The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 56, Ed. 1, Friday, April 27, 1984 Page: 3 of 12
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-Optimistfriday april 27 1 984-
-A-3-
Kaleidoscope
'Vertigo'
Hitchcock film stands test of time
Intermission
rachel weems
fc Vertigo that dizzying disorienting ex-
perience is usually referred to in medical terms.
However when sanity and emotional stability
slip off balance and begin a gradual downward
spiral you've got a thriller in the making. Alfred
Hitchcock's classic thriller "Vertigo" is now in
re-release and its suspenseful story is dizzyingly
well-crafted by its master director.
"Vertigo" is rated PG and is showing at the
Radford Hills Cinema.
Police detective Scottie Ferguson's problems
begin when he discovers he suffers from vertigo
after failing to save the life of a colleague during
a rooftop chase. Guilt-ridden Scottie quits his
pob only to be recruited by an old college friend
Gavin Elster to tail Gavin's wife Madeleine.
Madeleine played by Kim Novak seems to be
Senior slips
into twilight
at graduation
By LISA MCDONALD
Features Editor
She stood solemnly as the 90 mph wind rustled
Ijier dress at least seven feet above her head. The
ky darkened as she attempted to flush the
particles of sand from her eyes.
It had been four years now and no one had
noticed her. Finally it was time for graduation.
And here she stood looking not quite the same as
she did four years ago and staggering to
maintain some sense of equilibrium in the storm
knowing this was it she was standing on the
edge of the twilight zone.
Na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na.
Caught between finding a job and continuing
her education her mind was full of trivial things
Jike passing Broadcast News and worries of
rowning during tne swim test.
She spent most of her time sunning herself like
a beached whale instead of studying and writing
creative columns for the student newspaper
which was her job.
"What is it all worth?" she asked herself on
numerous occasions. There must be some reason
for all this suffering some type of explanation
for her struggles.
And now it seemed she was the worse for the
wear. The light at the end of the tunnel seemed to
be out there. The question was would she make
W All this had brought her to the moment of
truth. This was her long-awaited moment of
destiny.
Na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na.
The graduates began to answer the roll-call
diploma presentation. One by one they stepped
gracefully from one side of the platform to the
other shaking hands with university dignitaries
and receiving a mock diploma en route.
At least two million people had crowded into
Moody Colesium to witness the event. It was hot
boring and no one but the parents of the
graduates could believe they had been so foolish
hs to forget their similar experience at last year's
commencement.
She glanced over the list one more time to see
that her name had not been mysteriously whited
out since she checked it five minutes earlier. It
was still there. She relaxed long enough to
breathe for the first time since she sat down.
Slowly but steadily they were getting closer to
her. She just knew that for the first time in the
history of graduation they would forget to call
one person her.
Then it came. Like a shot heard round the
world her name. She rose solemnly in light of
jhe occasion and started her ascension to the
Wtage.
Poor girl some have said she never knew what
happened. The crowds will remember it though.
When she slipped and rolled off the stage into the
floor with her graduation gown caught on the
platform she never regained consciousness.
Some say she died of a severe blow to the head.
I'm sure that was it. Embarrassment couldn't be
better named.
possessed by the spirit of her great-grandmother
Carlotta who committed suicide when she was
Madeleine's age. By the time Scottie has
followed Madeleine for several days and
eventually prevented her from drowning herself
in San Francisco Bay he has fallen deeply in
love with her. Unfortunately the shadow of
Madeleine's past makes its indelible and tragic
mark on both their lives.
Hitchcock's story is one of obsession and
Stewart gives the film's best performance as a
man oblivious to all but the woman he loves.
Stewart changes before our eyes from an
average detective into a man living on the edge
of reality. His psychologically frenetic per-
formance contributes much to the tension and
pace of the film.
Novak displays the right degree of coolness as
the aloof and troubled Madeleine. Hitchcock
treats her character with unabashed but never
corny romanticism and creates a spell around
her without which the film would not prove
nearly as absorbing.
Hitchcock's direction is the strongest point of
the film. Especially interesting and effective are
segments in which Scottie follows Madeleine to
learn her .secret. The lengthy sequences are
devoid of dialogue but compellingly clear. We
see not only Madeleine's obsession with Carlotta
ik
Wire
as she visits her grave and stares at her portrait
for hours but we watch Scottie's obsession with
Madeleine take root and grow as well. The
famous Hitchcockian tension is almost tangible
in these scenes.
Also in evidence are Hitchcock's then-avant-garde
camera angles as in tilted shots of
Scottie's apartment or an especially effective
aerial angle of an old Spanish church. Other
strong points include a good credit sequence and
an excellent musical score by Bernard Herr-
mann. Special effects in "Vertigo" have suffered a bit
over the past 30 years even if the classic story
hasn't. While some of the effects are fine others
look primitive by today's standards. A partially-
animated sequence as Scottie struggles for his
sanity probably fares the worst against today's
more sophisticated technology.
The film's only other problem seems to be its
length just over two hours. While many
viewers Tuesday night watched the film con-
tentedly and intently others apparently were
uncomfortable with the long running time.
"Vertigo" is a thoughtful and complex thriller
and an absorbing character study of a man
obsessed. Hitchcock's talent easily stands the
test of time and offers itself once again for a new
generation of film viewers.
IHHfliHJlIifciflE
Here Poochey
Rose Law freshman animal science
major from Keller played with her
friend Troll at a recent concert on
the mall. The summer-like weather
Is expected to continue through the
weekend with a possibility of
thunderstorms Friday evening.
(Photo by Elaine Britt )
Count Basie dies of cancer at 72
HOLLYWOOD Fla. (AP) Count Basie dean
of "jump swing" and one of the great figures in
the era of big-band jazz died today of cancer at
Doctors' Hospital here. He was 79.
Basie had been hospitalized for treatment of a
severe ulcer but doctors later discovered that
the musician had cancer of the pancreas said his
adopted son Aaron Woodward.
Basie "was not informed that he had cancer.
Dad was a very special person. Had he known he
had cancer he would have given up living"
Woodward said at a hospital news conference.
"He didn't look like he had a problem."
Lionel Hampton described Basie as "one of the
true greats of music. He had his own particular
style.. ..It was one of the greatest styles you could
hear."
"He leaves behind a great legacy in his
writings and his records and his great bands"
said Hampton. "It's a great loss. I hate to even
think about it. I hate to think about it."
Dr. Leo Schildhaus who treated Basie said
Basie had "an obstruction to the flow of bile; he
was jaundiced" when admitted to the hospital
Feb. 4.
The condition was relieved "but then he had
969 Lynwood
another upset" a bleeding ulcer the doctor
added.
Basie was released from the hospital Feb. 14
then was readmitted March 27 Schildhaus said.
He performed at the Hollywood Palladium in
California the week before he was admitted the
final time.
He died about 4 a.m. with family members at
his side Schildhaus said.
The composer and bandleader started as a $3-a-night
piano player in a Chinese restaurant on
the New Jersey coast. A half-century later he
was still meeting club dates from coast to coast
with occasional appearances before presidents
and royalty.
Along the way he wrote "One O'clock Jump"
"Jumpin' at the Woodside" "Don't You Miss
Your Baby" and "I Left My Baby." And he
perfected the Basie sound blasting brass
ensembles simple hummable riffs and rousing
solos all held together by his piano playing
background transitions or coming to the fore for
brief solos.
"Confidentially"! hated the name 'Count'"
Basie said in a 1982 interview. "I wanted to be
called Buck or Hoot or even Arkansas Fats."
Kennedy's son
called optimist
BOSTON (AP) Like other bright young
people David Kennedy was "optimistic"
although unsure of how to channel his talents his
college adviser said.
But other acquaintances believe the young
man died in spirit the day he witnessed his
father's assassination.
In the five years between his reported
mugging in a Harlem drug hotel and his death
Wednesday in a posh Florida resort Kennedy
had been twice treated for drug addiction and
once arrested for drunken driving and had
returned briefly to Harvard University.
He had also worked at everything from selling
Amway products in Sacramento Calif. where
he was able to get away from Kennedy
"groupies" to journalism his professed am-
bition. Results of an autopsy in Palm Beach Fla.
were not expected for several days but drugs
were believed to be "a strong possibility" a
county medical investigator said.
The fourth of the 11 children of the late Sen.
Robert F. Kennedy Kennedy had majored in'
history while attending Harvard from 1974
through 1979. He had enrolled there again last!
September but never received a degree a'
university spokesman said.
"He was doing well in every regard" during a
visit a few weeks ago said John Marquand his;
college adviser and a close friend. He said
Kennedy who had discussed several career
possibilities was "an optimistic and cheerful
person serious-minded yet witty."
Marquand said he did not believe Sen. Robert
Kennedy's assassination on June 5 1968'
weighed unduly on the son's mind. "He did not
brood."
But a retired journalist who for 30 years has
lived next door to the Kennedy compound in
Hvannis Port. Mass. said he believed Kennedy
never recovered after "watching his father bleed
to death" on national television.
Larry Newman 69 said his daughters romped
with the boy who before his father's death "was
like every kid out there."
After the assassination Kennedy "got into
drugs and I don't believe he ever got off of
them" Newman said. "I'm surprised he lived as
long as he did."
"I was brought up with the thought that 'what
society gives you you should give back with
interest.' I believe that" Kennedy said in a 1982
interview.
But he felt overwhelmed he said by his
inability to fulfill expectations of him. "I don't
want to embarrass my family any more" he
said of his life's main objectives.
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 56, Ed. 1, Friday, April 27, 1984, newspaper, April 27, 1984; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101404/m1/3/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.