Village Squire, 1975-03, Page 18■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ • ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ e ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ • ■ ■ • •.,■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ •
440%iIIS
by John Schedler
"AIRPORT 1975" WITH CHARLTON
HESTON, KAREN BLACK, GEORGE
KENNEDY.
Leading the large roster of stars are
Charlton Heston as a trouble shooting veteran
pilot and Karen Black as the senior
stewardess he's been having an affair with for
the last 6 years or so. After a testy farewell at
the departure gate she boards the ill-fated
plane and gets the passengers comfy for the
trip from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles. At
the same time, the audience gets a crash
course in one of those formula passenger lists
that have been around since "The High And
The Mighty".
Happily once the plane is airborne, the sky
begins getting ugly and the disaster finally
strikes in the form of a small private plane
which smacks into the jumbo jets' cockpit
when its pilot has a sudden heart attack. With
a gaping hole in the pilots cabin, it's up to
Ms. Black to man the controls and follow
radioed instructions on how to keep the plane
aloft until the airport people figure out how to
land the plane. While the intrepid stewardess
undergoes everything from destroyed radio
contact and leaking fuel, to dwindling altitude
in the Utah mountains. Superb aerial
photography and excellent special effects, are
the heart and soul of the film and director
Jack Smight has done a good, straightforward
job at all the right places. Hokey but fun.
Rating ***
"THE LONGEST YARD" STARRING BURT
REYNOLDS AND EDDIE ALBERT.
The Longest Yard is a sheer, unadulterated
fantasy during which the establishment takes
a brutal but thoroughly satisfying beating and
criminals are somehow converted to heroes
through the purifying ritual of football.
As the ex -pro footballer who mobilizes a
crew of neanderthal convicts to do battle
against their prison guards, Burt Reynolds
finds himself in one of the most aptly cast
roles of his career. And while moralists will
tind plenty to balk at in the films casual
brutality, the film's cannily engineered
screenplay promises most audiences the joy
of seeing heads, legs, necks and groins
smashed into with cheerful abandon by the
lovable if murderous underdogs.
Director Robert Aldrich's control of the
material is total, ranging from Reynolds'
snappy confrontations with Eddie Albert as
the. power mad warden and the hilarious
montage of player selection to the final game
itself, a vicious, hilarious combat that even
non -football addicts can take off on.
One of the years funniest films
Rating ****
"JUGGERNAUT" STARRING OMAR
SHARIF AND RICHARD HARRIS
Juggernaut proves conclusively that raging
destruction, soap -opera tragedy, mass panic
and flying debris are not prerequisites for a
good shipboard disaster film.
Under Richard Lester's snappy but
surprisingly disciplined direction, J uggernaut
substitutes intelligence, low keyed suspense
and tension, adding up to one of the best
examples of the peril -at -sea genre yet.
The mechanics of the plot are simple
enough. A luxury liner reaches mid -ocean
when the shipping lines general manager
receives a phone call from a man calling
himself Juggernaut. The ship, he is formed,
has been planted with six oil drums, each
with a sophisicated explosive device which
will be triggered unless the ransom is paid.
Since the waters are too rough to permit
passenger evacuation, enter a crack bomb
squad headed by Richard Harris and David
Hemmings who parachute on board and
begin to pick at the heavily booby -trapped
time bombs. Omar Sharif as the captain and
Richard Harris as the cooky bomb expert give
their best performances in years.
Rating ****
For over forty years
Welcome Wagon hostesses
have been making calls
on newcomers - whether they
be within our own nation or
in a foreign country.
If you are a newcomer,
know of one, or are a businessman
desiring representation
in the newcomer's home, call
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for WELCOME WAGON LIMITED.
Call your Welcome
Wagon Hostess now.
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16, VILLAGE SQUIRE/MARCH 1975