Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1957)

IN REVIEW PLAYHOUSE 90 The facetious observation by a playwright that he might just as well abandon the legitimate theatre because "I can always write for television" was apparently more than just an attitude on Playhouse 90's offering of Dec. 12. It was a tv dramatization about a stage play whose company was demoralized by cast and domestic strife. The teleplay came in on the "thundering wave" of promise but foundered on the shoals of mediocrity. The viewer would well wonder how and why the stage play did, too. "The Thundering Wave" was the title of the Playhouse 90 drama, written for tv by real-life author Robert Alan Aurthur, and of the play-within-a-play, penned by fictitious author Lew Downs. The play-withinthe-play survived a punchless Boston trial for a Broadway opening night. Both dramas seemed to demonstrate that nothing fails like failure, especially where crazy mixed-up people are involved. Actor-writer Jack Klugman, who wrote two scripts accepted for tv this season, was cast as writer Downs, with the simple directive he "play" author Aurthur as closely as possible. On the same busman's holiday was Franchot Tone, a veteran actor who played one. Both gave noble performances, as did the rest of the cast, but the story line for the first time in many a Playhouse 90, failed to ring true. The script tried to wring some drama out of the gimmick of the play-within-a-play, this particular one concerning the problems of a play whose stars are long-time married enemies. This problem is carried through from a fizzle in Boston to Broadway opening night. But though the plot hinges on the play, the viewer saw none of the epic. Except for an opening line or two and a scene of bedlam backstage, nothing of the play was shown to the viewer to afford the necessary contrast for diluting an impression that Playhouse 90 was only a play too. The teleplay suffered from lack of well-rounded characterizations, and lacked the body to come through. When the play opened on Broadway, critical reactions were uniform: good acting, no play — the story line doesn't quite come off. Unfortunately, the make-believe verdicts might well be applied to Playhouse 90's effort. Production costs: $150,000. Sponsored by Bristol-Myers Co. (Theradan, Trushay, Ban products), through BBDO; Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex, Delsey tissues), Foote, Cone & Belding; American Gas Assn. through Lennen & Newell Inc., and Philip Morris (Marlboro) and Allstate Insurance Co., both through Leo Burnett Co., on alternating weeks; presented live weekly on CBS-TV, Thurs. (Dec. 12), 9:30-11 p.m. (EST). Cast: James and Pamela Mason, Franchot Tone, Joan Bennett, Jack Klugman and Susan Oliver, with Robin Morse, Jud Taylor, Doug Henderson, Helen Kleeb, Broadcasting Art Batanides, Pauline Meyers and Don Murray as m.c. Producer: Martin Manulis; director: John Frankenheimer; writer: Robert Alan Aurthur; associate producer: Peter Kortner; executive assistant: Dominick Dunne. OMNIBUS In what may well turn out to be one of the best acting jobs of this or any tv season past, 36-year-old British playwright-actordirector-producer Peter Ustinov scored nothing less than an absolute triumph as Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), the blunt, grotesque critic of 18th Century English manners and mores. With his "Romanoff & Juliet" beard hidden under pounds of exacting makeup applied skillfully by NBC's Bob O'Bradovich and staff, Mr. Ustinov was so completely believable throughout the 90-minute Omnibus presentation that it was hard to picture the figure on the screen as anyone but Sam Johnson. Scottish-born James Boswell was only 23 when he met Dr. Johnson. Their relationship is known to all who have at one time or another studied English literature. No Hollywood film could have made Boswell's Journals come alive the way live television managed to make them; the choice epigrams —"Patriotism, sir, is the last refuge of a scoundrel," — and Johnsonian definitions such as "oats . . . fed to horses in England, eaten by the population of Scotland" — sung with wit and clarity. Even when Mr. Ustinov wasn't about to impart the Johnsonian wit and brilliancy, his Boswell — played in excellent spirits by Kenneth Haig— was there to speak for him. It is to the credit of Omnibus executive producer and packager Robert Saudek and staff — including writer James Lee, directors Seymour Robbie and Alan Schneider — that this program fared so well. Tempted as the producers may have been by lush settings and expensive costuming, they did not stray one degree off course. Ever so subtly, they wove together the best of Johnson and the customs of the age. Here was the coffee house and Bedlam, the bawdy first night audience at the theatre, the ultra-fashionable "cocktail party" of the age, frequented by such noted personages as actor David Garrick, painter Sir Joshua Reynolds and playwright Oliver Goldsmith. Here, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was proof that television has the remarkable facility of transporting the viewer out of his easy chair and into periods present, past and future. Production Costs: $60,000. Sponsored by Aluminium Ltd. through J. Walter Thompson Co. and Union Carbide Corp. through J. M. Mathes Inc. on NBCTV, Dec. 15, 4-5:30 p.m. Executive Producer: Robert Saudek; m. c. Alistair Cooke; drama consultant: Walter Kerr; co-directors: Alan Schneider and Seymour Robbie; adapted by James Lee from James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson. Produced by Robert Saudek NAME OUR CHANNEL 12 Clarksburg, W. Va. • A fabulous week for 2 at THE GREENBRIER White Sulphur Springs, W. 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