Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 29

Chicago Tribune, Tuesday. December 16, 1980 Section 3 5 MOTION PICTURIS ftlfttt aWTKMPtCTURU 'Stir Crazy': Prison film is a riot thanks to Pry or CSS" kusiO 1 la t' 1 Tower Ticker By Aaron Gold CD is needlessy belabored. But on balance "Stir Crazy" must be recommended. Nineteen eighty has been a dreadful year for comedy, and "Stir Crazy" i contains the best laughs since Most of them belong to Pryor. who filmed "Stir Crazy" before his recent accident.

Based on his hilarious appearance last week on "The Tonight Show," Pryor appears to be fully recovered from his accident, and that's good news for filmgoers. There is no one quite like him today. Rating for -Stir Three stars. 'If You Don't Stop It You'll Go Blind' THIS SLEAZY, unfunny sex comedy achieved a dubious first in Chicago moviegoing. It's so bad and has prompted so many patrons to walk out early in disgust that the Edens Theater in Northbrook was forced to post a "No Refunds" sign in front of its ticket booth.

I lasted 30 minutes before walking out. "If You Don't Stop It" is a 1974 junk heap that is nothing more than a series of explicitly illustrated creaky old sex jokes. Some are in terrible taste. For example, we see a naked woman tied to a tree. She tells a man that she has repeatedly been raped.

He listens to her story and then says, moving toward her with a leer, "It's not your day." This film has played over the last few years in various cities around the United States. Chicago is only the latest on the sucker list. Of course, why anyone (other than a movie critic) would enter a theater that posts a "No Refunds" sign is beyond me. Rating for'if You Don't Stop It You'll Go Blind" at neighborhood theaters: No stars. By Gene Siskel Movie critic aTN ICHARD PRYOR IS nothing I yl less than the funniest man in movies today.

How funny is NaV he? Funny enough to make the flimsy script of "Stir Crazy" more than tolerable for nearly two hours. There are explosively funny moments in this prison comedy that wouldn't be there without Pryor. who radiates a comic energy in a scene even when he's merely standing still. In the film, Pryor and his "Silver Streak" costar Gene Wilder play a couple of out-of-work New Yorkers who go West in search of a pot of gold. Pryor's character is a frantic actor; Wilder plays a sweet, introspective playwright sold on sensitivity training he tries to be everybody's friend.

Through a case of mistaken identity, both men are arrested and convicted of robbing a bank. Their "Welcome to Arizona" sentence: 120 years in prison. To which Wilder replies in court, "Wha! Wha! Wha!" And Pryor, reaching for his public defender's neck, adds, "I'm gonna kill that mother Once the boys are in prison, "Stir Crazy" begins to offer one Mel Brooks-size laugh after another. Wilder tries to "understand" the emotional problems of a 400-pound convict who's in the slammer for mass murder. Pryor tries to escape the clutches of a prison doctor whose favorite operation is the removal of perfectly healthy sex organs.

BUT THE FILM'S biggest gag Is the look of disbelief mixed with abject fear that is always on the faces of. both men. They simpy can't believe they are in prison or 120 years. "Stir Crazy" has some dead spots, to be sure. The opening scenes in New York are weak, and the film's last half hour involving a prison escape plan nnfJITH THE CROWING umber of large city-sponsored events such as ChicagoFest, it wouldn't be a bad idea UU (or Police Supt.

Richard Braeciek to have a select group of Chicago police officers trained in crowd-control techniques. Perhaps the city could hire more Andy Frain employes to handle the ushering duties (which the police don't enjoy and for which they are overqualified) and utilize the specially trained police officers to handle the problem areas more efficiently and politely. ABC-TV'S "FRIDAYS" cast did a devastating takeoff last Friday on "The Rocky Horror Show" with a Ronald Reagan look-alike as Dr. Frank N. Furter, the transsexual transvestite from Transylvania.

The real "Rocky" stage play opens here Thursday at the Granada. Congratulations to McLeaa Stevenson, who secretly married show talent coordinator Ginny Fosdick last week on an island in the Gulf of Mexico. Chicago actor Joe Mantegna taped three episodes of "Soap" and might become a There's talk in Washington that Jean Kirkpatrick, a Georgetown University professor, might be our next ambassador to the United Nations. CHICAGO ACTOR DENNIS FRANZ, who most recently appeared in the movie "Dressed to Kill," landed a starring role in the NBC-TV "Chicago Story" pilot. If the pilot is picked up, the entire series, like "American Dream," just may be filmed here.

Where else would it be filmed if it's titled you ask? Well, you know those strange TV executives. Stacy Keach will star in the Jim Dale role in the touring production of "Barnum" that arrives at the Arie Crown in October. Octogenarian composer conductor Aaron Copland will be featured Jan. 8 at the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center in a musical interview program that'll be broadcast livebyWFMT. "EMPEROR MING WAS more fun to play than Christ Greatest Story Ever says Max Von Sydow of his role as Ming the Merciless in "Flash Gordon." "Jones was great to work with (Sam who portrays Flash) and if (pro- Max Von Sydow as Abner Hale in "Hawaii" (left), and as Emperor Ming in "Flash Gordon." ducer Dim De Laurentiis dubbed his voice which is apparently what all that legal fuss between them is about I can't tell.

It sounds like Jones did during filming. He's quite terrific with just the right innocent quality. It would be too sad if a sequel were made and he wouldn't be in it." Von Sydow loved all of Ming's flashy costumes and bizarre makeup, even if it did tend to age him. LARRY GATLIN AND the Gatlin Brothers fell in love with a country and western set built for them on Bob Hope's Christmas show (Tuesday. NBC-TV), so Hope gave it to them to use for their next tour.

"Popeye" racked up an impressive $212,000 over the weekend in 12 Chicago area theaters. Critics love or hate the Robert Altmaa film starring Robin Williams. The two Chicago film critics gave it 3Vi stars, while others, such as "Today's" Shallit. have given it as little as half a star. Plans for that Chequers private club disco at 15 Delaware PI.

have gone down the drain, along with the $300 initial dues paid by many prospective members. TICKER BITS: Peter Falk wants to return to Broadway in a new comedy or drama, not a revival. Nancy Sinatra Jr. is getting her voice in shape to record again. Birthday greetings to Bernie Carey.

Forum Theater has added Wednesday matinees for "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Nancy Reagan's official hair-dresser (and weren't you waiting breathlessly for this will be Julius of California, which means a lot of commuting. According to the current Esquire magazine, "When 3d-grade students in a Connecticut grammar school were asked how to spell the word relief, more than half of them answered, 11" GENE WILDER PRYOR Together Again SCHOOL GUIDE SCHOOL GUIDE SCHOOL GUIDE STIR CRAZY Tracking a century with toy trains ll NOW SHOWING WOODS WATER TOWER COLONY Dnwnltmn I 1712 i hH.qn MV-WW I hit 4 7fc 0800 mlrinnilit hiw niqhilv PLAZA BOLINGBROOK CENTURY Ihiriqii-NW HolinghitMili 719-1901 Hiilttn.n I il.ir HHl 4667 CINEMA. DEERBROOK DIANA Ml frmp.it J92. 7070 ll.rrtivld ZliOi ll llniiiritnnd ltH 1 140 DUNES PLAZA GRIFFITH PARK HILLSIDE SQ. L.iv 219.

9 III 070(1 4 IOO Hilliidr 547 6001 NORRIDGE OGDEN 6 Drive-In IMnrririq.4U.9000 IM.rMnill. M.irillvill. 219 769-220 1 PEOPLE AGED 40 and over who come through Invariably want to see one thing above all the train they had So far, the museum has had a good success rate in finding those magic carriers of nostalgic memories Ryan doesn't remember much about her train set except why she wanted one. 'When I was in 1st or 2nd grade, and on summer vacation I'd watch the train go by on the tracks neat our house in Madison, Wis. I'd wave at the engineer and he'd wave back One day, I made a sign that said 'Hello, my name is and I'd hold it up as the train passed The day before the end of summer vacation the day before I'd have to go back to school and not be around to wave at the engineer any more the train came by and the engineer was holding up a sign that said, 'Hello, my name is Bill I'll miss you Thai year my grandfather gave me a train set Chicago Tribune Press Service ATTENTION RNs! NOW IS THE TIME TO GO FOR YOUR BSN AT LEWIS UNIVERSITY College of Nursing offers a degree-completion program designed specially for the working nurse.

Courses held at Lewis and 6 area locations: Little Company of Mary Hospital Oak Forest Hospital South Chicago Community Hospital Holy Cross Hospital Westlake Community Hospital Part-Time or Full-Time Attendance Late "Afternoon Evening Classes Meet One Day a Week Liberal Transfer of Credit Policy Credit Thru CLEP Proficiency Exams Financial Aid Registration Advising Conducted at all Locations. SPECIAL SHOWING SPECIAL SHOWING s) a kw Continued from first Tempo page curator of the exhibit, a permanent one that opened last month. "Look at these live steam trains from around 1870. Can you imagine a mother allow ing her child to play with these alcohol-burning toys on the Oriental carpets? "The brass boilers were filled with water and a number of. alcohol wicks were lit beneath Steam powered the drivers that turned the wheels The en gines weren't very powerful, so the cars had light cardboard bodies.

It's just amazing that any sur vived till now. If you wanted the train to go faster, you either lit more wicks or hooked up fewer cars One of the makers of live steam trains in the 1880s was William Weeden, inventor of the cone pencil sharpener." There are lots of interesting side-track stories like the one about Weeden. In the late '20s, a little girl in the Indianapolis area was given a very special train set, a cream-colored passenger train made by the Ives Co. and intended as a dealer's display model not for sale. The train changed hands over the years and traveled to Kentucky, New' Jersey, and Michigan before Bob Vickers bought it and brought it back home again to Indiana.

The "Iron Monarch," a set featuring a ringing bell and lighted firebox, was displayed by American Flyer at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair where trains traveling at a scale speed of 129 miles an hour ran 14 miles a day for 157 consecutive days Marklin of Goppingen, Germany, made, around 1907, a set tailored to the American market by the addition of cow-catchers. Germany was not a country of open range land. The biggest locomotive Lionel ever made was the No. 381 first offered in 1928. When the company introduced the top-of-the-line State set the next year, 381 was the so-called Brute that pulled this transcontinental express.

The Brute, however, wasn't CHICAGOLAND Ok leaire J0Z cflcft .02 Classes begin Jan. 12 For Information, Call: 815838-0500, Ext. 260 bire(Sioru a-bi ar EXTENDED THRU JAN 'S1 I tlh smash month. Mew mute Fucker flutter and flash LEWIS UNIVERSITY ROUTE 53 ROMEOVILLE, ILL 60441 tmh.miiii.ok' AH new enow by the Second City. Dinner 4 Brunch Theatre Peckagee available IO BLACK PATENT LEATHER SHOES REALLY REFLECT UP? "THE PRODUCTION IS FULL OF ZIP' i rmeNo.or nonnweat ioHWByonra.31 CHATEAU LOUISE RESORT THEATRE Dundee, M.

Cat GAaaght 6-6000 Richard Christiansen, Tnbune AMUSEMENTS AMUSEMENTS Evenings a Sun. matinees. NORTH NORTHWEST ig ma irmuraimgmnQnEUMy. FORUM THEATRE 496-3000 SS20 Harlem Vlu MC-AE accepted Inquire now, conoernlng Paul Day ft Evening DsgrH Programs. De Paul University t.

Jackaon 321 7M0 Equal Opportunity Educator Rush at Oak 944-J966 "FOLLIES" BY CANDLELIGHT. THE MOST LAVISH PRESENTATION, IS GENUINELY THRILLING WILL BE LAST DAY Glancarto Giarmlni MOTION PICTURIS MUTERPIECE.THE The Immoiital ncMCMKneu A3 ONE OF THE GLORIES OF THE SEASON'' iXMTEO HIT OF ILL TIME!" i Mftf bi av Chrlstianeen Tribune at ft p.m. only neducedparMnget2E.CH NEAR NORTH 1ta TONY AWARD THAT LUCKY STIFF PREVIEWS WED 2:00 ttt P.M. OPENS THURSDAY (ft) P.M. Children of a lesser god Beginning December 17 UriM EnpegemerX TuM-Thun Evat I PU Sal UM 9 Mi CMcago at Mtch OOUXEHAWNm ruSTDAY I PRIVATE BENJAMIN" SPECIAL HOLIDAY MATINEE TUESDAY DEC 23rd 2 PM STEPHEN SONDHEIM-S Follies Dinner Theetra package Evea.Moi.

Sun. at 7 00 90S p.m. Reduced parking at Carriage House All Mala Oaet lerl I eyi "YOUKG BLOOD" "COUNTRY BOYS" Sun Mat 3 PM. Sunday Eva 730 PM liii a Man from 12000, Man Flaat SUM. Bale 113 so Frt 1 I ALIVEl ONSTAGE FROM LONDON! TMI ROCKY HORROR SHOW ll kriffet tkaatiical aaaak." OPENS THIS THURSDAY! Robin Wrtiams $175 Deer SefeerrVS Tea Dee) IMe Sep" fwee mm tmw inir ire Sat Evaa PM: Orch 4 Mau Front $22.50.

Man Raar $18 SO, Bale $15.00. Wad Mat 2 PM: Orch Mau Front 1 7 50, Mau Raar SI 5.00, Bale. S1 2.00. (Pravlawa 1217240 PM: 50c laaa than regular Maenoe 4 waaknlght prtcoe.) New Years Eva Pneaa: Mam Floor 4 alio "STM BABE" MIMIilMilMilHttH "POPEYE" at :00. $:00 tOM p.m.

B'rly 1 BMnonl Icwviiir nw mm "tr th iwrf a $El6ara6fHeRe i CRS' at 00 3AKBSURG TONIGHT AT 3 Seat Mueieal Now Extended Plus "CADOY SHACK" at 7:10 wan rrom izz.w. Mau Raar 110.50, Bale. $11.00. Special Holiday Performance; Schedule Wad 1224 PM only, Thura 1225 PM, Fh 1226 2 4 0 PM, Wad 1231 PM onVThura 112 PM. AS telei Ilnal.

Subfact to ttcfcM avallabWty. Tickets aveilete at bin oMce and sM Tketron Outlet! (Saara 4 "AMERICAN GRAFFITI" "CITIZEN'S BAWD' BEGINS DEC. 17 I 'M GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER AND TAKING IT ON THE ROAD "A JOYOUS CELEBRATION OP LIFE" STIR CRAZY 7:00 A 9:30 PM BLACKSTONE THEATRE60 E. Balbo Chicago. aknois 8060J Tetacharge 4 ticket into: (31 2) $77-1700 Group Sales: (312) 0.00 a I0 I 3 4 30, GokVTrlbuna Evaa.

4 Sun. Mala. DftUftY LANC THEATREWATER TOWER 25-0400 VlaaMCAMX onto Street ciiat iaitwooo AWT WmCW WAT TOU CAW TELECHARGE'4 TICKET INFO (312) 977-1700 We accept maior credit cards HEARING IMPAIRED (TTY): 346-4033 TICKETS AT BOX OFFICE OUTLETS IS.ar.AW.rdsl Sea Theatre Directory (or Details strong enough to pull the four heavy-gauge steel two-tone green cars of the set, a train a full nine feet long. Lionel quickly made available the twin-engined No. 408E to save the day.

Owners stuck with the No. 381, however, learning never to stop on a curve. Manes Fuld, a man in the battery business in Baltimore, made as an 1897 Christmas present for his son an electric-powered train. His son played joyously with the toy year after year, and, in 1903, Fuld decided to go into business with the item and formed the Voltamp Electric Manufacturing Co. He made charming 2-inch gauge (2 inches between rails) sets until 1923 when he sold the business because his son, a young man by then, was no longer interested in toy trains.

In 1957, Lionel offered a "girls train" with cars in pink, yellow, pale blue, and lavender. The set was, quite properly, a dismal failure but valuable today to collectors because dealers often painted over the offending colors. Ives offered a made-to-order electroplated copper beauty they called the Prosperity Special. Even though it sold for about $100 when that was a whole lot of money; the Prosperity Special might have done better if it had not been issued in the summer of 1929, a few months before prosperity jumped out the window. RYAN SAYS the value of the collection Is at least $500,000.

A poorer-condition version of one of the sets in the collection (Lionel's elegant State set) sold recently for $10,000. Other pieces are so rare that no market has been established for them. After being put in charge of preparation of the collection for display, Ryan had to unpack and clean each piece. The cleaning (with mineral spirits) was a chore. Unpacking was fun.

"I was studying about toy trains," she said, "and I'd read about some extremely unusual and beautiful set and then open a box, and there it would be, Every day was like Christmas." Children who pass through the exhibit are awed by the number of trains and the size of some of them. One, the Buddy was made in the mid '20s to early '30s and ran on 4-inch wide tracks and was intended for runs across the lawn and around the gazebo. Some children are suprised to see toy passenger trains, seldom or never having seen a real train that wasn't hauling freight. When Vickers' widow visits, she always mentions what a shame It Is that he didn't Hve to see his collection so nicely displayed. (Vickers started building another collection shortly after selling out.

A train is carved on his Mans CkrtauiM Oaf: He RMT FAWtr i2 oo VILLAGE $1.75 TT MY TVmT 8 4M0M ITAWOUtT MEMQattti" "THERE HAS RARELY BEEN SUCH A W. Lawrence AMERICAN MUSICAL STAGE. EVTTA 288-2402 ttiu. nnuunu run Muffins. Glenna Syaa-Cracago Sun-Tmes NORTH CLOSED TUESOAYI WEDNESDAY: CUNT EAITWOOO ANY WHICH WAV YOU CAN" BLACKSTONE THEATRE $0 E.

lAHO-CHtCAOO i00S is THE JOYOUS MUSICAL AOVENTUP.EI Oi.rvru ''INAL SIN" Beat Muse IMS I 7 Tory Awardf NJf. Dmmt CMOS' On Am imv MM N. Urcoln Ave. TM MOTION PICTURES MOTION PICTURIS IN PERSON! 01 rtnni Holiday Entertainment lor el. Wad.

2 PM 4 $.30 PM, Thur. 2 PM. Prl. 'EL TOPO' rivncn Mow of Tow Drooftio I Hal 4743 WEST BELMONT LUNA PHONE: 2SM6M OPEN DAILY AT 1:30 "VAMPIRE LOVERS" rm a rm NORTH FIFI ROYALS NORTH B4BKI Tuee. Dee.

23 at 2 PM 4 6 30 PM. Chnat- VMKI muau $raer LaltJOevl UfVtltaV IT IT 2 BEATLES FILMS 'LET IT BE' HELP' MARRIOTT syrfu maunx Rl 21, UnootneNre, 1., $344200 RnAayRC ta nmi uneon mjw aja tm-obm ADULTS ONLY RATED (X) "CARNAL QAMRR" Clafli a OtvefBey WARRIORS 5:30 9:10 Sun Tlmai a Tribune LUCAS r.J NRANCIS FORH COPPOLA jff rrtrtnt fjPt A HUM RY-AKIRA KUROSAWA ff (J. I in: SHADOW W.VimiOK AIMER. GKJOLO 7 pm on "Wieaa TieJ a ss a-eo "BLUES BROTHERS" Near Van Eva Phett: Orch Matr tat Sao. $29.00, 2nd Safe.

$20.00 Tuea-Sat Evaa. at I PM. Wed. I Sat. Mete at PM.

Sun M. at PM. Pneaa Tuee Thru Thura Evaa: Orch. 4 Mau. Jojt JBS.00.

Mail rear 1 1st Bete from $20.00, let bale raar $17.50, 2nd bale $.00. FH 4 Sal. Evaa: Orch 7 Mau ipnt $27.50, Mau rear 1st Bat front $22 50, lei Bale raar $11 50, 2nd Bale $16 OOSet. 4 Sun. Mala: Orch Mau.

Jont $22 SO, Mau Raar 1st Bale tront $17 50, in Bale raar $15,00. 2nd Bale OreriSMauiront I 'M. raar 4 lei tale from S' JfL8-0 00, 2nd Bale $10 00. Tickets avertable at Boa OBIce, Tlekatrpn cutlets (Saara 4 Wards) A SuMect Octet avarktbHity. SHURTTHEATRE22 W.

Monroe Chfcago. Mno 60603 Teiecharoe 4 Ticket into- met in.nm "SHALL Wm PAHCr 88. 7 -00 'ANIMAL HOUSE 0 RIVIERA "VUgST- ACELPHI 'KAW "XANADU" 7:15 OH.Y "MOM AWtmCAN OBAfftTr Or Ray Weieton (Your Fevorae Martian) 00-1000 TMI Itlfkiu Mitw at Kedtw open: 1:90 LOUAN HERBtE OOES RANANAI" -apfu puapiMO aim laXIMMT Wherever you go" mam N. SharMan 400 7 $40 Today at niOlvKAPI 6:15, 8:00 2433 LINCOLN 348-4123 Iwowmq Children under 6 yrs. not admitted UN MBri "OLOntA" $1)5 R), WILrORP tTSED CAM" 7:10 LOVB DEATH aaJWTTAH WE0-THUR8: HEAD FOR YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE THEATRE Theatre Dinner' Theatre (wdudea tai and gratuity.) DRURY UNE Martinique 2500W Wttl St, Evergreen Park 770-4000 422000 Group: (312) RILAX OOOUTTO AMOVIII mtrnm.).