Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 30

118 118 28 Sept. 30, 1976 Phila. Daily News Norman? Why Is It So Funny? "Norman Is That You?" has been known to give critics the hives. Which is understandable; it's essentially a very pat, obvious and superficial show. Just about every critic who has ever reviewed it has hated What Can You Steal from a Noked Lady? her amiti 6 PLUS 2nd AND THEY'RE GARBY LLOYD RAINS HEA do 11:10 Continuous frem A.M.

THEATRE LOAD 1812 1812 Chestnut St. 10 3 7100: BATTLE OF THE NUDE QUEENS TIFFANY I CARTER 1 UNIVERSE CHANTE $100 SENIOR CITIZENS off far Miss NUDE AMERICAN FOX PLUS AN ALL STAR REVUE AND 2 XX-SCREEN HITS BURLESQUE STUDIO STAGE AND CINEMA 1637 LIVE SHOWS 12:30. 5, 8, 11 PM BURLESQUE HELD ON STAGE! FRENCHY Showtimes 1.588 P.M.. Daily LA DOO AND Sundar' NUDE 1,568 PM LIVE ON STAGE BIG Sand PLUS 2 XX IN HITS ON SCREEN By JOE BALTAKE Daily News Movie Reviewer INTEGRATED "TEENAGE XXX Escald ladies TROUBLE" FREE excol Sun and OPEN 24 HAS SUNDAY SEE "The 4 XXX GIRLFRIEND" ARR SE SUNDAY SEE THESE SNEAK 2-PLUS PREVIEW 1308 ARCH ST 2 MORE XX FILMS PHILA'S "'NIGHT ALL-MALE BEAT" SHOWCASE and OPEN ICAV "The Case MINICAT of the Cotter TREE Hooded Man" AL 20 08 it and has said so. But, somehow, it's survived.

Survived? It's flourished. Which is also understandable; it has one of the funniest scripts that I've ever encountered. Sure it's tasteless and sophomoric, but so what? It's also genuinely fun-n-ny. ITS HUMOR is a direct and natural off-shoot of its plot of machine-gun one-liners-and its one-liners are derived from a variety of sources: "I Love Lucy," Neil Simon, Paul Lynde and his swishy delivery on TV's Parental Guide Parental Guide "Norman. Is That You?" details a father's reaction to his son's homosexuality and details it hilariously.

it's often tasteless (full of cursing, double- and gay jokes), but you won't find a funnier movie anywhere these days. No violence, sex play or nudity. ALL NEW, BEAUTIFUL 24 OPEN HOURS 1311 MARKET 51-563-7470 2 X-RATED CLASSICS! DEEP THE ONE AND ONLY THROAT AND THE TWO Gie PICTURES THAT IT STARTED ALL! 17 Miss Tones THE BROADWAY CONNECTION. That's Earl "Wilson. He'll keep you in touch with.

the entertainment scene. PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS Orated color Tor bin Plus: "THE EROTIC DR. JEKYLL" CONTINUOUS FROM 11 A.M. LAST COMPLETE SHOW 9:15 P.M. 122nd MARKET LO 7-0124 PHILAN'S ORIGINAL BURLESK THEATRE 10TH ARCH STS.

WA 5-0988 NO GREAT TODAY ONLY! SPELLER Troc's Famous AMATEUR STRIP EVA TEASE CONTEST! The Show All Philly's Talking About! SHARP Call Theatre for Show Times! NO RESERVATIONS BUT YOU' EL GET COME EARLY FOR HER MESSAGE BEST SEATS! COMING OCTOBER FESTIVAL WILD, NUDE EXOTICS 1ST RUN ADULT FILMS OF SHOWSI EVERY WEEK A DAILY 10:30 AM TO MIDNITE SUN. NOON TO DYNAMIC ATTRACTION MIDNITE MIDNITE SHOWS FRI. SAT. "Norman Is That Your?" Starring Redd Foxx, Pearl Bailey and Dennis Dugan. Directed by George Schlatter.

SamEric, 1908 Chestnut St. MPAA rating: PG. "Hollywood Squares" and even "Amos 'n Andy." I may be less of a person (and, perhaps, even less of a critic) for admitting this, but I had an absolute ball with "Norman Is That You?" and plan to see it again until it becomes an old friend. It's at the Sam Eric. Already an old friend is Redd Foxx who is marvelously nasty, hilarious and gratifying here as a middle-class, middle-brow establishment man caught up in his Tucson dry-cleaning business.

He's a worka-holic who drives his wife (a grand Pearl Bailey) so batty that she ups and runs off to a seedy Mexican motel with his partner (who also happens to be his brother). Redd needs "a shoulder to cry on and a smile to lean against," so to speak. He packs his bags, gets on a bus and high-tails it to Hollywood to pour out his heart to his son, Norman (Michael Warren in his debut). PROBLEMS AND one-liners multiply when it becomes obvious that Norman is a homosexual living in a gay apartment building, in a lavender-dominated flat and with a prissy roommate named Garson (scenestealing Dennis Dugan). Throw in a couple of colorful supporting characters (leggy Tamara Dobson as a token "cure-all" hooker and Jayne Meadows as Garson's baracuda mother) and you have some feisty, funky surefire material.

Ron Clark, Sam Bobrick and director George Schlatter (of "Laugh-In" fame) authored the laugh-getting script, providing Foxx and Dugan with the best material. Incidentally, both Foxx (whom I never really admired before) and Dugan should be remembered when award time rolls around, they make a great "odd couple" team and their scenes together have a natural flow. They deliver their lines with rattlesnake venom. Note in Passing: Schlatter filmed his movie's interior scenes on video Redd Foxx: nasty tape and then transferred them to film stock. This is a first--a worthy but unsuccessful experiment.

It gives the film a dark, grainy, hard look which doesn't flatter the cast, especially not Ms. Dobson. This usually beautiful woman looks awful here. 'Clockmaker' Ticks with Emotion Thanks to Phillippe Noiret's Power By JOE BALTAKE Daily News Movie Reviewer To observe French actor Philippe Noiret's foremost performance in Bertrand Tavernier's first film. "The Clockmaker" de is to witness and share the actor's joy in having reached the pinnacle of his long and fascinating career.

How can this very fine performer perhaps France's greatest actor possibly top a portrayal that's so intensely full-bodied and three-dimensional? IF YOU happen to be a passionate moviegoer or, at very least, a foreign-film aficianado, you've seen Noiret's raw dramatic ability and comedic know-how surface in such Gallic works as "A Very Happy Alexander," "Le Secret" and "La Grande Bouffe," as well as in Hitchcock's With "The Clockmaker," he fully realizes his natural dramatic poten- Phila. New Jersey Offer Adult Films 8 MM. 200' reel, color, reg. $20 val. 720 new selections.

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2756 KENSINGTON AVE. "The Clockmaker." Starring Philippe Noiret. Directed by Bertrand Tavernier. New Ritz, 214 Walnut St. MPAA rating: PG.

In French with English sub-titles. tial in an emotion-draining, 105-minute character study that's daring, resourceful, joyously memorable and, best of all, bittersweet. In one session, Noiret provides a valuable lesson in what great screen acting is all about. This is performing of Academy Award calibre. Now at the New Ritz, the PG-rated production casts Noiret as Descombes, a hero typical of author Georges Simenon, who wrote the book on which Tavernier, Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost based their screenplay.

(In the original book, incidentally, the action took place in the U.S., rather than in France.) DESCOMBES IS a modest man a watchmaker by trade who runs his own shop. He's hardly a great thinker and is generally apathetic about ideas and more interested in food when it comes to cafe chitchats with his town comrades. Our hero middle-aged and settled faces an unexpected dramatic upheaval in his life when his grown son is accused of murder. He's finally forced to think out matters, to question himself and to closely study the people and atmosphere around him. All of this brings him to the sudden realization that the boy he raised alone (he's a widower) is a stranger.

Descombes is obliged to analyze and re-evaluate himself and to grab on to all fading memories that might provide him with some insight. It's a penetrating, powerful theme and Noiret and company (particularly Jean Rochefort as a police detective) give it a tough, uncompromising reading. Philippe Noiret: fascinating career Classic. Note in Passing: Tavernier's second film, "Le Juge et L'Assassin," also starring Noiret, is another flick with flair. It hasn't been picked up for American distribution yet, but hopefully it will.

Parental Guide "The Clockmaker" a thoughtful film about one man's reaction to his son's evil ways is tasteful, inoffensive but probably too heady for younger viewers. No nudity or sex. Some light violence and infrequent cursing..