• Black Beauty -- British version of the classic tale of a boy (Mark Lester) and his horse comes to the screen under the direction of James Hill. It is lovely to look at but, unfortunately, it is flawed by stilted scripting and wooden performances which, one hopes, will not spoil it for younger audiences. A-I-general patronage (G) 1971
  
  
• Claire's Knee -- Amusing but cerebral French drama in which a middle-aged diplomat (Jean-Claude Brialy) is introduced to a young woman (Laurence de Monaghan) and becomes disconcertingly obsessed with her knee. Director Eric Rohmer's fifth in his series of "Six Moral Tales" is a droll study of a rather pompous man's self-deception in trying to rationalize his fixation in a movie of literate conversations about everything from love to philosophy. A-III-adults (PG) 1971
  
  
• Death in Venice -- Fine adaptation of the Thomas Mann novel in which an artist (Dirk Bogarde), in the twilight of his career and unwilling to chance personal encounters with others, is taken with the beauty of a golden-haired youth, setting off within him an unresolved conflict between mind and body. Directed by Luchino Visconti, it is a movie of character and mood rather than of plot, with the interior drama being much more significant than any external actions. A-III-adults (PG) 1971
  
  
• Fiddler on the Roof -- Fine screen adaptation of the Broadway musical about Tevye (Topol), a milk seller in a Czarist Russian village whose life of Jewish Orthodoxy is filled with joy and sadness but always buoyed by the human spirit and eternal hope. Struggling in a time of cultural and political flux to find suitable husbands for his three dowryless daughters, Tevye's faith and hope and sheer love of life and humankind keep him and the family going. Norman Jewison's direction does full justice to a rich and appealing musical that the whole family can enjoy. A-I-general patronage (G) 1971
  
  
• The Garden of the Finzi-Continis -- Director Vittorio De Sica's drama about the effects of Fascist anti-Semitism on the Jewish community in a small Italian town tells the story of a poor Jewish college student (Lino Capolicchio) who loves the beautiful daughter (Dominique Sanda) of a wealthy Jewish family. Structured as a somber nostalgic romance in which old class divisions prove stronger than racial bonds, the movie develops into a disturbing elegy for the loss of human dignity. A-III-adults (R) 1971
  
  
• The Go-Between -- British period romance features Michael Redgrave reminiscing about his childhood role as the innocent messenger between lovers (Julie Christie and Alan Bates) who are separated by the gulf of social class. Director Joseph Losey handles with sensitivity the boy's growing awareness of the nature of the couple's relationship and how, on his 13th birthday, he is directly confronted with the physical realities of adult life. A-III-adults (PG) 1971
  
  
• Joe Hill -- Turn-of-the-century labor saga of an itinerant union organizer for the International Workers of the World (I.W.W. or more commonly, the Wobblies), about whom little is known except that he wrote a number of songs popular in the labor movement. Swedish director Bo Widerberg has taken this almost mythical character and fleshed out a personality that is more poetic than real, yet Tommy Berggren's appealing performance as Joe makes credible his dedication to society's unfortunate and downtrodden. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1971
  
  
• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich -- British screen version of Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn's account, based on his own experience, of what daily life meant to a prisoner of a forced labor camp in the Soviet penal system. Directed by Casper Wrede, Tom Courtney excels in the title role, conveying the feeling of a prisoner trying to survive each day by keeping alive the hope of freedom.. A powerful indictment of Soviet oppression, it is filled with gloomy images of human suffering and hardship but it also details the little victories which lessened the pain of injustice. A-II-adults and adolescents (G) 1971
  
  
• Peter Rabbit and Tales of Beatrix Potter -- British ballet production conjures up Beatrix Potter's delicate animal fables and through Frederick Ashton's choreography enables them to dance and pantomime their way into the hearts of story lovers. Director Reginald Mills frees the work from the stage by photographing it in a picturesque English countryside and patterns the costumes on the soft, cuddly textures and pale pastels of the famous Potter sketches. A beautiful way to introduce youngsters to the world of Peter Rabbit and the art of the ballet. A-I-general patronage (G) 1971
  
  
• The Railway Children -- Three youngsters (Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren) and their mother (Dinah Sheridan) are forced to move from their comfy Victorian mansion to an austere country cottage along the railroad line while they wait expectantly for their father to be cleared of false criminal charges. Directed by Lionel Jeffries, the British production manifests a childlike innocence and loyalty that helps reassure viewers of all ages that, even in the most adverse times, hope and love can, indeed must, exist. A-I-general patronage (G) 1971

Office for Film and Broadcasting | 1011 First Avenue, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10022 | (202) 541-3000 © USCCB. All rights reserved.