Cinema
Rocks and slips
Duncan Fallowell
11 Harrowhouse Director: Aram Avakian. Stars: Candice Bergen, Charles Grodin, Trevor Howard, John Gielgud, James Mason. 'A' Carlton, Haymarket (95 minutes).
Today the sun is beating through the window and you wouldn't know there was a dry hurricane blowing outside, except that now and again a tree falls over. The low season. Mostly 'A' films about. nothing in particular like jewel robberies. 11 Harrowhouse is the address of a clearing house somewhere in Mayfair with 12 billion dollars worth of uncut diamonds in the cellar. Sir John Gielgud, as keeper of the rocks, has a passion for security, the ultimate caretaker, and his part — etched with loving care — is the joy of this particular film. One could not call it a taxing role. In fact the meticulous cool in white cuffs seems almost second nature to him. He always has beautiful nails and fingers the stones as if they were tiny nipples. A subtle sensuality here. You can picture his tragic face and hear a psychotic scream when he discovers that old
hutch, Trevor Howard, has had the lot sucked out through a hose. James Mason as the faithful employee turned renegade and a cancer victim to boot is equally at home, sadness with slippered resignation, an attitude in which he now has no peer.
The love couple in the centre, Miss Bergen and Mr Grodin, are less distinct. He has a hairy chest, she has wet lips, and they are both on Howard's side. An amusing, sljght thriller but not the sort of thing to hold up a whole column unaided. However, since there is so little to occupy us this week, perhaps we could tidy up last week's printing slips, in the interests of my peace of mind. In case you imagine me to harbour a Rasputin complex, I was not holding Imperial Russia aloft last week but an Imperial Russian which they used to sell in my-college shop; so the incense was not an affectation but necessary to crowd out the foul odour made by the tobacco. Secondly, and more importantly because it is always mis-spelt even in papers designed for the addict market, the stuff you buy in chemists if you have heart fatigue and stick up your nose to make you go all dizzy is not amyl nitrate but amyl nitrite. A little matter perhaps but armies have been mobilised for less.
Next week there are Julie Andrews and vampires and a window cleaner confesses, so watch this space.
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