The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 30

4 1 1 i i 1 Sanford, with a gay son The Arts Page 30 S.F. EXAMINER Oct. 7, 1976 -rV TT i I By Stanley EUhelbaum That You?" which opened yesterday at the Coliseum, Serra and El Rancho Drive-In, is a slick, moderately entertaining movie of the popular but sappy stage A youth skateboarding around the edge of an abandoned reservoir in "Go for It." Kids will play-perilously Redd Foxx and Pearl Bailey play parents who are astonished to discover their son is gay. comedy about a father's astounding discovery that his son is a homosexual. But more than that, it's a juicy vehicle for Redd Foxx, who wraps himself around the role of the dumfounded and dunderheaded parent, mustering all the familiar shtick he picked up in his years as a nightclub comic and transposed so successfully to the amiable grouch he portrays in the TV series, "Sanford and Son." The astringent-witted actor makes an engaging debut as a movie star as Norman's father, Ben Chambers, a dry cleaner from Tucson, Arizona, who displays all the characteristics of Fred Sanford, including his penchant for zanily funny monologues which have little to do with anyone but Redd Foxx.

It's true that Foxx makes some effort to relate to the story. But he's shrewd enough to recognize the shortcomings of a mechanical sitcom and, on his own, rises above the script's hackneyed level of chuckles and yuks. Yet this is supposed to be an outre farce dealing with a gay menage into which the unsuspecting Ben stumbles when he pays a surprise visit to his son in Los Angeles. It takes a while for Ben to catch on, despite the froufrou of Norman's apartment, which is decked out with purple drapes, a waterbed, a closetful of gold-embroidered caftans and not one but two replicas of Michelangelo's statue of David. Ben is not, however, going to accept the obvious not even when his son starts listening to a Judy Garland record, or when the bedroom door flies open to reveal a mincing queen named Garson, who's dressed in a pink pullover and chiffon scarf and is, perish forbid, Norman's white lover.

By Jeanne Miller "Go for It," which opened yesterday at the Alhambra, Empire and Spruce Drive-In, is Paul Rapp's beautifully photographed documentary on high peril sports that offers little insight into the motivations of the young people who risk their lives in such endeavors. It encompasses surfing, skateboarding, snow skiing, hang gliding, shooting the rapids and mountain climbing in a series of locations that includes Australia, Japan, the French Riviera, Hawaii, Malibu and other parts of the United States. Rapp, for the most part, lts these daring feats speak for themselves "hot dog" skiers performing incredible acrobatic and comedic capers on mountain slopes, surfers gliding gracefully under the monumental threats of gigantic waves and skateboarders attacking the dangerous concrete contours of an empty swimming pool. But writer Neil Rapp apparently decided that we must also understand what propels these youngsters into their dangerous and often fatal hobbies and what aspects of these sports have captured their imagination. Unfortunately, the spokespersons he nominated to comment in the tedious narrative are totally inarticulate.

A world champion Hawaiian surfer intones: "Don't take anything seriously. What happens, happens. Just go for it." A lady skateboard enthusiast tells us: "I live on my skateboard. In fact, skateboarding is my life." The narrative also informs us that the joy to be found in these sports involves entering into harmony with nature's forces. But since a considerable amount of the film's footage involves skateboarders who use the city streets, abandoned reservoirs and drained swimming pools to practice their craft, mastery of the elements seems far afield from their asphalt-conquering aspirations, However, young aficionados of such high-risk sports will undoubtedly be engrossed in "Go for It," which is accompanied by a harsh, driving rock theme that is eminently suitable for the material.

The film's most beguiling moments involve the bemused expression of a Koala, sitting on the sands of an Australian beach and mutely inquiring: "What are all these people 'going This causes the innuendoes to fly thick and fast. Norman offers his dad an apple, and the old man waves it away, saying, "No thanks, I'm trying to cut down on my fruit." It seems that Ben has come to Los Angeles seeking comfort from his son because his wife has run off with Uncle Albert. He can cope with the marital crisis, hut what in the world can he make of Norman blurting out that he's gay? The rest of this comic soap opera brings Ben around to being the tolerant, understanding father every gay boy dreams about. It must be said, though, that we pay a terrible price for Ben's loss of innocence' for example, in Norman's reading off the names, from Socrates and Julius Caesar on, out of a volume called "Famous Homosexual Geniuses," to which Ben responds, "Oh, no! Not Stephen Foster!" When the joke has worn so thin that it invites tedium, it's time for Norman's errant mother to barge in on the scene. But even the formidable Pearl Bailey is unable to make much of the role, especially in her unflattering wig and powder blue pants suit.

She arrives too late, when the comedy is entirely exhausted and the only joke left is the reconciled parents' suggestion that, so long as they can accept having a gay son, they might as well "try to find him a doctor or lawyer." The film was produced and directed by George Schlatter who collaborated on the script with Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick, the original authors of the play. They have, alas, drawn things out beyond the limits of the material, which might have made a diverting half -hour TV show. In the supporting cast, Michael Warren is ingratiating as Norman, Dennis Dugan is aptly limp-wristed as Garson, Tamara Dobson is amusing as a hooker Ben finds in an effort to cure Norman and Way-land Flowers is quite funny as a bitchy neighbor who performs ventriloquism through drag puppets. There's also Jayne Meadows playing a bit role of Garson's neurotic mother and, curiously, coming off like Charles Pierce. if Movie Elvis a sellout; show added 'Trojan Women' at church best bets "The C'lotkmaker," at the Music Hall, is an offbeat, absorbing crime story, from a novel by Georges Simenon, centering on the ordeal of a Lyons clockmak-er whose is anted for murder.

Philippe Noiret skillfully portrays the father in Bertrand Tavernier's fine French film. "The Shootist," at the Balboa, is a superbly acted Western chronicling the last days of a gunfighter dying of cancer. John Wayne plays him with great insight and poignancy. Laureen Bacall is seen as a sympathetic frontier widow. Don Siegel directed.

"Cousin, Cousine," at the Clay, is a delightful Tickets to Elvis Presley's Nov. 28 concert at the Cow Palace went on sale yesterday at 10 a.m., and before noon the 13,000 seats were sold out. Another concert has been scheduled for the following night, Monday, Nov. 29, also at 8:30. The Maenad Ensemble Theater has opened its second season with Euripides' "The Trojan Women." It will continue Fridays through Sundays at 8:30 p.m.

through Oct. 24 at the Trinity Episcopal Church, Bush and Gough Streets. Going to a movie this weekend? Here are critic Stanley Eichelbaum's suggestions from the best current attractions. "Veronique, or The Summer of My 13th Year," at the Larkin, is Claudine Guilmain's beguiling, sensitive French film about an adolescent's first skirmish with adulthood. Anne Tesseydre plays the 13-year-old with remarkable naturalness and charm.

Third Smash Year! 10TH HOT MONTH! French comedy of family relations, focusing on the love affair of cousins by marriage, winningly played by Marie-Christine Barrault and Victor Lanoux. Written and directed with fresh, subtle humor by Jean-Charles Tacchella. f2 AN EVENING Jon Hendricks'Broadway bound smash hit American musical. '15 AT HVlDOlrV They're Here 478 Green SI 863-6619 Perforrrtinces; Tues thruFh.830- Scil.730S1000 Suii.7oO Tickets also at all leading agency On Broadway Theatre 435 Broadway, S.F 398-0800 WED-SAT: 830 TONIGHT AT 8:30 Dinner served from 6 00 P.M. TICKETS: $5 00 J6 00 6 $7 00 RESERVATIONS 982-2343 Weill Musical Cabaret Brecht- It's no small pleasure.

HIPPODROME THEATRE JiJ tarn 41? BROADWAY SF. uSplendicrously Funny." Penelope Gilliatt, The At'U) Yorker n4 IERAEE i-. funny, inventive laugh machine." Stephen Farber, New West Magazine THE KOREAN ANGELS THE DANCING WATERS VINCECARDELL TONIGHTS 8:30 JtK MONTGOMERY J-J oil BROADWAY VU "A real fun-factory with a laugh a minute." Norma McLain Stoop. AJter.Dark "Rowdy, nutty entertainment." Willliam Wolf, Cue Magazine "It's a ball of a brawl." Coming Oct. 25 ROWAN MARTIN (RESERVATIONS 1738-8282 RESERVATIONS PHONE Jf; I TOLL-FREE ANYTIME THE POINTER SISTERS IN THE VENETIAN ROOM AT THE FAIRMONT 772-5163 800-648-11 77yi TOMIOHT AT 130 Judith Crist i SPCCIAL DHMMttSHCmr INCUMMMO TAX AND TW Comrttiy Vtkt Hrimg ATMrtrMi KkimkutCtmer Superb cuisine and dancing to Mint hrnie neckschers Big Band 111 "if I I kmvMfa sad CHI CHI THEATRE CLUB 440 BROADWAY SAN FRANCIjCO 941J3 Fun Kxubvrant S.RIxamfnOT TOMORROW ,1 1 One week only J1CK UlCSTOfl AITR MOfiCOO JCRRV STIUR KflVC BRILRAD HOIZCR TCRRCna McflRLLV i nu: RICHARD LCSTCR RESTRICTED ACTUAL SIZE SHOWS DAILY at 1:30 3:30 5:30 7:30 9:30 BARGAIN MATINEE DAILY TIL 2 pm $1.50 The nev SHOWTIMES TODAY 6:00 8:30 MICH TONIGHTat830-The mapiifktni tvenrng of xnuHvtly acted nd produced theater.

fK -Plo limn iV ALSO SJ AKIH TOMORROW A THE FOLLOWING SELECT THEATRES ALBANY CINEMA, Albany 524-5656 VUSTIVAL CINMIA, Havwarcl 785-8000 VUSTIVAL CINEMA, Walnut Crcvk 934-8649 CINEMA HILLSDALE, Sail Mateo 349-4511 PALO ALTO SQUARE CINEMA, Palo Alto 493-1160 CENTURY 23 THEATRE, San lose 246-3574 inepawNErY 441 6800 mM Levcnvor1h at Bead MICHELOB! Next time out, try it out for size. ANHEUSER-BUSCH. INC- ST. LOUIS Tomorrow at 8 JO-The Two-Character Play THE BHOWrJSE'430 MASON aai-BIBa.