The Daily Breeze from Torrance, California • 40

enficrflaisiiussiig D12 Daily Breeze Sun July 15 1984 Ritter to dramatize Arbuckle's dark side Viewers bite the bullet in HBO's weak Western the July 26-airing gala with the famed ballet troupe in the USSR told us if a pullout was going to happen be the first to know and we were got a call from a friend at the Russian Embassy who said not to bother making anymore plans for the Bolshoi and a few days later there was the announcement of the Soviet pullout from the Industry notes 20fh of the press package is turning By Joseph Bensoua Entertainment writer Staff writer Watching Kirk Douglas and James Coburn fall flat on their faces in made-for-cable Western brings to mind a line from a Simon and Garfunkel tune have you gone Joe In this case have you gone Issur Danielovitch Demsky (better known as Kirk Douglas) can be held partially responsible for the deadly dull material in which premieres at 8 tonight It was Byrna Productions which he founded in the which co-produced this silly stuff Both Douglas and Coburn make their pay-cable TV debuts in this tongue-in-cheek adventure tv review It hurts to watch this film like looking down on a man being sucked into quicksand and being powerless to do anything about it Anyone seen sterling performance as Doc Holliday opposite Burt Wyatt Earp in the John Sturges masterpiece at the OK will just die Those who remember the low-key comedic touches he gave in War alongside John Wayne will sink in their seats There were other minor highlights as well Without A (which Douglas also directed) Way and Howard Big Name the great Western heroes and several come to mind Everyone has their favorites The Duke is legend as the all-American frontiersman Burt Lancaster stood for law and order (his performance as the marshal in is awesome) James Stewart em bodied the goodness spirit and true grit of the Old West Hank Fonda was a pillar of strength to a fledgling cowboy nation Gary Cooper was the hero who faced his with a blazing six-gun and never backed down And then there was Kirk Douglas whose epitaph should read While his characters swaggered between the right and wrong side of the law they were always some--thing to behold Each one cleared the leather fast and shot straight and true Each one had a sense of fair play no matter how deadly or cold they seemed And each one could clear Main Street USA faster than the plague He is to Westerns what composer Dimitri Tiomkin is to Western soundtracks irresistible So what does have going for it? Good period costuming and beautiful photography about it Director Steven Stern takes an ever-so simplistic story by veteran writer Stanley Mann and does as little as possible with it a beginning a 90-minute pause and an ending Douglas plays Handsome Harry Holland an aging gunfighter who thought his desperate years were behind him Mann borrows a page from Howard and has Coburn playing Sam Star-ret a drunken sheriff rather hold a bottle than a Colt 45 kidnapped from another town by bumbling deputy Wally Blodgett (Graham Jarvis) to flush out Holland his friend-turned adversary from his hotel room Seems that the town sheriff was prodded into arresting an innocent Holland over a gambling squabble but paid for it with his life Wounded our hero takes shelter in a hotel room with Bess (Alexandra Bastedo) a member of a Shakespearean troupe just hit town For the next 90 minutes the movie covers the distance from A to We try to laugh along with Kirk Douglas demonstrates some of the gunslinging skills he uses as a notorious outlaw in out to be such a grabber that the studio is now talking about rushing kits into manufacture for public mass marketing Thus far there are only 5000 of the kits (and being grabbed up fast) which include everything from a rubber band for keeping highwater pantlegs from tangling in bicycle spokes a fashion guide cling brings out the line of the a featuring famous nerds (Wally Cox Bob Denver) and important nerdy dates in history Of course it remains to be seen whether the movie itself (which claims Robert Carradine Ted McGinley and Bernie Casey as its biggest names) will become a hit But Fox claims thrilled with test audience response and plans The Big Push (including issuing Nerd buttons and bumper stickers) for the comedy that hits theaters July 20 Actor Michael Durrell has been signed to to provide a romantic interest and possibly a husband for Linda Lavin And before too long a casting call will be out for an infant for the CBS show Exec producers Bob Carroll Jr and Madelyn Davis report that Vera actress Beth Holland will become an expectant mother next season Vera became an bride last November Tribune Company Syndicate FTX 1IFm I BH I INiUi y'iir''iiY info iui mm RATED: movie toward the younger crowd That makes it tough since inserted some cussing and a steamy bedroom scene between Bess and Holland While exactly bring new life to television Westerns at least a Western and represents a step in the right direction by HBO whose previous efforts consisted of Far and Now if they can just make a Western worth watching The movie repeats Wednesday Friday July 24 28 and 30 Starret as he constantly picks himself off the ground after another binge We hiss the bad guy Reggie Bell (Derek McGrath) and root for the budding romance between Holland and Bess Like I said we try The as predictable as a walk through your front door as the now-sober sheriff and the now-healed desperado head for the showdown on Main Street Wake me when over If it was going to be tongue-in-cheek comedy the filmmakers really should have angled this John Ritter intends to show the world the flip of the Hollywood of the with a drama about the Fatty Arbuckle sex scandal which brought an end to the fame of the silent screen comedic star Ritter has his eye on John Candy to play Arbuckle and plans to cast himself as Buster Keaton only one who stood by Arbuckle when his life was destroyed Fatty was acquitted of the rape of Virginia Rappe but he was made an example of by the Hays Office (which enforced edicts for on- and off-screen behavior) and he was never allowed to work again The script is being written now says Ritter who plans to make the project with Bob Myman for their Adam production company He intends to offer it first as a TV movie to ABC for whom starred in (now revamped and retagged a since 1977 If the Arbuckle project deemed suitable for home viewing he and Myman want make it as a theatrical feature in Olympic fever Producer Bob Finkel is feverishly working to complete last-minute preparations for his three-hour ABC with less than two weeks left until the extravaganza is taped at Greek Theater for airing the following night fortunate we started preparing for it a year and a half says Finkel about the show that will be hosted by Jane Fonda and Robert Wagner and will feature dozens of stars (including Olivia Newton-John Neil Diamond Gene Kelly Jack Lemmon Gregory Peck Sarah Vaughan Melissa Manchester Cantinflas Johnny Mathis and Burt Lancaster) appearances by Olympic sports champs and a variety of folk performers from all over the world like a small Olympics in itself he says referring to the Herculean task of arranging overseas and domestic transportation example be flying in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir busing them from the airport feeding them and keeping them happy and then getting them back to Salt Lake City that same A few attractions including Placido Domingo will appear on tape from foreign locales That was also how the Bolshoi Ballet was going to be featured until the boycott of the Olympics Finkel says arrangements had been made to shoot a portion of 2 25 all TIMES Chldm Under (talar Citizen UW POLICE ACADEMY 2 45-6 45-10 40 AGAIN8T ALL 0DD8 12 40-4 30-8 30 BEAT STREET PG 3 30-7 10-10 45 PG 1 55-5 25-9 10 16 CANDLES PG 3 00-7 00-10 45 MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON 12 55-4 45-8 45 jALa STUDIOS TOUR AN MCAjAMNHORIiIMt KWMKl (AU (818)508-9600 SURPRISE OF THE -Judith Crist MOVIE FOR ALL YOUNG PEOPLE FROM AGE 7 TO Margaret Honan Scholvtic Publications a AlORIMAR Prwewstxm AtWERSAl Rcltne I 5 Pv Lpml 1 Pwr kwN Wmuf NOW SHOWING houywooo Pocme Cmromo Dom 65 301 DoY 12 30 3 00 5 30 8 006 10 30PM Fr Sot 10 Snow 12 30 AM Bo 0Yc Coen 30 AM TcRef on sow mrooghouf ocn ooy to moioay pertormoncs CfKTUtV CITY Cenry pwm 553 4291 Doify 12 45 3 00 5 15 7 45 ft 10 00 PM Ff So MedntgF SHOW Box 0ce Ooem 12 15 PM Ticms on sow mroLtf'out ocn oov Kv met ooy performances NBC to air 'riveting' story of doctor jailed in killings Filmex schedule The following is a Filmex schedule for Monday with theater and time of showing Monday's schedule Olympics 40 (Poland 1980) Story of a former Polish Olympic athlete in a Nazi POW camp in 1940 who sets up an Olympic-like competition with prisoners and confronts a German officer an Olympic athlete Picwood 12 30 pm The Sprinter (W Germany 1984) Comedy about a young gay man who goes out for track and falls love with a female shotputter Picwood 2 45 pm The Plague Dogs (USA 1983) Animated feature by Martin Rosen based on Richard Adams book about two dogs who are hunted down after escaping research facility England Picwood 5 pm Shadows from Light (Great Britain 19831 Film biography of the great English photographer Bid Brandt known for his nudes landscapes and portraits With Storytelling (USA 1 984) Nuart 5 pm Diary (W Germany 1983) Psycho-thriller of a woman who escapes the burdens of her life with her diary Picwood 7' 1 5 pm Stranger Than Paradise (USA 1984) Winner of best first feature at Cannes Film Fespval an avant-garde black comedy about alienation missed connections and Hungarian immigrants With short English Lesson Nuart 7 15 pm Good and Bad at Games (Great Britain 1983) Study of the public school character and a system which makes young men into old boys Plus short Spice of Wickedness (G 1 9841 Nuart 945 Sneak Preview Call 2 1 3520-2000 for further information Picwood 9 45 pm Tickets advance phone orders noon to 5 pm weekdays Phone 520-2000 VisaMastercard only Price all regular evening shows (5pm on) Public $5 Members $4 Early matinees Public $2 members $1 Filmex '84 will continue through July 19 Films are shown at the Four Star (5112 Wilshire Blvd) Nuart (11272 Santa Monica Blvd I and Picwood (10872 Pico Blvd) Information: 520-2000 GREENSBORO NC (AP) Dr Jeffrey story would make a riveting movie even if it were fiction says the executive producer of a film depicting the former Green fight to clear himself of murder charges MacDonald was convicted in 1979 for the slayings of his pregnant wife and two small daughters nine years after the murders occurred and he had been acquitted of the charges Now serving three life terms in a Texas penitentiary MacDonald has exhausted his appeals He must await a government decision on a motion by his lawyers for a new trial after which it will be returned to US District Judge Franklin Dupree for a ruling NBC will air a four-hour movie based on the Joe Fatal Vision Nov 4 and 5 The network has assembled a cast including Eva Marie Saint and Karl Malden who will play Mildred and Freddy Kas- Wendy 0 teams with Kiss bassist sab the parents of wife Colette Barry Newman will play defense attorney Bernard Segal and Andy Griffith will play the US Justice cigar-chewing prosecutor Victor Worheide iMF6ENERAitINEMAiiM SOUTH BAY CENTER iyatA1IWA BARGAIN MATINEES- 92 50 MON THRU FRIALL SHOWS BEFORE 6PM I SAT SUN 4 HOLIDAYS Is' MATINEE ONLY CINEMA I 370-8587 CONAN THE DESTROYER Pfi 1 15-3 30-5 40-8 00-10 00 CINEMA llilll 370-6396 STREETS OF FIRE PQ 1 15-3 15-5 15-7 20-9 30 RHINESTONE PQ 1 30-3 35 5 40-7 50-10 00 CINEMA IV 542-4361 KARATE KID PQ 12 30-3 00-5 25-8 00-10 25 Children Under 12 ALWAYS FREE 'I- Inglewood Of Crenshaw EBBF Ft STRIP I 5J8 3033 Reoordo Crenshaw STAR TREK III THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK Ft BREAXIN Ft 31 6 3556 of Hawthorne CANNONBALL RUN II IE CANDLES rt reams-j 630 1 1 65 Paramount Hosk re ns Gardena at ARTESIA JCCNAN THE DESTROYER Ftv STAR TREK III THE SEARCH FDR SPOCK Ft LOS ANGELES (AP) Wendy 0 Williams the high priestess of punk blown up more cars in her act than has recorded her first solo album with Gene Simmons bass player of Kiss as producer The album called is out and features nine original songs 23221 So Avalon 834-6363 S1lt Meeday Thru Thanday 99c Children Under 12 Hen Thru Than KILLING GAME (Kung Fu Movie) DEATH WISH Friday The 13th-Th Final Chapter SPLASH PG 16 CANDLES PG TPADlMg PLACES ommqthursoayM (VwTmB 8mm SmM Nn Wkj rfc5 THE CLASSIC ADVENTURE Pitt Cartoons irD FmI 7 Wwk Srlii Tlckil Now Sill it Box Otflci Oily 61000 rmanifi BARGAIN PRICfc I Ai ALL SHOWS BEFORE 6PM I $UU mon thru fri SATURDAY I SUNDAV FIRST SHOW ONLY SEPULVEDA ROSECRANS THE NATURAL ro 1 45-4 30-7 15-10 10 In Dolby Slrwo GHOSTBUSTERS pa 12 40-3 00-5 20-7 45-10 15 GREMLINS pa 12 00-2 30-5 00-7 30-10 00 TOP SECRET pa 1 30-3 40-5 50-8 10-10 20 Dolby Stereo INDIANA JONES UNO TEMPLE OF DOOM 12 30-3 00-5 30-8 00-10 30 PG STAR TREK Hi SEARCH FOR SPOCK PG MUPPETS TAXE MANHATTAN 12 15-2 45-5 00-10 15 (pgj tn Dolby Sioroo INDIANA ICNES ind the TEMPLE OF DOOM 15-5 46-e 15-10-45 STU mx in UJUMTSX SPOCK 12 15-2 45-5 15-7 45-10 15 GHOSTBUSTERS 12 30-3 00-5 30-8 00-10 30 I SnmfPACtFIC DRIVE-IN THEATRESfcoag Hr CINE-FI SOUND! At these symbols great sound direct to your AM car pJ radio If no radio with accessory position bring your own AM portable LUXURY THEATRES and special guests including a guitar solo by Kiss member Ace Freh-ley is the most powerful record ever said Williams who as lead singer of the Plasmatics achieved fame for her Mohawk hairdo and scanty Band-Aid and diaper costumes 0511 ALL SEATS S250 Till 3 PM THE NATURAL 2 10-4 50-7 30-10 10 8 PLASH 12 25-4 35 8 45 F00TLOO8E 2 35-6 45-10 50 Torrance Ex From Harbor Fwy Lir Cme Fi Sound Ouect Your Car Radio ng Bafteiy Portable GREMLINS (PG) Never Say Never Again (PG) No Passes TOP SECRET (PG) Plus Co-Feature Rhinestone (PG) Wkdavs 8 00 Weekends 7 30 PM THEATRES Startinq Before 5PM Ex SunHols onniHEE)1 BACHELOR PARTY 1 15-3 30-5 45-8 00-10 15 mioniresHOtus Lai Alt OPEN 7:00 Stort DUSK PC CENTURYIB 673 1824 Century THE LAST STA5FISKTER Ft THE TOY GREMLINS Richard Pryor LIVE ON THE SUNSET 532 8811 CARSON THE LAST STARFIGHTER (PG) Plus Tank (PG) GHOSTS USTERS Plus Tootsie (PG) Co-Feature (PG) THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN(PG) Plus The Toy (PG) CONAN THE DESTROYER (PG) Plus Beat Street (PG) Children Under 12 FREE Unless Noted'Open 323 4055 VERMONT UNITED ARTISTS Del Amo-Reduced Prices Shows FASHION SQUARE 1 vr SUPER SWAP MEETS EVERV SAT 6 SUN 1 KARATE KID JIMMY THE KID INDIANA 40NS6 end the TSHPLI OF DOOM I FOOTLOOM ea MALLj BACHELOR PARTY 50-1 05-3 20-5 35- 8 05-10 25 THE LAST STAR FIGHTER Pfi ROMANCING THE STONE PQ 10 '5-12 55-3 4 2-7 40 10 35 CANNONBALL R'JN II PQ V- 443 04 5 25-7 45-10 05 HAWTHOtM rOMAMCI AMC Howrrur $44 9761 UA Dei Amo 542 7383 WOliWQOO CAJF50A Pocmc Cenvy Dmw-Jn Sou Boy Dmw-m 873-1624 532 881 1 CAU-oecMfC rTToourTs-tSEol owicroeiis 1 roe SHOmniMts ioasi no 6ASSH uccteTM we iws eksamwki MATMtil DAAV At ilOT TNtATW For the Record Review or the movie review or the stage review or the book review look to the Entertainer 1C JO-M 15-I2 4-! j-Q-j UO-5 10-7 35-6 30 9 00 Every Friday Saturday TOP SECRET pg 12 15-2 30-4 30-6 30-8 45-10 45 UNITED ARTISTS.