St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 87

May 23, 1986 SILCUIS POST-DISPATCH 30 li I -4 I (l I ii "mm1" DEATH OF A SALESMAN AND 'PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS' plenty of effects. There are spectral ghosts, creepy-craw-lies, skeletons, windstorms, flying objects, jumping chairs you name it, they have it including something (that's the "Alien" sequence) credited in the cast list as "vomit creature" and played by an actor named Noble Craig. It may not be much, but it's show biz, I guess. It seems, by the way, that the reason for all the problems is the fact that Nelson bought a house whose swimming pool was over an old burial ground, and the ghosts apparently wanted a dip. Another sequel to come? Perhaps, since the ending sets the stage for it Despite the PG-13 rating, I think the film includes sequences that will be frightening for small children.

(Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes. Rating: PG-13. At the Cinema IV, Creve Coeur, Garkson, Halls Ferry. Ken-rick and Mark Twain.) -Joe Pollack TOP GUN' HP- Stars of "Death of a Salesmen" who also appear in "Private Conversations." Standing are Stephen Lang and Kate Reid. Seated are John Malkovich (left) and Dustin Hoffman.

"Private Conversations' is an intriguing looking at how actor Dustin Hoffman. German director Volker Schlondorff and playwriRht Arthur Miller made a movie out of Hoffman's highly acclaimed but definitely eccentric Broadway performance of the lead role in Miller's "Death of a Salesman." Given the strength of the personalities involved, and let's not forget actor John Malkovich and producer Robert F. Colesberry, it is amazing that the film did not turn out to be a total mishmash, a more exulted example of the kind of thing that comes about when an actor like Burt Reynolds or Sylvester Stallone decides to rewrite the script and select the camera angles. Fortunately, that is not the way it happened, mainly because Hoffman. Schlondorff and Miller all had compatible visions of the film, and all respected one another's talents.

As "Private Conversations" details. Hoffman suggested Schlondorff to Miller as the director, and Miller thought Hoffman's potrayal of his most famous character was so good that "they will be Imitating it badly for the next 40 years." The movie of "Death of a Salesman" was released on television last year and reviewed here by critic Joe Pollack, who had also seen the original Broadway production starring Lee J. Cobb, the one "they" have been fmitating up until now. He described the new version as "equally powerful" and said that Hoffman's portrayal of aging salesman Willy Loman was "a great performance." This weekend and next week, the Hoffman "Death of a Salesman" will be shown along with "Private Conversations," the movie about its making, at Webster University. The fascinating thing about "Private Conversations" is that producer-director Christian Blackwood indeed intrudes on conversations the speakers would rather keep private.

This is particularly true of Hoffman, who will start to make some critical remark about Colesberry and producers in general, feel the camera and microphone at the back of his neck, hesitate, then blurt out his complaint anyway. Directors have quit because of Hoffman's obsession with getting everything right, which sometimes means his way, and Hoffman has left productions for similar reasons. Schlondorff Tin handles him beautifully, letting Hoffman have his head, even letting Hoffman at one point take over stage directions to the other actors. But quietly, when the time arises, he reasserts his power, and in any event he has the ultimate comfort of a movie director, the editing room belongs to him. And, just as intelligently, Miller steers Hoffman's considerable theatrical ego in the direction the playwright feels his play should go, this time around and under these circumstances.

The result is a rare glimpse inside a group creating a potential masterpiece. (Showings are at 470 East Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves. "Death of a Salesman" will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, followed by "Private Conversations" at 9:30. "Private Conversations" will be shown at 7 p.m.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, followed by "Death of a Salesman" at 8:30. Next Friday and May 31 and June 1, "Death of a Salesman" alone will be shown at 7 and 9:30 p.m. For further information, call 968-6967.) Harper Barnes 'POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE' "Top Gun" is as slick as a hot coating of Teflon, and about as deep. It has terrific scenes of dogfights between modern jet planes, but stalls when it comes in for a landing and Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis go through the motions of a love affair. The shallowness of "Top Gun," about a brash young Navy student fighter pilot named Maverick (Cruise), is evident when you compare it with "An Officer and a Gentleman." That big success of several years ago was hardly "King Lear," yet one of the reasons it was so popular was that the lead characters played by Richard Gere, Debra Winger and Louis Gossett Jr.

had recognizable human characteristics and believable pasts that they tried to overcome or live up to. Here, all we get of Cruise's background is the hackneyed tale of a heroic pilot father who died in action. McGillis' character, who appears to be an instructor at Cruise's flight school, seems to have popped out of nowhere. Their affair is almost forgotten for the last part of the movie, and then resurrected in a jarring way so everything will be tied up at the end. "Top Gun" is supposed to have the feel of one of the classic fighter-pilot movies of several decades ago, but fails except in the brilliant flight sequences.

Tony Scott's direction is filled with MTV-ish visual punch. It would be way too busy for a movie with any real substance to it. But with "Top Gun," it sort of works because the only way to really enjoy this movie is to turn off your mind and go with the punches. You also have to ignore the implications of the fact that our heroes in their F-Hs are fighting Russian MIGs in the climactic battle. Scott helps by giving the MIG pilots dark visors so we cannot see their faces.

Our movies seem to be getting very casual about World War III, and that is disturbing. But on the other hand, "Top Gun" avoids stopping the action to make absurd pseudo-patriotic speeches, which is the main problem with an otherwise very skillful action movie called "Rambo." If you like airplane movies, "Top Gun" is about one-third of a dazzler, and the rest is at least watchable. (Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes. Rating: PG. Alton, Clarkson, Cinema IV, Des Peres, Halls Ferry, Northwest, Ronnie's.) Harper Barnes Heather O'Rourke is featured in the sequel "Poltergeist II: The Other Side." television set in their new home in Arizona.

If you recall, that's where the things bred in the original. The sequel is, ho-hum, more of the same, with lots more special effects. And when the writers were stuck for an idea, they just dug through their movie-molded memories. So we have bits and pieces of "The Alien," and "The Jonestown Story," and "Carrie," and "A Man Called Horse," and even "The Wizard of Oz," complete with a gleaming Glinda in a golden glow. Little Carol Anne, minus the red shoes, opts for California instead of Kansas, but she's young and not legally responsible.

Besides, the Indian told her to go "home," and her parents picked California. I'm not sure how much any of us want to remember about "Poltergeist," but the sequel sees the family, having fled from California (that was the high point of the first film for me) and moved to Arizona, where they settle in with Geraldine Fitzgerald, as JoBeth Williams' mother, in a ranch house surrounded by roses. The original family is back for a second go-round; Craig T. Nelson and Williams as the parents, Oliver Robins and Heather O'Rourke as the crumb-gobblers. Fitzgerald is new, though she dies too early to have an effect, or even to display any acting prowess.

Also new are Will Sampson as Taylor, the Indian with semi-magic powers, and Julian Beck, in the last film role before his death, as the evil Kane, and with such a clever name, too. Zelda Rubenstein, referred to by Nelson as "the magic Munch-kin," is on hand again as a psychic. As may be expected from any film whose cast list takes one page in the press kit while the technical crew covers seven, there isn't much in the way of acting, but there are It's probably the ultimate nightmare of anyone who ever wore braces: Here's this nice-enough looking little boy, standing at the bathroom mirror, poking at his braces and, probably, wondering how great he'll look without them. And suddenly they attack. Like a mass of Christmas tree tinsel or shredded aluminum foil gone berserk, they spurt in angry filaments from his mouth and wrap themselves around his head.

By the time Dad shows up, only an eye is left, and by the time Mom appears. Dad has been wrapped in a silver cocoon. I'm not sure whether the dog comes to the rescue on this occasion, or whether it was Carol Anne, or maybe it was time for the tinsel tossers to go to lunch. I know the dog comes to the rescue in the garage, when the light cable attacks, but that was later. Dad has a turn at some of the heroics, and so does Mom, and so does little Carol Anne.

It's a family picture, after all. That's the way it goes in "Poltergeist II," in which the family makes a valiant attempt to ward off the beasties and things that go bump in the night by not buying a arnr I -m Jam In mm 'MUtPHV'S I0MANCT I Nftotv 79 11 (Si Lawn Lmui 'Wf AMU FOOL'S DAT NiKI7l0 8 50 IBj Sun 2:10 3 50 5:30 7:10 8 50 Salty Pwldi mtm'i iomanci Nly 7 00O5 Ull Sun 1 50 4 55 7 OO 9 05 I iams Garrw In 'MURPHY'S ROMANCF Nttvry 4,43 7 00 9 13 30 4 45 7 0f95 re 'MURPHY'S ROMANCE' 1 M.Sal Sun Separata dwtm MURPHY'S ROMANCf 7740 Oto. 111.1148 NMly 7 Sua. 7 I 'APSIl FOOI DAY' nSotSonf 13 0y BAND OF THI HAND ry, N.wtv 8 45 Sun 12 50 4 45 8 45 LFJ 3 'WILDCATS Si Men ho jQCMy MM MM (HIGHEST RATING). ONE OF THE YEAR'S BEST FILMS." -Gene Siskel, CHICAGO TRIBUNE IN' pp mm ebi YOUR LIFE IS CALLING.

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