CHE!--THE MAKING OF A MOVIE REVOLUTIONARY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01365R000300040023-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: December 8, 1968
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

The New York Time, Magazine P- /,,t 0 r- r-et j ~o.h h
Approved For Releas& 11i 1--RDP88-01365R0M 0410W3-8 4 C k ~
8J"?3s1, i h q, 4 s r r 2 , . nl f `r M; e t .. ,, V Ct. r C%-) F w Yt IS
PONCE, Puerto Rico. Ponce on the southern coast of the, the Bolivian diaries, "Che had numer-
"Chet," a 20th Century-Fox Produc island. Check into a resort hotel on ous contacts with the peasants. Their
'tion, stars Omar Sharif, Jack balance, a hill overlooking the Caribbean. character--extremely mistrustful and
Cesare t)anova, Robert Loggia, Woody (There may be in your elevator a wary-didn't surprise him, as he
Strode, Barbara Luna, Linda Marsh. bearded guerrilla, wearing green . knew their mentality perfectly. .. .
'Sy Bartlett produces-with Richard fatigues and cosmetic scowl, but : Fle knew that 'prolonged, patient,
Fleischer directing the Michael Wil- ignore him for the moment. For the arduous work was required to win
son screenplay, adapted from mate- moment, he is out of context; later them over to the cause." According
riat researched by Producer Bartlett. on, you will be.) Waste the evening to Omar Sharif, who plays the part
The story deals with the dramatic: shooting craps in a Government-li- of Che in this production: "I don't
era of Che Guevara's life, from hisi ceased casino. Rise at dawn, put on think he particularly liked the peo-.
landing in Cuba with Fidel Castro to, boots, enter a rented car and , . ple he was fighting for. He despised.
his capture and death at the hands hank tight. the peasants for not helping him,
of the Bolivian Army. it is being The climb to Adjuntas and beyond for not helping themselves." Of
filmed in color and Panavision by course, the peasants in Bolivia tried
cinematographer Charles wheeler on JOHN LEONARD, of The Times Book to turn him in for bounty money.
'cine l7ns in Puerto Rico. Review staff, is a novelist whose works When at last you reach the loca-
(PRODUCER'S NOTE: The film un- include the forthcomins "Crybaby of the tion site, you realize how like the
Western World' waging of a war is the making of a
veils in documentary style, with nar- is 3,000 feet up, 23 miles on the
ration by persons who knew or had speedometer, two hours on the clock, movie. The logistical problems are
met Che Guevara at one time or an- centuries backward psychologi- similar: transport, communications,
other during the fiery revolutionary's two cally. The road is a snarl of curvas . supply lines of food and matdriel, the
tumultuous career as a rebel-guerrilla. peligrosas, a paved snake in a snit disposition of the troops. A convoy
These narrators report from both pro repeatedly biting its own back. The of more than 50 trucks, cars and
e
and con viewpoints so that an it climbs through is wholly buses carries the company to the
'impartial, objective story line is es- country
alien to San Juan (Miami Beach with, site. There are bulldozers availab'e
tablished. Fictitious names have sup- a slight Spanish accent: Beachnted,;to plow new paths; porters to haul
;planted those of actual living persons , sea-scared, Midwestern vacationers of gravel; trailers to house stars;
in order to protect the latter.) . slumped around the swimming pool catering vans and mobile kitchen
-FROM THE STUDIO PRESS KIT. getting fricasseed and soused) and units shipped all the way from Flolly-
E once wrote: "Our every alien, too, to the Puerto Rico of the wood to stoke the stomachs of more
than 200 people in less than half an
I~Zjj
ainst
a
tions
ttl
b
,
g
e cry
a
industrial brochures (tax exemp
action is a
hour; walkie-talkies to warn of takes,
imperialism. Wherever death, rum distilleries, petrochemical plants).
let it be welcome, to silence the set, to summon rein-
may suprise us, There are farmers, dogs, children, forcennents. There is also the stand-
provided that this, 'our battle cry chickens, plunging vistas and sudden. ing and waiting, the listlessness of
may have reached some receptive rainbows. The farmers raise coffee
ear and another hand may be ex- beans, bananas, pineapples and momentarily . unemployed barbudos,
tended to wield our weapons." The' flowers. The children wear uniforms
hands hold cameras now; the weap- color-coded according to their grade ':
onry is myth; the guerrilla merchants at school. The dogs lie in the shade.
march upon the movie houses.. under disemboweled automobiles as
They were playing a myth game the caravan of rented cars honks by.
last month in the mountains of (Horns are more important than
Puerto Rico. It was called "Will the brakes on the road to Adjuntas.)
Real Che Guevara Please Stand Up it seems an appropriate prelude to
and Die for Our Popcorn?" and it the search for Che. According to
cost $6-million. Almost anyone Fidel Castro in his introduction to
could join; riy frAr p oveJCYVOrotelease 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP88-01365R000300040023-8
 the extras and the superfluous, Tole ch t~qq}}~~ gq11__Yypp J J6 script cban
an call but not nc+L~ti~lr%nd F~~t` #? 5s#:1'1'7i ht]2`eti ( utrenticity: 5 Mq~ ~ "t! tP art, noteo.~i his
u c ran s - p" r l
ding on their rifles, playing feet of muddy mountainside. Mcta*a.) own. ("f am satisfied with my
Scrabble, drinking chocolate It rains at least twice a day To "one side stands guer- part now; I know what to do.
milk, smoking too much. One in the central range, making rilla riurse Anita Marquez But for the first time I'm not
suspects that 20th Century- the way to the top treacher- (Barbara Luna), wearing car- just doing my part. My con-.
Fox could take over quite a ous; tumbles are frequpiit, as rings. (Authenticity: "Cuban corn is watching over the
few small countries with a are tangles in the slithery women," she says, "would no whole picture. I want it to be
minimum of retooling; cer- cabling for the lights and more go out without their fair in every particular.")
tainly their budget is bigger cameras. On achieving the earrings than without their For the sixth time, Che
than Castro's was. But then, summit, you must seek reli- clothes, even in the jungle.") looks beatific among his den-'
it costs more to make a ~ able footing among nine dif- To the other side stands little tal tools. Sofair is dismissed.
movie about a revolution than ferent six-packs of people brother Rafil (Paul Bertoya), Castro bites down on his ci-
it does to make arevolution-. pressed 'into an area the size, perfectly reflecting that un- gar and growls: "Every pity
if you don't count people. It of your living room. There. formed face, that unformed in Miami wants another
costs Fox about $10,000 an are cameramen, propmen, mind--the resemblances ? in chance at the trough." And
hour. soundmen, stuntmen, make- every part are uniformly finally the call comes: "Print
up men and A.D.'s (assistant astonishing, Petitioning Fidel it! All right, let's eat." We
HIS is supposed to be directors, notoriously the rela-, is a liaison from the Cuban all slog down the hill to
tives of studio execs). There? professional classes (Abraham lunch.
the Sierra Maestra. Director. are freelance photographers Sofair , a sort of parody There will Fleischer ("Doctor hired by the studio to snap, ell other ain
p' .Manuel Urruti a-the President shot in the cen entral moun untain
Doolittle," ?The Boston Stran- ' promotional stills. There are' whom Castro would provis- , ranee oF f Puerto Rico. Che will
leg;' "Fantastic Voyage;" g publicity reps for the East ionally propose, then depose' have to choose between his',
"Compulsion," etc.) has a Coast, West Coast, Latin for insufficient revolutionary, medical kit and ammunition
passion for authenticity. While America and Europe. There is, zeal-who wants to exchange ---opting, of course, for the
Fox's Century Ranch at Mali- a three-man team from New; men for the promise of a Cab latter. Castro will give him'
bu, Calif., is considered a suit- York filming a short docu- inet post. They are all, with command of a guerrilla de-
able setting for the Bolivian mentary on the filming of the: the exception of Sofair, a tachment. Survivors of an
scenes in "Che!," the Cuban long "documentary," for sub symphony of green fatigues, abortive engagement will
part of the story presented a sequent TV syndication in the a hirsute fantasy: It might be; straggle back to base, to be
problem. Where to go? There States; a four-man crew from Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.' told by Jack Palance that the
were feelers and inducements the B.B.C., and a half-dozen They run through the three- next man losing his gun will
from the Philippines-like shaggy-blond young men in, minute scene six times. Dur- be considered a deserter and
Greek shipping magnates and sport shirts, toothy and ing one break, an A.D. cries: punished by death. The prop-
munitions makers, film com tanned, whose function seems "Tree shadow!" and an aide men will rush through the
panics negotiate directly with principally decorative, as? comes running with a branch.. mud with fresh cigars or with
foreign powers-lbut it was though they were ambulatory During another, Palance's meat bones for Fidel to gnaw "
0 decided that the Philippines advertisements for Southern nose must be fixed. During a on, then fling furiously into
were too humid and the Fili- California orange juice. And, third, someone must scurry, the ravine. Make-up will pre-
pinos too Oriental-looking. on any given day, there might down to the compound to pare itself, on receiving the
Brazil and Mexico were 'be Joseph Morgenstern from, fetch cigarettes. During a, nightly call sheet, to "beard
brooded about. However, says Newsweek. Or Pete Hamill fourth, Sharif refuses a blood 20 guerrillas" in the morning.
Fleischer, "we had to find a from Eye. Or the Ladies Home ied piece of cotton proffered (balance must rise each morn-
place that likes Americans. Journal looking for Omar. by a proprnan; "This is all out ing at 5:30 for two hours of
That narrows it down. We Or Life magazine researching of the shot. Do you see that puttying and penciling.) And
needed a location far from its forthcoming feature on camera? That's a 4-inch lens.? there will be other lunches
political upheaval. That ruled Lalo Schifrin, the "Mission:;, It puts my face - only my where the cast can complain'
out South America." impossible" musicman. bor face - all over the screen.. about San Juan (pants suits,.
Among the several advan- rowed by Fox for "Che!" lt's You're so excited about the silk cravats and white turtle-
tages of Puerto Rico, ape in exactly as if something im- blood, aren't you? That's be- neciks couldn't get into the,
particular should not go un- portant were going on. cause you're young. The blood restaurants or casinos there,
noted, since it so pleased the '~7 makes you nervous and ex ladies must wear.dresses and
legal department at Fox. By ~j, OU are assured that be cited. You're having a great gentlemen, ties); about Ponce
setting up a Puerto Rican yond this body scrummage- time today, aren't you?" "No, (a gourmet's version of soli-
'dummy corporation to pro- somewhere, fixed in the piti-lam not," says the propman. tary confinement, I-Toward:
duce the film, Fox automati_ less circle of five Panavision l'alanee employs the brinks ` Johnson's with castanets);
rally entitled itself to an cameras - are the actors. to mutter his linos and practice about the rain ("The only one
exemption from Federal taxes pfght now, the eye con't his gestures; he seems a rest- who doesn't get wet is Omar;
on profits, and local corporate penetrate to therm. The cam-. it never rains on God").
taxes, too. In exchange for pany stands, staring into the less loner, totally cliftchatles ,
that exemption, Fox would sky, like an apocalyptic sect and is rumored to have asked 'iT
pump an estimated $1-million searching for a sign. Several for script changes reducing UT-why do I feel a qualm
into the island's economy dur- of its members peer through the "buffoonery" of Castro as before this Sturrn tend Drang??
_, _..a +'u+ ,-n + originally characterized. Shar- There's something wrong. The
staged a Cuban student riot waiting for light, fora sun-
. The of the technical busy-Hess: F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote
in Calle Cristo in Old San swath. The sky obliges
Juan; trained guerrillas to land bullhorn barks down the suggesting rehearsals, playing of a Hollywood back Iot that
in a 65-foot facsimile Granma mountainside for silence. traffic cop among the ay_ Iowab"c0 c e toff ailacand-
at Boca de Cangrejos; engaged The roll-call of the cameras ward clouds, insisting on ,
Fulgencio Batista's army of begins. The "take" slate ' ? ips parative take times-a watch- really looked like African
im ersonators in the su ar- and suddenly, throut h ?r ini- ful eye in the middle of an : jungles and French chateaux
cane fields near Manatf; en-, raculous parting of the flesh, almost arrogant rela anon. aa nd ssc ooners n t ancha r be d ,
tered Havana triumphantly by You see them: Che Guevara There is a crouoh et . Y >
wa of the Ponce ~i ut his slouch upon a chair, a cause they looked like the
Y l~pirld94d8f ii'~c~cc)ARS$e0136SR~iO?3>a?Off03t're books of child-
and, near Adjuntas, rebuilt
the 2G de Juljos Sierra Mae- tooth, with a bottle of Metaxa is said to have insisted on the '.hood, like. fragments of stor-
'
sera bivouac. Cor.'Cixl.toaw
Therefore: The corn n stake of crouas, iney are
P'aY intends almost every aspect not add up to a general truUh.
 o
night, of course, in an en- platform for Communists and . s 11 ns a ou ac
chanted distorted way, it all Communism." But the Zran- man, and will betongue them
cones true." Puerto Rico isn't ucks convinced him that "the at the drop of a question
a back lot' the locations look unwavering dedication of the mark. Che is the ideal fantasy
ics dancing Iin'arApproted fforfReleiasea2O 5fa1db3iQ CIA,-.RDP88-01365R0003000 0023-8
never lived in a house with an tant, feeling "that a picture ~' 1.":acecs:t r wi:
attic, but a back lot must be based on Che's life could turn ",;+?LMOST everyone associ
ated with the "Chet" produc-
something like that, and at into a favorable propaganda tiara ha o i W ? 'd,C:w'."~,9 y
h t tl "Q
ni
like what they are supposed Argentine doctor, whose h figure, 150 pounds of ima;ina I believe Che must have felt
to be; but at night, around role exploits in the Cuban tive Silly-Putty onto which that somehow Fidel wasn't
the swimming pool, it all revolt were legion, and the we press our private images up to the ideal. Fidel used
comes false. Why? ultimate hardships suffered by and see them set. For Flcisch- Che's brain and dedication-
his obdurate campaign to or, for instance, Che was "a Fidel was the producer and
Well, why does a major U handsome, sexy guy. That's Cho the director - but Che
capitalist enterprise sink $G- spread revolution and violence the secret of his appeal, IIe
million into the cinematic throughout Latin America with must have worried him, Cho
his resultant failure and death had animal magnetism. He was like having a conscience
mythologization of Cho Gue- was beautiful. In a way, his-always hanging around
vara? To edify consumer nificance ll these were of great sig relationship with Castro was Fidel must have feared him -
zombies zombies in a balconized niand possessed tre- like Trotsky's relationship To annoy Mr. Nixon? mendous potential for a .good P that's my opinion; there isn t
The idea seems as paradoxical dramatic theme." (Who writes with Lenin, One wanted to any evidence on this-and I
these press releases? A corn- spread the revolution every- think Che must have in some
as, say, the Vatican bankroll- p where, in every country; the wa desised ing a TV series on The Pill: mittee of malapropadeutic y pt to Fidel. That's
" computers?) Forty-five days other wanted to develop it why he left to go to Bolivia.".
"The Egg That Didn't `I.' Or Y- at home, An American college
Mark Rudd celebrating the di- after the Zanucks convinced. professor said that Che was (Sharif also finds in Che a
alectical prowess of Grayson him, Bartlett delivered "two kind of antiself: "I am ter-
knigay, but ribly emotional and sentimen-
Kirk in three Panavisionary voluminous reports," which not really a man of-
reels. Or Rap Brown sending were then presented to a rather a medieval l knight, " tal. Self-pitying. I would not
valentines to Louise Day Hicks. screenwriter for a ."treat- Omar Sharif sees Che as sacrifice my comforts. We are
It all began as a gleam in ment."< (Director Fleischer much like Lawrence of Arabia. opposites in many ways, but
Darryl F. Zanuck's eye late says: No one had ever heard "He was a~~ nonconformist, ? I consider our differences do-
last year, after Che's death on of Che Guevara until he died." says Sharif, an antiestablish- fects in me, and therefore
Oct. 9, 1967. Zanuck, presi- Where were all these people? ment figure, incorruptible, qualities in him." Although he
dent and chairman of the Locked inside a projection true to his ideal from begin- has now become interested in
.board of 20th Century-Fox, booth for eight years?) ping to end. He thought the the issues, he cheerfully ad- ;
The first treatment roved world was a lousy place, par- mits that his interest extends
was on a European junket at proved his part of the world, onl to "reading the news-
the time and, according to a unsatisfactory. Michael Wil And he knew that he could y
I never read the news-
press release from Fox, be- son was brought in to do a Papers.
second one. Wilson's credits do nothing about it. But he papers before.")
"
came aware of the tremen-,~ )"tried. He wouldn't give up appeal and colorful im- include A Place in the Sun, p Jack Palance, as Fidel, has
"Five Fingers," "The f everything at the start. He a different view. (it should be
pressions that the life and Five Fingers, Men in a
death of Che Guevara had es- Her Life" and "Border Pa- was active, not passive. noted parenthetically that
Knowing that with the people of trol"; Hollywood's discredits at he couldn't finest e could be one of the
include the fact that for years change the world, he knew finest comic actors in Amer-
European vice Fresidet also that he was going to die. lea; that he wants comic
the executive president Wilson was blacklisted, He wanted to die-fighting. roles that he is usually cast
in charge of worldwide pro- ing him to write at low pay He was obviously quite maso- as a villain; that he has been
duct`on for 20th-Fox "to under several pseudonyms. chistic; he liked to punish his unished in Hollywood for
check out the possibility of (Fleischer says: "There wasn't awn flesh. ~. very difficult p y
documenting on film a bio- any trouble about Wilson as, man to approach, with very desedvarious e i better, and that that he he
graphical story of the infa- a screenwriter. That's all over] little affection in him. Totallrvs b better, and
now. The only trouble came Y'didn t say so to me and
mops guerrilla fighter." The Y . un-Latin that way,"
executive vice president, hap-, from a couple of members of, According to Sharif "Che would Ideny h t even
an
t It
cv
o
the board of directors at rox.i ,
After all, the subject is con- deserves to be the hero of the -say ? it; end parenthesis-.)-.
troversial.") young people. He was totally Palance considers Che "a nar-
honest. Not like . Mao. Mao, cissist and a varabond " with-,
penstantially,ywa Richard. ~ v in o nin Cuba right
Zanuck Dar 1'sd S'~e `~~' ~~ .eCi~C-F=tk0003000~~3h s ~m athizes with
t
Bartlett and Fleischer im- writes for 10-year-olds. And out the appetite or aptitude
mediately a
reed on Omar
g
the opposite of Castro. Castro for the hard work of nation-
6(&Yc'or F1eische~?, Cho Sharif as Che. Omar im- was a great actor, always ! building: "He left when the
mediately said no. "I've, turning it on. Che was an as-'gong got toug "
WC 1s ,~ ~a~s x~5c~a e, always tried to avoid contro- cetic. He admired Fidel be- Palance versy," Sharif explains. "Con- cause of Fidel's natural ability ends at first
trovers in general and Y `that Castro was a part like
IM V~uy z) licisai y, Perhaps to lead men-the masses. Cho any other part, and acting is
sexy ?~
politics in particular could lead men in battle, but a job like any other job, and
. it's because I've always had he couldn't arouse the masses. to.
sees him ~.t~uch like !an easy comfortable life. [His, do But b what they pay you
er
father made money in Egyp "r,`,,,,~ do. . But by the end of dinner
c......_ hr row nit n~^rhan- the nnly
aat7tvP/z wsac:c: vm Yrr~x+wxcx , , ._.. r.... .., _ _ . Fleischer convinced me that. sophisticated political intelli-
this 'av~ like ~ ~~?'~ would be an honest, ob-! riG' +ve, in w ~r.~r-tai Bence on the "Choi" set. His.
-- jective film. It would tell both' children will have to grow up
sides of Che. Finally, I said in this world. To develop his
yes. Since then, reading about characterization of Fidel, he
;.looked into the history of
A Che, I've become aware of the C7ia:ce cryBaasariii
co le th,f, . Cuban - American relations,
,zsues the needs f
p
mi
assigned Sy Bartlett, a former ni; pac pre ecause i
made me e aware of the politi-
newspaperman and U.S. Air cal conditions." Comet Arius
 0
what Castro did 4A~pl`l v iiI F `~I et l9?$/Dq~P Tio lElgi1f~pia88e0 ~jRQp@3QQAQ0fk 3r$ wh at he sees (and
picture," he says, A is just an, tlo company. Abraham Sofair face, clear eyes, boyish grin, seeks) and what he settles for
attempt to capitalize on the calls Che "an opportunist who ~ shy wit. I-le is also serene, a (and "ells). He has a vision,
name of Guevara and make a would have been assassinated, tank of unfathomable serenity, and if he's worth a damn he
lot of money, then it's crimi_ probably by Castro, if he a serenity sufficiently viscous loathes each clumsy image of
nal, and I'd be sorry to have hadn't gone off to Bolivia." to resist all (galling) stones of it and claws on angrily to the
been associated with it. But if Woody Strode (ex-football doubt. With him, it's skim or next approximation. The dif-
it's an attempt to open doors star and veteran of John Ford skip. Terence between an artist and
on the screen, to talk bon- Westerns) says, "Ile was Oh, he must endure what a technician is the difference
estly about history and the' unique. He had an ideal and he describes as "anxiety between an Obsession and a'
issues while they still matter, he had the guts to do some- dreams . . . whole sequences Job?
then it's a very good thing thing about it. It doesn't mat- where I mistakenly left in the (2) By casting Omar Sharif
and I'm glad I'm here." ter whether he was right. All slate; or arriving on the set as Che Guevara, Fox autornat-
-. nations, all people, think they to find
h
'
a scene I
adn
t known icaily fouls its lobsective"
OW take Robert Loggia are right. He got killed be- was in the script." But his nest. You cannot cat say,
("T.H.E. Cat " etc.). In tile' cause nobody else cared; he anxieties are smooth enough Audrey few
Hepburn as Eva pe-
movie's pro-con, flashback,, should have stayed with to seem a style; so casual rdn without distorting, a
documentary scheme, Loggia Castro." is his self-assurace that it basic values. Sharif's own
plays the part of Faustino Rudy Diaz (former Los An- adorns him without splurge, publicity people are at present
Morales, a Cuban lawyer and geles police detective, star of more a breast-pocket handker- trying to sell him to ."aga-
sometime guerrilla who be- "Bandalero") objects that Che chief or a boutonniere than tines as the Great Lover of
comes an anti - GuevaraI "believed in the Communist crosses and epaulettes. "I our time, and they are sue-
spokesman, Loggia's off-cam-, ideal. He was a threat to our have never," he says, "printed'ceeding; ;rafting that image
.era feelings are quite differ-, country. This picture is going a take with which I wasn't onto the image of revolution-
ent. ""He was a saint," he to tell the truth; it's going to satisfied. Of course, it's all in ary saint makes an irragina_
says. "A Christ figure. I'd like wake up a lot of people." the editing. But I am pre- five sandwich only the mind-
to play the part myself. As a Even the extras and the su- pared to take full responsi- less can munch.
matter of fact, I'd like to play perfluous play the myth game, bility for every film I ever The frI
with
all of Omar's parts! The re- usually on rides back to Ponce made. I believe in them." C.a~, re's arrival rn in begins Cuba and
lationship between Che and or in the bar at night, occa- I believe he does-from ends with his death in Bolivia,
Castro is like the relationship sionally choking on too much "The Vikings" to "The Big What drove hire to join a
between Christ and John the tongue in the cheek: "Omar Gamble." He is the consum- revolutionary movement is
Baptist. Castro's the kind of sees Che as a gambler." "An mate technician, admitting no left out: the wandering over
rough, physical, fleshy guy existential gambler?" No, a preference as to subject; re- Latin America, the peculiar
;who'd shout out: 'There's the casino gambler." (Omar won fusing to admire competitors attraction-repulsion for the
Son of God!' Castro drinks and $5,200 at the crap table his past or present (save "Citizen leper colony v/here he worked,
sleeps with women; Che didn't first night in San Juan.) Or: Kane," "the greatest movie etc. In other words, an iill-
drink and didn't a sleep with "Che was a man looking for ever made"); sublimely con- portant personal and psycho-
women. The difference be- publicity. For a while lie tent with what he has done logical dimension is simply.
tween a picture like this and thought he could get it in and is now doing..I-Iis content-omitted,
a television series is that Cuba, but his clipping service ment communicates itself to (4) R6;gis Debray is left out
here there's revelation. In TV, advised him that if he went the company. There was very of the Bolivian scenes. Tanis,
there's never any revelation, to Bolivia, they had asure-fire little rancor on the Puerto
Rican sets, no clashes or ca--agent East German-trained K.G.D.
This is real. Che appeals to scheme to put him on the a tent assigned to spy oil Cho
young people because he for- front page of every news- tastrophes, just people doing in Bolivia, and py
their possibly
cook the body for action, paper in the world. (Pub- job as Fleischer quietly. sponsible for his capture and,
black and white commitment. licists are cynics because they instructed them to do it, n.urder, is reduced in the
Che, in a way, was some- have been hired to sell, and smoothly and efficiently. script to a peripheral love in
thing like Vince Lombardi. because, like statesman, they He therefore becomes, I re- laic st. ("Debray," says Flei
Jesus Christ and Vince Lom- are selling immaterial prod- Bret to say, the neutralizer of scher, "wasn't that im ortant.
bardi! How's that?" ucts.) Or . . . but isn't that his subject. For Che was not p
,. And Tania's story was just too,;
Or Cesare Danova ("Cleo- enough? Reporters are pub- content, civilized, smooth, en-.`corny ") Which means that anpatra" ["I thought I'd never licists, too. In the modern gaging. There were enigma in!.
mensian
get out of it"], "Garrison's electronic village, the Big Pic- him and stigmata on him* ishasoabeing~~omitted.
Gorillas," etc.). Danova plays ture is so low-definition that Fleischer and the Fox pub-
the part of Maj. Ramon Val- a wart is as good as a beauty licity machines congratulate (5) NOW if you leave Out
dez, a pro-Che spokesman in spot, so long as you can spell themselves on grappling with personality, psychology and.
the film. As in performance, it properly. the "controversial," and yet politics, what's left of Cho?.,
M
th is le
he as
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(Iles dum to Loggia's dee: ~t T is not enough They are for all the available electric- Glamorous myth is big at the
i
b
ff
"
z1e that wont fit together. I tween original conception and ject is at present out of fash-
of the most engaging and ci- ultimate consequence, the gap ion and not a little naive. To
united men I've ever met
ox o
ty. His idea of Clio as
ice, but it has- nothing .
a
e was a bum wandering, going to peddle Che like tooth-
around Argentina wondering paste, and I don't like the handsome, sexy guy" applies to co with truth or art, just
what to do with himself." a romantic gloss over all the as Panavision' has nothing to
Danova, who once studied taste
of it. bloody questions. (Just as do with vision. Perhaps Fox
We 't to
and allowed
medicine himself before Dino: the s weren
r ore producer By Bartlett's "docu- will succeed in convertin1> t%.
,e
de Laurentis plucked him up, the presumptuous nto jjsudg ge what t nhentarJ " approach - scene 20 de Julio into something
u w
especially resents Che's "vio- will finally come out of snatches, positive and nega- like the Confederate Anny,
lation of the Hippocratic Puerto Rico and Malibu. But tive statements, flashbacks, that band of noble losers who
Oath. The vocation to save I presume anyway, on several avoiding a story line and "a so consoled us on so many'
and the vocation to kill hu- grounds: point of view"-turns revolu- Saturday afternoons. ' When
man life-there's something (I) Begin with the fact og' tionary politics into Pin g- 'films tie clown with history,
wrong. He turned into a cold-, Pong.) A subject like Che re- are cartoons always to be the
blooded killer. lie didn't even'Richard Fleischer, the director.- quires some kind of cOrhnlit- iss? ;ae of r
.
Ile has been a director ever , their union?
work for his own country. 'Lao mcnt. It also rcquires an I.inally, it is our ima 'motive
.
doctor - guerrilla split just since he graduated with anirfist. An artist isn't serene; he rvc t h" ,ovies play with.
doesn't work It's lAcppo-~~ f~e fe~ 0V31 QARDPB8x0'tt iF 0030.( 1, >>,tizhg on that sub '
9 e is Fiersonal y one'
 Approved For Release 2005/01/13 CIA-RDP88-01365R000300040023-8
say that our imaginative lives
are a repository, or a vomit
orium, of the images thrust
upon us; that there is a Gress-
ant's law applying as much
to the currency of imagina-
tion as to money (cheap
images drive out good ones);
that the result of making
myths into cartoons and sell-
ing market - tested symbols
with the popcorn is *bound to
be a dislocation between
imagination and experience,
leaving us as little more than
the dull receptacles of bright
lies-is to come down with a
bad case of Agee. Unbecom-
ing. What can one more ir-
relevant movie matter? The
industry, like the drug trade,
has been cutting and diluting
its product for years. Don't
waste, but hoard your out
rage, to lavish it later on
something that counts.
Not wanting to be naive,
I wind up with what some-
one said in Ponce, again be-
side the swimming pool: "lay
1970, 'Che!' will be an off
Broadway musical:' I believe; .
I've been to so many movies
that I. believe anything. M
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP88-01365R000300040023-8