William Holden.

“It’s uite simply the best
script I had read in years,”
gays Academy Award-
winning actor William
-Holden of his. current film,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s
‘“Network’’ by Padd
Chayefsky. ‘It’s filled wi
passion and. outrage,” he
continues, “I admire those
qualities in writing and we
rarely see them on th
screen anymore.”’ ‘

In “Network”, Holden,
_whio co-stars with Faye
-Dunaway, Peter Finch and
Robert Duvall,. plays an
honest television executive
forced to. compromise with
his own integrity. “The film
gives me the opportunity to
say something about the
way we live right now. Peter

Finch plays a good, close.

friend whose sanity is
threatened by a turn of
events and Faye Dunaway
plays a very modern per-
sonality without a soul.
“We're all. characters who
are living out the con-

sequences of the headlines,”
continues Holden, “and I -

think audiences are going to
be knocked out by the film.”

Holden, who now makes
his home in Kenya,. Africa,
considers the six months-he
spents out of the Hollywood

environment an important

contribution to keeping his
own sanity. “I work with
animals, on a reserve,
‘keeping more than 300
species of wild life roaming
free over the terrain. The

whole venture is done with -

_ Hallowed ground of Garland invade

‘Even the hallowed sound was ‘believed as
Sof Judy Garland isn’t safe touchable”’.
of the A.
le production

Sfrom the onslought
dace beat. A new sin

the cooperation of the Kenya |
government and is an in-
tegral part of the ecological

integrity of the country.”

- In addition to assuring the
continuation of rare species,
Bill’s ranch assistants
‘monitor the food and water
supplies
sometimes moving entire
herds hundreds of miles
away to areas which: are
.more supportive to its needs
and its chances of survival.

are greater. Even. in. this.
pursuit, however, a humane —

aet can sometimes be
disguised and  misin-
terpreted, and sometimes it

becomes necessary to kill .

certain predators to
preserve the prey and
maintain the balance of
nature.

Says
eatest enemy of the wild
gdom is man.. Hunting is

available,

Holden, “The

4

only a part of the misdeed. °

In the past few years,
governments have taken

notice of ‘their wildlife.

population and have tried to

save endangered species by-: ‘J
’ limiting the hunting season «the River Kwai’, “Sunset cautious smile...

or reducing the. hunter’s-

bounty allowance. But great

_ damage is also done-by the:
0

of ‘cities and*-in-

ustrial development. If the -

bird or anim:
_invade new territories in
search of food and water, it

may very well throw the

newly-found habitat into'an

imbalance which threatens .
the existence of the native. |
shooting schedule was _-

species. It’s a. very..com-

ver

d_ Richar:

is forced to.

# the

“yn. and: his

Pa

“

During his ‘five.
months —

with working on his ranch
while enjoying the serenity .
of the quiet evenings. This is .
the time when Bill Hoiden ©
does his reading: his in-

-terests are many and varied

and among. the books and

‘magazines there are always

one or two scripts which

have been sent to him from _

California. si si‘

Perhaps it is the basic discussion in the film about

security which . Holden
enjoys and the serenity with
which he can read and
evaluate a script-which has

led to the wisdom of. his. portant to come to terms.

selections. Certainly he is
not infallible,

number of flop films in

‘which he has appeared is

miniscule when. compared

‘with most performers, Since

making his debut in the
screen adaptation of Clif-
ford Odet’s ‘'Golden Boy”,
Holden . has. appeared in
‘outstanding films such as
“Picnic”, ‘The Bridge on’

Boulevard”, ‘The World. of:

~ Suzie Wong”, ‘The Longest ==. |
day’?:-and the. super-)
 guecessful “The Towering

Inferno’. His latest,
“Network”, may well top all
the others, not only as a.

screenplay -but also as an.

actor's vehicle,

“Network was an ex: .

rience’, says Holden, a
ew weeks after the grueling -

eS

‘plicated situation.

hard — emotionally — for a
film and feeling this food
about it. There’s something
about both Sidney (Lumet,
ithe director) and Paddy
.(Chayefsky, the writer) that
inspires good work. They
both refuse to compromise
and that comes across in the
films they make. -

“There’s a great -deal of

morality — the choices we
make as human beings and
the consequences of those
‘choices. I think it’s im-

with those questions. It’s not

answer, but we do have to
admit that complex
‘problems do exist.”
Holden . credits his co-
actors with helping create
an atmosphere of trust that
allowed for. full-out bravado
performances: to. emerge.
‘It was strange’, says”
Holden, breaking into a
‘Peter
(Finch) ‘had to go. crazy

SERS

rou

has. brought

PaRTICIPACTION.

; i __ Ina Canadian movement for personat fitness.

Fitness. In your heart you know it’s right.

ers ne er
erat . . ot . “tee

- 2, ENTERTAINMENT, THE HERALD, Wed. Dec.-t, 19767517"

-“ 7 gompleted. ‘‘We were right before our eyes, and”
five. or six exhilarated and exhausted Faye (Dunaway) i. playing:
away ‘from. all at the same time. I can’t the sort of unsympathetic ,
Hollywood, Bill fills his days remember working this “part actors are. never...
supposed to accept. It took:
; te a bit of courage for.
ese actors to play the roles‘
they did. Mine was really
the easiest — a good man ~.
caught in circumstances he *

thi he can’t control.

“This is the second film .
I've done'with Faye — she’s _
a marvelous actress. I know”
you hear she’s difficult, but. .
the only difficult thing about: -

Faye is she demands of.

herself and others total. —
that -.
‘invigorating and = I’m:
grateful we shared somany”
est scenes. She-makes‘you take = |
but the ‘a matter of finding an easy yourself to your limit.” = -”.

commitment. I find

_ 4. L
Does Holden have any~.

doubts ‘that the American’: —_-
public is ready for a film as... ~
rd-hitting as “Network”?
“Notat all,” says Holden. “I.
think moviegoers want tobe...
confronted with .human”
truths — they want to think’:
and feel. That’s what makes... -
“Network” important andi: |
think it will come across.”

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