Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 21

Ann Landers, 6-B Movies, 8-B Comics, 11 -B Television, 7-B SATURDAY. AUGUST 13, 1983 5B Vintage musical, space spoof and rockabilly exercises on new videocassettes ST. PETERSBURG TIMES ST if CQZEnT The early Bing Crosby film, King of Jazz, oYi I DGIUQ2I1 videocassette is a must-have for vintage movie collectors. Each month, we'll review selected new releases in videocassettes programs not previously reviewed as movies. Among August's new videotape offerings are a collection of movie farces, a cult movie, a vintage musical, an exercise program and a documentary.

These videocassettes may also be rented from some dealers. King of Jazz, MCk Home Video, a 1930 musical featuring Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, Bing Crosby and Jeannie Lang, 93 minutes, $29.95. In 1930, King of Jazz premiered to much fanfare as Universal Studios' first Technicolor feature-length musical film. Until recently, this historically important movie was in a private collection. For videophiles, King of Jazz may prove a must-have addition to any serious collection of vintage films.

It was not only Universale first color musical, but contains the first use of a sound cartoon sequence (by Walter Lantz, who created Woody Woodpecker). Add to these facts the presence of young Bing Crosby and the videotape grows in desirability. Aside from its collectible value, and considered only as entertainment, King of Jazz is first-rate, marred only by an aged soundtrack that doesn't respond well to today's Dolby improvements. The 93-minute film is a collection of musical and dance numbers, with occasional comedy routines tossed in. ha Ernie Fosselius does a fine job of spoofing the look of Star Wars, with characters named Fluke Starbucker, Ham Salad, Augie "Ben" Doggie, Princess Ann-Droid and robots Artie Deco and 4Q2.

For those who haven't seen this film before, it alone is worth the cost of the videocassette for many. But there's more. Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind is "a close encounter with stupidity on an interstellar scale." Especially appealing in this segment are singing mailboxes that spoof Richard Dreyfuss' encounter with an alien spacecraft in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Porklips Now features actors that remarkably resemble Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen, stars of Apocalypse Now. It's from Fosselius of Hardware Wars and tells the story of an alienated barbecue chef sent into Chinatown to kill Fred "Madman" Mertz, a butcher who's slashing meat prices.

There's also a wickedly clever short film called Bambi Meets Godzilla. Nothing can be said about it without giving away its humor. Funny material, this collection. Rockabilly Glamourcize, Intra-Video Properties, 60 minutes, $49.95. The latest entry in the videotape exercise sweepstakes, Rockabilly Glamourcize features good music but unimaginative video.

And then there are the The six scantily-costumed women performing the exercises have a decidedly "New Wave Punk" look that few women will want to emulate. As an exercise videotape, Rockabilly Glamourcize misses the mark. Many better videocassettes of exercise routines are on the market. But as music, Rockabilly Glamourcize is not bad. Happily, those wanting the music of Ray Campi and His Rockabilly Rebels can find this soundtrack at record stores on the Rollin Rock label.

Cheaper, too. Star is a 1971 science fiction movie that set the stage for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running and Star Wars. Set in the mid-21st century, Dark Star is the story of a scoutship on a mission to seek out and destroy "unstable planets" that could prove hazardous to other spaceships sent from Earth to colonize space. The four men aboard Dark Star are predictably bored after 20 years in space and the film is primarily conversational exchanges among the men. But the film has numerous humorous moments, especially those when the ship's commander attempts to talk a computerized bomb out of exploding while still attached to the ship.

The bomb, it seems, has received a faulty message and the commander must philosophize with the bomb's computer to prevent detonation. A "camp" movie that could probably be enjoyed at least once a year for years to come. The Truth About UFO's and ET's, VCI distributors, 90 minutes? $39.95. The truth about The Truth About UFO's and ET's is that this so-called documentary exploration of its subject misses objectivity by a mile. It's a one-sided "believer's" videotape narrated by Brad Steiger.

Steiger's wife Francie appears at one point, to explain that she is a "star person" descended from aliens that visited Earth eons ago. They're coming back to get her, she explains, and other star people before earthlings blow up our planet. Steiger relates several widely known accounts of UFO-extraterrestrial encounters, including one in Florida. The Florida case as an example of the film's many faulty facts involves a UFO that supposedly left tracks in beach sand where it landed. The case happened in Brooksville woods, not on a beach.

An objective evaluation of this topic would be welcome in many videotape libraries. Too bad this tape doesn't qualify. Hardware Wars and Other Film Farces, Warner Home Video, a collection of satirical films, about one hour, $39.95. Hardware Wars, a spoof of Star Wars, was seen by many viewers of pay-cable television shows not long ago. It's been joined by three other spoofs in this collection for lovers of satire.

The comedy segments are more dated than the music, much of it by George Gershwin. Musical numbers include Rhapsody in Blue, Happy Feet, The Song of the Dawn, and Ragamuffin Romeo (accompanied by a fantastic dance routine). Dark Star, VCI distributors, a 1971 film, 91 minutes, starring Brian Narelle and Dan O'Ban-non, $29.95. Dark Star has become something of a cult cjassic among film buffs. And not without reason.

Dark Invisible man gimmick is a wasted dimension in 3-D adventure-comedy 'Concerto for Elvis a tribute to Presley, premieres on Sunday FILM By AMANDA SHARP United Press International f- 7r 11 -0 1 IP 'r ft' 'VV 0 ill I -f I If I I is I 7 n- he Mtn Who Wasn't There Directed by Bruce Me-bnuth. written by Stanford Sharmen, (tarring Stava Guttenberg, Lisa Langloia and Jeffray Tambor. Ratad R. Nudity. Saa Theater Time Clock, 8-0.

for thoatera and ahowthnea. By TOM SABULIS St. Peteraburg Timea Movie Critic Watching The Man Who Wasn't There you wonder why it was necessary to film the adventure-comedy in 3-D at all. The movie already has one visual gimmick, invisible people, so why bother with an added dimension? Frank Mancuso the film's 24-year-old producer, explained, "The invisible person could be anywhere in the theater." Somehow, one did not get that feeling at a sneak preview Thursday. Maybe it was because the projectionist did not have the projector properly adjusted until the movie was half over.

When the correction was made, it was easy to see what Mancuso meant when he said, "I didn't want this to be a 3-D movie I wanted this to be a movie, in 3-D." The entire movie took on a three-dimensional feel; the technology was not limited to isolated special effects. The field of vision was deep and the production quality was sharper than most 3-D films. However, there aren't many tricks we haven't seen before in The Man Who Wasn't There, an espionage spoof about a stolen invisibility potion: Knives fly at the audience. Smoke rings float through the opinion theater. Telescopes prod us.

Men fall out of windows into our laps. These are stock effects on the 3-D midway. There is nothing here to jolt us like the moment in Friday The 13th Part III when a man's eyeballs fly into our popcorn. The Man Who Wasn't There attempts to wow viewers by combining the invisible-man gimmick with advanced 3-D technology, which also includes the "rematerialization" of characters onto the -screen, but the effort strikes one as a particularly silly ambition. With the exception of character actor Jeffrey Tambor, who has a funny turn as a Russian agent with a penchant for mala-propisms and capitalist luxury, the cast is undistinguished.

Steve Guttenberg, who was excellent in Diner as Eddie the football fanatic, gets plenty of physical exposure in the lead role as the state department protocol clerk who inadvertently gets mixed up in the search for the missing formula. The picture's MPAA rating may also prove to be a problem. The Man Who Wasn't There is primarily a movie for children, yet the film's various nude scenes prompted its "restricted" rating. That should eliminate most of its younger audience. Paramount A wedding scene in The Man Who Wasn't There crumbles when the bridegroom, played by Steve Guttenberg (in shorts), and his best pal, played by at Art Hindle, arrive late and scruffy.

The bride is actress Morgan Hart. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Ben Weisman wrote words and music. Elvis Presley added magic. Weisman, a classically trained pianist, composed 57 songs for the late "king of rock 'n' roll" in a collaboration that lasted more than a decade.

On Sunday, Weisman will take the Memphis Symphony through a world premiere of his "Concerto for Elvis," a 25-minute composition combining three Presley movie songs with a new orchestral blending. The performance comes just two days before the sixth anniversary of Presley's death at age 42, and Weisman hopes the concerto will renew Presley's influence. "I WANTED to do a new work, and treat Elvis as if he's still alive, and bring Elvis into the concert hall," Weisman said in an interview. "I'm so anxious for it to be heard and accepted, because it's one of the dreams of mine that's finally coming true going back to my concert work, and taking my favorite of all the singers and binding the styles into something new." Weisman spent two years working on the concerto, which incorporates the tunes, As Long As I Have You, Crawfish and Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell. The composer said a visit to Presley's Graceland mansion inspired him to finish the work.

"Last year I arrived at Graceland, and I walked in and looked around, and because he wasn't here that gave me a very sad feeling," said Weisman. "The only time my spirits really got going was when I saw his records, the records on the wall. I said, 'My God, look at all my songs "For many years to come, people will be looking at this wall and seeing a lot of my songs that Elvis recorded. That was very, very joyful for me." WHEN WEISMAN met Presley in 1956, he had learned to move easily from pop to country to gospel. But Presley's impact was so profound that Weisman decided to devote most of his talents to the new singer.

"When Elvis came on the scene, I divorced myself from all other acts, and dedicated myself to Elvis' career," he said. "So for 15 years, Elvis was my inspiration." The day Weisman met Presley, he waited half a day in a control booth for Presley to record, Got a Lot of Living to Do, a piece Weisman had composed for his latest film. "The sessions were very unusual. He had his friends in the studio, and when he would record, they would dance around him. He would watch'them and get excited," Weisman said.

"At that time he wasn't experienced in front of the microphone. He would actually sing and leave the microphone because he got so excited. "Well, in the meantime, I waited for my song to be recorded and half a day went by. But when Presley learned Weisman had written the showpiece of the film, he speeded things up and told crew 'Let's do this "It was the beginning of a collaboration of 15 years," Weisman said. Weisman hopes his Concerto for Elvis will carry Presley into the more permanent fold of classical music.

I OR PR I PM 'Marria9es break UP' children grow up UD rnl LlMUo and leave home, but work is a constant By OLIVE EVANS (Q New York Timea NEW YORK On-the-job socializing involves more than the company bowling team. It's not just a matter of stopping for a quick one on the way to the train. There is more going on than window openers sus window closers and smokers versus nonsmokers. "Our philosophy is that work is the most important thing in people's lives," said Vicki Hudes, a social worker in the employee-assistance program at the Co- lumbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. "Marriages break up, children grow up and leave home.

But work is a constant" If work is a constant, so are the people mnrK 1111 V. fnA nralrinir iimA io Dftnni be much more yourself." Moreover, "people in the same workplace tend to be drawn in the same mold," said Dr. Carl Eisdorfer, a psychiatrist and president of Mount Sinai Medical Center, adding: "You are probably more like the people you work with than in many instances you are like the members of your family. The things you read, the things you talk about, the social events you attend in connection with work all these give the opportunity for warmth and intimacy." EISDORFER ALSO puts the matter of work relationships in a larger context: "As the number of people without families increases and it's going to increase we will see the emergence of a group that de-. velops peer relationships that are more and more important to their emotional and other kinds of support." See JOB FRIENDS.

6-B man. "How often do I see my uncles or cousins? You get to know about these people, about their families and their problems." PEOPLE ON the job share things that they cannot share with family or even close friends: gripes, jokes and gossip; satisfactions and insecurities; hatreds occasionally, aspirations often and almost always tensions. And, especially under tension, they notice things: "What's bothering so and so?" is a not uncommon question. "Someone who is used to seeing you at work may notice that something is wrong before anyone else does," Miss Hudes, said, "before a spouse or an outside friend." And colleagues may be able to do something to help to suggest, say, an alcoholism program when no one at home would dare. Co-workers, in their camaraderie, talk a common language that may be unintelli gible to others whether it be computerese or medical terminology.

"Who else but a phone company worker would know what DERP means?" asked Linda Homscheid of the New York Telephone referring to its term for "defective equipment repair program." CO-WORKERS know the bosses and other personalities; they understand what makes for job problems and satisfactions. Though family and outside friends may want to understand, they lack that framework. "If I tell my family about some of my frustrations on the job, they are so bored because they just don't understand the situation or what's involved," said Ravelle Brickman, a vice president of Richard Weiner public relations. Philips spoke of a certain relaxation he experienced with the people at work. "You don't have to maintain a certain mask, so to speak," he said.

"In the office you tend to U11C wuiad TV i in. i.iwi rroBiiig umc to ojwiv with them than with anyone else. MI I nffina 1 Have seen uiy cwicaguco 1.11c vmc five days a week, 7 or so hours a day, for 20 years," said Alben Philips, a newspaper match this space Wmtch Thit Spc is a feature in which the Sr. wrer6urg Tim puts advertisers' claims to the teat." A nutcracker Rube Goldberg would love A 1 By JUDY HILL St. Peteraburg Timea Staff Writer 1983.

St. Peteraburg Timea Some products are just so simple that manufacturers can't resist "improving" them. Like nutcrackers. Originally, of course, nuts were cracked between two rocks. That technique or something similar must have the device was invented in the 1960s by a Georgia physician.

"The uniqueness of the nutcracker is that it shatters the shell and leaves the meat undamaged 95 to 98 percent of the time," says Price, who calls himself the nutcracker king. Although Price proudly offers that the product is an "attention getter," he also claims that the nutcracker is, "not a gimmick. It's a very useful tool." He adds that the name of the device the Texas Native Inertia Nutcracker "sells a lot of nutcrackers in the state of Texas." But that isn't why the product is called Texas Native, he explains; Texas Native is merely the name of the Loan Star State's indigenous pecans. Price also says that the device is "fun, safe and simple to use." THE NUTCRACKER a heavy, 18-inch long St. Petersburg Times JOiWAUES The Texas Native Inertia Nutcracker is more of an attention getter than a value.

worked pretty well, because it wasn't until fairly recent history that the present hand-held, hand-powered nutcracker was developed. But the 20th century has brought us a real advance in nutcracker technology. Or at least that's what the manufacturer of the Texas Native Inertia Nutcracker claims. "Produces only whole kernels," says the headline in a point-of-purchase advertisement for the product THE COPY ADDS: "No prior skill or practice needed Just pull back the knocker stick and release, patented inertia principle takes care of the rest." William M. Price, president of the Raleigh, N.C-based Charter manufacturer of the nutcracker, explains that to get out the meat Generally, we found the Texas Native Inertia Nutcracker, at its sale price of $8.99 (regular price a fascinating product but not one that we would rush out to buy.

It is an attention-getter, it does leave nut meats intact and it might be an aid for people who, for physical reasons, find a hand-powered nutcracker hard to use. But we think $8.99 is a pretty stiff price for a nutcracker even a Space Age nutcracker. pecans not easy to find, by the way, in grocery stores in late summer. As the ad claims, the device did break the shell and left the nut meat intact But it wasn't always quite as simple as the package claimed. The socket holding the nut had to be held firmly and the knocker stick had to be pulled all the way back against the tension of the rubberband before the force was great enough to crack the shell And we never were able to completely break the shell; each time we had to break away some of the shell by hand device, has a wooden base with a rubberband-operated knocker stick and a heavy metal socket Nuts are cracked by placing them in the socket, pulling back the knocker stick and letting it go.

The knocker stick then drives it's metal end into the nut in the socket cracking the shell We used the nutcracker on a number of walnuts and.