4
Friday, January 24, 1975
University Daily Kansan
Editorials, columns and letters published on this page reflect only the views of the author.
KANSAN
opinions of the writers.
Flick prices pad profits
Last semester a major complaint about the movie theaters in Lawrence was the lack of new motion pictures. People were expected to pay $1.75 for movies that were from three to 30 years old.
Many of these movies had been shown at Woodruff Auditorium for 75 cents and some had even been on television.
Happily, this is no longer the case,
as Commonwealth finally has decided to distribute some new movies to the theaters in Lawrence.
"It's been so long," she said at least 2$ to see a movie. "The Godfather Part II" costs $2.50.
It almost appears to have been a cleverly engineered plot on the part of the theater managers or owners:
Starve the people of Lawrence for entertainment by showing only reruns. Wait for Christmas break when most of the students are gone. Then, bring in the first-run movies. Everyone will be so happy to see some new films they won't notice the price increase.
The managers and owners of the theaters probably can give plenty of reasons why they had to raise their rates. What they will hesitate to mention is that that 1975 may produce the highest profits in motion picture
history. At last report, profits already were approaching the 1946 record of $1,822 billion. Speculators expect that when December profits come in, the '46 record will be broken.
The question is why, with such an increase in profits, must the consumer pay so much for anything it be nice to see the price of a movie ticket go down.
If it is necessary to increase revenue, it would be preferable if Commonwealth raised the charge on its concessions. A happy result might be people's buying less at the concession stand. It would be an unusual experience to go to a movie where someone wasn't popping gum, crunching ice or chewing popcorn.
Undoubtedly, this plea will fall on deaf ears. Commonwealth hasn't any intention of lowering its prices just to help battle inflation. And it is unrealistic to propose a boycott on movies, because they still are a comparably cheap form of entertainment.
On second thought this diatribe won't be completely ignored. I'm sure we can all count on the Commonwealth theaters to raise the price of their concessions before the semester is over.
-Kenn Louden
Tongue-in-cheek dialogue, lack of porn save 'Flesh'
By TOM BILLAM Contributing Writer
In the newspaper advertisements for "Flesh Gordon" viewers are warned, "Not to be confused with the original 'Flash Gordon.'" There is little possibility of thinking this spoof was produced during the '80s. It's too corny.
As a spoof it almost succeeds.
As a porno flick it fails. The 70-minute film never is hard core,
and the skin footage is moderate and always seems to be a means, not an end.
The best part of the movie is the dialogue. No gag or pun was too risque or off-color to be excluded from this movie.
this planet." Flesh makes statements just as astute.
The basic theme of the movie is that the planet Ponoro bombed causing nearly everyone to become overly amorous, to say the least. With Earth's inhabitants thus occupied, the planet is less vulnerable to the attacks of Emperor, Wang the Perverted.
One ridiculous circumstance after another ensues, resulting in a battle between Flesh.
The names of the characters, such as Dr. Flexi Jerkov, Emperor Wang, Dale Ardour, Prince Precious and the Forest Fellows, lend themselves very easily to farce.
rockets, managing to land a ray in a vital area, drawing a few choice words from the voluble behemoth.
The buffooney hardly stops for the obligatory skin. Some of the fummiest moments occur in the airplane's window ray. When the airplane in which Dale and Flesh are riding intersects one of the sex rays, everyone, including the pilots, clothes and lumens into a pile.
The "instant science" of the original "Flash Gordon" is lampooned incessantly in "Flesh." When Dr. Jerkow and Flesh first step onto the planet Porno from Jerkov's rocket, Jerkov sniffs deeply and Jerkov says, "Good, there's oxygen on
But Flesh. miraculously
KANSAN reviews
The monster, incidentally,
has the best lines, or maybe just
the best delivery.
Dale Ardour is, of course,
captured by the monster and
taken to the Tower of Murder
(Monster: "This is where I
hang out.") Flesh and Co. attack him with one of Wang's
maintaining control of himself,
takes Dale and parachutes from
the doomed plane. Dale, without
a parachute, finds it hard to
hold on to Tlesh, but they
manage to land safely.
Some of the sets are hilarious in the extreme. The interior of Jerkov's rocket is fitted with subway grab-handles, a keyboard and a key ignition complete with a Volkswagen key ring.
Letters to the editor should be typewritten, double-spaced and should not exceed 500 words. All letters are subject to editing and condensation, according to space limitations and the editor's judgment. Students must provide their name, year in school and home town; faculty and staff must provide their name and position; others must provide their name and address.
Jerkov, warmed by Flesh's admiration of his rocket, confesses, "I was able to get the parts from the Sears catalog."
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Editor
An All-American college newspaper
Associate Editor John Pike Campus Editor Crate Stock Dennis Elsworth
Chief Photographer
Sports Editor
Entertainment Editor
Carl Young
Alan Manager.
Kenn Louden
George Miller III
Mike Fitzgerald
Kathy Pickett
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Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley by Thomas Hart Benton
The mantis is winning when to the rescue comes Prince Precious, rulerful heir to the throne, you lend him your fellows you'll want to meet. By hook, crook, cooperation and the aid of two Power Pasties, Fleish. Precious and Jerkov will gaze at a palace and the fun continues.
The special effects are especially cheap, with the exception of the monster, who saves the show. One effect is side-splitting in spite of, or against, the monsters' cheapness; a metal, man-sized, praying mantis who fights Flesh with Kung Fu.
Many of the gags are too sexual to print without violating the obsessive laws, but I'm sure you can imagine some of the predicaments Fuchs was heir to; say there are more hilarious and glamorous film barely than an hour long than I thought possible.
Imagine a scholarly looking man who jerks up his shirt to reveal two crystal glass pasties that emit deadly spiraling zaps and you've got some of the idea of the tone of the movie.
Although funny in parts, it is short, and I must agree with the man who, after it was over, said, "We only got to see an hour of porno, and that's a screw!"
If you expect to see Flesh Gordon as the superstudent of the same school, you'd be disappointed. But if you watch with tongue firmly in cheek, you ought to have a few chuckles. Or you might forget you paid $2 to see it.
By KATHY PICKETT Entertainment Editor
Benton shouldn't be forgotten
By now, most readers of newspapers should have heard of Thomas Hart Benton. After all, he died this week, and what I am told is a famous fame to someone than death—if the death is a natural one?
Such criticism isn't restricted to art alone. William Faulkner was criticized in a similar manner because his novels were limited to Yoknapatwa County in Mississippi. But what was important with both Faulkner and Benton, and any other author whose limited area, was that they were able to transcend their subjects and respond to the universal nature of man.
Those of us who grew up in the '50s and '60s might not be able to appreciate fully the Regionalist Movement of which Benton was so powerful a source. It was a movement that inspired many, and it was a movement highly original in concept.
After reading their newspapers or watching the evening news, most people probably forgot Benton. To them he undoubtedly seemed magnificent to take up their time.
The founding of the United States and its growth as a political and economic power was a result of an energy for so long that artistic endeavors were greatly neglected. But the flowering of artists such as Benton showed that art was still important here.
But he shouldn't be forgotten. Benton is important not only to lovers of art—in fact, many of those may hate him—but also to those of us living in this part of the country, the great American
In addition to the artists mentioned, there were writers of regional literature who exploited smaller provinces in novels that were best sellers and prize winners. There was a movie called 'Soil' movement of the movies.
American Regionalism is a term that in itself can be subject to scorn. It means little more of an idea than the land and political behavior of a certain area of the country. But some critics seem to think that this is something to frown on, and that it represents narrow-mindedness.
But Benton can't simply be classified as a regionalist. Despite the harsh words of critics, Benton showed himself to be a steadfast individual, a beast and an important to us because he showed that the United States could create a viable force in art.
For along with John Steart Curry of Kansas and Grant Wood of Iowa, Benton developed what was to become known as the American Jazz Age. His career spanned this century and his art typified the idea of rugged individualism.
This movement did have a theme, an ideal that many of us today can identify with. It was the idea of swinging toward the country, the
back-to-the-land movement — that social phenomenon that Ralph Borsodi calls the 'flight' from the city."
Benton joined wholeheartedly in the flight. After 25 years of Paris and New York he was moved to Missouri, because as he put it:
"In New York there are so many people living off ideas instead of really doing something. Too much of in-
lectual life is dominated by ideas that have never had a practical test. Things that are purely ideas are taken for intellectuals don't seem to be able to make the distraction."
Benton sounds much like one who could be taken to heart by the back-to-earth movement; by those young "radicals" who took Henry David Thoreau as their hero.
Of the three great regionalist painters—Benton, Curry and Wood—Benton was the oldest and the first to make his paintings American background, for he was grandnephew of the great Missouri senator of the 19th century with the same name. He was born in 1869 in Neosho, Missouri, southwest corner of the state.
Art critic Thomas Craven wrote of Neosho: "It was a community of raw individuals, wiercakers from
reputation, after he began drawing native Americans. And after his visit to the bedside of his dying father, he finally left New York. He decided then to revisit his own background, his America.
the backwoods, and Confederate veterans—toothless, decrepit old men who hobbled through the public square and talked valuously of their deeds in the war of the rebellion."
In 1907, Benton went to Chicago to study at the Chicago Art Institute. Then at 19, encouraged by one of his teachers, he went to Paris. He was no great success and returned to New York. To him, art was "all symbols and abstrac-tions had to together brute strength and wild resolution."
Certainly that verbal description calls to mind the characters that covered Benton's canvases.
It was the first World War that helped to change his work. He gained impressions of natural things—things inseparable enough alone that they needed no "esthetic drivings."
It was these visits to mines, steel mills, industrial centers, Deep South plantations, and the cow country of the West that inspired for the Benton we remember, or should remember.
In the 1920s he made his
His subjects might not always have been pretty, but they were good. He said he made him so conversial. As Graven said, "To him a night club and a strike of workers are important as social documents."
This was Benton the Regionalist, the Missourian, the American, a man whom many of us should make a point to remember if we are迟到 to appreciate him when he was with us.
On stage
This Week's ENTERTAINMENT
Faculty Follies—Highly recommended performance by the distinguished faculties of the School of Fine Arts and the School of Education. They let loose in this one: frivolity and a flair for fling before school gets seriously under way. (At 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall).
On screen
Paper Chase—Excellent performance by John Houseman. Otherwise mediocre college flick, taking advantage of stereotyped college mentality. Lots of questions, but no answers. With Timothy Botts and Maggie Munger. Directed by James Bridges. (At 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, also 1 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Woodruff Auditorium.)
Railway Children-Good, exciting story of children working to prove their father's innocence. Uniform acting and a story that won't insult the child. At 1:30 p.m. Dinah Sheridan and Bernard Cribbins. (At 1:30 p.m. Sunday in woodruff Auditorium.)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon—
One of the classic cowboy
movies. Very good. With John
Wayne and Joanne Dru.
and John Ford (A) 7:30
p.m. Monday in Woodruff
Auditorium.)
The Virginian—Undoubtedly the best of the several books I have read in my story. With Gary Cooper as the star, and Walter Huson as the slimy villain. (At 7:30 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium.)
Le Jour Se Leve — Well-known French comedy, with Jean Gabin. Directed by Marcel Carne. Subtitled. (At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Kansas Union Ballroom.)
Midsummer Night's Dream —
The play may be Shakespeare's but the production is pure
fairy tale. E. Brown, Dick Powell and
Olivia deHavilland make this a purely delightful production,
even though there is a little bit of glamour in it.
various fairies (take that as you will). The Mendelssohn music adds to the fun. Directed by William Dieterle. At 7:30 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium.
The Man with the Golden Gum—this year's model of the James Bond film. Despite the flaws, it seems one seems a little shopworm.
Freebie and the Bean - The saga of two big city cops who are so casually adept at their various activities that they never get over theirversation. The big question is why such fine actors as James Caan and Alan Arkin would waste their time in the roles. Directed by Richard Rush. Set for 9:40 p.m. with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Varsity.)
Directed by Guy Hamilton, with Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland. Rated PG. (At 7:30 and 9:40 p.m., with matines Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Granada.)
Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine—The Beatles, with their music. Need I say more? (At 11:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Varisty.)
The Godfather Part II—A fine folk epic, more than just a sequel. It's a long movie—more than a terrifying permission—but it never drags. With Al Pacino, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Rated B. At 8 p.m., with matinee and 1:30 p.m. at 1:30 p.m. at Hillcrest 1.)
The Savage is Loose-George C. Scott should have stayed with acting in this piece of phenomenal Rated R. (A) at 9:20 p.m. and with matines at 1:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Lake Crest 2.)
In concert
Flesh Gordon-Entertaining
spoof of the super-hero genre.
Includes a day and 9:20 p.m.
and matines at (a) the
Sat. and Sun. at Hillcrest C.
Tau Sigma Dance Ensemble—Concert for Young People. Directed by Elizabeth Chan, a member of the program. "Will you, won't you, will you, won't you join the dance?" is taken from a line from the movie. The program is designed to involve the audience in the
dance. (At 3 p.m. Sunday in Lawrence High School Auditorium.)
Memorial Cariflon Recital—Albert Gerkin. (At 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday.)
Museum of Art- Shuart M.
Speiser collection of photo-
realism paintings. Main
Gallery. (Through Feb. 12.)
At the gallery
*Spencer Library—'Art of the
World*,
*Petrarch and Alena in Asia,*
*North Gallery; 'Sports and
Racing' circa 1900; 'Kansas
College'*
Watson Library—"Spanish Art of the 17th Century."
Kansas Union Gallery-
Painting and Sculpture
Department faculty show.
(Through Feb. 3.)
On records
Homeless Brother—Don McLean, joined at various times by Yusef Lateef, Pete Seeger and the Persuasions. Unfortunately the result of such a mixture of the album choices of the album seems amusing (United Artists LA-315.G.)
Relayer—The group Yes, in its seventh album, which proves that the group can succeed with Warner Bros.' departure. The music is flexible; the thoughts on war and peace please a little abstraction. The previous albums add to the enjoyment. (Atlantic SD 18122.)