The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 9

Teleyision-Radio-Coniics Theater-Films-Music Inlcnor Decor-Art Fcalurcs-Fashioit- THE SUN PAGE 1 BALTIMORE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31. 1900 PAGE 1 i i I. a viS k-y w.v-. 1, alt I -1 iii mi hi. lw ii mm 'V 4.

1' tJiMHpIB jM All I fir I I I' r- I 1 i BMyiuiiniBi ami CkJta-A 4V MJ iiiiinii lit ft i Sunpapprs photographers Frank Gardina and Wpyman Swag i per discovered that shops and department stores wrre i almost as crowded after Christmas as hefore the holiday, MtiA Shoppers exchanged gifts for right sizes, shapes and colors, jjr Harried salesclerks managed to retain the holiday spirit. v. sm. a -J bvnf i i fc. I'l )Li i-f.

TS.L- 1 i I I 4. Satirical Look At Contemporary mores Where They re Most Vulnerable A'' (TORDIXG to the blurbs beine nuot- prl in critics all over the place are fx- Vt 1W A I i 1 i x' i By R. H. GARDNER is there for any who care to dwell upon it. Unfortunately, writer-director Paul Mazursky chose not to.

The is intentionally ambiguous with the resutl that the spectator is left wondering what, if any, long-range effects this particular experiment in group dynamics had. The group here consists of two married couples, four "beautiful" inhabitants of the upper regions of the affluent society whose lives have become intimately entwined. The key person in their joint carrvings-on is Carol, engagingly played by Miss Wood, and the common feeling that binds them together is love. Rob (Robert Culpt, is a documentary film-maker, old enough to be fabulously successful, but young enough to get by with wear ng long hair and beads. A prod ict of the nrar-a'l-ir6? that has always ben a Wcst-Cosst specialty, he has heard of a resort high in the mountain.

where up-tight peop may get unwound. The film opens with and Carol speeding to this destination shining sportscar. 'Open (' Or.ce envorrcd amongst the harmony, seekers and they participate in an elaborate Mrtivity.es.s:w. as a result rf which a breakthrough oc curs in their relations Trey yn up." and. hack in Los Angeles, they share this new 'openness." ws'h their fnens.

Although they tend to a bit square, Ted avj Ai re to'era Rob's tni Card's life anaUrirm h-auti well, tiej kn tea. Eo'j, however, art shocked when, a couple of weeks latpr, they learn that Ron has had an affair with another women and that Carol, whom Bob has provided with all the morbid details, looks upon it as a beautiful experience. In fact, Alice iDyan Cannon I is so upct she cannot make love to her husband. On a visit to her psychiatrist, she confides that she is no longer attracted to Ted-whom, committing a Freudian slip, she at one point confuses with Bob. The scene is thus srt for that wife-swapping epiwle.

which occurs finally in a Las Vrgas hotel and which Carol, in her role of prime-mover, really motivates. Crxrj In More than nn- di'irg the fi'ti tV camera closes in on Miss Woods elfin features at moments when she is making decisions calculated to affect all the members of the group. How she says. Yes. that is the thi-g to do!" And th others invariably arquieve.

Hrs is a charming and accurate performance, though at; for--rycially Elliott Gould's comic portrayal a weli-ntentiored slob jo first-ra'e jobs. Tre film is apneanrg at the Liberty and York R'-ad Ciw-ma. And Credits rt r' it- p. f. Vlr'.

-n -r- tyvp. -c T. P.ri r- X- 9 -( Pt vtm Cm mm calling "Rob Carol 4 Ted Alice" the best Amrrican comedy in years, and I'm not one to take issue with them. It an extremely funny movie, certainly 'the "best Natalie Wood has ever made and onp of the best turned out by any H-Jllywond studio during 1069. despitp pome pointedly erotic scenes that have wnn it an rating from the Motion Producers Association.

You have heard that Bob Carol Tpd ft AJice-' is about wife-swapping, but it isni; actually it's a study in group dynamics. IS ever Dream people. I suspect, know sotc-body whothrouEh a combination of pcr-sonsl and the pecul.ar ability to believe in the Tightness of an act so profoundly that the ronv ction itself be-ccm? rortaciotLS is forever persuading othe-s to things they would never dreani fi( fining if left alone. at large in a group ryund together by intense common icet-ings. csn b'K'ome dangerous especially if the feciirgs eTbrace Violence, ss in the Shsiron Tate murders.

I'susfiy. however, fhey work to r.o more serious ends or to stay on for another drnk bi the intelligent thing "uIj be 'o get on home to bed. It it tn the latter capacity that the hrfy.vr,''!vi in Fb i Cr' Ted tough its aspect 7) J- j. N-.