sp 8th a a te THE CANCER SYNDROME by Ralph W. Moss, published by Grove Press, 1980. New York, 347 pp., $14.95. ‘‘The revelations in this book about the ways in which people have been betrayed by the cancer establishment, the medical profession, and the government are shocking. Everyone should know that the ‘war on cancer’ is largely a fraud, and the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society are derelict in their duties to the people who support them.”’ Thus spoke Dr. Linus Paul- ing, twice Nobel Laureate and Director of the Linus Pauling Institute of Medicine and Sci- ence. This very strong statement is very carefully documented by the author in a critical in- vestigation as to why the mas- sive sums of money poured into cancer research have pro- duced such meager results, as this dreaded disease still kills one in five people in North America. Moss accuses the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Na- tional Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) of relying on and promoting traditional cancer treatment methods of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. As to prevention of cancer, the author points out the in- creasing hazards due to the many chemicals used in indus- try and agriculture, which are ‘ Betrayal of victims cancer-causing not only to the workers directly involved, but for their families and generally for the environment which in- volves all of us. With tremendous resources for the use of the media ‘‘in- dustry has been able to confuse the public about the risk of cancer-causing substances.’’ Historian David F. Nobile re- ports that Mobil Oil spent $312 million on-‘grass roots lobby- ing’ in. 1978; Monsanto is spending $5-billion a year on TV spots, newspaper ads and pamphlets for school children’’ — and that’s not all. What is more surprising, in fact disconcerting, the author says that ‘‘only a small percen- tage of overall research effort at MSKCC is directed toward. prevention. Of approximately 100 laboratories listed in the 1975 Annual Report, only one is exclusively occupied with — the question of cancer preven- . tion. In a few other labora- tories, researchers work on the question of prevention but often on a part-time basis.” The Cancerous Link One explanation may be the link between the directors of MSKCC and cancer-causing industry. Appendix A lists the names of the leaders of MSKCC and the affiliation of some of them with industries whose operations produce carcinogens, and_ with pharmaceutical companies who are reaping huge profits from the sale of drugs used in treatments. — Rose Lewis Are Terry Fox and other cancer victims being betrayed by the cancer research establishment? Yes says The Cancer Syndrome, an in depth analysis of cancer research. DaVinci notebook auctioned LONDON — A 36-page notebook written and illustrated by Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the most valuable manuscripts in the world still in private hands, will be auctioned in December and experts said today it could set a record price of $10-million. The manuscript was | sent to Christie’s by the family of the Earl of Leicester and will be auctioned Dec.. 12. ; : The Leicester family bought the manuscript in 1717 from an Italian collector, Giuseppe Ghezzi, who bitterly said he had parted with what was even then recognized as a masterwork ‘because of the power of gold.” - Leonardo wrote the notebook, titled ‘‘Of the Nature, Weight and Movement of Water,”’ in 1507 as a study of landscape problems to prepare to paint the background of his portrait of the Mona Lisa. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCT. 17, 1980—Page 6 jai ae me an “The future sucks!” middle age crazy Bruce Dern tells a class of high school graduates in one of his fantasies. Judging from this film he’s right. Fortunately, reality is more interesting. ~ MIDDLE AGE CRAZY. Directed by John Trent. Written by Cari Kleinschmitt. Starring Bruce Dern, Ann-Margaret, Graham Jarvis, Eric Christmas and.Deborah Wakeham. Admit- tance restricted. : Well, it looks like the sexual revolution is over. It also looks like it lost, if Hollywood.is to be believed. While it would have been made differently, in general outline Middle Age Crazy is a film that could easily have been produced in the 50s. Based on the Sonny Throckmorton song of the same name, director John Trent’s romantic comedy does passably well as light- weight entertainment, but as the social com- mentary it pretends to be it achieves all the depth of a kids’ wading pool. The.film opens with the sun setting over an offshore oilfield. This is Texas, folks, the land where people (well, some people at least) have more money than they know what to do with. Fitting into this category is Houstonite Bobby Lee Burnett (Bruce Dern), a man who seems to have it all: a lucrative job building taco stands, a plush suburban home complete with pool and hot tub, an adoring son on his way to becoming an architect, and an even more adoring wife (Ann-Margret) who spends her spare time devis- ing new and exciting ways to ‘‘screw his brains out.” His sex life is the envy of his best friend and business partner J.D., whose wife has been less than amorous ever since Jesus Christ appeared at the foot of her bed and told her that ‘‘there’s more to marriage than just fornication.”’ But despite his abundant good fortune, Bobby is less than contented. His wife’s attempts to turn their love-making into a marathon event on the eve of his 40th birthday merely deepens his feeling that life is passing him by. Fantasies increasingly intrude on his real life: he delivers the oration at his own funeral; addressing an auditorium full of cap-and-gowned high school graduates, he recommends that they ‘‘give them back their silly ... hats and stay 18 forever. The future sucks!’ He dreams of seducing his son’s girl- friend and is hopelessly smitten by a woman he spies in a Porsche dealership. When his father dies and his mother moves in, and his son gets his girlfriend pregnant, Bobby begins turning his fantasies into reality. He trades in his Oldsmobile for a $40,000 Porsche, dons cowboy clothes and has an affair with the woman of his daydreams (a Dallas Cowgirl, no less). He soon finds, however, that being a middle-aged 18-year-old is not all he’d hoped,.as his marriage, career and illusions all begin to disintegrate. Without revealing the ending, its enough to say that Billy Graham would approve. What . starts out as a mild satire of middle class mores ends up as a not-too-subtle reaffirmation of them. Its not so much the values themselves that. are offensive, but the extremely narrow way in which they are portrayed. The alternatives pre- sented .are a conservative, excessively consumer-oriented existence of middle-class mediocrity or a wildly irresponsible, do-your- Middle class malarkey own-thing life of perpetual adolescence. Some choice. And the audience’s sympathy for the charac- ters must be somewhat dimmed by the fact that they all seem to get money from a free-flowing tap. As someone who is still riding a bicycle I couldn’t get too choked up about Bobby’s 1a ment that he was still just an Oldsmobile man (especially when the ‘‘problem’’ was so easily rectified — he leases the Porsche through his company and writes it off on his income tax): When his son decides to quit school his fathet gets him a job. When his parents want to travel they just buy themsélves a new Winnebago. Its all a bit like a commercial for American Express credit cards. In Middle Age Crazy, America is not only -affluent but lily white. The only Black character isone of those tacky little ornaments, a jockey rooted to the Bumett’s front lawn for the amusement of white folks. Mexicans are mel tioned only to be cursed out by Bobby’s rathet crotchety father. ‘‘Goddamn Mexicans, rioting and causing trouble,’ he complains. “They should have dropped the H-bomb on Juarez.’ * Cute. ‘Middle Age Crazy is also very much a male- oriented story. Its not a tale of two people trying to work out their marital problems, but of the husband going through an emotional crisis while. the wife does little more than hang around to seé how things turn out. Women, apparently, dont worry about life passing them by. It never ap pears to cross anyone’s mind that Bobby’s mid- dle age craziness may be aggravated by the fact that living with someone who doesn’t work an whose only apparent past timeis frenetic formic” tion could get on your nerves after a couple of decades. : ; Still, as an entertaining piece of fluff Middle Age Crazy has it moments. Bruce Dem, onc chronically typecast in psychotic bad guy roles: gives an appealing portrayal of a man torn be- tween two opposing lifestyles. Geoffrey Bowes does nicely as Bobby Lee’s father, a cranky but not unsympathetic character who is haunted by his own imminent death. Some of the film $ heartier laughs are provided by Graham Jarvis as Bobby’s sex-starved friend. Unfortunately, Ann-Margret’s Sue Ann, Bobby’s wife, is not terribly interesting — not because she can’t act, but because the character itself is so inherently boring. Similarly, Deborah Wakeham is little more than decorative in the paper-thin role © Nancy, the Dallas Cowgirl Bobby beds. This 154 man’s film, remember. ; By the way, Middle Age Crazy was made with the assistance of the Canadian Film Develop” ment Corporation. I’m sure they’ll get their 1 vestment back, but there must be better cinema tic efforts to sink our tax money into. This film has about as much Canadian content as a Cadil lag." : - If it’s biting satire you want then stay home and watch MASH. If you’re less demanding then, taken with a pinch of salt and a box of popcorn, Middle Age Crazy is moderately _ palatable fare. At least nobody gets attacked if the shower. eae — Stan Parker