PG^

T'V
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Bros. (304) 133 Minutes Rel. Mar. '74
Musicals are few and far between on the screen and
I;,
as lavish as Warners' presentation, in association '-
American Broadcasting Companies, of the Broadway '.i^oiJ
are even rarer. Producers Robert Pi-yer and James
an and director Gene Saks have spared little expense
bringing the musical adventures of the female Pied
to the screen. Lucille Ball and Beatrice Arthur,
arred with Robert Preston, can count upon their
ions of TV fans to help support the film, which is
rently breaking records at Radio City Music Hall. Miss
in particular has been plugging "Mame" very heavily
deserves an award for endm-ance and character. Her
that her singing and dancing aren't necessarily
best should help endear the comedienne to audiences
vhere. Screenplay by Paul Zindel, from the Jerome
jnce-Robert E. Lee-Jerry Herman musical, was based
illy on Patrick Dennis' novel and has previously
seen as a straight play and a 1958 "Warners' film
Rosalind Russell. Herman wrote the songs, numbers
choreogi-aphed by Onna White. Definitely not a
s' film, this is solely an old-fashioned audiencemovie.
Panavision and Technicolor.
Ball, Robert Preston, Beatrice Arthur, Bruce
Davison, Joyce Van Patten, Kirby Furlong.
WIN' MOLLY m "^^
ibia (012) 92 Minutes Rel. Mar. '74
ifriter Larry McMurtry certainly knows Texas and
novels from which "Hud" and "The Last Pictui-e
'
were made were stamped with artistic and comil
success. McMui'try's 1963 novel "Leaving Cheywas
the basis for Stephen Friedman's screenplay
"liOVin' Molly," produced by Friedman and directed by
ey Lumet on location in Bastrop, Texas. The new
may be considered an artistic success—at least in
quarters—but commercially, it won't rival the pretwo
productions. Stars Elythe Danner, Anthony
and Beau Bridges age some 40 years as a freeited
gii'l and the men who love her and yet remain
friends. There are fine performances and outstandscenes—the
birth of a calf, Edward Biiuis' fatherly ^.^)
with Perkins—^but with a feeling that something
ing. It was decided not to use three sets of actors
three eras depicted— each narrated from the viewit
of one of the leads—and makeup suggests the aging
1 effectively. Miss Danner, an actress who will probreceive
a lot of good notices from this, gets the
from the part of a woman who lives for love and
two nude bits. The film is the kind that can build a
imderground following.
thony Perkins, Blythe Danner, Beau Bridges, Edward
Binns, Susan Sarandon, Conard Fowkes.
IAT MAN IS PREGNANT!
Mishldn
85 Minutes
pr; Modern Sex Satire
©
Rel. May '74
I^Gold Medal winner at the Atlanta International Film
il, this August Films production, listing Lewis
tin (son of Mishkin Films president William Mishi,
Richard Messina and Jerome Tiuk as executive
cers, is bound to create considerable response, parrly
among the young adult crowd across the couniThe
shooting script, credited to leading man William
eilly and Simon Nuchtern (the latter was dii-ector
"
o co-produced with Jean Luc BotboD , is sharply
1, spinning out the misadventm'es of a harried
York detective turned down on marriage proposals
rl friend Anita Morris, long a Women's Lib advocate,
to find himself suddenly subjected to laboratory
lentation by scientist Lilly Lessing and eventually
birth to a baby, much to the consternation of the
en's Lib faction. This is the kind of high comedy
ading on-their-toes delineations and, to a manwoman—the
cast is credible. Significantly, there is
"ity or real sex (hence, the PG rating i. and the
Jtion possibilities seem limitless. Percy Simon has
moving moments as a notorious bathroom graffiti
Mishkin has something strong, strong indeed!
C. Reilly, Anita Morris, Lilly Lessing. Sloane
Shelton, Matthew Lewis, Percy Simon.
TiiEsiri:Rcoi's m
c^"'-
United Artists—MOM (7415) 94 Minutes Rel. Mar. '74
Cops and robbers thrillers have achieved a high degree
of realism in recent releases, making Gordon Parks'
comic approach to the subject something out of the ordinary.
The real life exploits of Brooklyn detectives Dave
Greenberg and Bob Hantz earned them the nicknames
Batman and Robin. They play detectives in the film,
while Ron Leibman and David Selby assume their roles.
Based on the book by L. H. Whittemore, the screenplay
was written by Lorenzo Semple jr.—who, not so coincidentally,
wrote scripts for the "Batman series. In
"
line with the daring duo's derring-do, director Parks has
seen to it that the violence isn't overdone and the action
is presented with a comic edge. R rating is mostly for
language. Most of the cast play for laughs, Leibman
giving a very energetic performance. There is top support
from black actress-model Sheila Frazier iwho does a
semi-strip I, Dan F'l-azcr and Pat Hingle. Tamu, the black
girl from "Maude," has a bit and there are many familiar
New York actors on hand. Produced by William Belasco
on location in New York, film has a score by Jerry Fielding.
Metro Color. With "The Super Cops" being so different
from the rest, there is little doubt that it can be one
of the biggest hits of the year.
Ron Leibman, David Selby, Sheila E. Frazier, Pat Hingle,
Dan Frazer, Joseph Sirola, Al Fann.
CHINESE HERCULES
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'^''"«,/"^«"°"
Bryanston Pictures 90 Minutes Rel. Feb. '74
When National General Pictures ceased its operations
recently, the newly formed Bryanston Pictui'es acquired
this kung fu thi-iller. Secm-ed from the Hong Kong Kai
Fa Film Co., "Chinese Hercules" shifts emphasis—at least
in the selling—to villain Yang Sze. He is a massive and
masterful exponent of the art of kung fu and was pitted
against the late Bruce Lee in Warners' "Enter the
Dragon." Star of the film is actually Chen Wei Min, cast
as a hero afraid to fight because he believes that his
sweetheart's brother died at his hands. Yang appears
about half way through, being the strong-arm man for
Pang Yeh. Latter, an instructor in the martial arts, will
be familiar to kung fu devotees as the villain in several
recent films. Producer Peter Poon and director Choy
Tak put together an actioner with an acceptable plot,
dock workers vs. a crime ring which is stopping trade.
Screenplay by Ngai Hong is good, being stronger than
usual. In widescreen and color, the new effort has been
dubbed in typical fashion. The music score has a tendency
to drown out the dialog, which may be an effective way
of overcrowding this particular a.spect of kmig fu films.
Good for its market.
Chen Wei Min, Chiang Fan, Fang Yeh, Yang Sze,
SWEET SLZY
Li Tien Ying, Yuan Feng, Chin Ti.
Signal 166, Inc. 82 Minutes Rel. July '73
Russ Meyer has been well known for producing and
directing films about sex for several years. He has been
the trend-setter for displaying female anatomy in action.
He is noted for "The 'Vixen." "Beyond the Valley of the
Dolls" and "The Seven Minutes." This current film
already has been shown in some areas under its original
title of "Blacksnake." Tlie story, written by Meyer and
Len Nebauer, may have been based on the legend of
Annee Palmer, the witch of Jamaica. Excessiveness has
been a trademark of Meyer films, and this is no exception.
This film gets so overdone and overblown that it might
best be considered a parody. In this respect it is more
akin to his "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." There is
much recun-ing montage throughout the film, and a selfconscious
moralizing ending. The setting is 150 years ago
in the Caribbean. It was lensed in Panavision and Color
by Movielab. Anouska Hempel plays the title role of
the island queen. There is not enough graphic sex or
nudity in this film to please the skin trade, but the story
may be adequate for the general soft-core market. This
is a Trident Films, Ltd. production.
Anouska Hempel. David Warbeck, Percy Herbert, Thomas
BaptLste, .'\lilton .McCollin, Vicki Richards.
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BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: March 25. 1974