w|i

‘Strangelove’—comedy
with point that hits home

Bomber crew approaching the nuclear * ki'l.”

5 5 Dr. Strangelove:or How I Learn

to Stop Worryi
B es orrying and Love the
Stare: Produced and directed by
onley Kubrick. Starring Peter

ellers. Sterlj.
C oe erling Hayden and George

(eoomedy that strikes terror
a en the heart hadits premiere
ae an. 28)in London and simul-

eed in New York and
ee The horrifying impli-
a NS of (this film) are only
8, pereree removed from life—

€ath,

prector and producer Stanley’
hen uses the subtlest of
dey Ns, humor, to attack the

a liest — of weapons. the
the ae In so doing he exposes
aes Shtmare lunacy of basing the

ival of the human race on

Uclear * defence’,

kp * * *
the ae is our profession’’ is
side eee Slogan erected out-
he Strategic Air Base some-
ere in the U.S,
ane the war-crazy anti-

a Bnet camp commandant
Hayden) ne D. Ripper (Sterling
Which has just issued an order

will send his H-bomb force
Over a Secretly and irrevocably

a aa Soviet Union to drop

target, Siles on a key nuclear

This

trig in turn will irrevocably

ag off an automatic Soviet
the See Weapon that could put
ole out of action for 93

Despite
this the emergenc
ig gency

meeting in the immense and fear-
some War Room at Washington
is calm and unruffled. Gen.
‘Buck’? Turgidson (played with
magnificent odiousness by
George C. Scott, star of TV’s
‘‘Bast Side- West Side’’) is cheer-
fully advising ‘the President on
how to convert the situation into
an American triumph.

‘sThen there’d only be 20 mil-
lion dead instead of 150 million,’’
he explains, ‘‘a modest and ac-

ceptable civilian loss.’’
* * *

The schoolmasterly little
President, however, is bent on
averting disaster. On the hot line
to Moscow, he exchanges pleas-
antries with the Soviet Premier
before coming delicately to the
point.

Meanwhile cuts back to the
bomber force remind us that
the aircraft are getting nearer
and nearer their target, and that
the leading aircraft is captained
by a zealous Yankee (Slim
Pickins), hot for Uncle Sam and
rip-roaring for the kill.

Science—the maniac science of
destruction—is represented by
the sinister, leering crippled
figure of the German, Dr.
Strangelove. As advisor to the
High Command, he Sits in his
wheelchair trying to control his

right arm from a compulsive
reflex action—the nazi salute.

Peter Sellers doesa staggering
hat-trick in the triple roles of
President, doctor, and a sporting

British officer at the air base.
* * *

The film dodges the political
implications of the H-bomb.
Taking an apparently ‘‘neutral’’
stand, it satirizes with equal
ruthlessness both the Russians
andthe Americans. Peter Bull,
in the only Russian role, makes
avery nasty Soviet Ambassador
indeed.

But it is mainly concerned with
America. And it brings into the
searing daylight the nightmare
which haunts all our minds. In
a cold war atmosphere, where
war depends on electronic com-
puters, buttons, dials and levers
the one thing that is overlooked
is the human element.

When the humans concerned
are psychotic, warminded, mili-
tary anti-Communists, there is
danger indeed.

As the bomb explodes and the
mushroom cloud belches its de-
struction into the open sky, a Vera
Lynn voice is heard crooning
that plaintive little number
‘*We’ll meet again, don’t know
where, don’t know when. . .”’

You leave the theatre silent
with shock. Which is exactly
the right frame of mind for the
subject.

. —Nina Hibbin

‘Labor Member From Fernie’

B mitsn Columbia’s most re-
ton Markable political institu-
On Feb, Tom Uphill, who died
Year. ead 17, 1962, in his 88th
ber fro © served as Labor Mem-
for 4, 0 the Fernie Constituency

1929 eeetuous years, from
Vefeateg, 60 when he retired un-
A One.

ut hour radio documentary
FR Phill— ‘1,4 BOR MEMBER
item 5 FERNIE"” — is featured
On Pan, CBC Saturday Evening
Pm, 1 wary 8 from 8:30 to 9:30
through Will be heard onCBU and
Pacifie nt BeC. on the CBC's

emorge et Network; and com-
Anniverc, > UPhill’s second death
Wh Sary and the passing of
Weeks os Sarah, just three
Janugy Sfore the broadcast on

Y 15, 1964,

Inc SNS ee:
remind in the program are
LO of 36 friends,
Tange : and associates. They
Uphin °M Dick BeardandSarah
betorg Rio knew him in Wales
t ae turn of the century,
: &mier W.A.C. Bennett,
ee rer Salta 2 ae

leader of the Opposition Robert
Strachan, Uphill’s Liberal suc-
cessor in Fernie, Henry C. Mc-
Kay; and Communist leader
Nigel Morgan. Also heard are
six Ministers in the present
Social Credit administration,
NDP MPs Bert Herridge and Har-
old Winch, NDP and Social Credit
MLAs, members of the family
and others.

RADIO

They recall with affection,
humor and insight, probably the
most astute politician B.C. has
ever known; one of the most
colorful and dedicated of men,
who served the working and farm-
ing people of B.C., whatever their
politics or constituency, for two
generations.

* * *

‘LABOR MEMBER FROM

FERNIE’’ was prepared by Lau-

gi vv

rence Nowry from material
gathered while travelling from
the province’s western to east-
ern extremities—from Victoria
to the Crow’s Nest Pass. It was
produced in the Vancouver
studios of the CBC.

Tom Uphill

|_| | IL I@NiHT_||_|_| {tii i i a i

The Return
of Sam McGee

The Yukon Territorial Council supports the return of legal gamb-
ling to the Yukon community of Dawson City, where games of chance
flourished during the fabled years of the Klondike gold rush.

e —News item

It's a son-of-a-gun, the strange things done
On the trail of the ‘ninety-eight;
The Arctic gales hum the weirdest tales
That it's better not to relate;
The Northern Lights view the oddest sights —
But the oddest | ever knew
Was the night on the shore of Lake Lenore
Sam McGee came back with his crew.
* * *
Now one and all, you must sure recall
That Sam McGee had a chum
Who hadn’t a name, but who took Sam’s frame
Which he barbecued to a crumb;
Once a cinder black, how could Sam comeback?
Your guess is as good as mine...
Yet he brought back, too, an unsavory crew

Whose names will shiver your spine.

Some well-known ghosts were whooping it up
In the Malamute saloon:

There was Sam McGee singing out of key
A spooky sort of a tune,

And One-Eyed Mike and Blasphemous Bill
And Dangerous Dan McGrew

In a spirited way were making a play
For the lady that’s ‘known as Lou.

If you’re following me, it was ‘sixty-three;
Outside it was eighty below,
When out of the night, as high as a kite,
In sneaked a shifty shmoe;
He’d a pointed nose, and his tattered clothes
Had never been cleaned or creased...
His boots were a wreck—he’d walked from Quebec ..
For he was a Creditiste.

He resembled a crow as he growled, ‘‘Allo!’’
Then ordered drinks for the house,

And the ghostly crew, including Lou, drank up,
Though they thought him a louse;

*Let’s ’ave a game of poker, Mes Vieux! Eh?
?Ow about it folks?’’

For his X-ray eyes had noted a prize —
The gold dust in their pokes.

“T’ll be bank!*? he screamed, and his glasses gleamed
As he counted the gold he’d gain.
So they licked their lips and bought their chips
And each spectre cudgelled his brain.
For your name is mud in a game of stud
If you can’t remember (but fast!)
The hands that are best, like straights and the rest—
Your gold ain’t going to last. :

But the Creditiste, like a preying beast,
Had everything all arranged;
When disputes arose he would stroke his nose
And announce that the rules had changed.
So the Creditiste effectively fleeced
All the ghosts, including the dame,
And they argued not, for they’d quite forgot—
They’d been so long from the game.

His four-card straight beat four Kings and an eight
Held by Dangerous Dan McGrew;
His nines (he had two) beat the hand (all blue)
Of the lady that’s known as Lou.
He raised to the sky on a mere Ace-high
And McGee was forced to fold,
And ’ere break of day in front of him lay—
All the chips and the gold.

As he rose to go with his pile of dough,
The barkeep let out a whoop;
And in manner brash demanded cash
For the drinks consumed by the group.
Now all this dust he considered a must
To take back on his homeward trip,
So the artful creep squared the poor barkeep
With Social Credit scrip!

When the scrip appeared—I know it sounds weird—
And the barkeep fingered the stuff,
The pokes all bust, and vanished the dust
That had seemed substantial enough!
And Mike and Mill and Sam McGee ~
And the lady that’s known as Lou
And Dangerous Dan and the barkeep man—
They all of them vanished, too!

* * *

It's a son-of-a-gun, the strange things done
On the trail of the ‘ninety-eight;

The arctic gales hum the weirdest tales
That it's better not to relate;

The Northern Lights view the oddest sights - - -
But the oddest | ever knew

~ Was the night on the shore of Lake Lenore

Sam McGee came back with his crew.

Tales written and oral, they all have a moral
Applying to high and low:

Don't play around, sonny, with money that's funny - - -
Or you'll be a Sourdough!

—From the Toronto Telegram, by way of the Whitehorse Star and
the News of the North.

enero

1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Parje

February 7,