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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 11/30/90 -- Vol. 9, No. 22

MEETINGS UPCOMING:

Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon.
LZ meetings are in LZ 2R-158. MT meetings are in the cafeteria.

_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C

12/05/90 LZ: EQUAL RITES or THE LIGHT FANTASTIC by Terry Pratchett
(Humorous SF)
01/09/91 LZ: BRAIN WAVE by Poul Anderson (Intelligence)
01/30/91 LZ: RITE OF PASSAGE by Alexei Panshin (Adolescence)
02/20/91 LZ: MARTIANS, GO HOME! by Frederic Brown (Social Satire)
03/13/91 LZ: TOM SWIFT by Victor Appleton II (Juvenile SF)

_D_A_T_E _E_X_T_E_R_N_A_L _M_E_E_T_I_N_G_S/_C_O_N_V_E_N_T_I_O_N_S/_E_T_C.

12/08/90 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: TBA
(phone 201-933-2724 for details) (Saturday)
12/15/90 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: Jim Frenkel
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)

HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 834-1563 hocpa!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell LZ 1B-306 576-6106 mtuxo!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
HO Librarian: Tim Schroeder HO 3B-301 949-4488 hotsc!tps
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 576-3346 mtunq!lfl
MT Librarian: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.

1. Our next film festival is a double feature I have wanted to show
for a long time, but until recently the first film has been
unavailable. Both films star Jimmy Stewart but as opposite
characters. In the second film he completely distrusts the type of
character he plays in the first film. On Thursday, December 6, at
7PM, we will be showing:

Aircraft and Engineers
NO HIGHWAY IN THE SKY (1951), dir. by Henry Koster
THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (1966), dir. by Robert Aldrich

THE MT VOID Page 2

The theme of the first film is whether a scientist's responsibility
is to science or society. Nevil Shute (author of _O_n _t_h_e _B_e_a_c_h)
drew on his career as an aircraft engineer in writing the novel _N_o
_H_i_g_h_w_a_y. (They made the film title a little more self-
explanatory.) In NO HIGHWAY IN THE SKY a mousey little scientist
(Jimmy Stewart) at an aircraft plant is convinced a new sort of
metal fatigue will cause his company's new plane to crash. When a
suspicious crash does occur, he is sent to investigate on a plane
that may be similarly flawed. A very good cast includes Jack
Hawkins, Marlene Dietrich, and Glynis Johns. The good films become
more timely with age and with disaster prediction becoming more of
a possibility for events like earthquakes and architectural
failures, this film is more relevant today than in 1951.

THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX is not relevant at all, but it is a
thumping good adventure film. An excellent cast led by Jimmy
Stewart and Richard Attenborough tell thriller writer's Elleston
Trveor's story of a plane crash in the Arabian desert. The
survivors are miles off-course with little food, little water, and
a map. Told with tension and suspense, this is a classic story of
how you save yourself with just the materials at hand. The cast
includes Peter Finch, Hardy Kruger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen
(nominated for an Oscar), Dan Duryea, and George Kennedy.
(Personal note: I first saw this film one night on television at my
college Student Union. The film runs long and fifteen minutes
before it was over they tried to close the building for the night.
An audience of thirty people absolutely refused to let them even
get near the television to turn it off. There was nearly a nasty
incident. That night the Student Union stayed open until THE
FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX got over.)

Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 957-5619
...mtgzy!leeper

Democracy is the most difficult of all forms of
government since it requires the widest spread of
intelligence....
-- Will Durant

Capsule review: Epic portrait of a Sioux tribal
life as seen through the eyes of a Civil War officer.
American Indians have rarely or never been portrayed so
believably and sympathetically. Its biggest flaw is that
the White Man does not seem as realistically portrayed.
The films resembles _W_h_i_t_e _D_a_w_n and _F_a_r_e_w_e_l_l _t_o _t_h_e _K_i_n_g
in plot and spirit. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4).

I suspect that of all the films of 1989, the one that will be best
remembered will be _G_l_o_r_y. It may not be the best film of 1989, but it
has a sort of timeless quality that will hold up for many years. That
was 1989. This year I think we have an even better film that has that
same timeless quality. There have been films in the past that have
tried to give sympathetic views of the American Indian. It is not hard
to be more sympathetic than films like _F_o_r_t _A_p_a_c_h_e. _L_i_t_t_l_e _B_i_g _M_a_n,
unaccountably popular, attempted to be sympathetic but gave the
impression that the writers knew nothing about American Indians. (I do
not know if the novel was as bad or not.) Other films such as _C_h_e_y_e_n_n_e
_A_u_t_u_m_n tried to speak of injustices done to the Indians, but they too
never got into the minds of native Americans. Perhaps _D_a_n_c_e_s _w_i_t_h
_W_o_l_v_e_s, based on the novel by Michael Blake, is no more authentic than
is _L_i_t_t_l_e _B_i_g _M_a_n, but it certainly feels like the most authentic film
ever made about American Indian culture.

Kevin Costner directs and stars as John Dunbar, who is to have his
leg amputated due to wounds in a Civil War battle. Not having the
courage to face his future, he attempts suicide and in doing so
accidentally makes himself a hero. This not only wins him medical care
sufficient to save his leg, he is also given his choice of posting.
Wishing to see the Western frontier before it is overrun by the white
man, he requests a posting to an isolated and deserted fort far out on
the frontier. His thoughts about facing hostile animals and more
hostile Sioux are overcome by his curiosity and his willingness to
accept and appreciate that which is alien to him. The film picks up his
enthusiasm to meet, understand, and befriend the very alien culture of
the neighboring Sioux. He must first overcome their distrust. There
the storyteller somewhat unrealistically contrives circumstances in
Dunbar's favor. This is a long film and each stage of his acceptance by
the Sioux is shown and not overly glossed over. In particular, language
problems are quite believably difficult and eventually overcome by
another contrivance. Eventually Dunbar is accepted into the Sioux
society and Costner can show us how Sioux lived and thought.

If the film has a major weakness it is that it exaggerates the
stupidity and strangeness (even if not the cruelty) of the hordes of

Dances with Wolves November 25, 1990 Page 2

invading white men. The positive view of the Sioux would be more
believable if the view of the White Man had more credibility. There is
a love story of Dunbar with a white woman who has been Sioux since she
was captured as a child. This subplot could have been a distraction
from showing us the Sioux lifestyle, but if so it was only a minor one.
Mary McDonnell, familiar from _M_a_t_e_w_a_n, plays Dunbar's lover interest,
Stands with a Fist.

_D_a_n_c_e_s _w_i_t_h _W_o_l_v_e_s is told with a grace and humor that keeps the
viewer constantly entertained through its nearly three-hour length.
Costner is to be congratulated for creating such an unorthodox film
(about a quarter us in Lakota, the Sioux language, and subtitled), and
at the same time so enjoyable a film his first time directing. I give
it a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.