The following is a review 
     
     of the movie "Pete 'n' 
     
     Tillie" which appeared at 
     
     the Confederation Center 
     
     last week. 
     
    

    
     It is pretty good, all 
     
     things considered, like 
     
     those plays that win ann— 
     
     ual prizes in off years. 
     
     Though directed by Martin 
     
     Ritt of "Sounder", "Pete 
     
     'n' Tillie" reads like the 
     
     'serious picture' that dir 
     
     ectors of comedies and ac- 
     
     tion films are always pro— 
     
     mising to make when they 
     
     have realized enough money 
     
     from their hack work. Few 
     
     of them ever do, it is 
     
     embarrassing. All the 
     
     hours in pursuit of the 
     
     easy have rubbed off, and 
     
     their very vision has be- 
     
     come so saccarine that 
     
     "serious" means a few "ser 
     
     ious" characters stuck inr 
     
     the sugar, like on a wedd— 
     
     ing cake.."Pete 'n' Tillie 
     
     fares better solely on the 
     
     strength of Tillie's part. 
     
    

    
     Tillie is well into her 
     
     thirities when she meets 
     
     and sleeps with Pete, a 
     
     defensively wise—cracking 
     
     market researcher. (Whether 
     
     Pete is actually supposed 
     
    

    
     .to be funny~a la Neil Simon 
     
     or not is hard to say. The 
     
     fact is, we are conditioned 
     
     to laugh at the mere sight 
     
     of Walter Matthau, and we 
     
     do.) Pete and Tillie marry 
     
     and have a child, with the- 
     
     ir sit—com problems gradua— 
     
     lly being replaced by the 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     After bangs, Bing's: Burnett and Matthau as Pete ‘n' Tillie. 
     
    
   
   
    
     serious ordinary kind that 
     
     we in the audience have. 
     
    

    
     It is an interesting plan, 
     
     to take them our comic ic— 
     
     ons and turn-them quasi— 
     
     tragic. Carol Burnett, as» 
     
     Tillie, pulls it off mag— 
     
     nificently, with grace and 
     
     depth I never gueSSed she 
     
     had. She was given a touch— 
     
     ing, full, well —conceived 
     
     part and she enriches it. 
     
     Matthau as Pete does his 
     
     best. 
     
    
   
   
    
     But that's as far as it 
     
     goes, as Ritt and writer, 
     
     Julius J.Epstein keep 
     
     blowing it on the incident— 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘als. For example, Tillie is 
     
     called to have lunch "like 
     
     civilized women" with one 
     
     of Pete's mistresses. 
     
     goes, and over a drink 
     
     tries to make the best of 
     
     the time by asking the girl 
     
     friend what she finds so 
     
     attractive in Pete. 
     
     should know," the mistress 
     
     replies a trifle petulantly 
     
    
   
   
    
     She 
     
    
   
   
    
     "You 
     
    
   
   
    
     "he's kind, has a great 
     
     sense of humour and... 
     
    
   
   
    
     he's a pistol." 
     
    
   
   
    
     "What?" asks Burnett. 
     
    
   
   
    
     "You know", says the 
     
    
   
   
    
     mistress, "a pistol". 
     
    
   
   
    
     At the end of a very short 
     
    
   
   
    
     lunch Burnett gets up to 
     
     leave ant the mistress asks 
     
     "If you know about Pete a 
     
     and me, why do yOu stay wir- 
     
     th him?" 
     
     "H's a pistol" Burnett 
     
     replies. 
     
     In between those exchanges 
     
     and I think they are terr- 
     
    
   
   
    
     ific— Ritt has the.mistress 
     
     drop her contact lens into 
     
     her martini. Very funny. 
     
     "Pete 'n' Tillie" does that 
     
     tOO often for comfort. 
     
     Burnett keeps it moving. 
     
    
   
   
    
     but she has to work over- 
     
     time to do it. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     recunls 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Phoenix/Grand Funk - SMAS 11099 
     
    
   
   
    
     If you've been following 
     
     Grand Funk for their past 
     
     few albums you have probab- 
     
     ly noticed a drastic change 
     
     in style. This change first 
     
     came to light when GF rec- 
     
     orded their Closer to Home 
     
     album. More attention beca— 
     
    
   
   
    
     me concentrated on the lyr- 
     
     ics, a far cry from GF's 
     
     earlier albums. This new 
     
     approach to music will pro— 
     
     bably kill one of the most 
     
     tal—nted bands in the world 
     
     today. 
     
    

    
     Side one of Phoenix exhib— 
     
     its one phase of GF's evo- 
     
     lution. More emphasis is 
     
     put on Mark Farner'a organ 
     
     work. This addition results 
     
     in a fuller, funkier sound. 
     
     Flight of the Phoenix is a 
     
     'good example. Led by Farner 
     
     on organ and Doug Kershaw 
     
     on violin, Flight of the 
     
     Phoenix is by far the best 
     
     out on the album. As a who- 
     
     le, side one comes off qu- 
     
     ite well, the emphasis be- 
     
     ing put on GF's instrument- 
     
     al abilities. Unfortunately 
     
     they blow what could have 
     
     been an excellant album on 
     
     side two. 
     
    

    
     "I'm afraid of over—pop- 
     
     ulation/I don't want to die 
     
    
   
   
    
     from suffocation,/ the wor- 
     
     ld is full of pollution/ 
     
     and Jesus is the solution/" 
     
     Please spare us. Side two 
     
     is garnished with such nau- 
     
     seating sermons from the 
     
     Rev. Farner. This is para— 
     
     noia-rock at its worst. NOT 
     
     since Crosby, Stills, Nash 
     
     and Young's "Ohio", has the- 
     
     re been such drival put on 
     
     record. 
     
    

    
     Rock and Roll Soul is the 
     
     last cut, and in some ways 
     
     it ressurects the Grand 
     
     Funk of old. But its too 
     
     little too late. It Grand 
     
     Funk continues to put out 
     
     the same kind of crap 
     
     found on side two of Phoenu 
     
     ix, their days are numbered 
     
     If they can come out with 
     
     an album along the same li- 
     
     nes as their fantastic E' 
     
     Plurbis Funk they will be 
     
     reinstated as the number 
     
     one group in the world, a 
     
     position they are capable 
     
    
   
   
    
     of attaining. The next 
     
     Grand Funk alBUm should 
     
     tell the story. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     BEST WISHES 
     
     AND A 
     
     HAPPY ST.PATRICKS DAY 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     from 
     
    
   
   
    
     THE 
     
     ROYAL BANK 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     #J