THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday December Page Entertainment Outlook Videos can be fun Talking with daniel J travanti during the holidays case that rocked Nairobi and sen STAR SPEAK zW frank J SANELLO Daniel J Travanti won two Emmys for his portrayal of a stoic police of Capt Frank on NBC TV s Hill Street Blues When that acclaimed series ended its network run in con to earn the critics praise in a series of TV specials about important social issues Among them were Adam which dealt with child ab duction and A Case of Libel about Hollywood blacklisting Daniel J Travanti also found time to appear on the big screen with Dunaway in Midnight Crossing and with Kris Knstofierson Millenium A native of Kenosha Wis was a straight A student in high school and an all state fullback But he turned down athletic scholarships to Harvard and Princeton favor of an academic scholarship to the versity of Wisconsin After dropping out of Yale s ate acting department he immediate found work opposite James Earl Jones in a New York production of Othello Moving to Los Angeles in vanti appeared in a series of lucrative commercials He also did guest spots on The Man from UNCLE and Perry Mason After a much publicized bout with alcoholism in Travanti recov ered and resumed his career appear on General Hospital and in van regional theater productions The actor was about to return to New York when he was offered the career making role of on Hill Street Blues Now plays Joe Hynes who prosecuted a racially motivated homicide in New York City In the NBC TV film Howard Beach Mak the Case for Murder It will be shown on Monday Dec I CRITICS CHOICE VIDEO Rentals Service S Open Every Night TIM 10pm HAPPY HOUR Do you like making message movies such as Howard Beach A My agent is always saying Let s discuss current headline topics we might develop for you as a film and I say I don care what the topic is I don give a damn what a movie s about as long as its got a good America rotten So what I not being offered the good movie scripts That does disappoint me because I had some reason to think I might That a pretty pessimistic out look Would you describe yourself as an unhappy person A Absolutely not And almost any screenplay OK then whats your recipe for a good screenplay A The project has to say something clear and evocative and memorable about the human condition other wise why should I bother But those parameters are fairly elastic for me I think Pee wee s Big Adventure qualifies and so does a good movie Next disease of the week movies television seems to love crime of the week movies Does Howard Beach fall into that category A This is more than crime of the week Occasionally a crime of the week can rise above the formula Good examples are Adam and A Case of Libel Most enmeof the weeks are instantly forgettable I hope Howard Beach will leave a lasting impression Your feature film career after Hill Street Blues didnt take off even though many predicted you would become a major Hollywood star because of your exposure on Hill Street Are you disappointed A I ve been offered a lot of film scripts most of which are rotten I m not surprised Most scripts are rptten Most books are rotten Most newspa AIL MOVIES A PRICE it Hour doting 8734754 g ENTEftTAINMENT GREAT MUSIC Last minute bookings for your Christmas or New Year dance can be taken by calling LICENCING pers are rotten Most of the air body who knows me would tell you I happy Pessimism is an outlook I talking about facts I m not a hyp ocrite I just won agree to the lies so many people agree to live You said id another interview that you were a melancholy person Were you misquoted A I am melancholy which is not the same as being pessimistic It helps if you ro an actor to be a little melancholy and a little angry and a little scared and a little cynical It en riches the work During your heyday on Hill Street TV guide listed you as one of the 10 most overrated actors on tele vision Did that burf A When people say they don like me I have to remember some people don like Meryl Streep either And they ve attacked Brando There ways been an anti Olivier contingent So who doesn get attacked who s brilliant and wonderful Q Will you do another TV series In the near future A For the longest time I t even let my agent bring up the sub Whenever the word series came out of his mouth I say Next But my film career been up to par and now we are looking for a series But it has to be good I can t imagine a worse hell than being stuck for five years in a series you absolutely loathe That s my idea of cruel and un usual punishment Q What do you think of LA Law which was created by Steven Bochco who also gave us Hill Street Blues A Its certainly no Hill Street Blues I have done A Law if it had been offered to me It have been a step up for me to do it I like to go up a half step or more with each successive project Ni a DATE BOOK Dec 9 1989 o Today Is 343rd day of 1989 and 79th day of autumn TODAYS HISTORY On this day In 1958 the John Birch Society was es tablished in Boston tor purpose combating communism TODAYS BIRTHDAYS Douglas Fair banks 1909 actor Thomas Tip O former speaker of the House Kirk Douglas 1916 actor Redd 1922- comedian Dick Van Patten actor Beau Bridges actor Dick 1942- former football player actor John Malkovlch 1953- actor Osmond singer TODAYS My dream was to be in professional sports Beau Bridges TODAYS MOON Between irst quarter Dec and full moon Dec 12 ON AN AVERAGE DAY 643 pieces of mail are sent via the S Postal Service Source On An Average Day by Tom Hoymann Coiumb TODAYS BARBS BY PHIL PA8TOHET It s nice to be on the winning team It s even nicer to be on the one that pays off in the point spread if science is so wonderful why can It devise a theater soda cup that leak on your lap halfway through the movie NEWSPAPER DAILY LUNCH SPECIALS For Under 400 Across From GO King St Georgetown 8773541 VIDEO PLUS Watt of Fruit BRING HOME A STAR THISWEEK- Ghostbustersll K9 Rainbow Over 2000 Movies In Stock Accepted Call today and book ahead St Unite Georgetown Ontario THE INCREDIBLE WORLD OF MIKE MANDEL December J I Winston Churchill Ontario 8710437 UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT NEILS MUSIC CENTRE WIDE SELECTION OF song books and sheet music PRIVATE LESSONS FOR Guelph St Unit DGEORGJ ROBERT DiMATTEO As the holiday season approaches it seems an appropriate time a compilation of some of the best vid releases of the past year All would make good gifts or for that matter good rentals to be shown at that fes tive holiday get together Note that the list is deliberately eclectic fea tunng several offbeat items that have tended to get lost in the shuffle WHEN HARRY MET SALLY R Nelson A charming good natured ro comedy that poses the less than respectable but still often asked question Can men and women be friends or does sex color every malefemale relationship Many pie love this movie and there s no reason to think they 11 like it any less on the small screen THE LONELY PASSION OF DITH HEARNE R Cannon In Jack Clayton adaptation of a Brian Moore novel Maggie Smith gives a brilliant performance as a spinster piano teacher who moves into a Dub ltn rooming house Bob co stars as the landlady shady brother who pursues Smith because he thinks she has money This is one of those lit erate small scale studies of re pressed little people that inevitably fails to generate much box office or audience But it s beautifully done and Maggie Smith is sublime And it s perfect for the intimacy of video WHITE MISCHIEF Nelson In the mood for classy Try this 1988 release which offers a pic turesque acid etched portrait of En ghsh colonialism final days in 1940s Kenya Based on an actual murder case that rocked Nairobi and sent shock waves to England the film on an adulterous affair between Lady Diana ravishing Greta and womanizing Joss Hay Earl of Charles Dance Gorgeously filmed the movie blends upperclass satire and silky ro mantic melodrama MASQUERADE R CBSFox A B- movie that delivers the kind of mi nor slightly yet completely en joyable romantic thriller that makes perfect Satutday matinee viewing Set In the picturesque Hamptons among the moneyed beach set the movie gives us lovely ladylike Meg Tilly as a rich heiress wooed by an enigmatic pretty boy yachting cap tain The latter role is played by Rob Lowe in his best performance to date Unless you count his other kind of performance in those scandalous videos TRUE BELIEVER RCACo- In this visceral moody thrill er from director Joseph Ruben The Stepfather James Woods plays a burned out pot smoking radical law who tries himself in the Woods brings his gift for sardonic volatility to the part and his grandstanding performance won him long overdue popular acceptance GONE WITH THE WIND THE ANNIVERSARY EDITION MGMUA This is the version of GWTW to have and swoon over Remastered from three strip color reels and boasting a digitally reprocessed overture the movie has never looked or sounded better LAWRENCE OF ARABIA PG Columbia A completely re stored version of David Leans mas terpiece this epic deserves to be seen on the big screen but it is quite stun on the small one At minutes its a movie to get lost in you can structure a whole evening around it YELLOW CAB HALTON HILLS 24 HOUR SERVICE SERVING HALTON HILLS- Airport Service Parcel Delivery 8732527 8732931 Comer of A Available at The Herald Office in either 8x10 or 5x7 Sizes the HERALD Guelph St Georgetown 2201 Little Joe the House Rockers Great Sounds of JERRY LEE LEWIS BB KING MUDDY WATERS MORE LIVE AT EVERY SUNDAY 7 pm All Ages No Cover EAT DRINK BE MERRY IN OUR FUN FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE Hwy 7 Mountainview Rd 8772418 Georgetown