Boxoffice-November.1989

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November 1989, $3.95
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The business magazine of the motion picture industry
FEATURES
a
NOVEMBER, 1989 VOL. 125, NO. 11
Pnstxution
i.s the first law of society
because it is always easier to suppress criticism than to meet it.
—Howard Mumford Jones
Cover Story: Brothers in Tuxedos
The fabulous Bridges boys make their first joint appearance as
bickering lounge singers.
10 Dyan Cannon, Auteur
An acclaimed actress tries the other side of the lens.
12 Baby Talk^^
^^^,^ ^^^^.^^ „ ^^^^^_^^^^^^^, ^my Heckerling looks
for love from a baby's point-of-view.
14 Merchandising the Movies at the Movies
Theatre owners enter the licensed products business.
16 Inside Exhibition: Film Gallery Art Cinemas
Lighting the North w/ith alternative films.
18 Show/mandiser
^^
^*^°Traiters*and ads become attractions with video walls.
REVIEWS—Following page 26
Crimes and Misdemeanors; The Fabulous Baker Boys; Old Gnngo,
B^k Rain; Sea of Love; In Country; A Dry Whtte Season; Johnny
Handsome- Shirley Valentine; Cookie; Welcome Home; Mtllenntum,
Communion; My Left Foot; Relentless; Little Monsters.
DEPARTMENTS
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J&

Also
HOLLYWOOD REPORT
Denzel Washington
this musical drama about a
trumpet player's attempts to
"Love Supreme" Spike
Lee, certainly one of the hottest
American filmmakers to
come along in ages, uses his
post-"Do the Right Thing"
clout to put into production
find a balance between his
career and his love life, Denzel
Washington stars, along
with Lee and his growing repertory
company: Joie Lee,
Bill Nunn, Giancarlo Esposito,
Ozzie Davis and John Turturro.
The music will be provided
by jazzman Branford
Marsalis and Bill
Lee, Spike's
father Lee hopes that the
$10-12 million film will present
a rebuttal to such recent
tragic and drug-infested jazz
films as "Bird" and "Round
Midnight," A Universal Pictures
release in late summer/
early fall, 1990.
"Short Time" They keep
saying that "high concept" is
dead, but you couldn't tell
that from the plot of this new
action-comedy. Dabney
Coleman stars as a cop on the
eve of retirement who is mistakenly
diagnosed as having
a fatal disease. Realizing that
the only way he can collect
insurance for his wife and
kids is to be killed in the line
of duty, he begins accepting
the riskiest assignments and
unintentionally turns into a
kind of super cop Matt Frewer
("Honey, I Shnmk the
Kids") and Teri Garr co-star.
The script was originally
written by John Blumenthal
and Michael Berry, after
which Gary Ross ("Big") and
the team of William Osborne
and William Davies
("Twins") did considerable
re-writing. A 20th Century
Fox release, most likely in
the late summer/early fall
"Quick Change" Described
simply as "a heist
comedy," this romp marks
the directorial debut of Bill
Murray In addition to starring,
the loose-limbed actor is
also sharing the director's
chair with screenwriter Howard
Franklin, who previously
wrote the disappointing
"Someone to Watch Over
"
Me starring is Oscarwinner
Geena Davis, Randy
Quaid, Jason Robards, Philip
Bosco, Kathryn Grody ("The
Lemon Sisters") and radio
veteran Bob Elliot. The fight
for distribution rights to this
quirky comedy was hot and
heavy; Warner Bros won.
"Aunt Julia" A young
man's crush on his beautiful,
twice-divorced aunt is sidetracked
when an offbeat
stranger enters their lives
Keanu Reeves, Barbara Hershey
and Peter Falk star, with
John Amiel ("The Singing
Detective") directing the
film on location in New Orleans.
The film is based on
the novel by Mario Vargas
Losa A Cinecom release.
"Ernest Goes to Jail"
Master thespian Jim Vamey
plays two roles — that of a
prison janitor and a gangster
— in this third installment in
the perplexingly profitable
series. The use of complicated
split-screen special effects
could push the budget
on this new chapter well over
the million dollar mark. A
Buena Vista release.
"Joe Versus the Volcano"
John Patrick Shanley,
who won an Oscar for his original
screenplay for "Moonstruck,"
follows that irresistable
urge to become a big
time Hollywood director. At
the behest of no less than
Steven Spielberg, the New
York playwright is calling the
shots on this loopy big budget
comedy about a dying man
who discovers the meaning
of life when he is assigned to
study the ways of a tropical
island tribe which worships
orange soda pop. Tom Hanks
stars, along with the luminous
Meg Ryan ("When Harry
Met Sally .."), with much
of the filming taking place in
Hawaii. Spielberg's Amblin
Entertainment is producing
the film, with Warner Bros
set to release it.
"The Flatliners" Kiefer
Sutherland stars in this hot
Hollywood property about
medical experimentation
which explores life after
death. First-time screenwriter
Peter Fillardi, a tender 27
years of age, was paid
$400,000 for the script and
made one of the executive
producers of the film. Michael
Douglas' Stonebridge
Co. is producing the film,
with Joel Schumacher
("Cousins") directing. A Columbia
release.
"Side Out" Peter Horton,
the long-locked hunk on
"thirtysomething," stars with
C. Thomas Howell in this
sports drama about a national
volleyball championship
(Horton is an old pro; Howell
is his student). Chris Rydell,
son of "On Golden Pond" director
Mark Rydell, directs. A
Tri-Star release.
"Ghost" Not to be confused
with the upcoming
"Dad" or "Ghost Dad," this
supernatural comedy is about
a dead man's spirit, which
links up with a bogus New
York psychic in an attempt to
be reunited with the woman
he loves. Starring as the romantic
couple are Patrick
Swayze and Demi Moore,
with Whoopi Goldberg playing
the medium. Jerry Zucker
(he's part of the "Airplane!"/"Naked
Gun" trio)
directs the film on location
from a script by Bruce Joel
Rubin ("Brainstorm"). A Paramount
Pictures release.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bridge"
The husband and wife team
of Paul Newman and Joanne
Woodward go before the
cameras in this drama about
a middle-aged couple who
slowly and painfully resolve
the problems that have
pulled them apart. Robert
Sean Leonard, one of the
scene-stealing newcomers in
"Dead Poets Society," also
stars. The "Room With a
View" team of James Ivory
(director), Ismail Merchant
(producer) and Ruth Prawer
Jhabvala (screenwriter) are
reunited here. A Cineplex
Odeon production
UPDATES "White Palace,"
the dramatic-comedy
about the unlikely romance
between a young ad exec and
James Spader
a foul-mouthed waitress, will
not co-star John Cusack, as
was hinted in last month's
Hollywood Report. Appearing
opposite Susan Sarandon
will instead be James
Spader, who is red hot on the
heels of his acclaimed performance
in "sex, lies and
videotape."
Three full months into production,
the Sylvester Stallone-Kurt
Russell crime drama
"Tango and Cash" got a
new director. Andrei Konchalovsky
("Runaway
Train") bailed out of the project,
citing "creative differences"
(we're not going to
speculate with whom), and
he was quickly replaced by
Albert Magnoli, the man
who directed "Purple Rain"
(he's now Prince's manager)
as well as the limp "American
Anthem." Warner Bros,
did not comment on how this
change would affect the
film's tentative December release.
Melanie Griffith and
Geena Davis are out in Martin
Scorsese's production of
"The Grifters" (Hollywood
Report, Oct. '89); Anjelica
Huston and Annette Benning
("Valmont") are in.
John Cusack, who is not starring
in "The White Palace"
remains as the star of this
film.
Robin Williams is set to
co-star with Robert De Niro
in "Awakenings" (Hollywood
Report, Aug '89) Williams
plays a sympathetic
doctor who tries to help a
man (De Niro) assimilate
back into society after having
been asleep for 30 years. The
film, initially a 20th Centur\'
Fox project, has moved
across town to Columbia A
Christmas 1990 release is
planned.
4 BOXOFFICE

November Releases
Immediate Family
Sounding a bit like a TV-movie, this
dramatic comedy stars James Woods and
Glenn Close as a married couple unable to
conceive children. Mary Stuart Masterson
("Chances Are") co-stars as the young,
unmarried girl who agrees to allow them
to adopt her unborn child, and who ends
up becoming a part of their family. The
film is written by Barbara Benedek, who
co-wrote "The Big Chill" with Lawrence
Kasdan (Kasdan serves as executive producer
here). Midge Sanford and Sarah
Pillsbury ("Eight Men Out") produce, and
Jonathan Kaplan ("The Accused") directs.
A Columbia Pictures release.
m
Harlem Nights
Writer-director-star Eddie Murphy has
already hinted in People magazine that
this period comedy might have problems,
and who are we to guess otherwise? The
setting is Harlem of the late 1930s, where
a young hotshot (Murphy) is attempting
to take control of the colorful nightclub
circuit there. Along the way, the story
turns into a con man movie, ala "The
Sting." Also starring under the guidance
of auteur Murphy are Richard Pryor
(didn't Eddie Murphy used to be Richard
Pryor?), Redd Foxx, Jasmine Guy and
Arsenio Hall. A Paramount Pictures release.
(11/17)
Family Business
Three generations of powerhouse acting
talent converge under the reigns of
director Sidney Lumet ("Running on
Empty," "Network"). The New Yorkbased
dramatic-comedy is about a young
man (Matthew Broderick) who finds himself
caught between his grandfather
(Sean Connery), who is a life-long crook,
and his father (Dustin Hoffman), who is
not. When Broderick starts leaning toward
a life of crime, Hoffman is forced to contemplate
turning in his own father in
order to spare his son. A Tri-Star release.

COVER STORY
Brothers In Tuxedos
The fabulous Bridges boys make their first joint
appearance as bickering lounge singers.
By Tom Matthews
Managing Editor
FRANK
Baker is a taskmaster; his little
brother Jack resents discipline.
Frank is a middle-aged family man
who is preoccupied with his thinning
hair; Jack is an alley cat, a fiercely goodlooking
bachelor who attracts women
even when he would prefer to be alone
to brood. Frank is annoyingly upbeat;
Jack is gloomy and detached. Trapped
together on the outer edges of show
business as journeymen lounge musicians,
Frank and Jack have practically
nothing in common, aside from their
bloodline. But that's more than enough
to bind them together, and to provide
the emotional core for "The Fabulous
Baker Boys," 20th Century Fox's new
fall release.
Written and directed by newcomer
Steve Kloves, the movie is a downbeat,
moody study of brotherhood, of the
unspoken commitments which chain siblings
together, even when that sense of
obligation is detrimental to both. The
Fabulous Baker Boys — pianists both —
have been a minor fixture on the Seattle
club circuit for years, Frank diligently
driving their struggling career forward
while Jack, whose heart is in playing
jazz, glumly follows his brother's lead.
But when they bring in a gruff girl singer
named Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer)
to boost their image. Jack finds
himself dravm toward her, and toward
the realization that he is no longer content
playing "Feelings" to lounge patrons
night after night. He resolves to
break up the act, despite the fact that
his brother's financial well-being is dependent
on him.
In an inspired bit of casting, Frank
and Jack Baker are played by Beau and
Jeff Bridges, working together professionally
for the first time. It would seem
to be a natural pairing, but according to
Beau, who plays the uptight Frank,
there was initially some resistance to
the idea of real-life brothers playing onscreen
brothers.
"When Steve [Kloves] went aroimd
trying to set up the film, a lot of studios
Jack and Frank Baker flank Susie Diamond (Michelle Reiffer)
8 BOXOFFICE

"
were concerned about having actual
brothers playing the parts," Bridges reports,
sitting in the coffee shop of a San
Fernando Valley bowling alley which
the actor frequently haunts. "They
thought it would cause problems because
they might get antagonistic toward
each other, or that their egos
would get involved. They also thought it
might appear to be a gimmick."
Beau himself also had some trepidations
about taking the role. The script
was initially sent to Jeff, who in turn
showed it to his brother, and Beau was
nervous about appearing to ride on
Jeff^s coattails. As Beau candidly admits,
his brother has a much higher profile
in the industry. Where Jeff has
become a sought-after leading man in
films such as "Jagged Edge," "Stannan"
and "Tucker," Beau is a lesser-known
talent, his best performances often having
come as the overshadowed husband
of a powerful woman (such as in "Heart
Like a Wheel" and "Norma Rae"). Jeff
had the clout to suggest who should play
his on-screen brother, but Beau was
uncomfortable with the idea that Jeff
might be suggesting him for the role
because of familial commitment rather
than because he was the right actor for
the part.
"But then I read the script and I said,
'My brother and I have to do this movie.
No one else can do it.'
What brothers do — and don't — owe
each other is the theme of "The Fabulous
Baker Boys," so in that statement it
becomes clear that parallels are inevitable
between Frank and Jack, and Beau
and Jeff. Over the course of the story,
hard truths are finally brought to the
"We were constantly in
each other's company
for three months during
production. It's probably
been 25 or 30 years
since that had
happened.
surface between the on-screen brothers,
and each ultimately acquires a new
respect for the other. While Beau vows
that there is little of the animosity that
we see between Frank and Jack, the
actor does say that the making of the
film did introduce him to an unexpected
side of his brother, who is eight years his
junior.
"We were constantly in each others
company for three months [during production],
and it's probably been 25 or 30
years since that had happened," Bridges
says of that period in which he "discovered"
his brother. "Jeff is a real perfectionist.
He likes to do a lot of takes to
make sure that we've exhausted everything
before we call it quits on a scene.
"I was shocked that he is as much of a
perfectionist as he is, because the way I
know him is as a pretty loose, easygoing
guy. But on the job, he's very concerned
about every little detail. I tend to
"I got pretty aggressive [in pursuing
the part]," Beau says. "I thanked Jeff for not work that way, but I kind of
showing it to me, and I arranged to meet approach [my acting] differently now,
the director to see if I could win the role having worked with my brother. It's
for myself Steve and I saw eye to eye
on the story and I got the part, but I
think in the beginning it was due to my
kind of given me a new inspiration in
my work."
Approaching the role of the fussy,
brother's instigation. So I owe him for tuxedo-clad Frank was a real challenge
for Bridges. Rightly or wrongly, lounge
that."
musicians have come to epitomize the
word "tacky" and have become a ripe
target for mockery, no more so than
with Bill Murray's legendary send-ups
on the old "Saturday Night Live." But
Bridges knew that such a broad caricature
wouldn't hold up over the course of
a two-hour movie, and besides, he \ikes
lounge musicians.
"As an actor, I travel around a lot and
live in a lot of hotels, and many times
I've been in a town where the only
entertainment to be had is what you
find in the hotel bar or lobby. And when
I've been away from my family and
friends, I have felt good hearing some of
those old songs.
"So I was hoping to capture some of
that, to approach the character with
some respect for what he did," says the
actor in defense of Frank. "I didn't want
audiences to just write the guy off as a
jerk."
But a jerk is pretty much what Frank
is, dragging his brother along on an
increasingly bleak career, finally hitting
rock bottom when Frank books them on
a dismal, middle-of-the-night telethon.
It's not unlike the times when a 24-yearold
Beau used to bring a 16-year-old Jeff
along to perform "Come Blow Your
Horn" from the back of a truck in grocery
store parking lots, and it is these
private echoes of his life with his own
brother that Beau most appreciates
about "The Fabulous Baker Boys."
"The things I enjoy most as I watch
the movie are the things that came
through without even thinking," Bridges
says. "At one point [in the movie], Frank
is on his way out the door and he's teasing
Jack about something. I was walking
down a staircase and I was supposed to
give Jeff a little jab with my fist. So I
jabbed at his balls, he dropped his hands
to protect himself, and I swatted him on
the head.
I
"I've been doing that to Jeff for years.
didn't plan it, but it occurred to me that
I wanted to shake him up at that
moment. And he fell for it, just as he
has for years," Beau laughs with a satisfied
grin, content with the knowledge
that even if Jeff does get the juicier
roles and the Oscar nominations, he'll
always be the little brother.
"He'll never leam how to defend that
particular shot."
^
November, 1989 9

Dyan Cannon; Auteur
An Acclaimed Actress Tries the Other Side of the Lens
By Shawn Levy
Associate Editor
/ 'Just say yesi" says Dyan Cannon. No,
she isn't preparing to debate Nancy
Reagan on the war against drugs. It
turns out, in fact, that Cannon believes
very strongly in anti-drug education,
and has spent a lot of thought and energy
on the question of how we teach children
about a world full of dangers and
wonders. Her daughter is a graduate student
in Child Psychology, and she herself
wrote, directed, and produced an
Academy-Award nominated short film,
"Number One," which deals with young
children's discoveries of the physical
differences between boys and girls.
Cannon's "Just say yes!" is rather an
exhortation to young filmmakers and to
other people with dreams. Cannon continues,
"Say yes to your dreams and
learn how to drive your fears instead of
letting your fears drive you." This sort of
enthusiasm is typical of Dyan Cannon.
You sense it in her affection for children
and for her 5 pet dogs, you hear it in her
conversation and her laughter, and you
see it bubbling over into giddiness when
her guys, the Los Angeles Lakers, complete
a fast break before her in the
courtside seats which the TV cameras
can't seem to ignore.
At the root of such enthusiasm, of
course, is energy, and for the past few
years Cannon has been expending her
considerable energy on "...and around
we go...", a feature-length film which
she has written, directed, and starred in,
and which she has seen through from
all angles, including production, editing,
and score. Cannon is just about ready to
finish the final cut of the film and to
show it to eager industry distributors,
the very sorts of people who've been
asking her to do a feature since "Number
One".
Other than the positive feedback
she's gotten on them from other filmmakers,
however, the two films couldn't
be more different. "Number One" is a
sepia-toned 45-minute live action short
about two boys and two girls who undress
for each other in a grade school
bathroom and who are discovered by
their principal (Alan Garfield) and
scolded by their parents (Cannon her-
self among them). The film cost $21,000
in 1979 and had only a token commercial
run. Cannon's plans for her new
film, which cost S3. 5 million, are much
more commercial: "it may not be mainstream
but there's definitely an audience
for it."
"Number One" was made in 1979 for
an American Film Instimte workshop.
After showing the film to friends who
urged her to enter it into competirion for
the Oscars, Cannon hit on the idea of
renting out a Santa Monica Boulevard
theatre usually devoted to blue movies
and showing it there for the two weeks
worth of screening required for Academy
consideration. When it was finally
Dyan Cannon gets an angle on her new film.
nominated, it marked an amazing coup
for Cannon — she became the first and
only woman ever nominated for Oscars
behind and in front of the camera (her
two Best Supporting Actress nominations
are for "Bob And Carol And Ted
And Alice" and "Heaven Can Wait").
Another positive after-effect that
"Number One" had for Cannon was the
bunch of offers she received from major
studios to direct a feature, but at the
time she wasn't ready to devote herself
completely to writing or directing. Several
years had passed, however, when
her friend director Henry Jaglom tried
to enlist her to make a $1 million fUm
for a women's film company he was
coordinating, and she discovered that
her mood had changed.
While she was on location for her part
in "Caddyshack II," Cannon spent "all
but one or two hours a day for seven
weeks" in her hotel room, writing and
polishing the script that would eventually
become "...and around we go..." It is
the story of Stephanie Lewis, a woman
who has been so troubled by a lifetime
of failing to hve up to what she thinks
are the world's expectations of her that
she winds up in a rehabilitation center.
There she meets a variety of people, all
of whom are troubled in their own ways.
Together this crew of slightly pathetic,
sometimes comic, recognizably human
characters leams to cope with the world
and themselves.
The description reminds one somewhat
of one of Cannon's favorite films
— Milos Forman's "One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest" — but it is also seems to
echo perfectly her own description of
the sort of films she likes best and
would like most to make: "I like movies
about awakenings and realizations. I like
transitional movies about relationships.
I like to put people through a lot of
changes and have them come out feeling
good."
The biggest change her audience will
notice from coming into contact with
"...and around we go...", however, is
probably the surprise they'll feel when
they see that Dyan Cannon has been
working behind the camera as well as in
front of it. She herself admits that it was
very difficult to juggle the sometimesopposed
roles of actress and director.
She eventually hit upon the idea of videotaping
the takes in which she appeared
as a way of monitoring her ovm
performance, and says that the most
startling thing the film taught her was
that "movie stars are such a small part
of the process, and that the actors get all
the accolades is such a hoot. It was a
very humbling experience."
Working on "...and around we go..."
10 BOXOFFICE

Nftvpmhpr. 19S9 11
opened Cannon's eyes to the degree to
which filmmaking is a collaborative art.
She recalls being especially amazed,
having seen the project through from its
genesis as a few scribbled notes to its
realization as an actual production, at
the eager cooperation she received from
performers (among them John Heard
and the late Rebecca Schaeflfer) working
for scale wages and from technicians
and other support personnel
working free of union guarantees. This
is an aspect of the film of which Cannon
is especially proud to talk: "When
people work on a movie for less money
it's because they love it, because they
can go out and get jobs for more. They
work on it because they love what it's
ry times she suffered in seeing the film
through, such as when a friend, after
reading the script, handed her a personal
check for $1.3 million. "It was like,
'Thank God, I've got it,' and 'Oh my
God, I've got it' at the same time."
Cannon believes that she has two
unique advantages as a director, despite
this being her first foray into featurefilm
waters. The first and most obvious
is that as an actress she is accustomed
to bringing her emotions to the set with
her and exploring them before the
whole crew. "I love working with actors,"
she says, "and because I'm an
actress I understand the things that get
in the way of our releasing stuff. But
you've got to let down the fear that prevents
you from showing stuff that you
normally wouldn't show."
The second personal trait which Cannon
sees as an advantage is one which,
about, so you get a different kind of
energy on a project like that. Nobody's
throvraig fits and nobody's backstabbing
and it's really a community."
The trust of a crew had so profound
at first thought, might seem an obstacle,
namely gender. Face it, there are very
few female auteurs out there, even fewer
of whom are best known as comic
an impact on her that Cannon wanted to actresses. Cannon believes, however,
introduce the film as being by "Dyan
Cannon and Friends," but, she says, the
crew demurred, explaining to her that
"we already get our credit." This sort of
cooperation gave Cannon a great deal of
confidence in herself, a confidence she
felt she needed during a few of the sca-
that a woman brings unique abilities to
the normally male-dominated tasks of
screenwriting, directing, and overseeing
a film. She claims, in fact, never to have
doubted that she should be able to make
her film: "I just don't let those kind of
thoughts in. You can give yourself a million
excuses. Well, I'm a woman and
that's going to help me because I'll bring
a different viewpoint. There'll be a femininity
that's as strong as a masculinity
and that's going to help me."
Cannon's excitement over her new
film seems only to shake when she discusses
the tragedy that took her co-star
and friend Schaeffer from the world.
"She was so close to me," Cannon says,
"like my hand. She's so wonderful in
this movie, and so beautiful and sensitive
and so lovely. She wanted the part
so badly and she just shines in it."
"...and around we go..." will, in fact, bear
a dedication to Schaeffer when it is
released.
The depth of her pain over Schaeffer's
death is evidence of Cannon's
seeming inabihty to hide what she feels.
She says she can't imagine making a
film that was not personal: "The same
sensitivity that lets you feel (sorrow for
Schaeffer) lets you write about things
that affect us all. I can't just shut it off
in one area and let in live in another
area."
Cannon plans to write and direct
again, though not soon. Ten months in
an editing room, apparently, can dampen
even the liveliest of enthusiasms.
She hopes now to find the right combination
of people to help her see her film
through to an audience so that she can
share the emotions she and her crew
worked so hard to record.
Bi
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Baby Talk
In "Look Who's Talking," writer-director Amy Heckerling
looks at love from a baby's point-of-view.
ASK
By Tom Matthews
Managing Editor
ative of something that has come before,
and in the case of "Look Who's
Talking," Heckerling believes strongly
that her movie stands apart from recent
films like "Three Men and a Baby,"
"Baby Boom," "She's Having a Baby"
and "For Keeps."
"Just because these movies have babies
in them, I wouldn't call that a new
genre. There doesn't seem to be any
cohesive thing that links these movies
together, other than a lot of people
seem to have a lot of trouble doing diapers,"
she says, rolling her eyes derisively
as she recalls that many of those other
baby movies found endless hi-jinx in
changing an infant. "You'd have to be
an idiot to not know how to do a diaper.
"Some of those movies drove me
nuts," she says, warming up to the subject.
"In 'Three Men and a Baby' and
'Baby Boom,' you see these highly intelligent
people being unable to make two
pieces of [diaper] tape work. It's insulting.
I felt like those movies were made
by people who hadn't even been around
children. It was a lot like high school
movies — you felt like that those people
didn't know and didn't give a damn
about teenagers."
This last comparison isn't an idle
complaint. For in 1982, Heckerling
made her directorial debut with "Fast
Times at Ridgemont High," generally
believed to be one of the few films to
ever document teenagers as complex,
flesh-and-blood individuals. A critical
and financial hit, Heckerling quickly
found herself in the rare position of
being a woman director with a successful
track record. Her introduction onto
the fast track led to two inauspicious
assignments (the gangster romp "Johnny
Dangerously" and "National Lampoon's
European Vacation"), but now
Heckerling is back, resolved to bringing
WRITER-DIRECTOR Amy Heckerling
how her new movie, "Look tofore has been more fluff than truth.
a realistic edge to a subject which here-
Who's Talking," fits in with the
other baby-themed movies that have
And so it is with "Look Who's Talking,"
a bright and thoroughly contemporary
been released in the past couple of
comedy about a single woman in
years, and you can see the scrappy New
Yorker bristle. No artist likes to hear it
implied that her work is somehow deriv-
12 BoxoFUCE
search of a father for her infant son.
The hook is that the story is narrated by
the baby boy, whose voice only we can
hear as he observes his mother's inability
to find the right man.
"It's a common thing in television,
movies, even in Kafka, to give a voice to
something which does not talk," Heckerling
points out, saying that the idea
came from watching her own infant
daughter and wondering what was on
her mind. "You always wonder what
other life forms are thinking."
What baby Mikey (voice by Bruce
WillisJ is thinking is that his mother,
Mollie (Kirstie Alley), is a near-disaster.
A slightly dizzy accountant, Mollie got
herself impregnated by her mairied lout
of a boyfriend, and now she is determined
to find a man of quality for a
John Travolta shows a young Jason Schaller
how he used to shake it in the '70s.
husband and father. An amiable cabbie
named James (John Travolta) is Mikey's
clear choice for a pop, but it takes
a whole movie before Mollie comes to
the same realization. The stoiy, it turns
out, is less about childbirth than it is
about the near-impossibility of finding a
suitable spouse in these tiding times.
"I think that picking your mate is too
important to be left up to the individual,"
Heckerling says with an experienced
smile. "You can seek help in so
many areas of your life: doctors and
nutritionists can tell you the best things
to eat, hairdressers can tell you what to
do with your hair, career counselors can
help you find a job. You can seek out
experts in almost every field, but the
process of finding the person that you're
going to spend the rest of your life just
seems far too haphazard.
"I thought it would be great if some
higher intelligence could tell you what's
right for you, and you could just relax
and try to make your life work without
worrying if you're making a horrible
mistake," the filmmaker continues, recalling
the genesis of the project. "I
think there's always the belief that
some fairy godmother or some outside
force is going to come along and make
everything all right. So what if that were
your babv, your baby being your purest
self?"
Fired by this concept of a wise-cracking
baby serving as a kind of Greek chorus
to his mother's misadventures,
Heckerling decided to give the infant a
voice from the point of conception. In
fact, from the time that we see frisky,
animated sperm racing happily do\vn a
model of Kirstie Alley's fallopian tubes
to the accompaniment of surf music, we
hear the peppy voice of Bnice Willis,
giving the play-by-play in a hilarious (if
somewhat audacious) opening credit sei|ue.nce.
Willis' happy talk continues as the
baby (actually an animated model")
grows in the womb, which may lead to
some controversy in light of ongoing
abortion debates. With the argument
centering on at which point life begins,
isn't the film making a pro-life statement
by showing an embryo with hu-

man thoughts and emotions?
"While I wanted to have a talking
baby from the embryonic stage, I did not
want to make a pro-life statement. I
wanted to say that this is a fantasy,"
says the writer-director firmly, who
took some heat for "Fast Times"' realistic
treatment of the abortion issue. "A
lot of my girlfriends said that I shouldn't
have the baby talking until after it's
three months old [the point at which
abortion is generally ruled out]. Politically,
I agree. But cinematically, I
wanted to say straight off that this isn't
real life. Sperm don't talk. Don't tell me
that just because a one-month-old fetus
has a voice I'm saying that there should
be no abortions."
Wrangler Tales
If "Look Wlio's Talking" stands apart
from previous baby movies, there is one
thing which links them together: war
pushy. She actually did a great job, but
she drove everyone nuts," Heckerling
smiles, remembering her former nemesis.
"You always hear how everyone on
a set hates each other; this was a movie
in which everybody liked each other,
except the baby wrangler. We all hated
the baby wrangler. Which was great; it
gave us a common enemy.
"We cast this kid because he had a
until nine — he was such a prima donna.
The baby would finally get there and
we'd need him, but then the wrangler
would say that he hadn't eaten yet. And
of course he couldn't get into costume
until he had eaten because he'd dribble,"
she recalls, playfully mocking the
baby wrangler's distinctive voice.
"Then we'd finally get to work, and
[the vvTangler] would say, 'He's going
down,' which meant that he was getting
tired. He had yawned a few times. So
the assistant director would say, 'He's
not going down. I think he's got a few
more takes in him if you smack him
around a little.' And of course as soon as
he got off the set, he'd perk up."
The director laughs now, but clearly
this was not an easy experience. "Just
the sight of 20 adults hovering over a
baby, trying to figure out what it's going
to do next," she sighs.
So having lived through this, one
would expect that the director could
now work with the most difficult adult
actor in the business. While even the
most headstrong thespian may arrive a
stories from the directors about the difficulty
of working with infants. Bring
the subject up with Amy Heckerling,
Amy Heckerling
and she recoils at the memory, makes
herself comfortable in her chair, and
lets loose. Her tone is humorously caustic
in that charming East coast way, and
should be taken as such.
very expressive face, but he ended up
being the sleepiest child on earth. So the
wrangler would come in in the morning
and say that the baby wouldn't be ready "I could deal with anybody now," she
"We had a baby wrangler, a little until nine. We had John Travolta on the says confidently, "because at least
woman from New York who was very set at SIX, but the baby wouldn't show up they'll speak English."
Hi
little late to the set, and may in fact
even dribble occasionally on his costume,
negotiations would have to go a
little smoother.
• •••
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has been reduced 25%."
— H.H-H. Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• •••
"We've reduced mop-ups from six times to just twice each week,
freeing our help up to do things we've been wanting to get at for
months!" — Mark Homer — Homer Theatres, Homer, Alaska 907-235-3440
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it also significantly reduces clean-up
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The Caddy Cupholder is available in any
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Response No 5 November, 1989 13

MERCHANDISING
"
Merchandising the Movies
at the Movies
Theatre Owners Enter the Licensed Products Business
SEEN
By Shawn Levy
Associate Editor
ANY BATS lately? Or any ghosts
popping through red verboten circles?
How about a sporty fedora
that looks like it fell off an archaeologist?
Or maybe you have been spelunking
in Van Diemen's Land since the
springtime and have no idea what any
of that stuff is. Well, the rest of the
world has been awash in paraphernalia
associated with the summer's big boxoffice
extravaganzas; "Ghostbusters II,"
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,"
and a little number called "Batman".
And think back to last Halloween. An
awful lot of Freddy Kniegers came
around to buzz your doorbell, didn't
they, complete with razored gauntlets,
crumpled fedoras, ratty sweaters, and
rubber masks? And what about all of
that "Star Wars" stuff your kids and
their friends were wont to battle one
another with about a decade or so ago?
Remember "E.T."? Lots of products
tied-in with various films have hit it big
over the years, but the boom in such
stuff has apparently just begun.
There's nothing new, of course, with
the successful licensing and marketing
of t-shirts, buttons, painters' caps, posters,
and other gadgets, gizmos, and habiliments
bearing the logos of hit films.
This sort of faddish fashion-cum-advertising
has been popular with moviegoers
and music lovers since the 1960s. What
is new, however, besides the almost ubiquitous
appearance of these things
these days, is the place where people
can purchase them. Formerly a mainstay
of K marts, card shops, stationers',
flve-and-dimes, and shopping malls,
movie paraphernalia has become a major
concession item at the likeliest of
unlikely spots, namely movie theatres.
Throughout the U.S. and Canada, moviegoers
have been delighted to the
point of purchase at the prospect of
buying t-shirts, posters, soundtrack recordings
and the like along with their
popcorn and soda pop. Doled from venues
as disparate as card tables and permanent
free-standing boutiques, at
prices ranging from $60 for an "Indiana
"'Batman' is
everywhere.
Jones" fedora to $2-3 dollars for a key
chain or figurine, movie-related items
have proven a revenue boon for the
chains that've broken the ice in the
new-found waters of in-theatre marketing.
A variety of theatre chains have gotten
in on the in-theatre paraphernalia
If the public knows that
the goods are available,
they will prepare
themselves by bringing
extra money to the
movies with them.
merchandising act, among them AMC,
UA, Mann, Famous Players, and Carmike.
It is not too hard to see why —
t-shirts, one-sheet posters, mugs, and
the other souvenir items are easy to
store, they don't spoil like food, they're
clean and neat to handle, they bring in
nice profit margins for relatively low
cost, and, perhaps most beneficial of all,
they function as advertisements for the
movie industry in general and the
theatres which house kiosks in particular.
There is no way of determining the
extent to which the boxoffice success of
"Batman," for example, was dependent
on the sheer ubiquity of the Bat-logo
this summer, but, as Gillian Howard of
Famous Players explains, "Someone on
the streets of Toronto in a 'Batman' t-
shirt is a walking billboard." Much the
same could be said for the trademarks
of the other hit films of the season, and
with such releases on the horizon as
Disney's "The Little Mermaid" and Universal's
"Back to the Future II," we may
have only seen the beginning of the use
of theatre-goers as a form of advertising.
The installation of kiosks and boutiques
does not mark the first attempt
by theatre owmers to enter the lucrative
business of paraphernalia marketing.
Some chains have experimented with
the distribution of catalogues featuring a
variety of merchandise which patrons
could purchase through the mail. Sent
directly to the licensees who manufactured
the souvenirs, the order forms
attached to these catalogues were coded
to identify the theatre at which the consumer
received them, allowing for the
theatre owner to collect a small commission
on the sales.
Now, however, the impetus is on
more complete in-theatre control of the
purchase. "In the past there was no consistency,"
says AMC's Wally Helton in
discussing his chain's effort to make its
marketing policies an accustomed part
of the movie-going experience. "There
were sporadic attempts across the industry
to do this sort of thing, but our
goal now is to get customers used to
seeing t-shirts at the theatre." He adds
that with their increased use of permanent
stands AMC has "somewhat gotten
our buying public used to the idea that
there is movie stuff out there."
The advantage gained by having the
consumers expect to see the merchandise
at the theatre is two-fold, explains
Helton. First of all,
if the public knows
that the goods are available, they wall
prepare themselves by bringing extra
money to the movies with them. "Most
people don't bring $30 to the theatre
with them, so they've got to know in
advance that the merchandise will be
there," Helton says. In-theatre sales
also make maximum use of an audience's
immediate reaction to the films
the merchandise supports. As soon as
the final credits roll and the patrons
leave their seats, the "buzz" created by
satisfied movie-goers can be translated
directly into sales. "You can't get any
more impulsive than that," observes
Helton. "They leave the theatre and the
stuff is right there."
The emphasis on impulse makes intheatre
marketing sound a bit like the
sort of souvenir vending that goes on at
rock concerts, and the use of temporal^
14 BOXOFFICE

installations behind which teenaged
employees trade $10 bills for t-shirts or
program-style books reinforces that
image. But the trend toward the more
fully stocked "movie shop" within the
theatre makes the enterprise resemble
more the idea of the "museum shop"
that has done so well for art institutions
nationwide. Whereas the temporary installation
catches the wave of enthusiasm
the audience generates for a smgle
film and usually is limited to one or
two products, the larger permanent venue
is more like a store devoted to
movie fans, selling merchandise associated
with the films they've come to
see, with films not even playing in the
particular theatre in which the shop is
located, with classic films ("Gone With
The Wind" one-sheet posters are perennially
popular), or with the movies in
general (satin jackets with studio logos
on the back are among the best-sellmg
high-ticket items).
Like art museums, theatre chains
have had to learn how best to utilize the
space devoted to paraphernalia sales.
For Famous Players, which has 14 Famous
Movie Shops, high-traffic locations
such as theatres situated m shopping
malls and permanent, attractively
finished displays were a must. Explains
Howard, "customers have to have confidence
in the locations, so they know
they can return things and that they can
come back to see what's new in stock."
Helton stresses the need to determine
which theatre sites are the most profitable
for merchandise sales, and to make
sure that the amount of money AMC
takes in is worth the amount of square
footage devoted to sales and display. As
a result, AMC has been a bit slower than
Famous Players in erecting permanent
installations, expecting to have only five
by Thanksgiving. The chain does, however,
intend to use temporary sales
space frequently, especially during the
summer and Christmas seasons, when
theatre traffic is highest and the sorts of
films best suited to tie-ins are m release.
The whole idea of in-theatre merchandising
of paraphernalia is so new
that it is difficult to get a fix on how it all
happens. According to Art Dansker at L
& L Concession Supply "it's a baby
industry. ..even the studios don't know
much about it." The impetus for movie
tie-in product begins with licensees who
figure that they can design and manufacture
a shirt or other trinket and sell it
at a profit.
After obtaining the rights to
film logos and actors' or characters'
likenesses, the licensees produce their
goods and sell them to theatre chains
through companies like L & L which are
better known as dealers of concession
equipment and foods. The chains then
allocate the merchandise to their vanous
venues, where theatre managers are
responsible for the actual stafimg and
financial supervision of the kiosk or construct, and install the Famous Movie
movie shop. About the only reliable Shops. From the other end of things, L &
sources at most studios for information L Concessions designed their own prototypical
shops and had them manufac-
about where you might contact licentured
by a contractor. They can there-
"Our goal now is to get
customers used to the
idea that there is movie
stuff out there."
sees are offices of exhibitor relations,
although some studios channel inqumes
about such merchandise to their legal
and/or licensing departments.
If it sounds like the studios don't have
much to do with the process, that's
because they don't. Asked whether her
studio initiates any of the "Ghostbusters"
goodies, Columbia's Director of
Exhibitor Relations Dawn Debosky explains
that "it is not a corporate decision
There is no direct merchandising
right now by either Tri-Star or Columbia."
While Debosky's office did release
to exhibitors a list of adresses where
"Ghostbusters 11" licensees could be
contacted, that was a unique promotion
"based on the obvious popularity of the
'Ghostbusters' items." Debosky does,
however, feel that "once the studios see
that a lot of money is being made on this
stuff, they'll want more involvement."
Similar responses were elicited from
Paramount, which had good marketing
results this summer with its "Indiana
Jones" gear, and Warner Brothers, the
biggest Bat-licenser of all. Everyone
connected to the sale of movie paraphernalia
points to "Batman" as a
ground-breaking marketing event, explaining
that even "Who Framed Roger
Rabbit?", which was a hugely successful
phenomenon for the licensees lucky
enough to sign on with Buena Vista, was
no sales match for stuff' sporting the
Bat-logo. "'Batman' is everywhere,"
says Dansker, and everyone in America
can agree.
''Someone the streets of
Toronto in a 'Batman'
t-shirt is a walking
billboard."
As may be expected, the erection of a
shop inside of a theatre lobby is not a
decision a theatre chain takes lightly.
After experimenting with displaying t-
shirts behind the food counters and with
temporary kiosks in support of the U-2
film "Rattle and Hum," Famous Players
approached Toronto's Click Systems,
Ltd., a manufacturer of displays and
stalls for trade shows and U.S. armed
forces PXes, and got them to design.
fore both install and stock the kiosks, as
they do for AMC.
Another in-theatre marketing technique
is catching on with the Carmike
chain. Various Carmike theatres in the
south have installed Music Video Preview
kiosks in their lobbies. These installations
serve to entertain patrons as
well as to provide additional revenue for
theatre owners. The kiosks feature
monitors which display short presentations
of music videos and are stocked
with the albums featuring the songs in
the videos. In addition, the kiosks are
used to sell soundtrack recordings and
the inevitable t-shirts and posters. Carmike
is happy enough with the performance
of these kiosks that it has
begun to target many more of its
theatres for installation.
AMC, however, has the biggest of big
plans to market movie-related merchandise.
Helton imagines a day when
the company has its own movie memorabilia
shops, not kiosks but actual retail
stores adjacent to theatre lobbies. These
shops, which would be built in conjunction
with new theatres, would be accessible
from either the theatre lobby or
the street or mall outside, thus allowmg
shoppers who have not purchased a
ticket to see a film a chance to examine
and buy the merchandise. This is all
quite a ways from completion, but it
serves as an eye-opening indication of
how far theatre owners believe the
trend toward paraphernalia sales can
go.
While it is easy to see all of this merchandising
as a giant leap forward, the
in-theatre sale of movie paraphernalia
is not without its wrinkles. As was noted
eariier, it is yet a fledgling component of
the exhibition industry. It is not clear
that merchandise will always be available
when the public decides that an
unlikely film is a hit. Conversely, think
of the disaster that would've befallen
anyone who, a few years back, ordered a
big mess of "Howard the Duck" gear.
Timing is also crucial — a t-shirt that
might be impossible to keep in stock
during a film's opening weekend might
never get sold at all if it arrives a week
or two later.
And what about that unsold stuff? Is
there, in fact, a Bat-cave big enough to
store the merchandise that will be left
over when the public's fancy turns elsewhere
and the theatre owners want to
stock their kiosks with more popular
items? This is the best part of the story,
actually. Where does a t-shirt go when
it's no longer wanted in movie theatres?
"We send them to video stores," says
Helton, without irony. "At a discount.
On consignment." ^
November, 1989 15

INSIDE EXHIBITION
Film Gallery Art Cinemas
Lighting the North ^th Alternative Films
By Shawn Levy
Associate Editor
MOST OF US in the Lower 48
WHEN
think of movie-going in Alaska
we have visions of thick,
bearded men in parkas mushing up to
the multiplex in their parkas and Pendleton
wool scarves to catch the latest
Stallone or Schwarzenegger romp, or of
daytime matinees at the drive-in during
the vnnter, or of a curved 70mm screen
tucked comfortably inside of an igloo
where the locals come to laugh at the
camp oldie "Nanook of the North".
But chefs salads? Mineral water? "La
Boheme"? Well say goodbye to your
misconceptions, because that's exactly
the sort of fare you'll find at Anchorage's
Film Gallery Art Cinemas, which
are run by Silver Screen Management
Corp., headed by President and Mangagin
Director Rand Thomsley. The chain
operates two theatres in Anchorage —
the 57-seat Terrace in the city's recently
renovated old downtown, and the
104-seat Capri, which is located in a
strip mall in East Anchorage, the commercial
center of the city.
Both theatres specialize in the sort of
movie that larger theatre chains might
not be so eager to screen. Recent Film
Gallery bookings have included "Slaves
of New York," "How to Get Ahead in
Advertising," "Vampire's Kiss," and the
animated Czechoslovakian film "Alice."
Because of the lack of competition for
many of the features he acquires for his
theatres, Thomsley has had the luxury
of being able to parade a steady stream
of first-nm fare before a loyal Film Gallery
audience. This has translated into
very nice boxoffice receipts.
First-nm alternative films aren't the
only goodies Film Gallery theatres offer.
The Capri is the future site of a sitdown
lobby cafe which will feature light
meals such as salads and sandwiches
and make the drudgery of finding parking
at the restaurant and then again at
the theatre a thing of the past. Both
theatres already boast snack bars
stocked with fruit juices, mineral
waters, popcorn with real butter, and
other upscale aliments. But if Thomsley
can see his plans all the way through,
the Capri will be the possessor of a beer
and wine license, making it the true
home of the one-stop date: dinner, movie,
and nightcap. Wouldn't such a
menu hurt attendance at the theatre,
eliminating the 20-years-old-and-under
\M?hmMm^
The Capri will soon boast a menu of light foods.
crowd that so many theatre owners
have come to recognize as their breadand-
butter? "Not really," says Thomsley.
"We cater to an adult crowd, and
losing the under-21s would only cut our
audience by about five percent." This
reality is evident in a policy enforced at
the Terrace, which only rarely allows
children into shows beginning after 6:00
pm.
Thomsley hasn't entirely abandoned
the youth of Anchorage, however. His
theatres, which often show the sort of
subtitled or sophisticated films that chil-
"I don't think that
would be doing (regular
customers) a very good
service if I tied up my
theatres with Brst-run
Glms..."
dren and teens shun, employ split boxoffice
techniques to ensure busy matinees,
shovvdng children's movies during
the day and switching to adult-oriented
features at night. Film Gallery cinemas
are also participating in this year's celebration
of the Year of the Young Reader.
In conjunction with local libraries,
schools, and book stores. Film Gallery
cinemas will treat child viewers to such
afternoon delights as "National Velvet,"
"Little Women," and the 1939 version of
"The Three Musketeers".
Of the two Film Gallery cinemas, the
Capri has had the most volatile history.
Built in 1974, the theatre has gone
through several distinct phases, ser\'ing
as the first-nm and sub-nm Majesty and
Regency Theatres, offering X-rated
films for couples from 1979 through the
mid- 1980s, showng 99-cent sub-run
ns'in bills, and finally evolving, by April
lit 1989, into a house featuring first-run
tilms of the foreign /independent/smallrelease
sort.
Thomsley feels that the success at
the Capri began with last autumn's
extremely popular engagement of Philip
Kaufman's "The Unbearable Lightness
of Being". Since then, he says, the
16 BOXOFUCE

ODELL'S
4 we Cover
4 America's
. Popcorn
Igllililgte
theatre "has done well with whatever
we've shown there." So well has the
Capri done, in fact, that a two-part
renovation project, which includes the
aforementioned cafe, was begun this
summer. The theatre was upgraded
with 35mm projection equipment and
an Ultra- Stereo sound system. Future
work will refurbish the rest rooms, the
ventilating and air conditioning systems,
and other aspects of the physical
plant of the theatre, which has thus far
built a loyal audience, Thomsley explains,
through "cleanliness and friendliness
instead of luxury."
The Terrace hasn't nearly the exciting
history of its sister theatre, having
opened for its first engagements this
year. It is located in the heart of a new-
ly low profile films in 16mm format.
After more than 20 years of working
in and around theatres in Alaska and his
native Arizona, Thomsley has learned a
variety of ways of keeping his small circuit
and its diverse programs in the public
eye. The most obvious public-relations
advantage that Film Galleiy cinemas
have is their programming. Since
they are usually the only screens in the
Anchorage area offering the films they
show, the weekly reviews in local newspapers'
entertainment sections are, in
The Terrace runs quite a few first-run films.
essence, ads for the films. This, of
course, can backfire, as it might have
recently when a paper ran what Thomsley
called "a scathing review" of
"Slaves of New York". But more often
than not, the sort of bookings the two
Film Gallery theatres feature are the
sort that critics welcome, and Thomsley
helps however he can, providing photos
and press kits for local media types.
Thomsley also has done promos and tieins
v^rith local radio stations and record
stores.
Despite his innovations and his virtual
monopoly on the Anchorage art
film scene, Thomsley does see some
room for change in the exhibition industry.
For one thing, he complains that it is
often difficult for him to obtain advertis-
ly-rejuvenated downtovm which, like ing materials, especially from major distributors
other such renovations in other cities,
has capitalized on a combination of restaurants,
upscale shops, old-time atmosphere,
whose minor films he screens.
This may be understandable when you
consider that Anchorage is part of the
and sophisticated entertain-
Seattle exchange, centered some 1500
ment such as performing arts centers
and theatres such as Thomsley's. The
mDes and a time zone away. He also
finds that he's "got to bug some distributors
Terrace is located at "the highestranked
on the phone to get things
tourist comer in Anchorage,"
boasts Thomsley, and is directly across
booked."
Thomsley is sometimes tempted to
the street from a Hilton hotel built to see if he can outbid the big boys in
serve the city's convention center. As a Anchorage — Act III and Mann — and
result, the intimate auditorium is very grab a picture they'd like to show, but he
often full, even though it shows relative-
honestly concemed with keeping his
is
loyal audience entertained with a
steady revolving diet of the sorts of
films — and foods — they prefer. "I've
got regular customers that enjoy the
films that we show and that come every
week, and I don't think that wotild be
doing them a very good service if I tied
up my theatres with first-mn films for
six weeks." And it is precisely this sort
of attention to audience's tastes, both
cinematic and culinary, that has made
Film Gallery Art Cinemas so popular
with movie-goers in the last frontier. ^
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November, 1989 17

SHOWMANDISER
HARKiNS
Arcadia 8 manager Jeff Martin (left) and staff welcome the M&M Man; the 25' lobby display for "Star Trek V.
Theatres' Arcadia 8 ics. Theatre projectionist and aspiring
Theatre Complex in Phoenix, set designer Von Lamboree built displays
ballyhooed their summer blockbusters
with showinanship and gargantuan
that would be the envy of the film
studio's own designer team.
lobby displays.
Additionally, both pictures were
The Arcadia 8 Theatre Complex lobby
is already adorned with a modem
heavily hyped with local radio promotional
screenings and handbill distribu-
array of marble, glass block and a giant
splash of neon. However, to really bring
HolK^wood pizazz to the theatre, Harkins
Theatres promoted "Star Trek V:
The Final Frontier" and "Licence to
Kill" with large, self-made lobby graph-
tion throughout the Harkins chain.
Theatre manager Jeff Martin augmented
summer film promotions with a
special tie-in with the M&M Mars company.
With the loan of their famous
M&M costume, Martin and his crew
greet patrons with an extra flare aimed
at increasing their per capita sales.
Very proud of his theatre's promotion,
owner Dan Harkins comments,
"Customers walk through the front
door, tilt their heads upward, and stop in
amazement to admire our giant movie
graphics. Feedback has been nothing
but raves!"
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18 BOXOKUCE
Hespo Response No 15

November, 1989 19
Trailers and Ads Become
Attractions with Video
Walls
People look at them and think of "Max
Headroom" or the Apple Computer "Big
Brother" commercial or the famous gigantic
TV screen in Tokyo's Ginza district.
They mesmerize passersby and patrons
at trade shows, at premieres and
grand openings, in malls, in specialty
shops, in discotheques, and, increasingly,
in movie theatre lobbies. They are video
wralls, large (up to 228 square feet) assemblages
of television monitors which take a
single image, break it up into pieces, and
display it in as many parts as there are
screens in the set-up.
A typical video wall consists of four or
eight monitors arranged in a square and
broadcasting advertisements, rock videos,
promotional films, or movie trailers. The
walls accept input from cable, live camera,
satellite, laser disc, computer, or video
sources, can be programmed with a
battery of special effects and commands,
and can air a preset menu of items in a
continuous loop with a single set of
instructions.
Video walls, which were originally developed
in Japan, are available from two
companies here, Imtech International in
New York and Videcam Presentations of
Norwalk, Connecticut. Imtech has installed
video walls at several movie
theatres, most notably at a Loews multiplex
in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. The
wall in Ridgefield Park is actually a double
wall, consisting of two identical fourby-four
sets of monitors, Don Baker,
Loews' vice-president of advertising and
public relations, explains that the walls
have an extra benefit for the theatre; "In
the advertising we do for Ridgefield Park,
we mention that video walls show scenes
from coming attractions. I'm sure that no
one's coming into the theatres just to see
the walls, but they definitely add a sense
of excitement."
Movie theatres can use video walls in a
number of ways. When a theatre has too
many film trailers to show to its patrons
before a feature, the extra ones can be
displayed on a video wall set-up in the
lobby. In a multiplex, a video wall can be
used to show movie-goers trailers for the
various features currently booked in all
the different theatres. Video walls are
also well-suited to displays of advertisements,
especially ads for local businesses,
restaurants, and the like.
Even though they afford their users a
great deal of novelty, video walls take up
very little total area (especially when
compared to the amount of room required
for projection), operate under all sorts of
lighting conditions (another advantage
over projection), can be installed in just a
few hours, and require little, if any, maintenance.
Video walls can be rented on a
per diem basis or bought outright, with
installation, service contracts, and warranties.
more
rules
diems,
about
and
wages,
provides
turn-arounds,
about
per
For information, contact
the like, info a
Santa Rector at Imtech (260 West Broadway,
New York, NY 10013, tel. 212-226-
6900) and Erwin Koti at Videcam (P. OB.
262, Norwalk, CT 06856, tel. 203-853-
host of suppliers and service-providers,
and is filled with facts about shooting permits,
film formats, and a whole lot more.
It is updated annually, and at $10 an issue
0847).
Getting to Know You:
East and West
You find yourself on the coast — either
one — and looking for insiders like yourself:
film companies, agents, cinematographers,
you get the picture. You're not
going to pick up a yellow pages — that's a
bit too routine, and too often they're
tough to find. How can you network while
at the same time avoiding coming on like
a novice or lugging a phone book?
Two information sources have recently
appeared to help people in just this spot,
each filled with info to help you access
whom- or whatever you need. The New
York Feature Film & Video Guide is a
booklet which lists the addresses and
phone numbers of all the services which
film or T.V. producers might require
while shooting in Gotham. It lists union
is worth its weight in 411 calls.
Or maybe you're in El Lay, sitting in
traffic with nothing but a cellular fax
machine for company. Not to worry. The
Los Angeles Entertainment Industry Fax
Directory can connect you with over 600
of your peers, suppliers, contacts, and the
ilk, even with the phone- ahead fax numbers
of restaurants, so that freeway time
need not eat into your lunch. The guide
also contains other information you'll
need to communicate, such as phone
numbers and addresses, is periodically
updated, and, of course, can always add
you and your firm to its listings. At $22.30
per copy, it beats the heck out of messengers.
The New York Feature Film & Video
Guide is available from 90 Riverside
Drive, New York, NY 10024, tel. (212) 362-
7773. You can purchase or get listed in the
Los Angeles Entertainment Industry Fax
Directory by writing to L.A.E.I. FAX Directory,
c/o J. Scochet Company, 2001
Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA^ 90403,
tel. (213) 828- 3481.
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"
NATIONAL NEWS
August B.O. Smells Good
Up 5 percent from last year, the August
through Labor Day boxotfice performance of
films in the states clocked in at a record $419
million Leading the take were "Parenthood,
"The Abyss," and "Uncle Buck," though such
summer stalwarts as "Batman," "Lethal
Weapon II," and "Indiana lones and the Last
Crusade" did their part, as did the unexpected
hit "sex, lies, and videotape,"
The August figures are especially high given
the national trend toward earlier school
starts, which has chipped away at late-summer
takes for several years now.
All told, the summer boxoffice total, cover-
Uncle t^egabucks
ing the period between Memorial and Labor
Days, checks in at a staggering $2.03 billion,
over 19 percent above the previous summer's
record This increase, coupled with a
promising fall roster, leads industry forecasters
to believe that the annual total, which
stands now at $3.55 billion for the first 35
weeks, may top the $5 billion mark for the
first
time ever.
Exhibitors, Studios Facing
Tougher Disabled-Access
Rules
By an overwhelming margin, the US Senate
voted in September to pass the Americans
With Disabilities Act, a broad piece of
legislation which was hailed by its supporters
as the "Civil Rights Act for the disabled " The
bill, which was passed by a 76-8 vote, would
guarantee over 43 million disabled citizens,
including AIDS victims, rights to employment,
transportation, and other services, as well as
equal access to restaurants, theatres, and other
businesses It would require equitable hiring
policies of employers and the construction
or renovation of existing buildings in
order to make them fully disabled-accessible.
The bill was expected to be presented to the
4 House of Representative committees with
jurisdiction over it by (Xtober, will full House
approval almost certain to follow by the middle
of the month
Although almost all of those affected by
the bill, including employers, builders, and
facilities managers (such as theatre owners)
agree that the basic premises of the legislation
are laudable, many fear that they may be subject
to financially untenable alterations of
existing physical plants or organizational
structures, or that they will fall prey to legal
entanglements resulting from current or previous
hiring or access practices.
Theatre owners have been especially concerned
about this legislation and its implications
for both the physical conformations of
their facilities and the sorts of hiring practices
the bill would entail They feel that recent
construction trends in
the industry have provided
very well for disabled patrons, with
seating, restrooms, parking, exits and entrances,
and other amenities such as water
fountains and telephones completely disabled-accessible.
Theatre owners fear, for
example, that extension of access for wheelchair-bound
patrons to all areas of a facility
may result in a less safe environment for all
patrons in the event of fire or other emergency
Prior to the Senate vote, NATO president
William Kartozian briefed President George
Bush on theatre owners' concerns about the
legislation Kartozian urged that factors of
safety, cost, and feasibility be considered in
the drafting of any new requirements, especially
those governing redesigning facilities to
accommodate disabled employees. When alterations
in disabled-access regulations were
implemented in California, NATO officials
there claimed that it would be physically
impossible for employees confined to wheelchairs
to work in projection booths, refreshment
stands, or boxoffices. CAL/NATO has
spent the last three years working with state
officials to design mutually amneable solutions
to the problem, hoping in the effort to
develop guidelines for disabled access that
could be used as model standards throughout
the country
NATO also was represented at a Washington,
DC. press conference at which the legislation
was attacked for its "loose language"
and the potential hardship it would bring to
theatre owners. Speaking along with representatives
of the U.S. Chamber of Congress
and the National Federation of Independent
Business,
NATO spokesman Stephen Owen
explained that while they supported the spirit
of civil rights and equality which the bill represented,
NATO members feared the large
sums of money and possibly lengthy legal
proceedings the bill would entail As an example,
Owen pointed out that the vagueness of
the bill's language might require theatre owners
to renovate their facilities so that handicapped
patrons would have access to seats
throughout the theatre, and not just to platforms
in the rear as are commonly available
now.
In a related story, the legislative drive to
alter theatrical facilities so that they would be
more accessible to the disabled has been
directed toward film producers as well Los
Angeles area studios have been warned that
their production facilities will soon be required
to fit
disabled-access guidelines established
by the Los Angeles Department of
Building and Safety Protests from industry
sources who claim the stricter regulations
would force productions to leave the city for
more lenient sites were scoffed at by Department
head Warren V. O'Brien as "scare tactics."
Fox Opts For Firm-Term
Distribution Policy
Despite their earlier lean toward competitive
bidding. Fox Film Corporation appears to
have chosen to implement a firm-terms leasing
policy for its products This move continues
the trend among the majors to be less
flexible in allowing for adjustable terms in
licensing arrangements with exhibitors. Universal
is currently the only distributor to insist
on up-front fixed terms on all of its films, but
there are indications that other studios, including
Paramount and Buena Vista, will enforce
firmer terms with certain pictures In certain
markets.
The firm-term distribution and exhibition
arrangements are significantly different than
those which prevail under direct
negotiation
arrangements. Whereas direct negotiation allows
distributors to adjust original terms after
a film has opened, depending on its boxoffice
performance, firm-term bookings are nonadjustable.
Furthermore, direct negotiation
postponed the setting of financial terms until
after a film's theatrical run, unlike firm-term
arrangements, in which monetary concerns
are spelled out up front.
Theatre owners and exhibitors are obviously
opposed to firm-term arrangements,
which can result in their losing large sums of
money on poor-performing but expensiveto-book
films. But the shift to firm-term bookings
reflects what the studios perceive as an
increase of competition in the marketplace.
Downtown Manhattan
"Clearing" Policies Fall
The long-standing booking policy of "clearing,"
the refusal of distributors to book films
on screens which their exhibitors view as
competing venues, has apparently ceased in
midtown and downtown Manhattan, rendered
obsolete by the combination of a new
crop of first-run theatres and a new industry
awareness of the downtown moviegoing audience.
Lower Manhattan had always been
viewed as a special case for the distribution
and exhibition of major-release films. The
areas below 34th St., particularly Greenwich
Village, were known for non-traditional
bookings, small theatres, and specialty audiences
Bookers thus viewed the entire area
as an appendage of midtown and screened
major films in the more central area, assuming
that downtown audiences would gladly uptown
travel to see them.
"Clearing" worked nicely for the theatre
owners above 34th St . who were given a
virtual screening monopoly over an unusually
large territory,
but the policy was less enthusiastically
practiced by distributors, who naturally
preferred to see their films on as many
screens as possible
The apparent collapse of the practice is
most noticeable in the success of "sex, lies,
and videotape, " which ran simultaneously at
(amunucd on p 26)
20 Boxoffice

and
EASTERN NEWS
Boston
The Tremont Art Cinemas I and II had their
license suspended for 5 days as a result of
sexual activity in the theatres. The Mayor's
Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing
noted that the manager of the theatres had
tried to educate customers on sexually-transmitted
diseases, but this proved no preventative
for the illicit behavior In a related development,
the Pilgrim Theatre, a long-established
blue movie house, is being evicted and
shut down along with four adult businesses in
the city's efforts to clear the infamous "Combat
Zone" of pornographic enterprises.
The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) has
become a major venue for specialty films
under the guidance of film coordinator Bob
Smith. The Boston film area is undergoing a
period of uncertainty with regard to the
booking of foreign and independent films,
with Loews, which bought USA Cinemas,
now reserving only the five-screen Nickelodeon
for such fare, and the fates of the similarly
programmed Coolidge Corner and Somerviile
theatres in doubt
Smith says "More and more quality art
films are in need of theatrical engagements,
and a number of exhibitors are eager for
(MFA) to be more flexible." He has therefore
scaled back the MFA's bookings of curated
film packages to open up more playdates for
films new to the city. Recent premieres have
included "Beaches," "Pelle the Conqueror"
and "Dominic and Eugene," while other films
such as "The Dressmaker" have been held at
the museum for extended engagements.
Kingston, MA
Hoyt Cinemas Corporation has announced
that it will open a 10-screen complex in the
Independence Mall here The theatres will all
be equipped with Dolby and Kintek "surround
sound" systems and low-intensity "Tivoli"
aisle lighting, and at least one of the
auditoriums will feature hearing-impaired
sound systems.
New York
Film Forum, a non-profit downtown twoplex
legendary for its adventuresome bookings,
is in the midst of a $2.3 million fundraising
campaign to pay for its move to a new
location. The former Watts Street theatre
site, first occupied by Film Forum almost 20
years ago, closed on September 4 and is
scheduled for demolition.
The new space, which at 10,000 square
feet almost doubles the size of the original
building, will seat a total of approximately 500
people in its
three theatres. The addition of a
third screen will allow Film Forum to run
open-ended bookings of films that proved
popular on the other screens, which are
devoted to a repertory style of programming.
A settlement with the buyer of the original
property netted Film Forum nearly $1 million.
Film Forum director Karen Cooper hopes to
raise the remaining necessary revenue
through the efforts of a celebrity-laden entertainment
industry group which includes
Woody Allen, Milos Forman, Martin Scorsese,
Sidney Pollack, Robert Redford, and New
Line Cinema president Robert Shaye in its
ranks
Loews is set to construct a sevenplex on
the corner of Third Avenue and 11th Street
here in Manhattan. Having assembled lots for
a site and begun demolition, the chain
expects to open the three-level theatre
sometime in 1991. The multiplex will bear a
similar design to Loews' 19th Street East sixplex,
scheduled to open for this Thanksgiving,
which features an all-glass facade through
which passersby can see the escalators which
transport moviegoers to the various tiers
auditoriums.
Philadelphia
The Roxy Screening Rooms I
of
II are
devoting an entire month to giving filmgoers
a chance to catch up with some recent overlooked
films. The series, entitled "Take 2,"
consists of double and triple bills featuring
such films as "The Vampire's Kiss," "The
Dressmaker," "Heathers," "Say Anything,'
and "Dead Calm."
is
The focus of the local movie-going public
expected to change soon from Center City
to the riverfront. United Artists Theatre Circuit
has announced plans to lease a 10-screen
complex to be built on the Delaware River
waterfront. The 2,600-5eat complex is expected
to open in the summer of 1990. It will
be joined, in short order, by a 14-screen complex
directly across the street Santikos Communications
of San Antonio, Texas has signed
a 20-year lease for that theatre, which will be
part of Liberty Landing, a mixed-use development.
Reading,PA
Hardy, Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA)
has been chosen by Fox Theatres to design a
new 4,000 seat complex in Wyomissing, a
suburb of Reading. The New York/Los Angeles
architecture firm is noted for its innovative
projects, among which are the American
Film Institutes in Washington, DC. and Los
Angeles and auditoriums and performing arts
centers in New York, Oregon, and Alaska.
The new theatre complex will feature 14
screens in a building which will be integrated
into the surrounding landscape, retaining the
natural contour and beauty of the steep,
wooded site Construction on the complex,
the largest of all of Fox's theatres, is expected
to be completed in mid- 1990,
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Pittsburgh
The Greater Pittsburgh Drive-ln Theatre
celebrated its 35th anniversary this summer.
Opened in May of 1954 as a single-screen
facility, the theatre now boasts five screens in
Tupelo, Mississippi.
MIDWEST NEWS
8-screen complex featuring Dolby stereo
sound, 70mm projection, and LucasFilm THX
sound enhancement The complex, located in
the new Centennial Lakes Plaza, is expected
to open by the middle of 1990.
all. The 50-acre theatre site, which is managed
by Warren Enterprises, is also home to
the Movieland Miniature Golf Course.
Chicago
In an agreement with First National Realty
and Development Co., Chicago's most active
shopping center developer, Santikos Communications
has agreed to place two 14-
screen theatres in developments which will
open in the spring of 1990. The complexes,
which will feature self-serve concession areas
and electronic game rooms, will be located at
the Westview Center in Hanover Park and
the RiverCrest Centre in Crestwood. They
will be the largest multi-screen movie houses
in Chicagoland.
Flint, Ml
National Amusements has agreed to buy a
16 5 acre site on which to construct a 14-
screen theatre. Adjacent to the Genesee Valley
Mall, the theatres will have 70mm projection
equipment and Dolby and THX stereo
systems. National already operates three other
sites in Flint, including the 10-screen Showcase
Cinemas
San Antonio
Tom Powers, general manager of the Aztec-3
Theatre, which is owned and operated
by the San Antonio Conservation Society,
reported that the Aztec-3's business had seriously
suffered effects of the projects of the
San Antonio Downtown Tri-Party
Construction
Project The three-screen theatre is the
only downtown house featuring
double-bill
english-language shows at low admission
It is at prices. located an intersection which
has been completely torn up for city-sponsored
renovations, forcing moviegoers to
dodge construction crews and equipment
and put up with noise and dust after negotiating
a maze of barricades to reach the boxoffice.
In addition. Powers reports that most of
the theatre's first-floor retail space tenants
have vacated the premises because of revenue
losses connected to the construction.
Baltimore
F M. Durkee Enterprises' Boulevard Theater
closed Its doors on luly .M. One of two
remaining theaters operated by Durkee, formerly
the largest exhibitor in Baltimore, the
Boulevard, which opened in 1921, originally
seated 1,500 beneath its domed roof The
theater was twinned in 1984 and subsisted, in
recent years, as a second-run house showing
action films to inner-city audiences. The
house was sold to commercial developers
who plan to convert the property into a small
shopping mall, with the understanding that
the fancy exterior, including the box office,
will remain as is The Boulevard's seats will be
transferred to two new theaters currently
under construction.
SOUTHERN NEWS
Bartlett, TN
Maico Theatres ol Memphis has opened
the Bartlett Cinema 10, increasing its Memphis-area
screen total to 41 screens in 7 locations,
including the recently-opened Germantown
Parkway Cinema 9 MaIco has also
recently expanded its operations in Owensboro,
Kentucky and is adding screens in
Cleveland
Loews has broken ground on its
extensive
expansion project at the Richmond Mall.
Loews East, currently a two-screen theatre,
will expand to 10 screens with a projected
opening date of Christmas 1990 Loews currently
operates 7 screens in the Heights-Hillcrest
market.
After suffering steady declines in attendance,
the World East Theatre closed on
August 31. "The days of the single-screen
theatre are gone," says Russell Winter, executive
vice president of National Theatre
Corp., which owns the World East. The
theatre has been subleased by Clevel^--'^ cinemas
for the past four years, and its closing
leaves the Colony on ShAer Square as
only single-screen first
the
run house in the coun-
National Theatre Corp. wil' expand to nine
screens at its multiplex at the Great Lakes Mall
in Mentor .Avcross the 'treet at the Mentor
Mall, meanwhile, Ge'^ral Cinema will expand
its
multiplex from^'ve screens to eight.
Ecl'«a, MN
general Cinema Theatres will construe t the
Centennial Lakes 8 Cinema here, a 2600-seat,
Fargo, ND
The Fargo Theatre is now the only Red
River Valley area cinema to boast an operating
70mm projection system Funded in part
by a grant from Great Plains Software, the
system was inaugurated in September with a
three-week booking of David Lean's restored
"Lawrence of Arabia The Fargo opened " in
1926 as a vaudeville house and movie
theatre, and was taken over in
1983 by the
Fargo Theatre Management Corporation, a
non-profit organization dedicated to preserving
the theatre as a community resource.
Salem, OR
Act Ill/Luxury Theatres has begun a major
remodelling on its Lancaster Mall Cinemas
here Exterior enhancements will be accompanied
by new carpeting, wallcoverings,
lighting, paint, and concession features. The
theatre, which will continue to screen films
during its renovation, is the first of 25 complexes
the chain will revamp in the Pacific
Northwest.
Hollywood
Spoony Singh, owner ot the Hollywood
Wax Museum, has purchased Mann
Theatres Hollywood and Vogue Theatres,
two of the chain's single-screen theatres on
Hollywood Boulevard In accord with an
agreement precluding him from using the
properties as film theatres. Singh plans to turn
the landmark Hollywood Theatre into a Cui-
22 BOXOKKICE

ness Book of World Records nnuseum He
"r^'ends, however, to "Preserve the .r^tegnty
o the bu,ld,r.g, which was bu.lt ,n 1^ 13 and ,
the second-
Angeles,
oldest operating theatre .n Los
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
growing areas and was patronized by an
average of 14,000 customers in each of its
f,rst three weeks of operation, lackman cred;
its the success of the venture, one of only halt
a dozen 8-or-more-screen multiplexes in the
country, to a more wide-open distribution
policy in Australia.
Culver City, CA
'
The Studio Dr've-ln, elated for derriolition
within the next year, hosted "NtyFte
Nieht" in conjunction with the Los Angeies
Con ervancy' "Last Remaining Seats" series.
The even^g consisted of a Hula-Hoop con^
test, a 50's-style dance a tailgating party, and
a screening of -'The Girl Can t He p
It the
1956 musical comedy featuring rock-and-rollers
Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Eddie
Cochrane and starring layne Mansfield and
Tom Ewell Ewell, 80, best remembered to
h°Tole in "The Seven-Year Itch," was himself
on hand for the festivities.
San Diego
^ ^
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in San Uie-
Paofe Theatres has opened a sixplex on
go
fhe former site of the Cinerama Theatre near
San Diego State, In addition to the state-ofthe-art
sound and pro|ection ameni les, the
2000-seat theatre
will have an upscale snack
bar featuring cookies baked on the premises
and frozen-5ogurt style desserts. An add^ion^
al attraction will be a live amateur comedy
night on Wednesdays, inaugurated by a 1U
week contest with a $1000 first prize
United Kingdom
Gallery Cinemas, the 50%-owned subsidiary
of Cineplex Odeon, has announced plans
o build four new theatre complexes in ngland.
Six screens each are planned in Ches^r^
Stockport, and Eastbourne, while an S-screen
complex will be built in LiverpooL All excep
the Chester location, which is scheduled tor
ompletion in 1991, are expected to open in
1990 All four complexes will teatue state
of-the-art sound and pro|ection facilities and
be full? accessible to the disabled. Gallery
also has complexes under constr^jction in he
West End of London, North London, Brighton
Marina, Harlow, Gloucester, and Glasgow,
Scotland.
•TLastico," rated as one of Italy s most
nonular TV shows because of its connection
rn^he national lottery, will offer its viewers
inducements to attend cinemas nationw^de^
In a promotional scheme expected to cost
distribution and exhibition organizations almost
$4,5 million, 30",. discounts on movie
tickets, valid for specific films but good at at^y
theatre in the country, will be awa ded to
J^^wers who purchase lottery tickets through
the show The entire 1989-90 season of Fa>v
tastico" will be dedicated to films and to the
new promotion.
South Korea
Twenty-seven South Korean film directors
began a hunger strike in protest of the arres
'^fh^e^^^t'lLpendent multiplex in Austrafe of two of their peers who were charged by
has been opened in Logan, Queensland by police with the release of live snakes into wo
E if'cLmas, a new firm run by Terry lacman,
former managing director of Hoyts Attraction". The 14 ^o^P°''°''°^'\'^2l'
Seoul theatres which were showing Fatal
Entertainment and Village Roadshow Studos. which did not harm anyone in the theat es,
The 8-screen complex is located '" a shop were the most shocking attempt by native
ping center in one of the nation s fastest filmmakers to dissuade South Korean movie-
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November, 1989 23

. 1
from patronizing films distributed by foreign
companies Earlier tfiis year, gas bombs were
thrown into an empty Seoul theatre which
was showing "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,"
causing $15,000 in fire and smoke
damage.
ON THE MOVE
National has also promoted Mark A. Walukevich
to the position of Vice President, Film
He will be responsible for film product for
England and various US markets Walukevich
has been with National since 1980, serving
as a film buyer for the past several years.
Ireland
American Multi-Cinema has two cineplexes
in the works in County Dublin. A 16-screen
complex will go up in Tallaght in West Dublin,
while a 10-screener is planned for Coolock,
north ol the city center. Representing the culmination
of a deal between AMC and Monarch
Properties, Ltd, the cinemas will be
equipped with Dolby Stereo Surround Sound,
extra-wide seating, and computer designed
sight lines, and will feature advance and credit
card telephone booking and free parking.
Singapore
By early 1991, Singapore moviegoers
should have the chance to attend nation's
first art house. A 350-seat theatre devoted to
alternative and independent films will be
opened by the Cathay chain. The theatre to
be known as the Picturehouse, will also host
live performances of plays and concerts.
Among the problems facing the theatre are
the nation's fairly strict censorship laws, the
inevitability of higher-than-average ticket
prices, and the relative unavailability of appropriately
alternative films to show.
Dedham, Massachusetts-based National
Amusements has announced several appointments
Carole Boole is National's new Film
Promotions Manager. She will oversee all promotional
activities at the company's LIS.
theatres, work with ma)or film companies on
promotions and special screenings, and work
on new theatre openings across the country,
Boole has been with National since 1984
David McNeil has been appointed to the
position of Advertising Department Manager
at National, He'll oversee the operations of
the thirty-plus member staff, McNeil previously
served as an account supervisor with
Leonard, Monahan, Lubars & Partners in
Providence, Rhode Island.
Also at National, Manon Russell has been
promoted to the position of Co-op Manager.
She IS responsible for generating co-op agreements
between National and the film companies,
as well as supervising accounting, advertising,
and clerical duties. Russell has been
with National for five years.
Carl Bertolino has been appointed Film
Buyer for National. Bertolino comes to National
from 20th Century Fox Film Corporation,
where he had served as vice president
of sales for the Eastern Division and as Boston
Branch Manager He has also spent 10 years
as a film buyer for General Cinema in
and Dallas.
Boston
The Frank Company of theatres in the
Atlantic City, N ) area has named Walter
Streeper its
for the entire circuit
executive in charge of operations
In other moves at Frank,
leff Spence has been advanced to the post of
assistant operations director and Bruce Fitzsimmons
has joined as chief of installations
and projection services.
Fox Film Corp has upped Terry Clifford to
the post of vice president of field operations
and promotions in its marketing division. Clifford
has been with Fox's field operations divisions
since 1984.
In a move underscoring its planned push in
the marketing area. New Line Corp. has
named Sandra Ruch co-president of New Line
Marketing, Inc. Along with co-president Michael
Harpster. Ruch will oversee all of the
company's marketing activities, including
public relations, promotion, creative advertising,
and media. Ruch has previously held
posts as vice-president of public relations and
event marketing at the House of Seagram's
and as manager of cultural programs and promotions
for Mobil Oil Corp.
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Since 1980, People for the Ethical
TVeatment of Animals has become this
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advocate of animal protection. PETA is
committed to exposing and stopping
animal cruelty— especially in
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For more information, write PETA,
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or call (202) 726-0156.
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BOXOKFICE
Response t\lo 2

Add the title of president to the letterhead
of Loews Theatre Management Corporation
senior executive vice president lerry Esbin.
Esbin has taken over the post from Loews
chairman and CEO Bernard Meyerson, with
whom he has worked intimately since last
November, Esbin, who pnor to joining Loews
was executive vice president for domestic
sales for Tri-Star Pictures, will oversee film
booking, finance, real estate, construction,
and operation concerns in his new position.
He'll helm a burst of expansion for the chain,
the fifth largest in the nation, as it expands
from 850 to 930 screens by February of
1990.
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Response No 23
OBITUARIES
HURLEY SCREENS
James Anthony Malinda, the man who originated
the idea of showing a clock on the
screen at drive-in theaters to indicate the time
remaining in the intermission, died Aug. 9. He
was 80. He is survived by five children, including
performer )im Malinda, who sits on the
governing board of the Academy of Television
Arts & Sciences.
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Nathaniel Levine, known as the "King of
Serials" during his reign as president of Mascot
Pictures and Republic Pictures in the
1920s and 1930s, died Aug 6 at the age of
90. Starting in 1913 as an office boy in Marcus
Loew's New York office, Levine began a
career as a distributor in the 1920s, specializing
in picking up the rights to films the major
studios rejected. During this period he was
the first distributor to handle Walt Disney's
work.
After producing his first serial in 1926,
Levine formed Mascot to continue his endeavors
in that area, putting out 500 reels of
serials and 20 features in the next eight years.
Levine gave Gene Autrey his first film role,
hired John Wayne through the lean years
prior to "Stagecoach," and supervised Tom
Mix' last
screen appearance.
1933, Levine bought Mack Sennet's San
In
Fernando Valley lot, which became the headquarters
of Republic two years later when
Mascot, Liberty, Majestic, Monogram and
Herbert |.
Yates' Consolidated Film Industries
Laboratories merged. Levine left Republic
two years later, and never again held so
prominent a position in the industry, but he
stayed active in films until 1972, spending the
last 10 years of his career building and managing
theaters for California Sterling Theaters
Arthur Rubine, who specialized in publicizing
independent films, died at 53 in his Manhattan
home. Rubine worked extensively
with Third World Cinema, which trained
minority filmmakers, and with the Henry
Street Settlement House, He helped publicize
such films as Frederico Fellini's "Amarcord,"
Louis Malle's "Murmur of the Heart," and
Melvin van Peebles' "Sweet Sweetback's
Baadasssss Song," and organized the first
Soviet and post-revolutionary Chinese film
festivals in
the LJ.S.
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November, 1989 25

National News
HOLLYWOOD UPDATES
Loews 3-4th St. Showplace and the Waverly
Theatre in Greenwich Village Other films
such as "The Package" and "Let it Ride" also
broke with the "clearing" policy by opening
on the same day in both midtown and downtown
theatres
The change in policy is attributed in part to
the proliferation of new first-run screens in
the downtown area, and in part to an influx
of new businesses and residents in neighborhoods
like Greenwich Village, Soho, Tribeca,
and Grammercy Park Such circuits as Loews
and City Cinemas have acquired or renovated
theatres in lower Manhattan, or plan to
build major theatres there, where the new
Now
Angelika Film Center has created a stir.
viewed as a completely unique and independent
viewing area from midtown, downtown
Manhattan can expect to see a lot more in the
way of major films and state-of-the-art
theatres with the demise of "clearing" policies
Holy Quick Release! Batman
Video Date, Price Upset
Exhibitors
The bonanza that has been "Batman" will
end in a shorter time that many exhibitors
would have wished. The Warner film will find
Its way to video in a release both quicker and
cheaper than that of the normal blockbuster
Whereas the normal lag time between the
end of a film's theatrical run and its release on
video is nearly a year, "Batman" will be on
retail shelves November 15th, less than five
months after its premiere. In comparison,
"Chostbusters II" will find its way to video
five-and-a-half months after its release, but at
a price - $89 95, compared to $24 95 for
"Batman" - which ensures that the film will
be a rental item and not a Christmas stockingstuff
er.
Although most exhibitors concede that
"Batman" has pretty much run its course in
theatres, some are afraid that a dangerous
precedent will be set by Warner's eagerness
to cut to the video version of a big hit so
soon. Many theatres will not show a film that
is available on home video, although in some
houses, such as the increasingly popular $1
multiplexes, the cost of a ticket is actually
cheaper than the cost of a video rental
Theatre owners are caught in a classic case
of mixed emotions about "Batman," grateful
at the film's phenomenal performance this
summer but angry at it as a harbinger of
quicker and quicker video releases for hits of
the future They can understand Warner's
hesitancy to wait for another year to cash in
on holniay video sales and fear that "Batman"
may not be the perennial classic that a film
like "E T" is, but for now exhibitors plan to
get all the play out of the film they can, and
hope that other studios don't follow Warner's
eager lead
PRODUCTION NOTES
You can practically hear the coins jingling
as you pass Warner Bros, these
days, so loaded is the studio on the heels
of "Batman." Not ones to rest on their
laurels, however, the company has allowed
a peek at its upcoming slate, which
includes — surprise, surprise — "Batman
11" (no further details provided, or
really necessary). Also in the hopper are
"Sgt. Rock," a long-delayed adaptation
of the comic book classic which will star
Bruce Willis (not Arnold Schwarzenegger
as long-promised); "If Looks Could
Kill," an actioner directed by William
Dear ("Harry and the Hendersons") and
starring "21 Jumpstreet" heartthrob Richard
Grieco; and "My Blue Heaven," to be
written by Nora Ephron ("When Harry
Met Sally..."), directed by Herbert Ross
("Steel Magnolias"), and star Steve Martin
and Rick Moranis. In order to handle
the new production year, Warner Bros,
has made some changes at the very top of
its production ranks: Mark Canton has
been named to the newly created post of
worldwide motion picture production (he
will personally supervise "Batman 11"),
with Bruce Berman being named the
new president of theatrical production
and Lucy Fisher executive vice president
of theatrical production.
In what must have been one of the
cheeriest takeovers in business history,
The Walt Disney Co. has acquired Henson
Associates Inc., the home of the
Muppets Besides becoming the new owners
of Muppet-themed TV programs like
"The Muppet Show" and "Fragglerock"
and picking up the invaluable merchandising
rights to characters like Kermit the
Frog and Miss Piggy, Disney is also reportedly
considering another Muppet movie
with Jim Benson, the creator of the popular
puppets The deal, which reportedly
was in the $100-150 million range, does
not include the characters used on "Sesame
Street," which are not entirely
owned by Hanson.
Nelson Entertainment, which was a
production partner in such hits as "When
Harry Met Sally..." and "Bill and Ted's
Excellent Adventure," has six pictures in
films. JVC/Victor Co., which rivals Sony
in its international stature, has launched
Largo Entertainment and has formed a
joint partnership with fonner 20th Century
Fox president Lawrence Gordon,
who will serve as chairman and CEO of
the new company. Gordon, who as an
independent producer was recently responsible
for "Field of Dreams" and "K-
9," will reportedly have an initial funding
of over $100 million at his disposal.
Ted Goldberg, formerly with European
Classics, has launched Capitol Entertainment,
a new distribution company
designed to handle the foreign and specialty
films which Goldberg has shown an
affinity for in the past.
Another art film distributor — Aries
Film Releasing — has been established
in New York by Paul E. Cohen, formerly
with Analysis Films. In the past, Cohen
was involved in the release of such arthouse
hits as "Mephisto" and "My Brilliant
Career."
PERSONNEL
After eight years as marketing chief for
MGM/UA, Gregory Morrison will be
joining Alan Ladd Jr. at Pathe Communications
Corp. as marketing consultant.
Morrison will be involved with upcoming
Pathe releases such as the Tom Selleck
Western "Quigley Down Under," and the
Sean Connery espionage thriller "The
Russia House."
Riding high with the critical and commercial
hit "sex, lies and videotape," New
York-based Miramax has opened a new
office in Los Angeles. Among the new
staffers in LA. are Charles Layton, executive
vice president for production and
acquisitions; Lara Avanski, publicity
coordinator; and Mark Halprin, national
sales manager. Miramax releases before
the end of the year include "The Lemon
Sisters," starring Diane Keaton and Carol
Kane, and "Strike It Rich," with Molly
Ringwald and Robert Lindsay. Upcoming
Miramax productions include "A Rage in
Harlem," a drama to star Forest Whitaker,
and a sequel to the acclaimed thriller,
"The Stepfather."
Sandra Ruch will be joining Michael
Harpster as co-president of marketing
the production pipeline, each budgeted at
between $10-20 million. Besides the previously
announced "Texasville," Peter for New Line Cinema. She will be responsible
Bogdanovich's sequel to "The Last Picture
for overseeing all marketing ar-
Show," the company's slate includes eas, including public relations, promotion,
"Transit," a Los Angeles-based cop drama
advertising and media.
starring Lou Diamond Phillips; "Eve
of Destruction," a science fiction thriller
ACQUISITIONS
about the search for a beautiful, nu-
clear-armed android set to star Gregory
nines; and "Bill and Ted II," with a
script by original writers Chris Matheson
and Ed Solomon. Nelson product will continue
Blossom Pictures: "Religion, Inc.," a
satire about an advertising executive who
starts his own religion for profit. The film
to be released through Orion and
Columbia.
After years of anticipation, a powerful
Japanese concern has finally set down
was set to open in October.
New Century/Vista: "Cage," an actioner
starring Lou Ferrigno as a child-like
hulk forced to do battle in caged fighting
rings for sport. The film went into platform
roots in Hollywood with intentions of
becoming a major supplier of theatrical
release in
September.
26 BOXOKHtK

Reviews
CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
Starring Martm Landau, Woody Allen, Alan Alda, Claire
Bloom, Mia Farrow, Anjelica Huston and Sam Waterston.
Produced by Robert Greenhut Written and directed by Woody
Allen
An Orion Pictures release. Comedy-drama, rated PG-13 Running
time: 105 min Screening date: 9/21/89.
It's got laughs, but it's not a movie about getting laughs; it's a
movie about the meaning of life. In "Crimes and Misdemeanors,"
vv'riter-director Woody Allen for the first time makes a
serious effort to answer some of the Big Questions: Is there a
God? If there is a God, does He absolve us of responsibility for
our actions? Should our belief or disbelief in a supreme being
make a difference in the way we treat our fellow human
beings? And is morality simply a function of religion, or of a
fear of divine retribution? He finally attempts to provide
answers to questions he only posed in films like "Ir
For perhaps the Brst time, Woody's talents as a serious
storyteller keep an even pace with his gifts as a
humorist. As a result, this new Blm may be his
masterpiece.
"Manhattan" and "Stardust Memories."
"Crimes" is actually two stories — one deadly serious, the
other a good deal less so — linked together by the pivotal
character of Ben (Sam Waterston), a rabbi who is quickly
losing his sight.
The more serious and striking story is about Ben's eye doctor,
Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau). A successful, happily
married New York ophthalmologist, Judah is trying to end a
torrid affair with a dangerously neurotic young flight attendant
named Dolores (Anjelica Huston). Dolores, an emotional
timebomb made desperate and unstable by pursuing an uncertain
relationship with Judah for two years, threatens to reveal
Judah's potentially ruinous financial improprieties unless he
allows her to confront Judah's wife, Miriam (Claire Bloom).
Feeling increasingly trapped and threatened as Dolores'
emotional state continues to deteriorate, Judah arranges with
his pragmatic black sheep brother, Jack (Jerry Orbach), to
have her killed. Following her murder, Judah, never a religious
man, suddenly finds himself suffocated by memories of his
religious studies as a young man, particularly the idea that
God watches him always. (His crushing guilt is illustrated
brilliantly by one of the film's most fascinating scenes, in
which Judah re-visits a spirited 30-year-old dinner table
debate over the respective merits of religion and tnith.) When
Judah tells Jack that he is contemplating a confession to the
police, will Jack be forced to kill his brother for the same
reason Judah had Dolores killed?
The second story concerns Ben's brother-in-law, Chff Stem
(Allen), a director of philosophical, esoteric, little-seen documentary
films. Ben's brother, a facile, megalomaniacal, thoroughly
detestable millionaire TV producer named Lester
(Alan Alda), takes pity on Cliff's lack of commercial success,
and he gets him a job making a PBS documentary about him.
During the filming, the earnest Cliff finds himself vying with
the smarmy Lester for the romantic interest of Halley Reed
(Mia Farrow), the documentary's ambitious producer.
Cliff and Judah meet only in the movie's final scene, set
four months later at the wedding of Ben's daughter. Both stories
meet tragic conclusions, though not necessarily the kind
of tragic conclusions one would expect.
"Crimes and Misdemeanors" may be Allen's masterpiece. It
contains none of the nartative awkwardness and grating dialogue
that marred his two previous feature efforts ("September"
and "Another Woman") and, in fact — for the first time
in his career as a filmmaker — his ability to dramatize actually
does seem to keep pace with his gifts as a humorist.
More so than perhaps in any other film he has ever made.
Woody Allen here proves himself a consummate storyteller.
"Crimes" is a stunning, artful document that can grip its
audience and send it out looking for answers.
Rated PG-13 for language.—/im Kozak
THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS
Starring Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffcr and Beau Bridges
Produced by Paula Weinstein and Mark Rosenberg Written
and directed by Steve Kloves.
A 20th Century Fox release Dramatic-comedy, rated R Running
time: 113 min. Screening date: 9/7/89.
"The Fabulous Baker Boys" is an unexpectedly moody,
downbeat study of two lounge-singing brothers, their contrasting
lifestyles, and the woman who forces the two of them to
deal with their differences. The premise, to us, sounded like a
comedy, and the advertising campaign accents the lighter side
of the story, but this is in fact a scruffy and at times even
unpleasant movie which leans much closer toward pathos
than humor. While technically beautiful and earnestly acted,
it's hard to envision it pulling in much of an audience.
The Boys in question are Frank (Beau Bridges) and Jack
(Jeff Bridges). Frank is the elder of the two, the driving force
behind the hopelessly tacky piano duo, and Jack is a glum,
chain-smoking hanger-on, a closet jazz musician who endures
the embarrassment of playing hokey lounge standards with
his brother because he seems too lazy to do anything else.
Frank is excessively cordial to his brother but Jack is downright
hostile in return, making for a not-too-attractive couple.
The fortunes of the Baker Boys are waning on the Seattle
club circuit, so the boys decide to add a lady singer to goose up
the act. They hire Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer), a rough
hewn crooner who matches Jack for surliness and bad smoking
habits, and together the trio begins to find success. But
despite Frank's warnings. Jack begins to fall for Susie, and she
in turn urges Jack to leave the saloons behind and to concentrate
on serious jazz. Tom between the love a woman, the love
of his music, and the love of his brother, Jack is forced to
make a choice.
The problem with "The Fabulous Baker Boys" — and it's a
big one — is that these downtrodden characters have almost
nothing redeeming about them. Jeff Bridges looks terrific vvath
his tuxedo, his unkempt hair and his perpetually dangling
cigarette, but his character is so sullen as to be nearly loathsome.
From fade-in to fade-out, he is a gruff, monosyllabic
lump who sulks his way through the whole movie without ever
straying from what is essentially a one-note performance.
Susie is pretty much cut from the same cloth — she is an
ex-hooker who has the predictable cynical view of life — and
together they make for one of the most cheerless romantic
couples in screen history. Beau Bridges, simply by being given
a character who has some vigor and a sense of humor (as bad
as it may be), practically steals the movie. When Frank starts
fading into the background in favor of the romance between
Jack and Susie, it's fatal to the tone of the film.
"The Fabulous Baker Boys" has much to admire: the photography
by Michael Ballhaus is gloriously gritty, the score by
Dave Grusin is as bluesy as three a.m., and writer-director
Review Index
Black Rain
Communion
Cookie
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Dry White Season, A
Fabulous Baker Boys, The
In Country
Johnny Handsome
Little Monsters
Millennium
My Lett Foot
Old Gringo
Relentless
Sea of Love
Shirley Valentine
Welcome Home
R-71
R-75
R-74
R-70
R-73
R-70
R-72
R-73
R-77
R-75
R-76
R-71
R-76
R-72
R-74
.R-75
November, 1989 R-70

Steve Kloves belies his age {mid-twenties) by proving to be an
expert at setting and maintaining a sophisticated mood.
Unfortunately, that mood is so dark that critical kudos will
probably far outweigh ticket sales.
Rated R for language and sexual situations. Tom Matthews
OLD GRINGO
Sianuig jant: Fonda, Gregory Peck and Jimmy Smits.
Produced by Lois BonfigUo Directed by Luis Puenzo Written
by Aida Bortnik and Luis Puenzo
A Columbia Pictures release Drama, rated R Running time:
119 mm Screening date 8/30/89
Arrhing almost a year late, this sweeping but
unsatisfying adaptation of Carlos Fuentes' novel loses
something in the translation. Look for critical support,
but little public interest.
As sweeping epics go, "Old Gringo" has all the right components;
an attractive, multi-generational cast; an explosive historical
setting; and a large, romantic scale. Unfortunately, the
film is a rudderless, poorly-executed disappointment; a sorry
example of promising material undermined by weak writing
and direction. Although the movie will no doubt receive its
share of critical attention, it will most likely not be a commercial
success.
Jane Fonda, whose production company nurtured this project
through years of development, stars as Harriet Winslow, a
spinsterly American schoolteacher in the early 1900s who
decides on an impulse to travel to Mexico to tutor the children
of a wealthy family.
A very unworldly woman, Harriet is alarmed to find that her
sudden wanderlust has thrown her squarely into the middle of
the Mexican Revolution. The family which was supposed to
employ her has been driven from its lush hacienda, and the
mansion has been taken over by Pancho Villa's troops. Unable
to return home, Harriet finds herself drawn toward the struggles
of the villagers who fight diligently for justice, and especially
toward Tomas Arroyo (Jimmy Smits), one of Villa's
generals. The virgin schoolteacher falls for the brash, selfassured
soldier, despite the fact that he is slowly being driven
mad with power.
Meanwhile, 71-year-old expatriate journalist Ambrose
Bierce (Gregory Peck) has also arrived on the scene. A cynical,
world-weary American, Bierce is roaming throughout
Mexico, drinking with abandon, mocking the machismo of
Arroyo and his men, and searching for a robust way in which
to die.
A complex relationship soon develops between these three
main characters. Harriet begins to see Bierce as a substitute
for the father who abandoned her as a child, while Bierce sees
Arroyo as a younger version of himself all fire and righteous
intentions. Both men have romantic yearnings for Harriet,
while at the same time they develop a tense respect for each
other. It is a passionate, trouble-plagued triangle which ultimately
ends in death.
Fonda, wearing little makeup and flaunting her lean, workout-perfected
body, is beautiful and suitably demure as the
increasingly independent spinster. Smits, while saddled with a
role which inherently calls to mind caricatures of fiery Latin
lovers, is a lusty, forceful screen presence. And Peck, revelling
in the wry good nature of his character, simply steals the
movie. Two scenes in particular — one in which Bierce playfully
attempts to arrange a swap with a prostitute, the other in
which he explains to Harriet how, as a young man, he had
made a woman sigh — are as lilting and full of life as anything
we've seen all year.
But there is a strange fog hanging over this movie; one clearly
hears the words spoken by the characters, and yet it's a
struggle to understand what they're saying and what they're
motivations are. We can only assume that Carlos Fuentes'
novel, "Gringo Vicjo," on which the film is based, is an
involved, intricately crafted piece of work that simply
couldn't be carved down to movie-size by director Luis Puenzo
and co-writer Aida Bortnik They have extracted powerful
moments from the book, but they have left out the linking
material which would make the story whole. As a result, "Old
—
Tom Mat-
Gringo" is a beautiful but unsatisfying film.
Rated R for violence and sexual situations.
thews
BLACK RAIN
—
Starring Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Ken Takakura, Yusaku
Matsuda, and Kate Capshaw
Produced by Stanley R Jaffe and Sherry Lansing Directed by
Ridley Scott Written by Craig Bolotin and Warren Lewis
A Paramount Release Thriller, rated R. Running Time: 126
min Screening date: 9/12/89
A weary American cop — and a weary American cop
story — are sent to Japan and done up right.
Technically brilliant, this actioner grossed a strong $9.7
million its opening weekend.
Ridley Scott is just about the likeliest director on the planet
to knock your eyeballs out of your skull, and in "Black Rain"
he returns to the magnificent visual form which marked his
first three films — "The Duelists," "Alien," and "Blade Runner".
Scott seems almost incapable of shooting a dull or
motionless frame. His compositions are packed with images of
flames, strobes, neon, smoke, electric fans, particles of dust
dancing in shafts of light, and, of course, action. Scott's effort
to render every shot dense and artful makes of the otherwise
relatively workaday "Black Rain" a must-see film.
The screenplay by Craig Bolotin and Warten Lewis has
cynical, anti-authoritarian New York detective Nick Conklin
(Michael Douglas) and his career-and-image oriented partner
Charlie Vincent (the extremely enjoyable Andy Garcia)
escort Yakuza murderer Sato (Yusaku Matsuda in a terrifying
portrayal) back to Japan, where they promptly lose him.
Teaming with an officious Osaka police inspector (Ken Takakura),
the Americans attempt to circumvent normal Japanese
police procedures in an effort to recapture their suspect, only
to discover that he is elemental in a gang war being waged
over the ownership of counterfeiting plates.
As it is written, "Black Rain" has too many elements of silly
buddy movies in it — Takakura teaches Douglas to use chopsticks,
Douglas teaches Takakura to curse, Garcia gets Takakura
to let down his crewcut and sing in a nightclub. Fortunately
for all involved, Scott doesn't seem to care much about
his story. He concerns himself with locations, lighting, sound
effects, music, editing, and, of course, his luscious mise en
scene. It may be a cheat to use the story' of one's film so
opportunistically as an excuse to make gorgeous and compelling
cinema, but Scott is so good at what he does that one
quickly learns to ignore the slimmer bits of plot and dialogue
and absorb one's self in the visual and aural goings-on.
Scott isn't as virtuosic a mover of the camera as, say, Scorsese
or Coppolla, his chief rivals for the title of Best Eye in the
Business, Stateside Division. He confines his motion to tilts
and pans, occasionally trucking along with a chase scene. His
strength instead lies in the setting of action in a visually exciting
environment — an Osaka neon distru.i, a l)i/.ain'l\ landscaped
farm, a steel mill. ("Black Rain" features the best
meat-packing plant scene since "Rocky") In a few of the
film's best sequences, most vividly in a motorcycle chase and
murder in an Osaka subway station, Scott combines his visual
punch with violence and exaggerated natural sound effects to
produce tachycardia in his gasping audience. These moments
R-7I
BOXOKUCF.

alone override any flaws in the script.
"Black Rain" is far from perfect — much of the dialogue is
cliched, the ending leaves the question of Douglas' possible
corruption unresolved, and Kate Capshaw, as an American
working in Japan as a bar hostess, floats in and out for little
reason at all — but if you believe that film is a medium of
image, sound, and motion and not just the recording of books
onto celluloid, it is one of the major releases of the year.
Rated R for violence and language.—Shawn Levy
SEA OF LOVE
Starring Al Pacino, Ellen Barkm, John Goodman, and William
Hickey.
Produced by Martin Bregman and Louis A Stroller. Directed
by Harold Becker Written by Richard Price
A Universal release. T%riller, rated R Running Time: 1 13 min.
Screening date: 9/7/89
In his first scene in "Sea of Love," Al Pacino looks just right
of the camera at two sleazeballs who are about to be arrested
by his character, Manhattan homicide detective Frank Keller.
"You don't recognize me?" he asks, and the film's audience,
which hasn't seen the actor in almost five years, laughs. It is
good to see Pacino after the hiatus from film acting he took
following "Revolution". Pacino plays the alcoholic, slightly
seedy Keller with such energy and humor that one comes to
regret that his love for the theatre so distracts him from making
more films.
Al Pacino returns after a long hiatus, and audiences
were apparently glad to see him. This flawed erotic
thriller set a new fall record by grossing $10 million its
opening weekend.
"Sea of Love" is on the whole less satisfying than Pacino's
performance. The film follows Keller as he stalks a serial
killer who finds victims in the personals column of a New
York newspaper. One of the prime suspects is an alluring
blonde named Helen (Ellen Barkin), for whom Keller begins
passionately to fall. Despite warnings from his partner Sherman
(John Goodman of TV's "Roseanne"), Keller is drawn
more and more to Helen, and perhaps to his own death.
The film has more than just a little going for it. It's directed
by Harold Becker, whose "The Onion Field" was so tough and
taut it was scary. Becker is in more of a sexy, splashy, film noir
mood here, and his compositions are often gorgeously framed
and lit The film has a temfically textured sound to it as well,
making evocative use of the steamy title song in its original
version by The Twilights. And there are wonderful supporting
bits all over, starting with Goodman, who is likeable in everything
he does.
What bogs "Sea of Love" down is, unfortunately, its script.
Novelist Richard Price, who wrote "The Color of Money" for
Martin Scorsese, has draped remarkable dialogue on a pretty
frail frame of a plot. His one crucial error is to let the series of
murders cease as soon as Keller's relationship with Helen
begins. As a result, the increasing tension which would've
resulted from Pacino's thinking he was sleeping with a woman
on a murder spree is lost. Lost also is the erotic charisma that
Barkin displayed in "The Big Easy." Whereas in that film she
was both love interest and key player in the suspenseful
goings-on, here she is merely the object of Pacino's suspicions
and lust. (Despite the hoopla, the sex in "Sea of Love" doesn't
work, maybe because of the obvious age difference between
the leads.) Finally, Price flubs the climax, giving us a cheap
surprise on the one hand and a silly reconciliation on the
other. It's a shame, too, because his dialogue plays so wittily
and true.
"Sea of Love" has much to offer, but it is not the hair-raiser
that, say, Richard Tuggle's "Tightrope" was. The film promises
danger and sex, but the screenwriter apparently hoped
the cast and crew would provide what he couldn't. They
almost did.
Rated R for violence, nudity, and language.— Shawn Levy
IN COUNTRY
Starring Bruce Willis, Emily Lloyd, John Terry and Joan All-
Produced by Norman Jewison and Richard Roth Directed by
Norman Jewison. Written by Frank Pierson and Cynthia Cidre
A Warner Bros release Drama, rated R Running time: 120
min Screening date 9/8/89
This weepy tribute to the Vietnam vet pushes all the
right buttons, but in a rather unambitious way. Two
weekends on four screens saw a promising
per-screen-average of $8,029.
Vietnam vets are rightfully upset about the number of
recent movies which paint them as immoral madmen, but we
wonder if they're going to be that much happier with the
stateside, post-war dramas "In Country" and "Welcome
Home." These treacly, heavy-handed soap operas want desperately
to treat their subjects with a compassionate hand, but
they are so predictable and so full of tired bromides that the
vet becomes just another cinematic caricature By making the
ex-infantryman an inarticulate subject of pity, they do just as
much a disservice as violent, black-toned battlefield dramas
like "Casualties of War" and "Platoon."
Directed by Norman Jewison ("Moonstruck"), "In Country"
is set in the present day and it confronts the residue of Vietnam
as it effects two different characters; Samantha (Emily
Lloyd), a recent high school graduate whose father was killed
in the war, and Emmett (Bruce Willis), Samantha's uncle, a
vet who still carries deep emotional scars.
After 18 years of disinterest, Samantha has suddenly developed
an oljsession with the war and the father she never
knew. A perky, indomitable young lady, Samantha begins pestering
Emmett and the other Vietnam vets in their small
Arkansas town for information about life and death on the
battlefield, which makes all of the men reluctantly dredge up
painful memories. All of them — particularly Emmett — have
become sad, forever brooding men who show a marked difficulty
in relating to women. Although they initially resent
Samantha's prying, they ultimately are able to put to rest at
least some of their ghosts.
There is a vagueness about "In Country" which is simply
maddening. Composed primarily of short, choppy scenes
which rarely seem to connect, this film spends two hours
circling around its central topics without ever truly addressing
them. Virtually every scene features Samantha cheerfully
quizzing one of the vets, with the vets haltingly, and unsatisfyingly,
trying to put into words what is going on in their heads.
But what comes out are nothing but hoary cliches: "We never
got a parade." "It was a war we couldn't win; it was a war they
wouldn't let us win!" "Most people around here don't care.
They act like the war never happened." Nothing profound is
revealed, no new insights are imparted.
In one of the biggest cheats of all time, the finale of "In
Country" suddenly wrenches the main characters away from
their Arkansas home and to the Veteran's Memorial in Washington.
Instead of the filmmakers dramatizing a conclusion to
this wishy-washy story, they simply give us heart-tugging
images and an overwrought musical score. It is an emotional
sequence, and tears will flow freely in the audience, but it has
nothing to do with the talents of Jewison and his screenwriters.
The deeply-felt sentiment inspired by the memorial is a
given, and it is inexcusably lazy of Jewison and company to
exploit it
in lieu of a real ending.
"In Country" wfll have built-in critical support; a certain
November, 1989 R-72

number ot reviewers will be predisposed to praise it simply for
its intentions, not for its content. But unless movie-goers are
suffering from deep Vietnam guilt and feel obligated to show
their compassion by supporting this movie, it will fade fast.
And then we'll have to wait and see if Oliver Stone's upcoming
"Bom on the Fourth of July" can bring quality to what has so
far been a disappointing trend.
Rated R for language and violence. Tom Matthews
A DRY WHITE SEASON
Starring Donald Siithfyland, Zakf.s Mokae, Winston Ntshona,
Janet Suzman, Susan Sarandon and Marlon Brando
Produced by Paula Weiristein Directed by Euzhan Palcy Written
by Euzhan Palcy and Colin Welland.
An MGM/UA release Drama, rated R Running time: 97 min.
Screening date: 9/13/89
Emotionally overwhelming, this anti-apartheid drama
lured Brando out of retirement, and it should lure
serious moviegoers to theatres. Its opening weekend on
17 screens earned $11,912 per screen.
—
—
elling Gordon's death. In the end, his wife leaves him, and he
s betrayed by his own daughter.
"A Dry White Season" is occasionally repulsive in its graphc
depiction of the institutionalized violence and racism of
South Africa's Afrikaan minority. ..but therein lies its power. It
mpossible to remain unaffected by scenes of Gordon's torture,
by the dreadful poverty of Soweto, or even by the
resounding thunk of a white policeman's nightstick against a
black teenager's back. And one cannot help but notice that, in
South Africa, the devil has blue eyes.
The storyline — about the systematic murder of dissenters
and their families — is what gives the film its importance. And
while the film is technically competent, "A Dry White Season"
is somewhat uneven artistically; the direction, the editing,
and much of the acting is pretty middle-of-the-road. Perhaps
the general dullness of the acting is the result of comparisons
with Marlon Brando's brief, brilliantly realized performance
as McKenzie, an anti-apartheid attorney hired by Ben in
a futile attempt to prove that Gordon's death was the result of
police violence. Brando is riveting. Superb. A daredevil. Possessed
of that same quality of over-the-top, utter theatricality
that marked Lawrence Olivier and to a lesser extent, Richard
Burton. You never forget he's acting — you're too enthralled
by it.
Zakes Mokae and Winston Ntshona are also excellent. But
aside from these performances, one has to realize that the
strength of "A Dry White Season" is one of content, not of
form.
Rated R for violence. Lesa Sawahata
JOHNNY HANDSOME
Starring Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovem,
Forest Whitaker, Lance Henriksen and Morgan Freeman
Produced by Charles Raven. Directed by Walter Hill Written
by Ken Friedman
A Tri-Star release. Drama, rated R Running time: 95 mm
Screening date: 9/14/89
"Johnny Handsome" is director Walter Hill's most entertaining
film since "48 Hours" launched Eddie Murphy's movie
career more than seven years ago. It is a taut, striking drama
that forges ahead almost solely on plot and the talents of its
enviable ensemble cast. The supporting characters are as
"A Dry White Season" is a near-brilliant piece of work; a
fascinating, frightening, powerful film about apartheid. Set in
South Africa in 1976, it concerns the disintegration of two
families, one white and one black, in the repressive atmosphere
of Johannesburg and its black townships.
Ben (Donald Sutherland) is a white teacher in an exclusive
prep school. His family is the picture of prosperity, privilege,
and political numbness; they're guilty of the overriding arrogance
and sheer paranoia inherent in any ruling minority.
When the son of their family gardener, Gordon (Winston
Ntshona), is beaten by the police, Ben counsels Gordon not to
make any waves. But when the boy disappears during a peaceful
demonstration that turns bloody, Gordon begins questioning
the police, and is himself tortured to death by a brutal
policeman, Captain Stoltz (Jurgen Prochnow).
Ben, shocked out of apathy, decides to begin his own unofficial
investigation of police brutality with the help of Stanley
(Zakes Mokae), a savvy black taxi driver, and Melanie (Susan
Sarandon), a reporter. But the fibre of his own family life
begins to disintegrate as Ben becomes more involved in unrav-
familiar as water, the film features almost zero comic relief,
and the final 30 minutes are astonishingly ill-conceived — yet
Hill and screenwriter Ken Friedman ("Heart Like a Wheel")
have assembled a vehicle that zips along like a well-tuned
motorcycle in light traffic.
When we first meet John Sedley (Mickey Rourke), he is a
physical monstrosity, his congenitally deformed face (the
product, it is suggested, of his prostitute mother's drug habit) a
grotesque amalgam of furry-faced Vincent from TV's "Beauty
and the Beast" and Donald Pleasence's Blofeld from "You
Only Live Twice." Sedley has been forced to live his life in the
shadows of society, a petty criminal whose future promises
only bleak survival.
Betrayed by a pair of his evil co-conspirators (Ellen Barkin
and Lance Henriksen) during a brtUal heist, Sedley is incarcerated
and almost stabbed to death by inmates. While recuperating,
he meets Dr. Resher (Forest Whitaker), who convinces
him to undergo a new type of plastic surgery.
Not only does the procedure make Sedley look "normal," it
makes him look like, well, Mickey Rourke When Sedley gets
paroled, it is with a new name, a new identity, and even
(through months of therapy) a new voice. He gets a job and
enjoys a passionate affair with a pretty bookkeeper (Elizabeth
R-73 BOXOFRCE

McGovem), and for a moment it appears that his tormented
soul will finally find love and acceptance. But this is a tragedy,
and Sedley cannot let go of his old life. In the end, he uses his
new identity to seek revenge against the thieves who murdered
his only friend from the old days.
The tragedy is also the film's producer's, as Sedley's ultimate
inability to escape his worthless past is an unqualified
tum-oflF certain to hold audiences at arm's length. It's a
shame, for this final, ruinous miscalculation will make it far
too easy for moviegoers to stay away from what is otherwise
an involving piece of storytelling.
Rated R for everything.—/im Kozak
—
COOKIE
Starring Peter Falk, Diane Wiest and Emily Lloyd.
Produced by Laurence Mark. Directed by Susan Seidelman
Written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen.
A Warner Bros release Comedy, rated R Running time 93
min Screenmg date: 8/21/89
Despite some fresh ingredients, most audiences found
this mob comedy to be pretty stale. After a month in
release, the Blm was only able to gross an untasty $1.6
million.
SHIRLEY VALENTINE
Starring Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, Alison Steadman and Bernard
Hill
Produced and directed by Lewis Gilbert. Written by Willy Russell.
A Paramount Pictures release. Comedy, rated R. Running time:
108 min Screening date: 8/14/89
A faint feeling of foreboding permeates one's senses as the
titles of "Shirley Valentine" begin. Maybe it's the syrupy
strains of Marvin Hamlisch's theme song, "The Girl Who Used
To Be Me"; maybe it's the dreadful pastel drawings that serve
as opening visuals. In any case, there's the sense that you've
seen — and disliked — this film before.
The Shirley Valentine of the title (Pauline Collins) is a fortysomething
Liverpudlian housewife who is just beginning to
fully appreciate the emptiness of a life spent giving attention
to everyone but herself — including her convention-bound
dud of a husband, Joe (Bernard HillJ, and her two grown children.
Shirley's restless, frustrated and afraid to make a
change, at least until she's invited to spend a fortnight in
Greece with her divorced girlfriend, Jane (Alison Steadman).
On Mykonos, Shirley's joie de vivre is reawakened by sun,
sand, and a fling with a charming Greek tavern owner named
Susan ("Desperately Seeking Susan") Seidelman's fourth
feature, "Cookie," is chock-full of delicious, sweet morsels
and plenty of nuts. The nuts come in the form of a splendid
cast of characters. The leavening that holds the "Cookie"
together, in itself, is pretty dull, but it goes down easily and
contains something good to bite into at frequent intervals.
The script by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen is funny indeed,
but they seem to have stolen the recipe. The story, at heart, is
just another in what now threatens to be a glut of movies
about angry teenaged girls. Had it been made by the same
filmmakers, you might think that "Cookie" is the second in a
trilogy that began with "Married to the Mob." The look and the
humor is identical: Mafia jokes, tacky interior decor, overdressed
housewives and lots of boisterous language,
Emily Lloyd is Cookie, a kind of clean-cut New York City
punk who is forced to deal with her dad, Dino (Peter Falk),
after she gets busted for jumping a subway turnstile. She
hasn't laid eyes on him since he was sent to the slammer 13
years earlier, and now Dino is living a double life. His first wife
(Brenda Vaccaro) is a loud-mouthed bitch who won't divorce
him, while Cookie is the illegitimate offspring of his second
wife, Lenore (Diane Wiest), a middle-aged, satin and lace bubble-head
who manipulates everyone with her free-flowing
Costas (Tom Conti) who adores her stretchmarks. Shirley, to
her own and everyone else's amazement, decides to stay in
Greece, waitressing in Costas' restaurant, rather than returning
to the stifling boredom of her life in England. Or does she?
In a purposefully unresolved ending, Joe turns up on Mykonos,
ostensibly to ask Shirley to return home.
What's wrong with this picture? The story of "Shirley Valentine"
is hackneyed and hopelessly out of date, a throwback
to the femlib genre of the mid-70's that fostered so many films
about women "finding themselves." The writing, meant to be
meaningful, is merely glib, rife with cliches and silliness (as
when a lonely, kitchen-bound Shirley talks to the wall).
Collins is the sole shining part of the film; she obviously
believes in her character, illuminating even the most dimlywritten
lines with humor and life (but then, "Shirley Valentine"
was originally a play — specifically a monologue —
which won Collins a Tony). Unfortunately, the translation of a
one-woman stage production into a film is not a graceful one;
even the sparkling Tom Conti seems ill-used as Costas.
If you must see "Shirley Valentine," forget the popcorn —
run for the insulin! It is pretty sappy stuff.
Rated R for language and nudity. Lesa Sawahata
Dino's mob connections stop Cookie's arrest from jeopardizing
his long-awaited parole, but the Feds are on his tail, certain
that they have reason to put him back behind bars. Of course,
they're right: Dino is now fighting to regain his turf from his
former partner (Michael V, Grazzo). When her father's life is
put on the line. Cookie's animosity toward him melts, and she
schemes to enroll him in the Federal Witness program. A
pretty smart Cookie, she'll do the squawking to get Dino a new
identity so he can live happily ever after with is adoring second
wife, while at the same time getting out of Cookie's life,
British actress Emily Lloyd, who had gained critical recognition
for her starring role in "Wish You Were Here," trades in
her native British accent for Brooklynese, She's foul-mouthed
and sassy, but she doesn't measure up to her supporting cast.
Even so, this is one of the most enjoyable ensembles to come
along in a long time, Peter Falk and Diane Wiest are a hilarious
couple; veteran character actor Lionel Stander out-godfathers
Marlon Brando; Adrian Pasdar is a riot as the don's slimy son;
November, 1989 R-74

and Jerry Lewis puts in a tiny cameo appearance as an Atlantic
City real estate developer.
The sets are as colorful as the characters; Seidelman has
always been great with New York locations, but the ones she
has picked for this gangster farce add an absurd sense of
realism.
The jokes do, however, become redundant, and the running
time seems longer than it is. Girls way too young to buy a
ticket without a parent or guardian are the ones with the best
appetite for this "Cookie." That's the way it crumbles.
Rated R for profanity and a glamorization of crime.—Karen
Kreps
WELCOME HOME
Starring Kns Knstofferson, JoBeth Williams, Sam Waterston
and Brian Keith
Produced by Martin Ransohoff Directed by Franklin /
Schaffner Written by Maggie Kleinman
A Columbia Pictures release Drama, rated R Running time: 96
mm Screening date: 8/23/89
Well-intentioned but dismally mawkish, "Welcome Home"
is an embarrassing and practically unwatchable soap opera
about a Vietnam soldier returning home 17 years after he was
thought to have died. The movie's premise poses some fascinating
questions, but they are all mishandled in this forgettable
drama
Far from being dead, Jake (Kris Kristofferson ) has spent the
past 17 years in Cambodia, living happily with his native wife
and two children. Although he had had a pregnant wife back
in the States when he was shot down over enemy territory,
Jake had long ago resolved to stay with his new family, knowing
that they would never be able to survive in the jungle
without him. He had not known his American wife very long
before he was sent overseas, and apparently his attachment to
her was not strong.
Back home, Jake's wife, Sarah (JoBeth Williams), and son
(Thomas Wilson Brown) have long accepted Jake's "death,"
and Sarah has remarried a decent man named Woody (Sam
Waterston). But while ill and unconscious in Cambodia, Jake
is discovered and shipped home to America. As he agonizes
over the fate of his "real" family back in the jungle, Jake is
suddenly forced to confront his wife and the son he never
knew.
The subtext of "Welcome Home" is its most interesting
feature, and maybe someday someone will write a movie
which explores it more fully. If an American soldier did come
walking out of the Vietnam jungles nearly two decades after
he was lost, the American military would be turned upsidedown
as every MIA family would suddenly be faced with the
agonizing possibility that they're father, son or brother could
also still be alive. In "Welcome Home," a self-serving military
officer (Trey Wilson) solves the problem by coercing Jake into
not going public in exchange for protection for his Cambodian
family, but it's an element of the film which is quickly dismissed
in favor of the obvious emotional tugs of the story
From a gooey score by Henry Mancini, to an all-too-literal
"theme song" sung by Willie Nelson, to the turgid, unimaginative
direction of the late Franklin J. Schaffner ("Patton," "Planet
of the Apes"), it's all pretty awful. We could certainly use
some Vietnam-themed movies that offer more than the jungle-based
violence and immorality of "Casualties of War," but
this isn't it.
Rated R for language and sexual situations. — Tom Matthews
MILLENNIUM
Starring Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Daniel J Travanti,
Robert Joy, and Brent Carver
Produced by Douglas Leiterman Written by John Varley
Directed by Michael Anderson
A 20th Century Fox Release Science fiction, rated PG-13 Running
Time: 108 min. Screening Date: 8/25/89
Because of a plot device too complexly silly to recount,
"Millennium" commits a sin so unforgivable that it deserves
special attention, if only as a warning to potential sci-fi filmmakers.
"Millennium" is about time travel, and screenwriter
John Varley actually called for several scenes of the film to be
played twice in order to solve some vastly important intergalactic/intemillenial
paradox. Now, if these were chase scenes
or crash scenes or funny monologues or anything but what
they actually are, two viewings wouldn't be so awful. But what
they actually are are scenes of encounter, romantic dinner,
first kiss, and post-coital smoking between Kris Kristofferson
and Cheryl Ladd. Twice.
The actors who play our century-hopping lovers should provide
a clue as to what sort of film "Millennium" is: cheap,
quick and just a bit dumb. It all starts when Bill Smith (Kristofferson)
investigates a plane crash that turns out to be more
than your normal 2-full- planes-colliding-in-midair variety
tragedy. In his diggings around he meets Dr. Frank Mayer
(Daniel J. Travanti), a made-for-tv version of late Nobel-Prizewinning
physicist Richard Feyneman, he of the elfin grins and
the playful manner. Smith also bumps — twice — into Lousie
Baltimore (Ladd) a mysterious flight attendant who for some
reason wants the investigation to halt.
Baltimore's desire to foil Smith has its explanation 1000
years from now in the grim future from whence she hails.
There, a bunch of rejects from a Mad Max film who populate a
cheesy set spend their time rescuing people from imminent
plane crashes and replacing them with exact lookalike
corpses. The spared crash victims are then used to repopulate
the barren and decaying future world. Don't worry about the
moral implications of kidnapping and forced selective breeding
— the ethics of this silly story never crossed the mind of
anyone who was filming it.
"Millennium" is framed nicely enough by director Michael
Varley, though it often looks bad thanks to cinematographer
Rene Ohashi and some possibly dirty lenses. Ladd does what
she does, Travanti is pompous and bland, and Kristofferson
squints even in the darkest of shadows. The humor isn't funny,
the action isn't exciting, and the only good sequences —
the methodological exposition of the workings of an airplane
crash investigation — are abandoned as soon as the plot kicks
in. The biggest problem here is that "Millennium" is a movie
about time travel, and a movie about time travel should not
make its viewers feel like it's lasting forever.
Rated PG-13 for some violence, partial nudity.— Shawn
Levy
COMMUNION
Starring Christopher Walken, Lindsay Crouse and Frances
Stemhagen
Produced and directed by Philippe Mora Written by Wlntley
Strieber.
A New Line Cinema release. Science fiction, rated R Running
time: 109 min. Screening date: 8/10/89.
The great notoriety of Whitley Strieber's best-selling book
about his abduction by alien creatures guarantees a ready
audience for this filmed adaptation. The book generated vivid
reports from thousands of people relating encounters similar
(^
^
to the ones depicted in the story, and the movie should do the
same — and then some.
Making his debut as a screenwriter, Strieber recreates an
experience he claims is autobiographical. A successful novelist
with a gorgeous New York apartment, a gorgeous cabin in
the country and a gorgeous wife and kid, he is undergoing a
crisis of creativity
/'~
as the story opens. During what was to be a
quiet weekend in the country with friends, weird nocturnal ^
disturbances — like brilliant lights streaming through windows
— so distress the Strieber's guests that they demand to
leave. By Halloween, Whitley is so shaken by recurring
dreams about aliens that his marriage to Ann (Lindsay
Crouse) is threatened.
R-75 BOXOFFICE

—
—
On Christmas day, Whitley remembers that aliens had performed
a physical exam on him, and had inserted a needle
through his head. Even when Ann discovers a needle mark
behind her husband's ear, both of them dismiss the experiences
as hysterical hallucinations. Their seven-year-old son
(Joel Carson) also describes seeing the aliens, but they dismiss
it as childish nightmares. Only when Whitley's paranoia
reaches the point where he nearly fires a shotgun at Ann does
he agree to seek medical help.
Hypnosis reveals the alien visitors to be of two species —
neither of which should win any design awards. Some look like
Snow White's dwarfs after being dunked in a vat of blue paint,
while the others, with their large black eyes, seem like a cross
between E.T. and Gumby. Whitley's psychiatrist (played by
the magnificent actress Frances Stemhagen) thinks that his
experiences are based on reality, and she sends him to a support
group for people who claim to have also had encounters
with aliens.
Philippe Mora ("Death of a Soldier") has directed a really
scary movie — the kind that gives one nightmares. Like oldfashioned
horror movies, what's scary is not so much what is
seen, rather that which is unseen. It's a sense of foreboding, a
menace that hangs over an otherwise ordinary domestic situation
that is so effective. We don't even get a clear look at the
aliens until Whitley remembers them under hypnosis.
The tone of "Communion" is heavy and drawn out; one
leaves the theatre feeling numbed by it all. Most of the screenplay
is rich with action and intriguing visuals, although the
designer does go overboard, filling the sets with artwork that
closely resembles the ahens with their piercing eyes. And
Strieber can't resist the temptation to pontificate about the
meaning of the visitations in an extremely wordy scene
between Whitley and Ann that is set against a Warhol exhibit
in the Museum of Modem Art.
Even if you don't buy the story about extraterrestrials, the
film holds its own as an interesting exploration of what happens
to a marriage that's disturbed by psychological imbalance.
Christopher Walken, with his bony face and protruding
eyes that look not unlike some of the aliens', and the modellike
Lindsay Crouse are effective in their roles. The highly
credible way that they respond to the unbelievable pressures
of the story is the backbone of the movie.
Rated R for profanity and male nudity. Karen Kreps
MY LEFT FOOT
Starring Daniel Day Lewis, Brenda Fucker, Hugh O'Connor
and Ruth McCabe.
Produced by Noel Pearson Directed by Jim Sheridan. Written
by Jim Sheridan and Shane Connaughton.
A Miramax Films release. Drama, not rated. Running time: 103
min Screenmg date: 8/1/89
"My Left Foot" is a virtual remake of the fairly recent and
highly acclaimed "Gaby." Both movies deal with real-life victims
of birth defects so severe that they could move and communicate
only through one foot. But in this new movie, the
physically challenged victim is male rather than female, and
he is financially disadvantaged rather than privileged. This
latter variation is what makes "My Left Foot" noteworthy.
The story is a true one, based on the life of the late Christy
Brown, severely crippled from birth by cerebral palsy. Though
it was expected that he would develop into little more than a
vegetable, fierce determination led the working-class Irishman
to become a distinguished writer and painter.
As portrayed in the first part of the film by 13-year-old
Hugh O'Connor, Christy is cut off from the world, unable to
communicate his high intelligence. His many siblings shower
him with affection and consideration, but their inarticulate,
occasionally violent father (touchingly played by Ray McAnally)
can't see that his boy is bright and sensitive. Undaunted,
the crippled child shows remarkable understanding
of the schoolwork being studied by his siblings. He leams to
write and draw with his left foot, and he even manages to
propel himself around the house and summon help when his
mother is in need of emergency medical care.
In the second half of the movie, the hero is portrayed by
Daniel Day Lewis ("The Unbearable Lightness of Being").
Despite his extreme abnormality, Christy goes through traditional
rights of passage: He gets his first kiss during a game of
Spin the Bottle, and he proves himself on the athletic field
when his pals lie him down on a soccer field so he can hit the
ball in one tremendous kick.
After a lifetime without any medical attention — not even a
proper wheelchair — a good doctor finally comes to his rescue.
Although she is a whiz at teaching him language skills,
the strikingly beautiful doctor is inept at handling her
patient's emotional transference; all she can do is exude keen
embartassment when her charge goes out of control. The only
times when Christy's disability is actually painful to watch are
the scenes between him and his doctor. It isn't until years
later that Christy will be assigned a practical nurse who will
eventually become his wife.
Despite the difficulty of portraying someone with a taut,
twisted body and labored speech, the two actors playing Christy
do so in a fashion that is nearly seamless. Christy's condition
is pitiful and ugly to watch, but both actors make the
character complicated and compelling. Lewis meets an even
greater challenge, for the older Christy is still capable of wit
and love, but he has become angry and embittered about his
ignobling disability.
Putting aside the time-worn tale of what it is like to be
severely handicapped, the first-rate ensemble presents a
memorable picture of family life among the working-class
Irish in the middle of this century. It is a world apart, picturesque
and idiomatic. Director Jim Sheridan has a gift for evoking
atmosphere that is both realistic and romanticized; "My Left
Foot" presents Dublin through Irish eyes. The film was a critical
and boxoffice blockbuster in Ireland, and it may do very
well in crossing the Atlantic because it so vividly captures the
dauntless spirit of the Irish people.
The film is unrated. Aside from an illegitmate pregnancy, it
is appropriate for family viewing. Karen Kreps
RELENTLESS
Starring Judd Nelson, Robert Loggia and Leo Rossi.
Produced by Howard Smith. Directed by William Lustig
Written
by Jack T D Robinson
A New Line Cinema release. Suspense, rated R Running time:
92 min Screening date: 8/21/89
Based on a very early effort by "Field of Dreams" writerdirector
Phil Alden Robinson, "Relentless" is a flat and only
occasionally chilling cop drama about a serial killer loose in
Los Angeles. Robinson thinks so little of the film that he has
given screenwriting credit to his dog, which we hope won't
prevent the dog from getting future work.
Looking like a gloomy boy from a silent, impressionistic
German film, Judd Nelson plays Buck, a loner who never quite
got over not being accepted onto the police force. His father
was a brtital, hard-driving cop himself, and he had always
dis-
insisted that Buck follow in his footsteps. When Buck is
qualified for psychological reasons, he goes on a crime spree
in an attempt to prove how inept the Los Angeles Police
Department is without him.
Following some poorly explained gimmick by which Buck
chooses names of his victims from a phone book, the softspoken
young man proceeds to kill repeatedly and leave
taunting notes behind for his pursuers. Bill Malloy (Robert
Loggia), who is counting the days until retirement, is a gruff
detective who is always more interested in speculating on the
cost of the murder victims' homes than he is in the case (a
funny running joke, probably one of the few Robinson touches
to make it to the screen). Meanwhile, Malloy's partner, Sam
Dietz (Leo Rossi), is an eager-beaver cop who has recently
been transfened from New York to LA. and who is exasperated
by his partner's lack of drive He is also not too crazy
November, 1989 R-76

'
?*^
sized clothes and spend their time indulging in Ztonv Prof"
about Los Angeles, which provides for some ve^^' tired "Iatten^nf,
f8\ ("^"acaniole for breakfast aga.nn The
In an due time Buck is caught, with nothing very interesting
Rated R for language and violence.-Tom Matthews
"
LITTLE MONSTERS
Stamni; Fred Savage, Hui
half-a-milhon dollars before dying
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garet and
Whittun
Ma}
Produced by Jeffrey Mueller, Andrew Licht, and John A Davis
r.rn'e"roSr'sc'r:^2U'aT:7}^^^'''' -''''' ^-'"'"^
the light of day when Vestron stumbled, but
Artists p.cked
United
it up. To their dismay, it barely ^ made
REVIEW DIGEST
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SNEAK PREVIEWS
The following films are tentatively scheduled
for release during the months of January and
February The distributors, however, cannot
stress strongly enough that these dates and
titles are subject to change.
wee") and joe Pantoliano ("Midnight
Run")
also star. The film is written by Nat Mauldin
(reportedly the screenwriter of the "Roger
Rabbit" sequel) and directed by Richard Benjamin
("Little Nikita," "The Money Pit"). A
20th Century Fox release
VITAL SIGNS
Medical school is visited once again in this
romantic drama about the crises and passions
experienced by doctors-in-training The attractive
ensemble cast includes limmy Smits
("Old Gringo"), Laura San Ciacomo ("sex, lies
and videotape"), Diane Lane, Adrian Pasdar,
Norma Aleandro ("Cousins") and William Devane.
Marisa Silver, director of the teen suicide
drama "Permanent Record," directs. A
20th Century Fox release.
HOUSE PARTY
Three happening teenagers named Chill,
Groove and Bilal find themselves with a
house all to themselves when their parents go
away for the weekend, so it only follows that
they would throw a roof-shaking house party.
This musical-comedy, which features an
all-black cast and the rap sounds of Kid 'N
Play and Full Force, is wntten and directed by
Reggie Hudlin, part of Spike Lee's filmmaking
camp. A New Line release (1/12)
MEN DONT LEAVE
Jessica Lange stars in this dramatic-comedy
about a woman who fights to get back on her
feet after
the unexpected death of her husband.
The film is directed by Paul Brickman,
the long-missing maker of "Risky Business,"
and it is written by Barbara Benedek, who
wrote "Immediate Family" as well as co-writing
"The Big Chill." A Warner Bros
release
HEART CONDITION
Postponed from last fall, this is the racial
comedy about a bigoted white cop who
inherits the heart - and the ghost - of a
dead black lawyer. With the lawyer's ghost
hounding him, the cop is then driven to solve
the black man's murder. Bob Hoskins and
Denzel Washington star, along with Chloe
Webb ("Sid and Nancy," "Twins") as the
hooker who is involved with both men. The
film is produced by Steve Tisch ("Risky Business,"
"Big Business"), and is written and
directed by lames Parriott. A New Line
release. (2/9)
DOWNTOWN
Producer Gale Ann Hurd, who is
resolved
to make small-budgeted films in addition to
monstrosities like "The Abyss," is
responsible
for this cop actioner about a careless, selfinvolved
cop who is punished by being transferred
from his crime-free beat to the heart
of the inner city. The film stars Anthony
Edwards as the pampered lawman, and Forest
Whitaker ("Bird," "johnny Handsome") as
the street veteran who reluctantly teams up
with him. Penelope Ann Miller ("Big Top Pee-
'Heart Condition"
THE BOYFRIEND SCHOOL
Shelly Long, Steve Guttenberg and jami
Gertz star in this comedy about an institution
devoted solely to the ways of winning
romance. The film is directed by the British
filmmaker Malcolm Mowbray, who made the
droll "A Pnvate Function" and the overlooked
"Out Cold." A Hemdale release.
NIGHTBREED
Director David Cronenberg, perhaps a little
downcast over the critical praise but commercial
indifference to "Dead Ringers," turns
actor in this suitably grim thriller about a
demented psychiatrist who commits a string
of murders, and then gets a young patient to
take the blame. The boy, played by Craig
Sheffer ("Some Kind of Wonderful"), goes on
the run and takes refuge in an underworld
populated by monsters This is the first major
studio release for horror novelist Clive Barker,
whose "Hellraiser" series did pretty good
business for New World Pictures. A 20th
Century Fox release.
TRANSIT
The cop genre gets merged with the
supernatural genre in this thriller about an LA.
cop who teams with a beautiful psychic in an
attempt to stop a string of serial killings which
seem to have otherworldly influences. Lou
Diamond Phillips and Tracy Griffith star An
Orion release.
LENNY HENRY: LIVE AND UNLEASHED
The popular British comic is captured on
stage in this concert movie. A Miramax
release.
MODERN LOVE
Actor Robby Benson has been trying to
forge a directing career of late, and his latest
offering is a comedy about the trials and tribulations
of the title subject. He also stars,
along with his wife Karia DeVito, Rue McClanahan
("The Golden Girls") and Burt Reynolds.
An SVS Films release.
COUPE DE VILLE
)oe Roth, whose Morgan Creek Prods,
produced "Nightbreed" and who was recently
tapped to run 20th Century Fox's film
division, directs this period comedy about
three squabbling brothers who are forced by
their father to drive a classic Cadillac from
Michigan to Florida The brothers are played
by Patrick Dempsey, Arye Gross and Daniel
Stern, with Annabeth Gish and Alan Arkin also
starring. A Universal release.
November, 37

BOXOFFICE_
1 AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER

I
,
DECEMBER
^ Stella, D, Bette Midler. Steven Collin
12/22
Blaze. CD. Paul Newman. Lolita
Davidovich 12/15
, Robert Duvall, Faye Ounaway.
FEATURE CHART — NOVEMBER 1989
JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH
Buena Vista
(818) 560-5151
Cinecom
(212) 239-836(
Columbia
(818) 954-6001
(212) 751-440(
Llss, thr. Cheryl Ladd
Stanley S Itis, D, Jane Fonda. Robert
DeNlro.
Lenny Henry: Live and
Miramax
(212) 888-266
I. C. R. Bob Hoskins. Denzel
I
Chicago Joe and the Showgirl.
Sutherland. Emily Lloyd
Teenage Mutant Nin|a Turtles.
Trip Wire. Ac. David Warner. Te
Tiiumph ol the Spirll. D. Wiliem Oafoe.
Edward James Olmos. Robert Loggia,
She Dewtl, C. Meryl Streep. Rosanne Barr,
We're No Anjels, C. Robert Oe Niro. Sean
Penn. Demi Moore 12/8
The Two Jakes. D. Jack Nicholson, Harvey
Keitel. 12/15
Everybody Wins. 0. Nick Nolle. Debta
Paramoui
(213) 468-5C
(212) 333-4e
Glory. D. Matthew Broderick. Oenzel
Washington. Morgan Freeman 12/22
The Music Box. D. Jessica Lange
Family Business. CD. Sean Connery.
Dustin Hoffman. Matthew Broderick
the Moon. D. Patrick Bergin.
Vital Signs. D. Jimmy Smits. Laura San
Giacomo.
NIghtbreed. thr.
David Cronenberg
Downtown. A. C. Forest Whitaker. Anthony
Edwards
thr. John Hurt. Raul Julia. Bridget Fonda
Miller's Crossing. D. John Turturro. Gabriel
Byrne. Albert Finney
Born on the Fourth ol July. D, Tom Cruise
Always. D. Richard Dreyfuss. Holly Hunter.
12/15
The Wizard. F. Fred Savage. Christian
Slater 12/15
Coupe de Vllle. C.
Patrick Dempsey. Alan
Driving Miss Daisy. D. Jessica Tandy.
Morgan Freeman 12/22
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
C. Chevy Chase. Beverly DAngelo. Randy
Quaid 12/15
Tango and Cash. Ac. Sylvester Stallone.
Kurt Russell 12/8
s Dreams, anthology
Men Don't Leave. CD.

Oxford.
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HELP WANTED
THEATRE MANAGER. Expanding West Coast movie
circuit looking for aggressive, hard working individuals
to manage luxury multi-plex theatres and deluxe driveins.
Base pay with incentives, salary neg. based on
experience. 47. day work week, benefits including
medical /dental /optical & life insurance plan. Send
resume to: P.O. Box 5181. San Francisco. CA
94101
POSITIONS WANTED
THEATRE EXECUTIVE, semi-retired, seeking temporary
or short term top level management position in
movie theatre industry. Familiar with all
phases of the
business including real estate, construction, operations
and negotiations. Travel anywhere. How can I help
you? All replies confidential. Contact Boxoffice number
4678.
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
COMPLETE THEATRE EQUIPMENT: (New. Used or
Rebuilt) Century SA. R3, RCA 9030, 1040, 1050 Platters:
3 and 5 Tier, Xenon Systems 1000-4000 Watt,
Sound Systems mono and stereo, automations, ticket
machines, curtain motors, electric rewinds, lenses,
parts and many more items in stock COIvlfvlERCIAL
large screen video projectors. Plenty of used chairs.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AND INSTALLATION
AVAILABLE DOLBY CERTIFIED Call Bill Younger
Cinema Equipment Inc., 9418 N.W. 13 Street. Ivliami,
Florida 33172 (305) 594-0570.
BURLAP WALL COVERING DRAPES: $1 68 per
yard, flame retardant. Quantity discounts Nurse & Co
,
fvlillbury Rd
.
MA 01540 (508) 832-4295
DOLBY CP-50 Stereo processor $2995 00: Simplex
XL projector $1795.00: Cinemecannica V-4 Projector
$2595.00: Noreico FP-20 Projector $2595 00: Potts
3-Deck Platter $2395 00: Potts 5-Deck Platter
$3895.00: Philips 35/70 AAII Projector $3695.00:
EQUIPMENT WANTED
SERVICES
TUBE-TYPE EQUIPMENT by Western Electric, Wes.-
rex. Langevin, Mcintosh, Marant2. Quad, ARC. Early
speaker systems, units by W E Jensen, Altec, JBL,
EV, RCA. Tannoy Telephone (818) 701-5633. Audio
City. P O Box 786, Nonhndge, CA 91328-0786
ROCKERS needed with cup holder arms—approximately
600 Also h«o Dolby Stereo systems. Call l^ike
at (209) 784-5060 or (209) 782-1420,
WE NEED one or two 119A Ballast tubes. Contact
Scenic Theatre, Pittsfield, NH. 03263.
THEATRES FOR SALE
TWIN THEATRE, Hope, AR. Population 12,000 1.3
Interstate acres, 225 seats each side. Building and
equipment new 1981 .
only theatre, no film bidding. Sell
or Lease, will negotiate. Call (501) 777-8572.
SMALL TOWN THEATRE 284 seats Good condition
Northeastern Colorado. Interested parties call Is^ary or
Bill Collins at (303) 474-3341 or (303) 474-2514
NICE TWIN THEATRE on two acres. 400 seats in
each side. Parking lot black topped Sell or lease, will
negotiate. In Conroe. Texas Call (409) 856-6495 or
(214) 754-0400
THEATRES FOR LEASE
TWIN THEATRE FOR LEASE: Leesburg. Fla. pop
17.500. 600 rocking chair seats . fully automated
. . . bidg. & equip, good condition . to
free city parking lot . 7 days a week. Call Bill
Cumbaa at (904) 787-2255 or 787-3482.
THEATRES WANTED
Cinemecannica VIO 35/70 Projector with Christie
4 5K console & Christie AW3 Platter and sound system ^_^.^.^^__^^
$11,500.00: Much more, call or write to CineVision THEATRE SEATING
Corporation. 1771 Tullie Circle. NE Atlanta. Ga
30329 (404) 321-6333
NORELCO FP-16 16mm Professional projector with
pre-amp. 1600 watt xenon lamp & power supply,
excellent, used, $5995.00. CineVision. 1771 Tullie Circle.
N.E.. Atlanta. Ga. 30329 (404) 321-6333.
16MM VIEWLEX projector with 500 watt Kneisley
Xenon. Contact Roy Smith. Box 2646. Jacksonville.
FL. 32203. Or call (904) 354-4102.
PAIR SIMPLEX XL projectors with lens turret and lens,
$2500.00. Pair Century C projectors. $1350.00. Three
Emilar backstage speakers, $250 00 each. 200 red
American seats, $5.00 each. Carmel corn machine,
$500.00. Two flavor Taylor shake machine. $1500.00.
Call (939) 1918
CENTURY CL PROJECTOR (large lens) on RCA
9030 S/H on Century base. used, in very good condition.
Three available available $2200.00 each Delivery
available Call Roger Smith day or night at (81 7)
548-8948.
THEATRES WANTED to rent, lease or buy. Single or
twin movie theatre in III., Wis.. Ind.. Iowa, or Missouri.
Call (815) 223-8423
WE ARE LOOKING to buy low priced Drive-In
Theatres still in operation or shut down, makes no
difference. Will consider any situation if the price is
right. Singles, twins, or triples. West of the Mississippi
only Call (415) 359-3292. 9-5pm Pacific time Or
write to: Drive-ln. 1042 Yosemite Dr., Pacifica. Ca.
94044
ALLSTATE SEATING, INC. Specialists in auditorium
and theatre seating service, installation, covers. Phone
(617) 436-3448
TRI STATE SEATING AND INSTALLATION CO.
Used seats & parts, sales & service, preventive maintenance
programs, complete & partial renovations to
accommodate your budget, acoustical wallcoverings
and more Services offered throughout the United
States and Canada. Free Information: (313) 928-
9390
"ALL AMERICAN SEATING" by the EXPERTS! Used
seats of quality Various makes. American BodiForm
and Stellars from $12.50 to $32.50 Irwins from
$10,00 to $30.00, Heywood & Massey rockers from
$25.00. Full rebuilding available New Hussey chairs
from $69.50. All types theatre projection and sound
equipment. New and used. We ship and install all
makes Try us! We sell no Junk! TANKERSLEY
ENTERPRISES BOX 36009 DENVER, CO. 80236
Phone:
PREVIOUSLY owned equipment available: National
Cinema Supply can provide your equipment needs We
will also liquidate your surplus Theatre and concession
equipment. We have clean Automaticket model
MGEM-3 in stock! Contact Gene Krull. (913) 492-
0966. National Cinema Supply. 8220 Nieman Road,
Lenexa. KS. 66214
FILM BUYER: "Gunters Booking Service "
Serving
the Southeast from Atlanta. Quality service at its best.
1106 Old Saybrook Court. Stone Mountain, GA
30083. Or call (404) 294-4168
THEATRE REMODELING
FOR TWINNING THEATRES call or write Friddel Construction,
Inc., 402 Green River Drive, Montgomery. TX
77358 (409) 588-2667
MULTIPLEXING THEATRES We can perform all functions
from consulting to complete turnkey package professionally
and efficiently with minimum down time.
Whte or call Bill Clark, Quadrants Construction. (313)
261-9800. 12425 Stark Road. Livonia. Ml 48150
DRIVE-IN CONSTRUCTION
SCREEN TOWERS INTERNATIONAL New,
Used.
Transplanted. Complete Tower Service Plus Indoor
Screens. Box 399-Rogers, TX 76569, 817-642-
FLAGS—FLAG POLES
FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS Custom flags, flag poles,
large or small. Prompt shipment. BUX-MONT FLAG
POLE CO., 221 Horsham Road, Horsham, PA 19044.
(215) 675-1040.
FILMS WANTED
WE ARE LOOKING for old film, 35mm or 16mm. Horror,
Sci-Fi. Exploitation. J.D.. Sword and Sandal, etc.
Especially
1950s- 1960s low budget and independent
fare. B&W or color. Call Greg at (415) 355-5459 Or
whte to: FILMS. 1042 Yosemite Dr.. Pacifica. CA,
94044.
MISCELLANEOUS
WANTED: MOVIE POSTERS, lobbies, stills, etc Will
buy any sized collection. The Paper Chase. 4073 La
Vista Road. Tucker. GA 30084 Phone 1-800-433-
0025
FOR SALE: Two Automaticket ticket machines, 3-unitgood
condition, $495.00 ea Dominion Theatre Equipment
Co, Ltd. Phone (604) 582-1848 anytime.
Harold Yuker is Provost
of Hofstra University.
He has cerebral palsy.
President's Committee on
Employment of the Handicapped
Washington. D.C. 20210
November. 1989 41

1
cuckoo
loony
whacky
screwball
berserk
nut
twisted
insane
freak
strange
crackers
eccentric
Do you have names
for people you
don't understand?
Derogatory language merely
hides our fear of mental illness.
Sadly, it keeps us from seeing mental
illness for what it really is: a distressing
medical disease. A disease
that can be treated. For an informative
booklet, contact the
American Mental Health Fund.
Learn to see the sickness.
American Mental Health Fund
PO Bm 17700. Wmhmf:liin. IK :004l Or
1-800 433-5959
Ad Index
Automaticket 25
C, Cretors & Co 19
Crest Sales of Texas 42
Dinet Distributed Networks, Inc 23
Entertainment Data, Inc
C4
Filmack Studios 25
Gold Medal Products Co 21
Greer Enterprises, Inc 25
Hadden Theatre Supply Co 18
Hurley Screens 25
Lawrence Metal Products 18
MTS Northwest Sound 13
Odell's 17
Ricos Products 23
Smart Theatre Systems 1
International Soundfold 24
Weldon, Williams & Lick 42
LUNG ASSOCIATION
CREST SALES OF TEXAS-MOTION PICTURE EQUIPMENT
Complete Sales — Service
AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR FOR MANY MANUFACTURERS
Ed Cernosek
1900 S, Central Expressway
Dallas, TX 75215-1309
SINCE 1898
Response No, 29
TICKETS
SHIPPED WHEN PROMISED
PRINTED AS SPECIFIED
CONTACT DAVE KOTAREK
Weldon, Williams & Lick
P.O. Box 168
Ft. Smith, Ark. 72902
501-783-4113
Response No 31
SINCE 1898
42 BOXOFFICE

November 1989
Void after January 1990
Reader Service
For more information,

Postage
No
Necessary
Mailed
States
United
The
If
In

S>rVg-i^VSJ=g=g««gg«gggg^^
Your Partner In Good Health.
"1 never met a man I didn't like!'
Words which typify the tradition
upon which the Will Rogers Institute
has prided itself for over 50 years.
Since 1936, the Institute has
been caring for employees of the
entertainment/communications
industry by providing them with
health services.
Our representatives can put you
in touch with expert medical care
and your first consultation with
one of our nationwide pulmonary
specialists is absolutely free.
Write or call - to learn more
about the benefits we offer and you
will see just how we embody the
spirit of that great humanitarian
and entertainer, Will Rogers.
National Headquarters
White Plains, NY 10605
(914) 761-5550
UCLA Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(213) 206-6191

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