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I
H AR T F O RD
riizabeth Hartnian, \\ho « as nominated lor
an Academy Award for her performance
in the 1966'mGM release. "A Patch of
Blue" (starring Sidney Poitier and Shelley
Winters), has resumed her acting career in
the play "Wedding Band." the Alice Childress
lyrical drama revival, at Hartford
Stage Co.. a downtown professional repertory
theatre. She dropped out of the acting
ranks several years ago.
Courant film critic Malcolm L. Johnson
was far from impressed with Univcrsal's
Moment bv Moment." which teams John
Travolta and Lily Tomlin. His review noted.
••
'Moment by Moment" is supposed to be
romantic, but it's merely embarrasing. One
has the uncomfortable feeling of sitting too
close to an indiscreet couple whose idea of
emotional contact is lots of cliches and said. "Then there would be big matinee
heavy breathing. A good 25 percent of the crowds." The Stiand has been shuttered for
sounds emitted by Tomlin in this film are a number of years.
crooned 'Huummms" in fact" . . . Reviewmg
MGM-UA"s "Brass Target." Johnson lamented:
"Despite an all-star cast which VERMONT
includes
a few truly fine actors (all misused),
•Brass Target' has a thoroughly careless feeling
about it" ... He had words of praise
for writer Neil Simon and director Herbert
Ross in a review of Columbia's "California
Suite," saying. "Though it is not always as
hilarious as it tries to be, this shrewdly assembled
film version of Simon's recent four
one-act plays contains enough verbal cleverness
to compensate for some of its less
graceful moments of physical comedy. At
its it best, shows us how well Simon and
Ross work together; at its worst, it demonstrates
their limitations."
Of United Artists' "The Lord of the
Rings." Janice Trecker wrote in the West
Hartford News: "I might as well confess
that J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the modern
enthusiasms that has passed me by. I've
never read a line of him, have no acquaintance
with Hobbits and can't imagine pronouncing,
never mind spelling, the master's
pseudo-gothic names. On the the other hand,
I've enjoyed Ralph Bakshi's cartoons very
much. One may have reservations about
their content, but his drawing is vigorous,
his color voluptuous and his dramatic ability
considerable."
Free film showings: Paramount's "Blue
Hawaii" (1961. co-starring Elvis Presley
and Joan Blackman) and MGM's "The Thin
Man" (1934, with William Powell and Myrna
Loy) were at Kent Memorial Library,
Suffield. "The Lady Vanishes," Gaymont
British 1938 release directed by Alfred
Hitchcock, and co-starring Margaret Lockwood,
Dame May Whitty and Michael Redgrave,
was seen at the West Hartford Public
Library.
Paris Cinemas 2, Wethcrsficid, arc advertising
"new low prices" on Sunday, with
99 cents adm.-sion in effect for all scats at
all
times.
Ihe Hartford Courant oped page carried
some sentimental thoughts about Connecti-
NE-2
cut's capital city 35 years ago. saying, in
part: "For a few laughs, you could have
gotten movie seats for 30 cents at Proven
Pictures on Main Street at Morgan to see
'Ship Ahoy,' starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor
Powell and Red Skelton, plus Charlie Chaplin
in The Gold Rush.' called 'World's
Greatest Laugh Picture.' "
Gov. Ella T. Grasso, who has begun her
second four-year-term, recalled in a recent
interview that for more than ten years
from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s—she
and her husband. Dr. Thomas Grasso, operated
the Strand Theatre at Sound View, Old
Lyme, as a summer season business. Dr.
Grasso. now retired from education, ran the
projectoi while Mrs. Grasso sold tickets and
popcorn. "We used to pray for rain," she
Cix out of eight Burlington first-runs have
boosted evening admission prices for
adults from $3 to $3.50, representing an
increase of 17 per cent. Involved in the hike
are Merrill's Showcase 3, Century Plaza 2
and Flynn, all part of the Merrill G. Jarvisheaded
Merrill Theatre Corp.. with SBC
Management Corp.'s Burlington Plaza 2
continuing the $3 tab. Children's prices continue
at the same level—$1.50 at matinees
and $2. evenings. Most matinee tickets for
be getting 1 1 percent higher salaries."
Merrill Jarvis had a special advance showing
of Buena Vista's "The North Avenue
Irregulars" at his Century Plaza 2.
Continuing attractions across Vermont
included Warner Bros.' "Superman" plus
"Every Which Way But Loose," Columbia's
"California Suite" plus "Midnight Express."
20th Century-Fox's "Magic," United Artists'
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" plus ""The
Lord of the Rings" and Paramount': 'Oli
ver's Story" plus "Foul Play."
Vou can't find a more community-minded
exhibitor in Vermont than Merrill G.
Jarvis, who helms the Burlington-based
Merrill Theatre Corp. The independent circuit
and the Downtown Burlington Development
Corp. co-sponsored a free Saturday
matinee showing of MGM's "Clarence the
Cross-eyed Lion" at the downtown Flynn,
Burlington. The film, which stars Marshall
Thompson, Betsy Drake, Richard Hadyn,
Cheryl Miller and Clarence, was released
in 1965.
The Pavilion Auditorium in Montpelicr
screened Columbia's "From Here to Eterni-
by
1I
ty," the 1953 Oscar winner directed by i
•
Fred Zinnemann and starring Burt Lancas- as-
ter, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, :rr, |
Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine and Donna ;B
Reed . . . Paramount's "Play It Again, 'i
Sam," Woody Allen 1962 release, was i
shown at the Johnson State College.
SPRINGFIELD \
a hefty number of holdovers across western
Massachusetts included Universal's
"Moment by Moment," Columbia's "California
Suite," Warner Bros.' "Superman"
plus "Every Which Way But Loose," Paramount's
"King of the Gypsies" plus
"Oliver's Story," Avco Embassy's "Watership
Down," United Artists' "Invasion of
the Body Snatchers" plus "The Lord of the
Rings" and MGM-UA's "Brass Target."
The" moveover bloc encompassing 20th
Century-Fox's "Magic," Universal's "National
Lampoon's Animal House," Columbia's
"Midnight Express" and Paramount's
"Foul Play" plus "Up in Smoke."
Openings included "Sweet Pumpkin" and
"Reunion," both X-rated state's rights pictures.
The E. M. Loew's Riverdale Drive-In.
West Springfield, triple-billed Paramount's
"Grease," "First Love" and "American Hot
Wax" on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule,
charging $5-per-carload. The underskyer
has electric
in-car heater service.
The Redstone Showcase Cinemas 8,
Westj
Springfield, largest complex in the six-statei
New England region, started advance teasen
adults are $2. Jarvis notes, "We've kept it
at $3 for over two years. Films now cost us advertising for Universal's "Same Timei
more, though. There's been a 9 or 10 Next Year," with the tag-line reading.j
percent increase. And now the minimum "Watch for Universal's comedy blockbuster!"
wage is going up from $2.65 to $2.95 an
hour. We have 64 employees who will now
Richard Freedman, nationally syndicated
film critic, came up with a column containing
his choices for the best—and the worst
—of 1978's screen attractions. Cited were
"The Deer Hunter," "Who'll Stop the
Rain," "Heaven Can Wait," "A Wedding,"
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "Day^
of Heaven," "Girl Friends," "Bread and
Chocolate," "Midnight Express" and
"Movie, Movie." He didn't like "Superman,"
"Jaws 2," "The Swarm," "Sergeani
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Uf
in Smoke," "The Boys From Brazil'
"Magic," "Paradise Alley," "Uncle Jw
Shannon" and "Moment by Moment."
Morning Union sports editor Garr
Brown carried this paragraph in a column
"The title might turn you off, but pleasi
believe that 'Invasion of the Body Snatch
ers' is an excellent film."
SBC Norwalk to Dissolve
HARTFORD—SBC Norwalk Theatr
Corp. filed a notice of dissolution with th
Connecticut Secretary of the State's offici
The corpoiation. part of the SBC holding:
lists its principal office as Hartford.
BOXOFTICE :: January 22 197