The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 33

Entertainment People Classified Pages 33 to 48, Monday, March 7, 1977 Radio Jodie Foster and 'Little A superb match by Joan Irwin Federal probe of CBC smacks of Nixon's tactics tails, thus making the impact of their retelling, within the film much more forceful. The Canadian-French co-produced film is about a young girl living with her poet father in a leased house. We never see her father in fact, neither does anyone else and our suspicion that he is dead is finally confirmed. The film is really a survival guide the girl's that goes wrong when outsiders interfere. One of these outsiders is a bitchy and domineering landlady (Alexis Smith); another, the landlady's son (Martin Sheen) who is a child molester.

Combining Foster's resilience and Gessner's direction, the screenplay's twists and turns continually challenge our ability to predict the outcome. The film co-stars another adolescent whose performance superbly complements that of Foster. Scott Jacoby plays a crippled-magician who helps Foster and ends up having a love affair with her. This is an adult film, for even though it deals with early adolescence, youngsters of that age group would simply not appreciate its subtleties. By JULIE MASKOULIS of The Gazette Whether you like it or not, whether you want to let it nor not, 'The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane' is going to sweep you away.

The little girl of the film, which opened Friday at Lowes, is Jodie Foster, the 14-year-old who is up for an Oscar nomination this year for her performance in Martin Scorcese's 'Taxi She will probably capture another nomination next year for 'Little Foster, who had a minor role in 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More' and, more recently, starred as Tallulah in 'Bugsy is the core of the film. Without her unbelievable cool and calm self-sufficiency as the unusual adolescent of the story, the film would not be nearly as penetrating. It is hard to say how much of Foster's stunning performance can be credited to director Nicolas Gessner, who brilliantly manipulates a build-up of suspense by insinuation and suggestion using Laird Koenig's screenplay (based on his novel). He spares us visually gruesome de III) 2 The amazing Jodie Foster with Scott Jacoby in suspenseful 'Little Girl' It may be the last time Stones give Toronto a supershow Remember when Spiro Agnew was stumping the U.S., fulminating against the "effete Eastern elitists," the "demagogues of divisiveness" who were expressing some doubts about the Nixon administration in print and on the air? Remember when the Nixon White House threatened to cut off funds to the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) because the president didn't like the tone of PBS news and current affairs programs? There were Canadians at the time who claimed that such things could never happen here, though such things had indeed been attempted in this land.

Now they're being tried again in the Trudeau government's campaign against the CBC which has culminated in an order to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to determine whether or not the CBC is fulfilling the terms of its mandate. The similarities between the Trudeau government's campaign and that of the Nixon administration are frightening. Both originated in an embattled government coming apart at the seams under the pressure of a situation it couldn't handle. In Nixon's case it was the Vietnam war and the president's determination to be re-elected at any price. In Trudeau's case it's the threat to national unity posed by the election of the PQ government after the prime minister had assured the country that separatism in Quebec was dead.

Both took the form of a campaign of unsubstantiated accusations and vicious innuendo in which members of the government clafmed anti-government bias on the part of the media in this case the CBC in general and the French network in particular. Such an attack serves a double purpose: It unnerves the broadcasters and may lead to extreme caution and self-censorship in news decisions, and it also confuses the public and undermines its faith in the honesty of newscasts and current affairs programs. In no time at all such a campaign can instil the fear of God (and budget cuts or licence removal) in the broadcasters as well as persuading the public that it can't believe anything on radio or TV. All broadcasters are vulnerable because they are a federally licensed and regulated industry. Even the rich and powerful American commercial net-, works bowed to government pressures to the extent of cancelling "instant analysis" of presidential speeches and 1 instituting other cautionary measures.

In this country we've already seen the CRTC's grilling of CFCF for its anti-Bill 22 campaign and the subsequent warning in a public announcement to all broadcasters on the treatment of controversial subjects. Publicly-financed broadcasters such as PBS and the CBC are, of course, even more vulnerable than the private sector because they depend on funds voted by politicians whose view of broadcast responsibilities can become very limited and self-serving in periods of crisis. That's the situation in which the CBC finds itself now. But the Trudeau government seems to have realized that it's not gaining itself any political popularity points with its anti-CBC activities, so it has tossed the mess of its own making into the lap of the CRTC and given it until July 1 to find out if the CBC is pro-separatist or has been merely reflecting the activities of a legally constituted political party and the feelings of a considerable segment of the Quebec public. Thus in this critical period the CBC will be operating under the most inhibiting and demoralizing of circumstances, struggling to provide the public with a faithful view of events in the shadow of the undefined threat implicit in the CRTC investigation.

The terms of reference of the CRTC inquiry are not yet known, and it's going to be interesting to see how they can be phrased to avoid giving the impression of a witch hunt. There is, however, some indication that the board of inquiry will include outside experts as well as members of the CRTC itself an encouraging sign in view of the CRTC's past failures to stand up to pressures of various kinds. One might hope that the quality of the CRTC research is higher than it was during the CFCF investigation which produced documentation full of preconceptions and bald errors in fact. It's difficult to put much faith in the courage and independent spirit of the CRTC after its recent decision reversals and general waffling on FM policy, cable licensing and commercial deletion. It's even more difficult to see what useful purpose will be served by subjecting the CBC to this investigation on the basis of no more than the frustrations of a group of politicians who would apparently like the CBC to become an outlet for government propa-gand Authoritarianism is in the air, and it may prove to be a greater threat to national unity than anything the PQ government does.

Richard's arrest last week led to speculation the group might break up if the 33-year-old musician was jailed. The charge carries a maximun sentence of life imprisonment. One source close to the Stones said if Richard, one of the original members, receives a jail sentence, "they might just fall apart." But the group's troubles seemed to be temporarily forgotten Saturday. Strutting about the tiny stage at a downtown night spot for the second straight night, lead singer Mick Jagger used his most expressive gestures and meanest snarls as the band thundered through a two-hour mix of old and new numbers. Mrs.

Trudeau joined the Stones as she did Friday night in their limousine ride to the club from the hotel where the group is staying. Accompanied by two girlfriends and virtually unnoticed by the crowd, Mrs. Trudeau spent most of the evening wandering around the jammed club snapping photographs with a 35mm camera. The stones Jagger, Richard, Ron Wood, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman -were joined by pianist Billy Preston and percussionist OUie Brown. Richard was freed last week on $1,000 bail to appear at his arraignment.

The fans got to attend the private concert by writing letters to a local radio station, and showed their appreciation by dancing on tables and chairs and shouting for their favorite songs. PREMIER CONCERTS PRESENTS 4 I rrtMnivic LMIIMC DIRECT FROM ITS RECORD BREAKING BROADWAY RUN SHERWIN GOLDMAN HOUSTON GRAND OPERA RAY BARR MUSICAL CONDUCTOR PLUS THE GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA IV undar the direction of JIMMY HENDERSON GEORGE GERSHWIN'S MASTERPIECE 11 1feK St 1 SUNDAY. APRIL 3rd at 9.00 P.M. NOW ON SALE I I At TICKETS $6 00 to $10 00 TORONTO (UPI) Their guitarist faces grave drug charges today, but the Rolling Stones still gave what critics described as one of their finest performances Saturday to a selected audience of 300 fans, including Margaret Trudeau. Fans feared the performance may be the British rock group's swan song.

Lead guitarist Keith Richard appears in court today for arraignment on charges of possession of heroin for the purposes of trafficking. Black panel criticizes TV's 'Roots' WASHINGTON (UPI) Three black panelists have critized the television movie 'Roots' as a distorted picture of slavery that subtly tells blacks they must always submit. But a white panelist on a local television show Sunday praised it for exposing "an ugly truth" Americans wanted to forget. One black suggested that author Alex Haley "took the 300 grand and ran" instead of holding out for a more accurate film. Another contended the movie was "toned down" to make it acceptable to television.

The charges were made on the show The program 'Roots: The sought to gauge the long-range impact of the ABC movie, seen by 80 million viewers. In New York on Friday, the Ku Klux Klan was immediately denied a request for equal time on ABC to respond to 'Roots' was a biased historical presentation from a black militant point of view," said David Duke, National Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, who presented the network with a written request under the fairness doctrine. He said the book and the show were "a slap in the face of the white majority" and that its "fictitious" events might engender violence by blacks. PdA Box Office Mtl. Trust.

M. "The Best Musical on Broadway Clmt Btmts. Timmt MARCH 10. 11 at 8 30 P.M. SATURDAY.

MARCH 12 at 2:30 8 30 P.M. TICKETS: $8.00 to $15.00 AT PLACE DES ARTS BOX OFFICE MTl. TRUST. A iiWJf A PREMIER CONCERT PRESENTATION HH1I WOODY HERMAN in concert MONDAY MARCH 7 AT 8 10 P.M. ANITA BRYANT REINSTATED IN TV SERIES NEW YORK (UPI) Entertainer Anita Bryant, who announced last week she had lost a television contract because of her opposition to allowing homosexuals to teach in public schools, has been reinstated.

a Miami resident, has spearheaded a petition drive to repeal a Dade (Miami) County ordinance prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals. W. Paul Tippett executive vice president of the Singer said Friday that the earlier action to cancel Bryant's participation in the proposed show had not been cleared with top management of the company. DRAMATICALLY RELEASED AFTER TWELVE YEARS IN SOVIET JAILS AND MENTAL ASYLUMS, SOVIET DISSIDENT VLADIMIR BUKOVSKY TALKS TO PETER KENT. mm 15 MUSICIANS ANITA BRYANT Vocal stand against gay rights '03 23 03' offers Montrealers the latest in contemporary art "1 III IB MG7UO Over the next two weeks ah event entitled '03 23 03' will give Montrealers a unique opportunity to see, hear and talk to some of the world's best known performance artists, and international critics lecturing on contemporary art.

'03 23 which began last Thursday, was organized by Montrealers Chantal Pontbriand and France Morin, editors of the art magazine and by Normand Theriault of the Institute d'Art Comtemporain. All the events, which are free of charge, take place at 1306 Amherst St. (Beaudry Metro). The program also includes an exhibition, which changtes daily, of plans and photographs of art mailed in by artists from around the world. The exhibition is open from 2 to 7 p.m.

daily, and at performance times. Performance art, the newest and most unusual of the numerous movements to. emerge from the visual arts camp, has rriuch in common with experimental theatre, but its emphasis is on visual presentations involving the artists' bodies and various props. WATCH THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ON NEWSMAGAZINE TONIGHT AT 10 on CBC TELEVISION Music and dance are part of some performances. Others consist of slowly executed, seemingly non-logical actions by a single person.

Unlike the spontaneous style happenings of the '60s, performance art is usually carefully planned in davance. This week's schedule is as follows: Today, 3 p.m. meeting with Toronto artist Michael Snow; Tuesday, 8:30 p.m., performance of 'Gesture on a by Giuseppe Chiari of Italy; Wednesday, at 3 p.m. meeting with Chiari; Friday, at 8:30 performance by Simone Forti and Charlemagne Palestine, United States. In the 12 clays following artists Cioni Carpi and Gina Pane of Italy will as well as England's Reindeer Werk group.

Canada's General Idea and Front groups and. Raymond Gervais. Critics Annette Michelson (U.S.A.) and Caroline Tisdail (England) will lecture in English. Germano Celant of Italy will speak in French. For dates and times call 522-9167.

On Sounds Unlikely 5.03 Mondays 940 Radio new CBMTQ.