Word: film
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Dates: during 1980-1980
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...defendants had not been seen publicly since their arrest. Jiang Qing, a onetime film actress, seemed almost defiant as the trial opened. Her jet-black hair was pulled severely back behind her ears; she marched into the courtroom with her head regally erect and then alternately smirked and yawned during the reading of the indictment, apparently to show contempt for the proceedings. Still, there were some reports that at one point she broke down and cried. Other defendants seemed tired and worn from their long imprisonment. Two members of the Gang, Zhang Chunqiao and Wang Hongwen, had shaved heads...
...they dream of glory during those evening hours when the rest of the world is walking the dog, watching Johnny Carson, or returning from the new film at the Bijou. Or perhaps not: the men and women of TV who are in charge of waking up America may merely see the hour hand stretching inevitably toward 2, the minute hand reaching inexorably toward 12 and ... BUZZ! RING! It's time to get up again. Plug in the percolator, scramble the eggs, pour the milk over the granola...
Curiously enough, Goldie Hawn, who produced the film as a vehicle for herself, does not play the title role with much conviction. One suspects that her energies were devoted more to launching a project than to acting a part. Or it may be that she is really too smart to play convincingly the neurotic ninny of the film's early reels. In any case, she appears to be less eager to be funny than she is to make a point, namely that men tend to be sexually exploitative, and crudely and rudely so. About all Private Benjamin adds...
Perhaps the best thing about this film is the cast list, which includes such good people as Eileen Brennan, Barbara Barrie, Robert Webber, Albert Brooks and Harry Dean Stanton. Among the bad things is its failure to give any of them anything worthwhile to do. Brennan, one of the screen's master muggers, puts up a good fight against the odds. Everyone else very sensibly stays low in the foxholes...
...glittery magic means more to the actors than it ever will to the villagers; the show must go on so that the showmen can continue to believe in themselves. The attractive cast does not press this point; they too are here to entertain. That they do, in a film as refreshing as a tall glass of iced coffee on a hot summer...