoming in a very major motion picture, one that will both entertain and educate in the finest tradition of cinematic art and that pays tribute to a man most deserving.

(Running time: 3 hours, 15 minutes, including intermission. Rating: PG. At the Creve Coeur) Joe Pollack 'Savannah Smiles' The script of "Savannah Smiles," Mark Miller's third movie, is based on a much-tried recipe adorable brown-eyed kid, two oafish adults and lots of cuteness. For people who moan about the movie business going to hell in a sleaze-and-violence basket, this is a picture for you. It is doused in Disney, even though it has a PG rating.

The rating, someone explained, must come from a few four-letter words. Bridgette Andersen, the Shirley Temple-flavored child without the springy curls, plays Savannah, a precocious 6-year-old from a wealthy family who runs away from home. She happens upon two engaging, criminally-inclined bumblers, and the adventure begins. Much of the movie was filmed in Salt Lake City, an ideal setting for such rampant wholesomeness. Peter Graves, late of "Mission Impossible," plays the super sleuth hired to find Savannah, Former "Then Came Bronson" star, Michael Parks, is a Salt Lake City police detective.

There are shades of 0. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief" in this, and other time-honored plots that revolve about a precious youngster caught up in life's underbelly, who through force of irresistible innocence makes the world all shiny and nice. At times, these two nice-bad guys seem inspired by Laurel and Hardy, with the roles reversed. The porcine fellow, played by Donovan Scott, is nice and simple, a la skinny Stan Laurel. The thin one, Mark Miller, seems to have a sinister and rougher edge, or at least a more complex personality, which the moviegoer finds out is caused by a less than idyllic childhood.

He is given to yelling a lot at his inept, criminal sidekick, in the manner of Poet Robert Burns has eloquently reminded us of how important it is for us to see ourselves as others see us. Here are some observations made about St. Louis in past times: One of the earliest assessments of our town I could find came from easterner Richard Lee Mason. He visited St. Louis in November 1819 and observed, "The town is not very handsome or large.

The streets are narrow and irregular, and the houses, with a few exceptions, meanly built." And Mason attended a play at the town's only theater during his three-day visit and noted that it was "placed in the middle of a duck puddle (and) finished in the coarsest manner." T. Flint, in his "Recollections of the Past Ten Years," found that St. Louisans in 1826 were "not yet a reading people. The people are too busy, too much occupied in making farms and speculations to think of literature." An editorial printed in the local Daily Globe on April 19, 1873 rated St. Louis as a place "known throughout the United States as the poorest advertising city in the country, and the enterprise and business sagacity of a community is always weighted to a great extent by the amount of advertising in the columns of its newspapers." The Daily Globe also observed on June 18, 1873 that "There is no city in the world more hospitable than St.

Louis. But while we bring in wonderfully large numbers of strangers daily, we have nothing to show them when they are here, except, of course, Shaw's Garden." Samuel Clemens loved to pay visits to St. Louis. In fact, whenever he signed in at the Southern Hotel as S. Clemens or Mark Twain, he enjoyed taking gentle jabs at our city.

He rated the Southern Hotel as a good one, but he claimed the billiard tables, cues and balls in the hotel's lounge were so old he had to in "Sophie's Choice." an identity card in South Africa, to the shocking massacre by English soldiers at Amritsar in 1919, to the bloody killings by Gandhi disciples at Chauri Chaura, to the terrible religious riots that followed independence and the partition into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, there is blood and violent death that serve to underline Gandhi's position. These scenes, and others that show the sweep and scope of India, are the ones that set "Gandhi" apart and mark directorial brilliance. Some, like the funeral procession, involve several hundred thousand people, and Attenborough shows them with both passion and precision. They will be long-remembered. On an acting level, the film belongs to the 39-year-old Kingsley, a half-Indian actor well-known on English stages but making his first major movie appearance.

A role of this strength and power has to be an actor's dream, and Kingsley surpasses all expectations. He dominates the screen with the power of his flashing brown eyes, always in control of his emotions and, at the same time, showing vast reserves of power. With one and a half exceptions, the supporting cast is marvelous. The exception is Candice Bergen, who portrays the late photographer, Margaret Bourke-White, with the intensity of a half-grapefruit. The half involves Martin Sheen, not because his acting falls short, but because his involvements with Gandhi come about 40 years apart and he does not seem to age.

Sheen portrays a New York Times reporter, and maybe that's what happens (or doesn't happen) to reporters, but I don't think so. The remainder of the support, involving both English and Indian actors, is brilliant. Veterans like Sir John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Sir John Mills, Sir Michael Hordern, Edward Reviews Film ftiis is not to denigrate other fine performances in what is on the whole an excellent film, but years from today "Sophie's Choice" may well be remembered as the film in which Kevin Kline became a movie star. (It may well also be remembered as the movie for which Meryl Streep won an Academy Award.) The, role of Nathan, the mercurial, rhapsodic chameleon who loves Sophie far more than he should, could have been written for an actor with the theatrical background of Kline, and he plays it brilliantly. It requires an actor who can communicate moods that shift as quickly as a cloud can cover and uncover the sun, and it also requires that paradox, an unself-conscious theatricality.

In both respects Kline's performance is as close to perfect as any man's could be. He dances across the screen, both literally and figuratively, bewildering and enchanting Stingo, the young Southern writer, and sweeping Sophie, the Polish refugee from Auschwitz, out of the blackness she has been shrouded in by her past. "Sophie's Choice" is a faithful, one would almost say loving, translation to the screen of the novel by William Styron. If the movie, directed by Alan J. Pakula, has moments that are slow and plodding, so did the book.

The film is the story of a young Southern writer (well played by Peter MacNicol) who comes to New York shortly after World War II to write his first novel, just as Styron did. (These days, it is considered legitimate to stay in Tidewater, or St. Louis, at least until the second novel.) He ends up in a boarding house in Brooklyn and there, in effect, discovers the rest of the world in the persons of the lovers upstairs, Sophie and Nathan. are haunted by the immediate past and what came to be called the Holocaust: Nathan, because he is a Jew, and Sophie, because she was there, because of what has been called survivor's guilt and because of the terrible choice she was forced to make at the gates of Auschwitz. As Sophie, Meryl Streep gives a wonderfully moving performance.

Her Polish accent seems as natural as if she grew up with it, and there is something totally enchanting about watching her china-white face move from despondency to joy and then to hurt puzzlement as Nathan pulls her through his world, magical and mad. In some movies, there seems to be a bit too much cold technique in Streep's acting, but not in this one. Much of the cinematography has an appropriately dream-like glow to it. At times, objects almost seem to be surrounded by the halos of schizophrenia. And there are several stunning photographic moments.

One comes when the three friends walk across the Brookklyn Bridge and the camera sweeps up to show the graceful, spidery silver cables above. The second comes when Sophie, in drab prisoner clothes, walks across a muddy yard at Auschwitz. Everything is earth-brown and death-gray. Then, at the end of the yard, a gate is opened in a wooden wall and we are almost assaulted by color as the ir 'Si: JX ii STARTS pm. lion inn I Mty 1iK liJO SM 7.M 35 I Ife, jkjo as The Best Picture of the Year NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS BEST ACTOR BEST DIRECTOR With a little anyone can be as good as Bruce Lee! it Meryl Streep and Peter MacNicol commandant's children play in a yard with grass and and trees and a fountain and roses.

It is a powerful moment in a generally powerful movie. (Running time: 2 hours, 37 minutes. Rating: R. At the Esquire and Crestwood.) Harper Barnes 'Gandhi' Because Mohandas K. Gandhi was a man who was far larger than life, it's only proper that a film about him should be on the same scale and is it ever! Richard Attenborough, capping a 20-year project to write, cast and shoot the film, has made "Gandhi" into a spectacular motion picture, one that truly deserves the term "epic." No single film, not even one slightly longer than three hours, could properly tell the story of the man who, almost single-handedly, brought Indian independence from England, but Attenborough, with a glorious performance from Ben Kingsley in the title role, has managed to do more than merely touch the high spots and some low ones in about 50 years of Gandhi's life.

Thanks to Kingsley, whose physical appearance is so close to that of Gandhi that it is mind-boggling, and to the skills of the director, the viewer feels great knowledge of the little brown man. Having sympathy is easy for anyone who remembers, or has read, but the film offers many insights into the character of the man. His knowledge of strategy and tactics is superior to that of many generals, and one can almost see his brain in action he discusses the power of nonviolence. The film, however, is not always non-violent. From the first savage beating Gandhi takes when he tears up tilts ti' TODAY tOQ TOO MO I DoMy 130 J.JO SiM 7.10 tiW Uifn drink the muddy water, TwainJ suggested that the visitor allow the water to stand in the glass undisturbed for an hour "whereupon--i you can separate the land from the water as easy as Genesis." In March 1918, Chicago civic" leader, Allen D.

Albert was invited 'I to give his appraisal of St. Louis at local Civic League luncheon. Albert' bit the hand that was feeding him1" that day by declaring St. Louis to be just an average American city. Said he, "Residents of St.

Louis have engaged principally in getting rich to the neglect of the city's commercial, industrial and social development." I could find no records to indicate that the Chicagoan was ever invited back. Charles Peterson, who visited St. Louis in May 1951, told then Missouri Historical Society Director Charles van Ravenswaay, "St. Louis is a wonderful place to work but a hell of a place to live if you haven't got anything to do." A highly complimentary critique 7 of St. Louis was written up in a Post-' Dispatch article dated Feb.

22, 1933. i This generous heaping on of came from a rather unlikely a professional panhandler. quoted in the article as finding Louis a soft town for a hard luck -tale. The beggar named Detroit as' the toughest town for extending its'-" alms to a down-and-outer. But he-'-noted that St.

Louisans came up an average of 15 cents per hard luck story. So, there you have appraisals of St. Louis going back to 1819. We might look on the critiques with amused introspection, or we might jay in the words of Franklin P. Jones, "Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them!" Sydney Pollack NEW YORK FILM CRITICS BEST SCREENPLAY Larry Gelbart Murray Schisgal NEW YORK FILM CRITICS mini NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS Dustin Hoffman "'Tootsie' will make you very happy David Arisen, Newsweek "'Tnntaio' ia thp comedy we have been waiting' for.

It's not often that you see this kind of care in a motion picture, every frarne, every bit actor." -Joel Siegel, ABC-TV "The runniest film in years. Everything clicks, from the rlpvpr finplv-hnnpH nerform- 1 ance by Dustin Hoffman to the fabulous script by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal to the zippy direction by Sydney Pollack." -William Wolf, Syndicated Columnist lULUHJft 3 OVER MS 440, MO, MS Doty if Dustin Hoffman NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Jessica Lange NEW YORK FILM CRITICS NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS 5 Golden Globe Nominations including BEST PICTURE (Comedy or Musical) BEST DIRECTOR BEST ACTOR Oliver Hardy. Both men have criminal records and See FILM REVIEWS, Page 5 ft wackiest new super-hero! PG MRENTM. 6UI0ANCE SUGGESTED BOMe MAT1H1AL MAY NOT IE tOITABLI FOB CHILPWIH Sydney Pollack (L "It is more than just the best A comedy of the year. It will roll straight into everyone's heart And into everyone's mind as an un- melting movie memory.

-Richard Schickel, Tiitw Magazine is the best thing that's happened at this year end. It's a toot, a lark, a month in the country. Vincent Canby, New York Tune "The comedy of the year." -Gene Sukel, Chicago Tribune "'Tootsie' is the year's funniest film." -Michael Bkmm, Boston Globe "'Tootsie' is an instant comedy Classic." Pat Collin, CBS-TV Tl ineucs II II 15 America's WM POTTOS PresenlsiMKPimi Production A SYLWEY POLLACK Film DUSTDi HOFFMAN JESSKA LANGE TEBI GARB DABflO CfflXMAN CHARLES DCRNING IWl GRUS1N WErES SOWEN ROIZMAH. lit SCSARLES LW McGDlRE- 1M GELBAHTLARFY GQMLMIIIM SCHlSGALSlfllNEK PffllACL DDI RICHARDS fc cvnurv i irr EDWARD MONTORO presents "THEY CALL ME BRUCE" Starring JOHNNY YUNE MARGAUX HEMINGWAY PAM HUNTINGTON RALPH MAURO Music by TOMMY VIG Executive Producer JOHNNY YUNE Associate Producer BOB GOSSOM Screenplay by DAVID RANDOLPH, JOHNNY YUNE, ELLIOTT HONG, and TIM CLAWSON Produced and Directed by ELLIOTT HONG JIU1LI jfolMHin mm wrowj HELD Nightly SaMim 11KW, fat-fafi IMO, lill, A-L-L7 ARTISTS RELEASING CORPORATION Utj THRU FIM VENTURES INTERNATIONAL 0 "89 AHItSIS RELEASING COKPOHAHON NOW SHOWING DAILY filS WNIilJ MAT. SAT JI13M3 DAILY 7lM 13 rTJ Jj 1 1 1 lT i ill In 1 1 i 1.1 it in OaHy liOO liOO SiOO 7iOO K)0 I I11J, 700, ti UMfheoM-M 11:33 Lot hmw mi.

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