Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 119

hanging places V4 CROSSED SWORDS (PO) Lavish star-studded mediocre version of Hark Twain's "Prince and the Patter" Mark Lester a is too old for the dual role of the look-alike adolescents prince and beggar who change placet Oliver Reed's excellent but other names In the George Scott Rex Harrison are mainly window-dressing By Jooeph tetania Mark Lester above left and Oliver Reed in 'Crossed Swords' Dominique Labourier below left and Juliet Berto in 'Celine and Julie "Crossed Swords" at Radio City Music Hall has the wrong Lester and not enough luster The latest screen version of Mark Twain's "Prince and the Pauper" is a production of the European Alexander and Ilya Salkind that brought us the dynamic The Three Musketeers" earlier in the 1970s The director of the "Musketeers" you may recall was divided into two pictures released Richard Lester It was also Richard Lester who made "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help" with the Beatles Les-ters erratic but undeniable virtuosity brought flair to the "Musketeers" it thrilling adventure hilarious slapstick sophisticated wit barbed social criticism The Lester involved with "Crossed Swords" is Mark (no relation) He's an actor who distinguished himself -as the loveable waif of the musical "Oliver" when he was 11 But that was 10 years ago Now at 21 Mark Lester is miscast in "Crossed Swords" as a as two boys Crossed Swords" is about a beggar -boy in the reign of Britain's King Henry VIII who inadvertently switches places with the prince next in line to the throne So it means that Mark Lester in the dual leading role is on screen for nearly its entire 113 minutes Which is a pity since he's the least interesting person in the cast The director of "Crossed Swords" doesn't bring much of value to the party either Richard Fleischer is a pro who knows the mechanics of his craft but has rarely risen above hack work Oliver Reed who brutalized Mark Lester in "Oliver" plays Lester's protector Miles Hendon Crossed Swords" When Reed's on screen things perk up emotions get supercharged The story idea was a good one when Twain conceived and wrote it and when Errol Flynn matched wits and crossed swords with Claude Rains in the 1937 "Prince and the Pauper" (the Mauch twins played Prince Edward and the commoner Tom Canty) With a few changes the story remains the same here Briefly the point of the story is that a king-to-be gets a taste of what if like to be an oppressed commoner and resolves to be a just -and humanitarian ruler when he takes his place on the throne While Lester as the "mad" beg- i- i i xi preview Numbers st end of each listing represent me movie theater that has me corresponding number on the timetable which appears on Page 9A REVIEWS (PG) ARPMT 77 Down to the sea in shocks Jack Lemmon navigates (144 (PES AJME HALL Woody K-ten's best film A serious comedy about a neurotic New York comedian who refuses to migrate to California along with the rest of his show biz friends A bittersweet love story based on real life about Alien and Ins former roommate Diane Keaton Funny sad personal honest and gracefully made (11 90) (PO) BAR8AREUA Bawdy science fiction unsuitable for youngsters A sort of "Candy Meets Buck Rogers" with Jane Fonda on a sexual Odyssey in outer space Surprisingly comic considering the double en-tendres and smiling gimmicks (a live machine which kills the victims an angel whose blindness is cured by Jane's ministrations etc) (80) BATMAN It's two nonstop hours of the dynamic duo against the combined forces of the Joker Penguin Riddler and Catwoman Adam West Burt Ward Lee Merriweather Burgess Mendith Batcopter Batcar Batboat Batcycle Batcolor (120) (R) BETSY THE Lurid melodrama from a Harold RobWns novel about a Detroit auto empire dynasty Slick trash So dreadful it occasionally funny often laughable sometimes dreary Laurence Olivier is outrageous as the founding father He plays the patriarch at a cantankerous 90 and hi flashback as a two-fisted lover in his late 40s (12 28 41 48 St 112 132 133 138 151 177 187 184 202) (B) BEYOND AND BACK An overcooked stew of scientific balderdash that attempts to prove that dying (and occasionally coming back from the dead) can be a really terrific experience You should live so long Brad Crandal Vem Adix (2 20 27 37 SB SB 58 71 75 84 98 185 118 124 139 134140149153 162178 188 206 208) (R) BOYS COMPANY THE The Vietnam War reduced to Hollywood cliches and stereotypes A decent cast fights gallantly but loses to an unremittingly profane script Stan Shaw Andrew Stevens James Canning Craig Wasson (22 31 34 52 57 74 93 113 117 136J55 161 168 173 188) (R) BREAKJNG POINT A story about a man (Bo Svenson) and his family who are endangered when he testifies against some underworld killers With Robert Culp Belinda Montgomery (208) (PB) CAR THE EvH spirit in shape of a drtvertess car terrorizes small western town Silly movie spun off the "Jaws" formula of sheriff versus monster James Broiin (204) (R) CHOIRBOYS Sordid view of cops at work and play based on a Joseph Wambaugh novel (He has disavowed any connection with the movie) Unredeemable rubbish Charles Duming Randy Quaid Burt Young Directed by Robert Aldnch (3125 142) JPQ CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THRO UNO UFO thriller First official communication between earth's scientists and aliens Mediocre script redeemed by superior science fiction special effects ff 32 35 54 77 100 lOVISS 154 165 161) (6) CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH Film of big rock spectacle featuring George Harrison Ringo Starr Bob Dylan The film is strictly amateur night (120) (PS) COMA Terrifying idea reduced to routine suspense Heroine physician discovers that her hospital turning some patients into living vegetables for profit Genevieve Bu-jold Michael Douglas Richard Wid-mark (78 95) (R) DEMON SEED THE Sti fi shocker Supercomputer "rapes" scientist's wife (JuNe Christie) to Continued on next page Duke of Norfolk has the panache that the rest of the film lacks David Hem-' mings Raquel Welch and Harry Andrews are faces in the lost among the scenery costumes and melees Charlton Heston is not going to win any acting awards as Henry VIII But the production is handsomely photographed by Jack Cardiff a star in his own right CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING (Unrated) Two young women try to pre-' vent a murder that's being committed over and over by ghosts in a haunted house French metaphysical comedy that's too and long (at three hours 13 for its own good Excellent performances Juliet Berto Dominique Labourier Jacques Rivette's "Celine and Julie Go Boating" is dazzling and self-indulgent yet it adds up to over three hours of cute Juliet Berto and Dominique Labourier the two female leads are charismatic and director Rivette seems to care more about them than about his audience "Celine and Juliet Go Boating" at Manhattan's Cinema Studio is a fantasy about a friendship between two women' with mercurial personalities It's not too bad when they appear to be improvising or trying to steal scenes from each other But as spectators of a melodrama within their own film drama they analyze too much giggle too much become a tediously self-conscious chorus commenting on a gratuitously complex situation The heroines become witnesses to a time-warp melodrama in a haunted house They watch as a deliberately stagy murder mystery is repeated ad nauseum A widower who promised his wife on her death bed that he wouldn't remarry so long as their invalid daughter lived is beloved by two women in the household One of the women murders the daughter in her bed Celine and Julie scheme to rescue the girl before Bhe is murdered again and they plan to take her back to the outside world The cast is exceptional The supporting players include Marie-France Pisier and Bulle Ogier There are some amusing set pieces including a particularly impressive magic show at a cabaret But Rivette's intricate subtle elusive films are an acquired like snails very continental "Celine and Julie Go Boating" is exotic fare not aimed at the average moviegoer gar wno insists ue tue rnuce ut cry prince until he's blue in the face without summoning a tear from the viewer's eyes Reed wrings pathos from the loss of his own inheritance in a parallel subplot The movie's most affecting moment comes when Reed denounced as an imposter when he tries to claim his own estate empathetically acknowl-edges the "mad" beggar's claim to be the true prince and humbly kisses his hand "Crossed Swords" is not a bad movie It merely squanders its resources "Crossed Swords" isn't exhilarating and it isn't a failure It simply lacks distinction style pizzazz George Scott is good enough as The Ruffler ruler of an outcast band of thieves to make us want to see more of him Rex Harrison as the philosophical.