i wwii movies to Ì Film class
head telecourse
Huston’s
World War II as seen
through the lens of a camera
will be the structure of a
telecourse offered this winter
by Social Sciences Chairper-
son Fred DeWolfe and the
College.
The course has been
designed to allow students to
view films at their conve
nience. Nine films will be
broadcast on Liberty Cable
channel 9, with 10 more shown
via the Audio-Visual Depart
ment of the College.
The cable showings will
be on Mondays and
Wednesdays at 7 p.m. They
may also be viewed by ap
pointment through the Col--
lege’s A-V Department. The
films will include:
“December 7th,” 1943:
Directed by John Ford, this is
a combination of documen
tary and studio footage of the
day that will live in infamy.
“With the Marines at
Tarawa,” 1943: A look at the
coral atoll in the Central
Pacific and the battles between
the Marines and Japanese.
Filmed entirely by Marine
combat photographers.
'
“Sillwell Road,” 1945:
Narrated by Captain Ronald
Reagan, this film was produc
ed by US, British and Indian
^film units and documents the
building of the Stillwell-
Burma Road from India to
China and casts dark
foreshadowing at the perils of
jungle warfare that would
haunt US military actions in
Korea and Vietnam.
“Report from the Aleu
tians,” 1943: This movie is a
cross-over with DeWolfe’s
Films of John Huston movie
class (see story, this page).
“The Battle of San
Pietro,” 1945: John Huston
again, focusing on the in
fighting between American
and German forces in Italy’s
Liri Valley in 1943: A dark
and horrific statement on war.
“True Glory,” 1945:
Oscar winner for Best
Documentary, this was edited
from footage of 1,600 Allied
photographers, more than half
of whom were killed in action
as they pushed across Fortress
Europa, from Normandy to
the Elbe.
“Memphis Belle,” 1943:
Director William Wyler’s look
at the last flight of the flying
fortress “Memphis Belle,”
and the “Right Stuff’’-style
experiences of the US flyers on
bombing raids over Germany.
“The Thunderbolt,”
1945: P47 fighter bombers ver
sus Nazi ground troups in Ita-
ly‘
)
By J. Dana Haynes
Of The Print
John Huston, one of the
most enduring, endearing and
versatile directors in the
history of Hollywood, will be
the focus of a winter term film
class offered at Clackamas
Community College.
The class will be held on
Tuesdays from Jan. 3 - March
6, with showings at 2:30 and
6:30 p.m. The instructors will
be Fred DeWolfe, social
sciences chairperson and
Richard Ramsperger, an-
thropology instructor.
The cinematic offerings
will include:
Jan. 3, “The African
Queen,” 1952: Classic flick
starring Humphrey Bogart as
a bedraggled, besotted river
boat captain and Katharine
Hepburn as a moralistic
spinster, plus scores of
crocodiles, leeches and Nazis.
This is considered by many to
be Hepburn’s best and/or
most famous role.
Jan. 6, “The Treasure of
the Sierra Madre,” 1948: Is
there such a thing as gold
fever? Huston asks that ques
tion in the story of Fred C.
Dobbs, a down-and-out gr
ingo prospector and his part
ners, (one of whom is played
by Walter Huston, father of
Terms of Endearmentf
good news/bad news flick
By J. Dana Haynes
Of The Print
There is a very good com
edy playing around Portland
now. There’s also a very bad
tragedy. They’re both called
“Terms of Endearment.”
“Endearment” stars
Shirley MacLaine and Debra
Winger as a mother and
daughter who love each other
dearly and drive each other
crazy. It is also the story of
Winger’s marriage to an
English professor, Jeff
Daniels, and MacLaine’s af
fair with an over-the-hill
astronaut, Jack Nicholson.
Within those three story
lines, “Endearment” is pretty
good. The accent is on comedy
and how people react to love
and I laughed out loud several
times.
However, the last 45
minutes of the film are, as
John Cleese used to say,
something completely dif
ferent. Without giving away
too much of the plot, someone
dies and the rest of the cast at
tempts to deal with it. Unfor
tunately, the movie dies as
well.
It is almost as if
Writer/Director/Producer
James L. Brooks sat down
Wednesday, November 30,1983
with his production team and
said, “All right, what are
some sure-fire tear-jerkers?
How about Untimely Death,
Unrequited Love, Infidelity,
Aging,
and
Nuclear
Holocaust?” To Brooks’
credit, there is no nuclear
holocaust in this movie. The
rest we get in steam shovels-
full.
In. all honesty, this is a
better movie than Brooks had
a right to make. It is his first
feature film and surprisingly
well written and directed.
Your first flick isn’t supposed
to be this clean and snappy.
On the other hand, he is a
graduate of MTM produc
tions, makers of the “Mary
Tyler Moore Show” and “Bob
Newhart,” which taught him
his comedic pacing and respect
for simple, human foibles. If
the movie fails, it’s probably
not his fault.
Nor can the blame go to
the actors. I have never seen
MacLaine better. She plays
Aurora, a fifty-ish widow who
clings to her self-respect and
her daughter with the tenacity
of a wolverine. The character
is terrific and MacLaine plays
it for all it’s worth. She’ll most
probably be up for an Oscar.
Winger is also quite good
as Aurora’s daughter Emma.
She is constantly pregnant and
unsure about her marriage,
driven insane by the incessant
telephone calls from her
mother and yet still in charge
of her direction in life. Emma
is probably the most human
character in the show and thus
the funniest.
This comes as no surprise.
Winger was good in “An Of
ficer And a Gentleman” (con
sidering the Harlequin
Romance script she had to
work with) and terrific in the
over-looked “Cannery Row”
with Nick Nolte. She’s a solid
character actress. Now if we
could only see her in
something wherein she doesn’t
play a lower-middle class
young woman with horrible
grammar and a big heart. Like
Mary Steenbergen, Winger is
on the verge of becoming per
manently type-cast.
Jeff Daniels is fine but
hardly outstanding, and his
role is unfortunately over
shadowed by Winger.
Nicholson, on the other hand,
is top notch as Garrett
Breedlove, a sleezy, boozing
astronaut with a taste for jail
bait dates. Nicholson is the
work featured
the director). This movie looks
closely at a protagonist turned
antagonist.
Jan. 17, “Annie,” 1981:
Based on the Broadway
musical, based on the comic
strip “Little Orphan Annie,”
this is a change of pace for
Huston. Starring Albert Fin
ney and Carol Burnett, many
movie-goers felt disappointed
in this mega-musical.
Jan. 24, “Fat City,”
1972: A boxing movie starring
Stacy Keach, focusing on the
fight against other boxers,
alcohol and life in general.
Jan. 31, “Moulin
Rouge,” 1952: Jose Ferrer in a
mostly-fictional account of
French painter Toulouse-
Lautrec. This flick is most
famous for its sets and
costumes, which were ex
travagant.
Feb. 7, “The Misfits,”
1960: A gutsy, hard-as-flint
movie starring Clark Gable
and Marilyn Monroe.
DeWolfe describes this one as
“a moody, modem western.”
Feb. 14, “Beat the
Devil,” 1964: More or less a
spoof on “Maltese Falcon
(also a Huston film)” starring
Bogart, Gina Lollabridgida,
Peter Lorre and Jennifer
Jones. Adapted by Truman
Capote.
Fred DeWolf
Feb. 21, “Night of the Ig
uana,” 1964: Based on Ten
nessee Williams’ play, this one
stars Richard Burton, Ava
Gardner and Deborah Kerr.
Set in a Mexican coastal town,
this is the archtypical Williams
morality play about salvation
of the human spirit.
Feb. 28, “The Man Who
Would Be King,” 1975: Sean
Connery and Michael Caine
were terrific in this vastly
underrated flick set in the fic
tional country of Kafristan.
Connery and Caine (as Daniel
Dravit and Peachy Trafalgar
Carnahan; great names!) leave
His Magesty’s India corps to
seek fame and fortune on the
far side of the Himilayas. Bas
ed on a short story by Rudyard
Kipling.
master of over-acting and in
the past few years has leered
his way through any role he
was handed. In “Reds,”
Nicholson (as Eugene O’Neil)
made an honest attempt to not
look half-psychotic. Now, in
March 6, “Victory,”
“Endearment,” he has thrown
away
the
“Cuckoo’s 1981 and “Report from the
Nest’’/“Shining” evil grin Aleutians,” 1943: This double
and relies on his considerable feature spans Huston’s career,
acting talent. What a welcome showing one of his first films
and one of his most recent.
change!
As I mentioned earlier, “Aleutians” is a military
when Brooks and company set documentary about men deal
out to make you laugh, they ing with hardship and the an
sail full speed ahead and the ticipation of violence on a
movie is just fine. When they lonely outpost during the war.
set out to gut at your heart “Victory,” with Michael
strings, the flick hits a sandbar Caine and Sylvester Stallone,
and lists, finally hobbling into is a classic story of good guy
port on the merit of standard, POW’s and bad guy Nazis,
around
a
Movie-of-the-Week gimmicks. revolving
Oh-Lord-I’m-trying-to- propaganda-based soccer
be-brave-while-I-croak movies game. Spiffy performances by
are tough enough to do for Stallone (who doesn’t play a
seasoned directors and writers, Rocky clone) and Max von
let alone a rookie. Suffice to Sydow as a Nazi colonel
say the woe-is-me parts of scared by the direction Hitler
“Endearment” are about on a has taken his country. Worth
par with “Love Story,” seeing.
■ Each movie presented in
outclassed by “Brian’s Song,”
the film class will be preluded
and far below “Bambi.”
“Terins of Endearment” by a lecture. The class is worth
is currently playing at the . three credits. For more infor
Eastgate and Westgate mation, contact De Wolfe, ext.
theaters.
328.
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