December was the movie maven's month. A thirty-one day period during which the major studios released a slew of celluloid guaranteed to make the eyes water and the brain boggle. Movie follows movie in such rapid succession that not even the most masochistic critic could hope to keep pace. Herein, then, is an interim report on some of the first of Hollywood's Christmas presents.

$ — I had more fun at $ than at any other film I�ve seen all year. It ain�t art, but, boy, is it ever a gas! Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn rob a German bank, and then spend close to one half hour trying to escape from the thieves whose loot they�ve made off with. There�s a lot more — perhaps even too much — to the plot, but to go'into detail would ruin it for you. $ is filled with the same kind of slick, escapist fun that made The Thomas Crown Affair and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid such dynamite entertainment: suave bank robbers, sexy lady accomplices, and the voluptuous delights of the good life. Director Richard Brooks makes a few clumsy mistakes, but it really doesn�t matter. The picture MOVES, and we move with it. When Beatty, carrying a suitcase stuffed with half a million dollars and two champagne bottles filled with LSD, runs across a frozen lake pursued by a ruthless killer in a foreign car — well, I just couldn�t help thinking that I haven�t enjoyed a movie chase so much sinee North by Northwest.