Two very fine films at the week-end

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33230, 21 May 1973, Page 4

Two very fine films at the week-end

The quality of Friday and Saturday night’s viewing is dependent largely on the quality of the films screened and last week was one of those rare occasions when both films were from the top drawer.

Friday’s “Requiem for a Heavyweight” superbly depicted the twilight world of a professional boxer at the end of his career and with nothing more to show for it than a battered body and a few memories of what might have been.

As the washed-up boxer, Anthony Quinn gave a truly memorable performance and any film which brought him, Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney together could hardly miss. With a lesser cast it might have been more flyweight than heavy-weight in its impact. Guest appearances by Cassius Clay, in the days when he still was Cassius Clay,

and Jack Dempsey gave added depth to the film’s central theme, but they were touches which could easily have been done without. Quinn and company, particularly in the locker room scenes, gave the story all the authenticity it required. Then on Saturday night there was “Compulsion,” a film based on the famous 1924 Loeb-Leopold murder case. This film was notable on a number of counts, but overshadowing them all was the performance of Orson Welles as the defence counsel.

His plea at the end for the lives of the two young murderers must rate among the great pieces of film oratory, in a court-room or anywhere else.

It was, as Barlow said more than once, just like old times as he, Watt and Hawkins got out of the Task Force offices and into the streets again in Saturday’s “Softly, Softly” episode. We have always liked

Barlow best when he is in (the field, calling the shots • and he showed all his old I talents in this regard as he i played cat and mouse with the young thug in the dockside cafe. The story, “Safe in the Streets,” with its theme of racial violence, would probably have meant more to people living in Britain than it would to New Zealanders. But even so, it was good, well-acted drama and a reminder of just how much the format of this show has changed over the years. After an evening of such solid drama on Saturday a few laughs were much needed, but unfortunately “Me Mammy” failed to adequately fit the bill. It is doubtful if even the members of the most rebellious wing of the Dutch Roman Catholic Church would have been impressed by some of the jokes I made at their expense.

The Ben Travers farces might have been popular in the 19205, but it is doubtful if they will hold much appeal for generations brought up on Marx Brothers, “Carry On” or Goon-type comedy.

It was very evident in the first farce on Friday night. “Rookery Nook” — and despite the fact it had been rewritten for television—that this was material best suited to the live stage. Almost all the action took place in the one room and the continual opening and closing of doors became rather tiresome.

The plot was in the classic mould of drawing room, with a touch of bed-room, farces. There was much hurrying and scurrying about by the overdrawn characters and it might have been easier to take if it had not lasted so long (an hour). Richard Briers was in his element in the part of the principal character, Gerald Popkiss, but in some respects this was bad casting. Briers had become so familiar in; “silly ass” parts that he now lacks freshness and this was la quality “Rookery Nook” badly needed. As for poor old Arthur Lowe, the sooner he rejoins “Dad’s Army” or gets back into “Coronation Street” the better. The role given him, of a down-trodden- husband, allowed him very little scope to display his considerable talents for comedy. In brief, “Ben Travers Farces” could be described as suitably light fare for the end of the working! week, but in technique, dia-l logue and characters the! opening episode was aboutj as outdated as rumble seats!, and the charleston. —K.J.M. I