Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 25

i (Diicago (Tribune Section 2 f. Friday, October 7, 1977 Shopping antiques, oases For treasufvsand check ifase ming Pi By Mary Daniels THE COOLING AIR and the turning of leaves tell us that soon we'll all be spending more time indoors. Why not splurge some of the. last balmy weather on en antiques-shopping expedition for some things to make the long, cold winter more cozy? Fast becoming ah antiques haven is the Hinsdale-La Grange area, some 20 miles west of the Loop, and easily acces Open 8 a.m.' to 6 p.m. six days a week, Thursday till 9.

323-7750. The Collection, 25 E. 1st upstairs at the Heritage House, a clothing shop. A room of elegant antiques and decorative accessories adjacent to Needlepoint, which has out-of-the ordinary can- vases, with an American Indian-Southwestern theme, more small antiques, and gift items. Both open 9 a.m.

to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 887-7058. Longley's of England, 53 S. Washington St.

Almost like walking into a slice of London, with both original English antiques and some fine reproductions. Two floors of old Staffordshire dinnerware, dogs, grandfather clocks, oil paintings, furniture. Open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday La Lower Level, 8 W.

1st St. Follow, the Sign down the stojie stairs. If you love country primitives, this is prime hunting ground for tables, chairs, even hutches. Also some wicker, Victoriana, collectibles. Open.

1 to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. the shop give off such a lovely scent.

The baskets and brass objects hanging from the wooden plank walls and the European antiques, which are for sale, make it look like something out of the English countryside. Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 323-0314.

The Velvet Bow. 19 W. 1st St. Collars, toys, accessories for dogs and cats. 323-4534.

The Added Touch, 19 W. 1st St. A wide choice of items for the house, plus shower curtains, wall plaques, ceramic dishes, etc. Open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Monday through Saturday. 323-1033. Herb's, 19 W. 1st St. A new store featuring fresh teas, spices, ground-before-your-eyes peanut butter, cups, Portuguese copperware, cutting boards, spice jars, popcorn makings, tins, mugs, and teapots.

Open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 323-2377. Colonial Food Shop.

21 W. 1st St. Homemade pies, blueberry and crunch cakes, chicken Kiev and chicken cordon bleu to take home and pop in your oven. Open daily 8 to 6 except Sunday. 323-0149.

Old Framemakers. 18 W. 1st St. Custom framing, plus a few handmade tops and dresses. 325-6585.

Traveler's Market. 18 W. 1st St. A large collection of old and new things, some of which are quite marvelous, such as a sign in the image of a dancing lady that once hung over the entrance to an English pub. Open 9 a.m.

to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. 325-1453.

Barbara Curtis Antiques, 5900 S. Th Attic XV. 1st St. A charminff sible by Int. Hwy.

294. Beautiful, affluent Hinsdale was a planned, suburban community, one of the first, along with Riverside, says local historian Timothy Bakken. Con- struction of the first homes began in 1863, although there already was a major center, York Road and Ogden Avenue, he says. There were three taverns there when, the village was known' as and one tavern, the Castle Inn, was the stagecoach stop on the run from Chicago to Ottawa, 111. Graue's Mill was a grist mill built in 1854 and it's still standing today as a museum (open 11 a.m.

to 6 p.m. Monday through, Satur-dayy 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, May through October Just north of, Ogden, Avenue on -York Road. Today, the main business section of the village is at the crossroads of First and Washington streets, with numerous antiques, gift, and garden shops within a two-block area.

Lack of space here limits our list, but here are the highlights: The Lair, 35 E. 1st above Soukup's True Value Hardware Store. This is an amazing place. You won't believe your eyes when a sales clerk from the hardware store below escorts you upstairs into the attic, where there is a collection of remarkably good English antiques. They run heavily to copper and brass; there are even a few lovely brass beds.

You'll also find the most amusing (there are serious ones, too) sets of old English hunting prints. This would be an ideal Dlace to shop for the horse lover: We spied an antique English bootjack (for pulling off boots) in the shape of a fox's head for $59. How do these marvels get here? Both Henry and Ann Soukup (her father is titled English: the Marquis of Ormond) travel every 18 months or so to Britain and spend about a month driving 3,000 miles and more seeking treasure. Tribune Photos try David NystromTribune Graphic! by Johntoa Scenes and artifacts from some of the antique shops in the Hinsdale-La Grange area. shop where you might find that special gift, such as a tea cozy in the shape of a calico cat with button eyes for $6.

Or a plant hanger made of two horseshoes. Here also are cards and wrapping paper. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

323-1886. Ma Pa's Country Candy, 10 W. 1st St. Lollipops, the paper-wrapped hard candies, and other almost-bygone goodies. Open 10 a.m.

to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 325-9190. Paper Lace, 9 W. 1st St.

A lovely store with beautiful and unusual greeting cards, wrapping paper, stationery seals, baskets of all shapes and sizes, even some tiny ones in the form and colors of fish, butterflies, etc. Also some handmade pillows. As if that weren't enough, there are unusual soaps, shampoos, candles, napkins. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

daily, 10 a.m. to p.m. Saturdays. 325-6788. Hinsdale Flower Shop, 17 W.

1st St. Basically a florist, but the dried flowers in purple-reds and yellow-ochres hanging from the heavy wooden beams of Av. A new shop, with some lovely old tureens, small tables, lamps, collectors' books, candleholders. Call first, as the shop often is closed while management attends merchandise shows. 246-3739.

The Mini-Bin, 20 E. Burlington Av. Some absolutely wonderful dollhouses and an ample supply of tiny accessories including Lilliputian furniture amid Tiffany lamps. Not only Victorian beauties such as the one in the window are available, but also log cabins and castle forts can be made to order. Open 10 a.m.

to 9 p.m. Monday, Thursday, and Friday; 10 Continued on page 4 Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. 354-9757.

La Grange also has: Second Hand Rose Resale, 21 W. Hill-grove Av. (opposite the train station). You'll find here a little better-than-average second-hand shop. Among the typewriters, odd cups, and even odder lamps, we found an adorable little wooden stool and a never-used blue and brown rag rug.

Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Friday; 19 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.

to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Closed Monday an Wednesday. 482-4360. Nostalgia Now, 18 E.

Burlington Street) is La Grange, which dates to 1879. If you're looking for things that were around that long ago, a good bet is The Antiques Supermarket, 5418 S. La Grange Rd. This is a former supermarket with about 30 "shops" under one roof. Actually, 30 dealers rent the space, and it all sort of runs together.

The stock is constantly changing, and if you search carefully you will see some bargains, a few treasures, and a marvel or two, such as a massive painted-wood Swiss dining set that just had to have a story to it. Lots of collectibles, as well as furniture, ceramics, old china, etc. Grant St. This is a bit of a drive from Hinsdale's main street, but well worth it. A barn, and a shed full of American primitives and English imports.

Drop-leaf tables, lots of chairs, a box of old rolling pins of lovely wood, a lamp made from a weathervane. Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. 323- 7914.

Red Ranch' Antiques, 6100 S. Madison St. Primitive and country things. Call for appointment. 323-0031.

ABOUT FOUR MILES east of Hinsdale (you can zip right down 47th Movies Loves labor lost in Valentino' JVS tv 1 i i -i i THE FILM IS titled "Valentino." but it M(N should really be called TRIBUNE MINI-REVIEW. That's the true subject of the new Ken vvey for Hollywood Russell film starring dancer Rudolf Nureyev as silent film heartthrob vLt. iiau RnHnlnh Valpntinn Otrtctte! by K.n Rum.II; wrl by Ru.mII tnd M. KUOOipn Vaiemino. by PM Su.chUil.yi (ltl by From opening scenes you can tell di- su.ii surd; mu.ic by ft orot.

sunny bi.ch; rector Russell cares more about Valen- tino as a cog in the weird wheel that's R.d r. Hollywood than about Valentino as an Budolph RuditNur.y artist NMlmov. LMllC.ron A montage of 1926 newspaper headlines scream. "Rudy Dead! Rudy Dead!" A jun.M.mi..::: riotous crowd of fans pushes against and vtuohw ultimately breaks through the plate glass windows of the mortuary where Valen- -Fiit wim.mHooikini tino lies in state. Inside the mortuary, two film executives are making plans to made nis career with his body, The life of strike new prints of Valentino most pop- Valentino from obstreperous dancing ular picture.

"The Sheik' They discuss jt t0 demoraiized actor is told the deal standing over Rudys waxlike cleverly in a series of flashback rem- corpse. iniscences by female visitors to the mor- D1RECTOR RUSSELL, whose films in- tuary. elude tumultuous biographies of compos- We meet June Mathis, the talented Tschaikovsky and Mahler as well as lywood screenwriter who discovered "Tommy" and "Women in Love," rarely Valentino and forced him upon director likes the subjects of his films. He directs Rex Ingram for "Four Horsemen of the with a colorful but poison pen. Apocalypse." the 192 film that made His attitude toward Valentino is that Valentino a star with its celebrated tango Rudy was an incompetent poseur who scene.

George Burns (above) plays God and John Denver and Terri Garr (left) the suburban couple whose lives are disrupted by the messianic visit. Movioi Burns omnipotent in 'Oh, We meet Natasha Rambova (Michelle Phillips), Valentino's second wife, an heiress to the Hudnut cosmetic fortune who, in Russell's view, saw Valentino as a stepping-stone to her own career as a director-producer. Little love is found or lost between Rambova and Valentino in the film. A celebrated nude scene between them, replaying the lusty tent scene in "The Sheik" and choreographed by Nureyev as a nude ballet, represents their only moment of passion. But it's passion as a game, the standard procedure in Russell's portrait of Hollywood.

CONTEMPT FOR Hollywood is everywhere in "Valentino." Instead of giving us scenes of Valentino's films, Russell prefers to gossip. The sordid story of silent film comic Fatty Arbuckle, who was investigated for the involuntary manslaughter-rape of a minor, is hinted at by Russell as part of a dance hall scene in which Valentino captures the eye of screenwriter Mathis. Now just because Russell doesn't like or respect Valentino doesn't make "Valentino" a bad movie. Like so many Russell films. "Valentino" is beautiful to look at and it moves.

Russell uses Nureyev like he uses most actors in his films as a prop. The world of Valentino is more important to Russell than. the actor. But that, of course, doesn't apply to Nureyev, who told The Tribune he was determined to give Valentino some measure of dignity. Nureyev, who is stiff but adequate in his dramatic film debut, is compelling if only for his physical grace and a couple of much-too-brief dance sequences, one an obvious tap dance homage to Fred Astaire.

THE RESULT of Russell knocking Valentino and Nureyev's dignity is a film uncertain about its point of view. You watch "Valentino" and you're not sure what you're supposed to think of its main character. As a result, "Valentino" lingers in the memory as a series of colorful images: the Art Deco mortuary; the flash guns of newspaper photographers; Valentino's "Rocky'Mike boxing match with a newspaper writer who challenges his masculinity; an overwrought and silly prison scene in which Valentino appears to be cavnsllv nhncprl' the Protic. look-DUt- Burns-as-God aDDears many times in the film, each time THE ASSISTANT MANAGER of a Los Angeles Food World supermarket has a tough problem, something a little bit more serious than being caught squeezing the Charmin. The assistant manager (John Denver) has received a mysterious note that says, "God grants you an interview tomorrow at 11 a.m., in Room 2700, 1600 N.

Hope St." Denver considers the note a prank by his friend Artie, so he throws it away. But it reappears. So he rips the note up. to help Denver spread the word to his doubting wife, to the doubting media, and to the doubting clergy. Wait till you see how the 10 o'clock news treats the story.

But to call "Oh, God!" a comedy is to mislabel it. especially if that conjures up images of a ribald Mel Brooks film. "Oh, God!" is a gentle, often touching comedy. It does not deserve to arouse the ire of religious persons offended by human representation of their deity. If those people skip the picture, they will miss a terrific movie, one with the most humanistic of values.

Saying all that, though, may be unfair to those now worried that "Oh, God!" is some kind of religious revival meeting. If people looking for Saturday night entertainment-and not a Sunday morning sermon-skip the picture, they will miss a tenderly funny flick that offers, more pleasure than preachment. THOUGH IT might be blasphemous to say Burns, is perfect for the role of God, that's the truth. In fact it's hard to imagine another actor playing the part as well. An Academy Award two years ago (for "The Sunshine and now a credible role as no less than God Burns could get a swelled head.

Burns is perfect for the role because of his innate warmth and because he plays his part matter-of-factly. without solemnity or foolishness. He neither reads his lines But it reappears, bo tie goes 10 ituu nope si. To make a lovely story short, we soon see John Denver sitting in an all-white room facing a small white speaker resting on a small white end table. "Don't smoke," says a disembodied male voice that claims to be the voice of God.

"Tobacco is one of my big mistakes." Denver can't believe his ears. A voice that claims to be God's has just said that God is fallible. The contradictions prove to be both mind-boggling and irresistible. Denver decides to play along by asking if God has made any other mistakes. "Ostriches," comes the reply.

"Silly looking things. And avocados. I made the pit too big." JOHN DENVER Is shocked, and the audience for "Oh, a wonderful new is laughing. Loudly. In short order, God materializes in the form of George Burns wearing assorted leisure outfits.

He tells John Denver that he wants him to spread the word that God exists, that he's upset that things aren't working out well on Earth, and that mankind has the power to make the world a beautiful place. "It's up to you," Burns says. "I gave you everything you need." with a booming Charlton Heston-like voice, nor trivializes the role by rattling off its jokes as if he were performing a standup comedy routine. Burns underplays the part, thus letting its natural humor blossom. Now you may be wondering and John Denver does ask-why God has taken a human form.

Burns explains that he considers that the best way to communicate with a human. And why doesn't he spread his word himself instead of relying on a lowly supermarket assistant manager? "There would be mass confusion," Burns says. "And besides," He adds with a smile, "I like to work with one savior at a time." "Oh; God!" ends the September movie drought with great fun and warmth. It's movie manna from well, you know where. Gene Siskel don't-touch tent scene; the depressingly accurate you-better-sleep-with-your-costar-if-you-want-to-prove-you're-a-man scene in which Valentino is made by a starlet.

This may not be the life of Rudolph Valentino, but it sure is a slick view of Hollywood. Gene Siskel Gene Siskel reviews the movie scene Tuesday. Wednesday, and Friday on Channel 2 News at 5 and JO p.m. TRIBUNE MINI-REVIEW: Olvln comdy "OH, GOD!" DlrKttd by CH Alntf tcrMnpliy by Itrty 0.lbm biMd on nov by ry Cmi; pholoortph by Victor Ktmpw; muito by imotti praductd by Jtrry Wtlnlnuo; Wiriwr I rot. nkiM it nlhbothood Itwittr.

ftoM PQ. THt CAST God Burnt Um H.vi..........-...Klpi ll.my Jr UnMil Joon Dwivw Off Sumnwrt WHIImi Dantolt SobbK TtrtlOwr JudpBafctr Bnrt Dr. Mcmon PtMHnc Willi. Wllll.m....Ptul Senln Rudolph Valentino (Rudolf Nureyev) seduces Natasha Rambova (Michelle Phillips) in the sheik's tent in "Valentino.".