The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 61

Thursday, July 13, 1989 The Philadelphia Inquirer h.Lft-P The films of Laurence Olivier BOOKS ON CASSETTE MacNeil tells of his reverence for words 'Aft- the experience provided him with "a rich, echoing soup of sound." As MacNeil enthuses about the musical qualities of words, he gives convincing demonstration in this able and enjoyable reading. His performance speaks well for the points he is trying to make. Of course, the diction is perfect MacNeil reads the biographical parts in a straightforward manner, but he's expressive, charming and relaxed it's obvious he's having a good time. Even better are bis readings from favorite poems, novels and plays, MacNeil a former actor, performs with both gusto and skill, and here is where he best communicates his reverence for words. It's all distressingly inspiring listening to MacNeil, you wind up feeling negligent for not being able to PHOTOGRAPHY less than half the book costs only $14.93 from Simon Schuster.

Both tapes were released simultaneously with the Viking costs $18.95. The abridgment, also read by; MacNeil, is obviously the better price, and it has been done well. But because we're focusing on words here: 1 cant see skipping any of them. Wordstruek is too tightly written, too engaging, to miss half of it you'll want to bear It all, and come back to it again. MacNeil is, truly, as good as his word.

Whro to get tapes SPOKEN ARTS 310 North New no-cheUe. N.Y. 10801: phone 800437-3617. SIMON SCHUSTER 1230 Avenue of the America. New York.

N.Y. 10020. 800-676-2677. a vacation? X-ray exposures. Other suggestions: When traveling by air, do tot put your camera or film in yourcheck-through luggage always carry them with you.

If you have an expensive camera, register it with VS. customs before you leave for overseas. On average, six rolls of 35mm film should be enough for a 10-day vacation. If you're a heavy shooter, count on a roll a day. Once you've exposed a roll, put it back into the plastic container it came in.

Make certain the leader Is wound completely into the film case so you can't accidentally put it back into the camera. Laurence Olivier, the great British actor whose career spanned almost 70 years on stage and screen, died Tuesday at age 82. Many of his film and television performances can be seen on video. Of) indicate film is available on videoceiaette, TOO MANY CROOKS (1930) THf TEMPORARY WIDOW (1930) POTTHAR-S WIFI (1930) THf YELLOW TICKET (1931) FRKNOS AND LOVERS (1931) WESTWARD PASSAGE (1932) NO FUNNY BUSINESS (1932) PERFECT UNDERSTANDING (1932) CONQUEST OF THE AIR (1936) I STAND CONDEMNED (British title: MOf OW NIGHTS) (193S) Crown, $19.98. (B AS YOU LIKE IT (1936) Blackhawk.

19.95. (5) FIRE OVER ENGLAND (1937) Crown. S19.9B.(S) THE DIVORCE OF LADY (1938) Grot, moen $14.99. QD tt DAYS TOGETHER (Original title 31 DAYS) (1939) a PLANES! 1939) WUTHERMG HEIGHTS (1939) Oscar nomination as best solar. Nehon.

Si 9.95. QD RISC CCA (1940) Oscar nomination as best actor. CBSFox, $19.95. CD PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1940) MGMUA. $24.95.

CC THAT HAMILTON WOMAN (British title: LADY HAMILTON) 1 94 1 Nation Cnfrtakf went. $19.95. QD THE INVADERS (British this: FORTY-NINTH PARALLEL) (1941) VidAmertca. $39.95. CD THE DEMI-PARADISE (1943) Video Dimen one, $19.95.

QD HENRY (1944) Also produced and directed; special Oscar for "outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director." Paramount $19.95. QD HAMLET (1948) Also produced and directed; Oscars to Olivier for best picture and bast actor. Paramount, $19.95. QD THE MAGIC BOX (1951) CARRIE (19S2) THE BEGGAR'S OPERA (1963) RICHARD Ml (1966) Also directed. Nation Entertainment.

$19.95. QD THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL (1967) Also directed. Warner. $24.95. QD THE MOON Si SIXPENCE (1969) Made for TV.

THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE (1959) SPARTACUS (1960) MCA. $79.95. QD THE ENTERTAINER (I960) THE POWER AND THE GLORY (1961) Made for TV. TERM OF TRIAL (1963) UNCLE VANYA (1963) Also directed. BUNNY LAKE IS MISSMG (1966) OTHELLO (1966) KHARTOUM (1966) THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN (1968) MGMUA.

$69.95. CD THE DANCE OF DEATH (1968) OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR (1969) THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (1969) MGMUA. $29.95. QD DAVID COPPERFKLD (1970) THREE SISTERS (1970) Also directed NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA (1971) RCAColumbia. $69.95.

CD LADY CAROLINE LAMB (1972) Prism Vid- Tips on preparing for recite more passages from your own favorite works. It makes you wish for a special Memorize With MacNeil mini-taps of the best selections, particularly his deep-voiced, brooding Othello; an anguished young Hamlet "unpacking his heart with words," and Robert Louis Stevenson's poem "Windy Nights." MacNeil even sings a few short selections, noting that World War "took on a kind of religious meaning" and that songs about the defense of England were "on the same level as singing hymns praising God and praying for victory, except that the songs were mors appealing." The only problem is the price $65 is high by even unabridged standards; most other companies' seven-hour books are in the $30440 range. And a three-hour abridgment Just a little around your neck or over your shoulder. If you have to leave it in the car, lock it the trunk never leave it on the seat If you plan to leave a camera in your hotel room, lock it in your suitcase. VS.

airport X-ray checkpoints show no signs of fogging film with speeds up to ISO 400. If you're making more than two stops by air, have your film hand-inspected. Put film in a clear plastic bag so the agent can see It There are seven countries that will not hand-inspect film: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. If these countries are on your itinerary, I suggest you get a lead-lined pouch, such as FilmShield, to protect your film from I wm 1 on the to 'W, frmlcd Offer By Tony Spina KaiakMlttder am lento A camera should be your travel companion to record treasured moments. But choose one that won't overburden you you won't want to lug around a lot of equipment If you have a camera, check it out before you leave.

If you plan to buy one, consider a compact 35mm with a 35mm to 70mm zoom lens, with which you easily can photograph groups, portraits and landscapes. If you have a new camera, shoot a roll of film before you leave to be sure everything is in good working condition. And be sure to take the instruction manual on your trip. While traveling, keep your camera Met iiytJypjyt -as: -V -a Count on Sterling for the guaranteed lowest prices' everyday our huge selection of quality eyeglasses. The highest quality at lowest price our promise you.

Laurence Olivier as King Lear in 1983 to. $14.95. CD SLEUTH (1972) Oscar nomination as best actor. Media, $19.95. CD LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1972) Made for TV.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (1973) Made for TV. LOVE AMONG THE RUINS (1975) Made for TV. MARATHON MAN (1976) Paramount $24.95. CD THE SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION (1976) MCA $59.95. GD JESUS OF NAZARETH (1977) Made for TV.

CBSFox, $169.99 (three cassettes). QD A BRIDGE TOO FAR (1977) THE BETSY (1978) CBSFox. $59.95. QD THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL (1978) CBSFox. $59.99.

CD A LITTLE ROMANCE (1979) Warner. $59.95. CD DRACULA (1979) MCA. $19.95. QD THE JAZZ SINGER (1980) Paramount $19.95.

CD CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981) MGMUA. $79.95. QD INCHON (1982) BRIDESHEAD REVISITED (1981) Made for TV. Virgin Vision, $149 (set of aix cassettes) or $29.95 each. CD A VOYAGE ROUND MY FATHER (1982) Made for TV.

WAGNER (1S83) Nelson Entertainment $29.95. CD KING LEAR (1983) Made for TV. A TALENT FOR MURDER (1983) Made for TV. MR. HALPERN AND MR.

JOHNSON (1983) Made for TV. IVE. $59.95. QD THE EBONY TOWER (1984) Made for TV. Vista.

$79.95. QD THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1984) Made for TV. THE BOUNTY (1984) Vettron. $29.95. QD THE JIGSAW MAN (1984) HBO Video.

$79.99. QD WILD GEESE (1985) HBO Video. $79.95. QD LOST EMPIRES (1986) Made for TV. WAR REQUIEM (1988) nario.

Data East, which markets several popular martial arts computer games, has licensed Batman, the Caped Crusader (Amiga, Apple, Commodore, Atari ST, $25 to $45). Here you have to foil the Penguin's plot to take over the world with an army of robot penguins. It was Activision that started this whole movie licensing mania a few years ago when it sold an astonishing two million copies of a game based on Ghostbusters. In October, Activision will release Ghostbusters II (IBM, Commodore, Amiga; $35 to $50). The game will Include scenes from the movie, such as the slime river that flows under New York.

Activision also picked up the license to one of last year's hit movies Die Hard (IBM; $50). While these games are fun, today's computer technology can't come close to the experience of watching the motion pictures they're based on. You might be better off investing your money at the box office. guoronttt riw lowtit prt Miy copllt tvfflbn pfcog proof of low coffptt'h prt rtqwrtd wtW 30 dorv don. UulM mtrdiondiM.

Spool orftn iicludtd vi uoic tv dr. good at participating locations anly, Classic frame) sJncir-' PERSONAL COMPUTERS Summer's action flicks Jaya software sidekicks get By Sandy Bauers tlxaulrtr tuft Writer How appropriate that Robert Mac-Neil, co-host of PBS's MacNeilLehrer NewsHour and wordsmith extraordinaire, has chosen to record his latest book. Wordstruck, a history of MacNeil's love affair with words, pays lavish tribute to the spoken word in particular. This book should be listened to. MacNeil says it is the sound of English, perhaps even more than the sense, that captivates him: "Words heard still touch me more deeply than words printed.

If I am to take them into my consciousness, have them move me, I must know what they sound like. Speak to me and you will move me; write to me and 111 have to think about it" Again and again, he refers to the "taste" of words, "the feeling for words on the tongue. In a full-length reading for Spoken Arts (6V, hours. $65), MacNeil tells how a respect for words was instilled from early childhood. Born in 1931, he was raised in Nova Scotia The time, he says, "guaranteed a pre-television childhood in strict schools, where mere cleanliness was not as close to godliness as good grammar." For his father, a navy man who was frequently at sea, books were an "escape, bis dream space, his wish-fulfillment, the travel of a man who yearned to travel more, and his higher education." For his mother, books were entertainment, to be shared with her children.

MacNeil still remembers how she read poetry and novels aloud to him, and how she cried over the sad parts in David Copperfield. Singing in the Sunday choir helped MacNeil learn to enunciate his vowels to give them "full measure," as he puts it and how to give the D's and T's at the ends of words proper emphasis. He never did become religious, but acabe This down, we'll tell you there are over 100 other features on the PRODIGY service. Let's say you want to travel to someplace new, like New Orleans. With the PRODIGY service, you can book your own ticket and get the lowest airfare available.

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Philadelphia 2 Penn Cfr. Concourse Cherry Hill Mall Lower Level near Penneys -rTTair Sterling THE EYE $AVERS" 6 198? IPCO CORP. FirUUY, li NAT TMPC WAS INVENTED FOR." Suggaswd ma once upucai AN IPCO COMPANY -ew AS wjnjmmifiwuit mt. ivjncn as inisune. r-: i By Dan Gutman ajweW Th fnenlrar "Can we kill off Indiana Jones?" was the first question software programmer David Fox asked film maker George Lucas.

"Sure," Lucas replied. Hot on the heels of the big summer movies come the big summer-movie computer games. And not only Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Batman, Ghostbusters H'Star Trek The Final Frontier and Licence to Kill all are about to be released in software form. Both Lucas and filmmaker Steven Spielberg contributed to the design of the new Indiana Jones game, says Fox, who did the programming with two other Lucasfllm Ltd. designers.

Interestingly, they had no problems with the computer game's straying from the movie's plot line. In fact, during the game's design process, Lucas suggested having the Nazis get The Holy Grail and force Indy to get it back. That idea didn't make it into the final game. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Has actually been made into two games, one for action lovers and the other for adventure fanatics. -In the adventure game (IBM, Amiga, Atari ST; $50).

you take on the role of Indy as well as that of Dr. Henry Jones, his father. Dr. Jones' Grail Diary is included in the package and is necessary to figure out clues. in the action game (Commodore, Amiga, IBM.

Atari ST; $30 to $40), you start as young Indy in the spectacular circus train sequence. Then you tackle the Venetian catacombs, the rats, find Henry, have a biplane bat-tie and finally make it to the Grail temple. Lucasfilm Games obviously bad the advantage of access to the creators, sets and props of the actual movie. The other publishers of movie games, who paid stiff fees for the software licenses, had to work from copies of the scripts. Mindscape XStar Trek V) and Broderbund (Licence to Kill) sot ewt six months ago.

While Licence To Kill follows the plot of the new James Bond film fairly closely, Star Trek The Final Frontier begins where the movie ends. "The movie didn't really lend itself to a game," explains Mindscape's Lisa Petrison. "Paramount Pictures, it seems, is very particular about how their mov-ies are translated into software. They rejected Mindscape's first game concept, forcing the software publisher to dream up a completely new see- VCR alert THE MOON ABOVE, THE EARTH BELOW (9 tonight, Channel 10) A two-hour remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the flight of Apollo 1 1 and the first landing on the moon, hosted by Dan Rather and Charles Kuralt USA im only $9.95 a month for up to 6 family members. There's even a Start-up Kit with a Hayes Personal Modem 2400, I kids.

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