P age B2
A ugust 28, 1996 • T he P ortland O bserver
M
(Elje 'Jlortlanh © bscruer
ENTERTAINMENT
Robert Altman reminisces a jazz memory
For his 31st film, director Robert
Allman revisits his birthplace, K an­
sas C ity, at the peak o f its vitality in
1934.
Located at the crossroads o f A m er­
ica, K ansas City thrived under the
rule o f city bosses and organized
crime.
G am bling and prostitution were
officially illegal, but freely avail­
able; and a new kind o f ja zz played
'round the clock in the raucous clubs
around 18th and Vine.
W hile the rest o f the country was
mired in the G reat D epression, K an­
sas City not only prospered, it swung.
The action in Kansas C ity occurs
over the course o f tw o days in 1934,
on the eve of m unicipal elections.
The D em ocratic political m achine
of boss Tom Pendergast gears up to
get out the votes, using violence when
necessary. V irtuoso jazz, m usician
match m usical wits in all-night "cut­
ting contests" at the Hey H ey Club
A nd scrappy B londic O ’H ara,
portrayed by Jennifer Jason Leigh,
sim ulating the tough-talking broads
o th e r silverscreen idol, Jean Harlow,
kidnaps w ealthy C aro ly n S tilton
(M irandaRichardson), the laudanum-
addicted wife o f an advisor to Presi­
dent Roosevelt.
B londie’s plan is to sw ap Carolyn
for her sm all-tim e th ief husband
Johnny O ’H aralD erm oi M ulroney),
who has been captured by big-tim e
gangster, killer and club-ow ner Sel­
dom Seen <Harry B elafonte). Johnny
has affronted Seldom by robbing one
o f the k in g p in 's favorite gam bling
custom ers; w orse, he has infuriated
Seldom by com m itting the crim e in
blackface. Johnny is being held in
the basem ent o f Seldom ’s Hey Club,
w here the m u sic-loving g angster
m oves to the jam session going up­
stairs.
W hile Seldom considers ju st how
to dispose o f Johnny O ’ Hara, B londie
O ’H ara carts her captive, the gen ­
teel, opiated C arolyn Stilton, all over
K ansas City. O ne she tracks down
Henry Stilton (M ichael M urphy) and
gives him the term s o f his w ife’s
ransom , Blondie m ust keep Carolyn
out o f sight.
Inseparable for tw o days, these
tw o very different w om en begin to
understand one another as they head
tow ards an inevitable, transform ing
conclusion.
Says Leigh o f B londie’s outland­
ish plan to sw ap the kidnap victims,
“She thinks o f it as a trade because
she really d o e sn 't live in the real
world. H er w hole life has been in­
form ed by the m ovies. W ith Blondie,
everything is a ‘y o u ’re with me,
y o u ’re against m e' kind o f thing.”
Altman gives his take on B londie’s
devotion to Jo h n n y , “H er fascination
for him is alm ost a sickness.”
K ansas C ity was a great town for
music, with plenty o f clubs and a
flourishing red light district that paid
m usicians well. A ltm an ’s first ex p o ­
sure to jazz cam e when he was a
child. “I had a black m aid, G lendora
W hen I w as eleven, G lendora sat me
dow n in front o f the radio and said,
‘Now, listen to this. T his is the best
music there is.’ It w as Duke E llington
playing "S o litu d e.” I rem em ber e v ­
ery note o f it.” By the tim e he was
fifteen, A ltm an w as frequenting the
city ’s ja zz clubs.
A ltm an describes the m ilieu, "The
jazz clubs w eren ’t segregated, they
sold drinks to anyone anytim e. W hite
people could go there, but they d id n ’ t
very often. M ovie theatres w ere a
different story; black people had to
sit in the balcony, w hereas w hite
people could go anyw here they w ant­
ed. In K ansas City they often boasted
about not being segregated, but M is­
souri was a Southern state like the
others. T he attitude w as patern alis­
tic, som ething like, ‘H ere, we treat
our N egroes real w ell.”
Kansas C ity contrasts the em o ­
tions provoked by the film ’s dual
kidnappings with the exhilaratingjazz
o f the all-night ja m sessions, w hile
being surrounded by the beauty, v io ­
lence and joy o f a unique tim e in
A m erican history.
A cinem atic riff on race, class,
pow er and addiction, A ltm an calls
Altman. Is it Belafonte's comeback? Photo by Ell Reed
Kansas C ity "a jazz m em ory” .
“ While the rest of the country was mired in the
Great Depression, Kansas City not only
prospered, it swung.“
R.E.M. signs monster contract
W arner Bros. Records said Sun­
day it renew ed its lucrative relation­
ship with influential rock bandR. E.M.
by signing a contract reported as be­
ing the largest in music history.
Term s were not disclosed in the
label’s statement, but the Los Angeles
Times reported it was worth $80 mil­
lion for five albums and included a$ 10
million signing bonus.
The A thens, Ga-based quartet has
just delivered the last o f the six albums
covered by itsexisting pact with Warner
Bros., and over the last tw o weeks had
been courted by major labels, includ­
ing D re a m W o rk s S K G , C a p ito l
Records and Sony Music, the paper
reported.
The deal eclipses pop singer Janet
bv ^ L eonard
Jackson’s estimated $70 million con­
tract with Virgin Records, signed in
January.
“W earegrateful that R.E.M. recog­
nizes their hom e at W arner Bros.
Records, here and around the world,
where their work and they are loved
and respected," Russ Thyret, chair­
man and chief executive officer of
W arner Bros. Records, said in a state­
ment.
“W e enjoy our relationships with
R.E.M at every level and look for­
ward to building on them in the years
to com e," he added.
The band told the com pany o f its
decision to remain in the fold by send­
ing a telegram that read: “W e’ve al­
ways said w e’ll only do this as long as
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P
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E
S
Since then, the band — still made
up o f the original four members — has
sold more than 30 million albums and
won four Gram m y awards.
A ccording to the Los A ngeles
Times, the contract also includes a $20
million royalty advance on future sales
o f its W arner catalog.
The band is also guaranteed an es­
timated $10 million advance per al­
bum and a top-tier 24 percent royalty
for each record sold. As is standard
practice, the cash advances will be
deducted from royalty payments to the
band.
The deal is important for W arner
Bros., the largest record com pany in
the U.S., which has been distracted by
messy management restructuring over
the past few years.
M any artists were w orried that the
label, w hose ro ster includes E ric
Clapton, Green Day and the Red Hot
Chili Peppers, would lose its reputa­
tion as a nurturing environment.
In order to help fend o ff concerns,
the label has written big checks to keep
influential acts happy.
It reportedly signed Neil Young,
who sells a fraction o f the albums that
R.E.M. sell, to a $25 million deal that
included a $5 million signing bonus.
An industry source told Reuters the
contract was fairly priced. “Based on
the kind o f money that R.E.M. gener­
ates, W arner will certainly make their
m oney back,” he said.
But Thomas W hite, an artist rights
Audience poll hit & miss
K lady
In the m ovie business, th e H oly
G rail is objective data. Studios an d
p ro d u c tio n co m p a n ie s c a n ’t get
enough o f it. Film s are su bjected to
a d rill o f research screenings an d
trackin g stu dies in an effort to m ea­
su re au dien ce aw areness, interest
a n d preferen ce.
And m ore than any other detail,
industry chiefs w ant to know the
percentage o f respondents that select
f|O
it’s still fun, and right now it feels like
w e’re just getting started, so let's keep
going.”
R.E.M. originally signed to W arner
Bros, in 1988 after building a strong
following with several releases on the
now defunct IRS Records label.
Their next album, “New Adven­
tures in Hi-Fi" is due out September
10. Their most recent album, “Mon­
ster”, was released in 1994 and sup­
ported by a world tour.
R.E.M. was formed in the small
college town of Athens, Ga„ about 70
miles east o f Atlanta, in 1980 by gui­
tarist Peter Buck, now 39, singer
M ichael Stipe, 36, and bassist Mike
Mills and drum m er Bill Berry, both
37.
A rtatris k
a picture as their first choice for each
weekend. But a straw poll o f m arket­
ing executives and researchers indi­
cates w idespread frustration that,
despite a form idable database, the
ability to predict a film ’s appeal isn ’t
improving.
One recurring com plaint is a lack
o f consistency: "Jack” opened on
Aug. 9 to considerably less business
than tracking had predicted. C o n ­
E
N
T
»
versely, “S trip tease” opening last
month drew much larger audiences
than research had anticipated.
Film aw areness studies, which are
conducted by independent market
research com panies, generally ask a
random sam pling o f A m ericans a
series o f specific questions: “What
films are you aw are o f currently in
theaters or about to be released?”
"Based on everything you know about
t h e
ROSE CARDEN
CONCERTS
w hether a p ictu re’s going to survive
its first w eekend. It can affect w here
you advertise and w hen you ad v er­
tise. But you give you a pretty good
idea w hether a p ic tu re’s going to
survive its first w eekend. It can affect
w here you advertise and w hen you
advertise. But you should alw ays re­
m em ber that it’s a guide, not a rule —
and definitely not a fo o lp io o f sy s­
tem .”
Mysterious women on the scene at the crimes
I’ l l MIHI III
PRODUCED BV SHOWMANINC
ANO MONQUI PRESENTS
hooker ;
AND THE COAST TO COAST BLUES BAND
g
$ 2 5
film X, would you say you are defi­
nitely interested or definitely not in­
terested in seeing it?” "W hat is your
first choice am ong film s playing this
w eekend?”
“First choice is increasingly im ­
portant because o f the volum e o f
film s in the m arketplace,” says New
Line president o f m arketing and d is­
tribution M itch G oldm an.
“ It can give you a pretty good idea
A O V
HOI I I
V IN I \< .1
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Carol O'Connell’s Killing Critics (Putnam)
begins with a discreet murder, but quickly
connects with a much more brutal crime. As
NYPD sergeant Kathleen Mallory probes into
the murder she discovers that the ghosts of the
past will not be still. And the formidable Kat
Colorado, “the quintessential female P.I.”
(Booklist), comes to the aid of a childhood
friend in Karen Kijewski's latest thriller, Honky
Tonk Kat (Putnam), set against the backdrop of
Nashville’s country music scene.
In the age of talk-show mania,
and crazed paparazzi, it’s hardly
unusual to hear of a celebrity
being harassed by an overzeal-
ous fen. But when superstar
country entertainer Dakota
Jones begins receiving
threatening letters, then finds
dead roses on her bed, she fears
it’s not the work or your run-of-
the-mill kook. At Dakota's
urging, Kat joins her friends
tour to investigate the case.
G a lle r i 8 c e le b r a te s th e
A .C .L .U .’s U ncensored M o n th
with an U ncensored W all o f art
rejected by galleries due to its c o n ­
tent, to g eth er with an audience re ­
sponse area. A lso, Portland artist
D iane W astson show s new w orks
called "P riv ate Selves" and C a n a­
dian artist Robert M eister show s
his new collection.
S u m m e r G a lle ri h o u rs a re
T hursdays & Fridays 2 pm -6pm
S aturdays 12-4pm. For questions
and review s call 224-7876.
expert, said he thought the contract
price was inflated. “These kinds o f
deals are hazardous to labels. It .
makes no real economic sense, ex ­
cept to m aintain appearances and
keep the nam e connected to the
band," he said.
Seniors, get
set for expo
S eniors and their fam ilies can
sw ing to the hits o f a bygone era
S a tu rd a y , S e p te m b e r 7 as the
D orsey B rothers O rchestra takes
the stage at the K eyB ank O reg o n
S en io r E xpo.
T he event will be held at the
O regon C onvention C enter in P o rt­
land.
T he D orsey Brothers, p erfo rm ­
ing on the m ain stage at 11 a m.
and 2 p.m ., are possibly the m ost
notable nam e from the Big B and
era.
T he 12-piece orchestra plays
the m usic m ade fam ous by T om m y
and Jim m y D orsey, w ho had hits
both to g eth er and w hile on their
ow n from 1938.
In addition to the exhibits and
entertainm ent, seniors m ay take in
up the nine different sem inars b e­
ing held throughout the day in ­
clu d in g topics on com puters, fi­
nance, health and more.
H ighlights include “Fall G a r­
d ening T ip with Ed H um e,” “E s­
sential G ra n d p aren tin g ” by Dr.
L illian C a r s o n author o f the book
by the sam e nam e, “The A B C ’s o f
P C ’s , ’“D o n ’t G et H am m ered by a
C ontractor", presented by the C o n ­
tractors B oard and “W hy T ak e a
B us W hen Y ou Can T ake the
S u p erco ach ,” presented by A m e r­
ica T ours.
POWELL’S CITY OF BOOKS
1005 W Burnside, downtown Portland • 503-228*4651
POWELL’S BOOKS AT CASCADE PLAZA
8775 SW Cascade Avenue, Beaverton • $03-643-313 1
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