rikumovie

Shirley MacLaine as a troubled sister

THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY (1972). Director: Waris Hussein.

Upper east side divorcee Norah Benson (Shirley MacLaine) has increasingly clung to her brother Joel (Perry King) since her husband left, but lately the free-spirited Joel has been acting strange and threatening. [Of course, Norah brushes his hair as if he were an eight-year-old.] Joel becomes a suspect in a horrible murder, the latest in a series of decapitations of women supposedly committed by Joel's friend, Tonio Perez. The trouble is, Tonio is dead. Is Joel the killer, or is he literally or figuratively possessed by Tonio? And will Norah learn the truth before Joel can turn on her and her family? The Possession of Joel Delaney has an intriguing storyline, but while there are a few creepy scenes, it's all handled much too matter-of-factly and there's only real suspense near the climax, which actually consists of utterly repellant scenes of Norah's two young children being terrorized. MacLaine gives a good performance for the most part, but she doesn't seem sure how to handle the grislier "horror" portions of the script involving assorted severed heads. Perry King, who was "introduced" in this movie although he'd had small roles in previous films, is quite good, as are the children. Although Norah reacts to the denizens of Spanish Harlem just as a wealthy snob like her would, the picture does present somewhat stereotypical portraits of Puerto Ricans.The ending leaves room for a sequel which fortunately never materialized.

Verdict: Not awful but misses the mark. **.

Unlikely coupling: Maria Schneider and Marlon Brando

LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1972). Director: Bernardo Bertolucci.

"I'll be smirking and giggling all the way to eternity."

Jeanne (Maria Schneider), a young woman whose boyfriend, Tom, is filming a documentary about her life as it happens, enters into a "no names," no frills affair with an older man, Paul (Marlon Brando of On the Waterfront), whose wife has just committed suicide. Tom (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is unaware of Paul and his girlfriend's sexual obsession with the man. Will the two lovers manage to keep things casual, or will one of the participants want something more than just the eroticism? Last Tango in Paris was heavily promoted as an "art film" -- an Italian director and set in Paris! -- with screenings only in certain New York theaters and with tickets sold in advance with assigned seats. Without the frank sexual activity  -- a sodomy scene with butter was especially notorious -- it's unlikely anyone but Bertolucci's most fervent admirers would have cared about this fairly dull movie. The film is pretentious and all over the lot, as if Bertolucci had cobbled a screenplay around Brando and Paris and hoped for the best -- a series of tableau's that never really jell, although there are some interesting bits and pieces along the way, and the film does get at certain truths in some relationships where there is a distinct age difference between the parties. Some scenes seem thrown in because they might seem unique -- Paul has a talk with his dead wife's lover, Marcel (Massimo Girotti) for instance -- but they don't convince, just as it's hard to ever take seriously the "relationship" between Jeanne and Paul. [After passing on the street, they meet when both look at an apartment for rent, but there is nothing to suggest an attraction between the two. Yet Paul simply picks Jeanne up and begins having sex with her without her protesting.] Another senseless scene has Paul chasing after a potential client of a hooker who has changed his mind and calling him a "faggot." There is some humor on the sophomoric side -- Paul moons an older woman at a Tango palace --  and the performances aren't bad, but the actors have no fully dimensional characters to play, and Paul is essentially an asshole. Ultimately what Tango seems to be about is an aging, bitter man objectifying and debasing a younger woman even as she exposes how pathetic he is. Scheider appeared in quite a few movies both before and after Tango.  

Verdict: Like La Luna this is another Bertolucci movie that may make you want to say yuck! **.

Hal Holbrook and Martin Sheen

THAT CERTAIN SUMMER (1972 telefilm). Director: Lamont Johnson. Written by Richard Levinson and William Link.

Contractor Doug Salter (Hal Holbrook) has divorced his wife and is in a relationship with musician Gary McClain (Martin Sheen). When his teenage son, Nick (Scott Jacoby) comes for a visit, he has to deal -- although he doesn't want to -- with the boy's eventual realization of his father's sexual orientation. This was the first made-for-TV movie to deal fairly positively with the subject of gay relationships. The focus is perhaps more on the father-son relationship than it is with the lovers, although they are portrayed as normal human beings and not losers or freaks. It is likely that Broadcast Standards and Practices (the TV censors of the time) probably imposed a speech in which Doug wonders if homosexuality is a "sickness" and says "if I had a choice it's not what I would choose for myself." In spite of this, the gay relationship is in no way presented as being abnormal, and it is made clear that Doug is much more conservative than the younger and more liberated Gary. The entire cast gives excellent performances, including Hope Lange [Peyton Place] as Doug's ex-wife; Jan Shepard [Attack of the Giant Leeches] as Gary's sister; Joe Don Baker [Criminal Law] as his brother-in-law; and Marlyn Mason as a client of Doug's who has romantic feelings for him.

Verdict: Whatever its flaws -- and it has them -- this frank, mostly intelligent film was certainly a step in the right direction. ***.