Superb portrayal by Mickey Rooney

Press, 2 April 1985, Page 13

Superb portrayal by Mickey Rooney

By

GRAHAM PARKER and AVENE FLANNERY

“BILL” KOAVS 97min G 1981 Mickey Rooney won an Emmy Award for best actor with his brilliant portrayal of the title character in this movie. An ageing, unwanted, unloved simple man, Bill has spent nearly all his life in a State mental institution and is working as a clean-up man at a seedy club. Bill meets a young filmmaker by accident and a warm relationship develops. Barry and his wife Bev even take Bill with them on a visit to Barry’s parents, but the relationship is all but severed when Barry accepts a post at the University of lowa. Circumstances reunite them and the battle for Bill’s acceptance into society really begins. This is a poignant movie, based on fact, which is saved from being mawkish by superb acting and good direction. Dennis Quaid gives a solid portrayal of the young film-maker and Largo Woodruff plays his warm and caring wife, Bev. The quality throughout is excellent and this is one we would recommend to all. “THE STEINLAGER” OLYMPIC HIGHLIGHTS Sports Vision (N.Z.), Ltd, 180 min G 1985 The official highlights of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, authorised by the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association and presented by Allison Roe and John Davies. Some of New Zealand’s proudest moments in sporting achievement are preserved for posterity, along with notable successes by athletes from other countries. Well put together, the quality is excellent throughout and this video should be of wide interest for a long time.

“FRENCH TOUR ’B4” Sports Vision (N.Z.), Ltd Presented by Andy Haden and prepared in association with TVNZ Enterprises, Ltd, this tape gives rugby fans an hour or so of great football, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of all teams concerned. The tape is a compilation of the matches played and Andy Haden’s comments are well delivered and concise. The back of the cover slicks carries the tour record for the French team, with a list of matches

played, results, players’ individual scores, and a record of the number of matches played by the nonscoring members. Again, it is well prepared and edited, the picture and sound quality are excellent and this'tape should find a very ready home in rugby club libraries. “PORTRAIT OF A HITMAN” CBS/Fox 82min M 1983 Jack Palance stars as Jimbuck, an aspiring artist who becomes a hitman for the syndicate in an effort to

maintain his expensive lifestyle. He is thrown into confusion when he is given a contract to hit a close friend who once saved his life and whom Jimbuck is sure is not connected with the mob. Jimbuck has an agreement that he will only be given contracts on mob members so he decides to investigate further, only to find that his friend (a neurosurgeon) is to perform a life-saving operation on a mobster. The mob want this man to die which is what will happen if Michael is not there to operate. This a good action movie with supporting roles played by Richard Roundtree, Ann Turkel, and Bo Svenson, with a cameo appearance by Rod Steiger. Picture and audio quality are adequate. “THE MASTER” Thorn EMI 50min PG The first in a new series of martial arts action movies stars Lee van Cleef as John Peter McAllister, a respected master of the Ninja — an outlawed legendary cult of fierce, dedicated Japanese warriors. The master has returned to the United States after 30 years in Japan to find his long-lost daughter and meets up with Max Keller (Timothy van Patten), a Shell-raiser. After involved in a brawl with the town sheriff, the young man is fascinated by the old man’s skills and asks to be taken on as a student. The pair soon become involved in a struggle for justice on behalf of an airport owner whom the sherif is trying to put out of business so that a land deal can go ahead. This is a fast moving action movie and the series will appeal to martial arts fans. Picture and audio quality are very good.