Television, Theater, Cinema, Books, Fiction, Nonfiction: Feb. 7, 1969

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TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK is something of a milestone in the current black-white confrontation. In a tribute to the late Lorraine Hansberry, put together from her own writings, the able interracial cast puts on a performance that reflects her hot anger at indignity and injustice as well as her concern for humanity.

DAMES AT SEA. Bernadette Peters, aided by an engaging cast, is naive little Ruby who comes to the Broadway "jungle," determined to "tap her way to stardom" in this friendly parody of the movie-musicals of the '30s.

CINEMA

RED BEARD. Japan's Akira Kurosawa is one of the world's greatest film makers, and in this deceptively simple story about the spiritual growth of a young doctor he has made one of his greatest films. Kurosawa's techniques are impeccable, and his actors—especially the justly famed Toshiro Mifune—are among the most accomplished ever to appear on screen.

GRAZIE ZIA is a flashy first film by young (25) Italian Film Maker Salvatore Samperi. His theme is moral and spiritual decadence and his style is already accomplished, but the film is too repetitious and vague to be entirely satisfying.

THE SHAME. Ingmar Bergman examines war and the artistic conscience in his 29th film. The visual imagery is brilliantly desolate, and the performances—by Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand and Liv Ullman—are perfectly orchestrated.

THE FIXER is actually a 20th century Job, who becomes, to his own surprise, something of a hero. John Frankenheimer directs this adaptation of Bernard Malamud's novel with impressive force, while such actors as Alan Bates (in the title role), Dirk Bogarde and Ian Holm play difficult parts with vigorous dedication.

FACES. The purgatory of modern, middle-aged marriage is depicted by Writer-Director John Cassavetes with an obsessive eye for surface realism. His film has an air of grainy honesty, but his characters are so obsessed with themselves that they leave little room for audience empathy.

THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S is a sassy valedictory valentine to oldtime burlesque. The tone of the film is predominantly affectionate, and excellent performances by Jason Robards, Norman Wisdom, Britt Ekland, Harry Andrews and Joseph Wiseman contribute to the revelry.

THE FIREMEN'S BALL. What looks at first to be a simple, funny little anecdote about a group of firemen planning a party for their retiring chief is turned by Director Milos Forman (Loves of a Blonde) into a pithy parody of Communist bureaucracy.

OLIVER! is a treat—and a sumptuous one —for everyone in the family. Dickens' reformist zeal has been eliminated, but a good score, handsome sets, wizardly direction (by Carol Reed) and sprightly performances are ample compensation.

BOOKS

Best Reading

OBSOLETE COMMUNISM: THE LEFT-WING ALTERNATIVE, by Daniel and Gabriel Cohn-Bendit. One of the leaders of the near-revolution that shook France during the fateful "days of May" last year joins forces with his brother to examine the student-worker revolt; the authors wind up their absorbing chronicle by blaming the revolt's last-minute failure on the Communist Party, French trade unions and the left-wing establishment.