Canadian Film Weekly (Jul 10, 1957)

Stratford FROM THE ROAD along the River Avon the new Shakespearean Festival Theatre at Stratford, resting gracefully on a nearby rise, has one of the qualities of a castle in the distance: it holds out the promise of a thousand tales. Its dipping-and-rising roof, reaching past the premises proper, is in rhythmic harmony with the waving flags and the flying birds, making a single scene. The wonder of Stratford grows greater as one recalls the five-year development from an idea clothed in canvas to this unmatched structure of its kind. The glory that is Stratford has been enhanced by uniting theatrical art with the kind of creative architecture that complements its spirit and serves its needs wonderfully well. The auditorium, with its floating balcony, almost envelops the stage. It is free of obstructions, has excellent acoustics and almost perfect sight lines. The informal character of its tented predecessor has been captured by the architects and to it has been added a greater degree of physical comfort. The sense of adventure with which the playgoer approaches Stratford each year has been heightened in this one. The promise of tales to be told is kept well with a Hamlet by Michael Langham that commands attention all of its rather long way and a Twelfth Night that is nothing short of sensational. Both play their part in this Stratford’s greatest tradition — if it can be said to have established one so far. That tradition is the theatre’s greatest need and its followers’ simplest demand; one promised afresh by every showman, itinerant or fixed, that is expressed in the phrase: ‘Always a Good Show!” Let him who will debate interpretation and presentation; at Stratford there is, thanks to Tyrone Guthrie’s feeling for the theatregoer, always a good show. Hamlet moved along well, with an occasional flash of color and eruption of excitement. Christopher Plummer is an industrious Hamlet, busy much of the time parading his physical attributes to present a noble bearing and now and then forgetting them in favor of the complexities and perplexities of the character. The riddle of Hamlet’s character, which has been argued by many generations of playgoers, is not posed in the best way possible by this fine young actor in his first attempt but, to his credit, the audience remained loyal and found it, on the whole, worth its while. A good performance in the title role is essential to this play: as Hamlet goes, so goes Hamlet. It got a good performance and sometimes more. Frances Hyland’s Ophelia was appealing in its gentler moments and touching in its tragic ones; many were deeply moved by her mad scene. Lloyd Bochner, as Hamlet’s friend Horatio, provided a finely-disciplined performance against which the Dane’s instability played well. William Hutt, as that dear but gabby old man, Polonius, added much to the evening’s enjoyment and Tony van Bridge got all the brief riches out of the role of the First Gravedigger. Joy Lafleur, as the Queen, was a poor match for the King of Douglas Campbell. The second night’s play, Twelfth Night, will give you one of the most enjoyable evenings of your life as a theatregoer. Every element comes out surprisingly rich and strong, particularly its basic one, comedy. That one, largely in the hands of Douglas Campbell as the roistering Sir Toby Belch and Christopher Plummer as the fumbly-stumbly Sir Andrew Aguecheek, has rarely been so excellently treated. Twelfth Night is, after all, a sort of practical joke by nature and fate on a set of mixed twins whose lives become mixed up because of their similarity. Within this practical joke are several other practical jokes played on each other by the characters. The audience is always given the feeling of being among the jokers by the elaborate and obvious playing of the roles. So loud were the laughs that I venture the poor swans in the nearby Avon won't do much sleeping every second night after 8.30. So good is this play that the parts of it usually hard to accept claim the same control of the patrons’ feelings. The reunion of sister and brother — Siobhan McKenna and Ted Fol CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Observanda EXEC PRODUCER of the Canadian picture to be directed by Tyrone Guthrie for the Kipnis group will be Emile Harvard. They’ll likely use a Hollywood star .. . Although exhibs won't get the Green Sheet any longer, it will still go to the national women’s organizations affiliated with The Film Estimate Board . . . Chet Friedman and Jack Fitzgibbons did tremendous jobs of endless work on the Variety ball game. There were others who gave unsparingly of their time and energy. It’s not their fault that Variety Night was a three-bagger instead of a homer. The evening was a success — but it could have been a greater one if their fellow-barkers had given it ten per cent of the effort Jack, Chet, Ed DeRocher, Ron Leonard and some others put in . . . Duke Curtis, the handsome Club One Two band leader and a regular on Cliff McKay’s TV show, switched to that handle because Percy Cutts, his square monicker, didn’t have the right ring for Show Biz. Now MGM announces that one of the lead femme roles in Danny Kaye’s next, Merry Andrew, is the British stage and screen actress, Patricia Cutts... At the pre-game Variety luncheon the veteran photog, Lou Turofsky, drew two blank bulbs in a row. “‘Are you sure,” asked emcee Nat Taylor, ‘“you’ve done this sort of thing before?’ The Way We Are CONTEMPT: Richard Condon, in Toronto with on-thescene footage of the production of The Pride and the Passion, a supershow filmed in Spain under the guidance of Stanley Kramer, was discussing the Spanish character, a mixture of humor and dignity. The dirt-poor peasant refuses to be intimidated by extreme poverty or any other form of adversity. He may use his last coin to buy a glass of sherry, then, before bringing it to his lips, toss one third of it on the floor with a sweep of his arm—a gesture that seems to combine contempt with indifference. BULLFIGHT: Alex Metcalfe of Emp-U took his wife to see the matador fight the bull during a Mexican holiday. The bull gored a picador’s horse and this upset her. ‘““Why make a fuss about it?” Alex asked, trying to comfort her. ‘‘After all, it would have happened whether you were here or not.” BUSINESS: Harry Ginsler of Astral Films stopped in a New York hotel recently. On being charged $11 per day he pointed out that the card on the door gave the rate as $10. He was assured that he was wrong and that it was an $11 room. He paid his bill and a while later returned to his room— in time to see a lady from the office changing the $10 card on the door to an $11 one. ANECDOTE: Stephen Phillips was a playwright of Beerbohm Tree’s day who had an unflattering tongue. Once, during a time Tree was appearing in a play by Phillips, he complained: ‘My mornings are full of business, and my afternoons are clouded with social duties.” Said Phillips: ‘““Never mind. Think of the rest you get at night.” NIGHT LIFE: A playboy known to the characters around the night clubs came in with a pretty blonde on his arm. “Who’s Joe’s new girl?” one asked and was told that it was his wife. Observed the asker: “It must be novelty night.” lows — brings a tear, and their romances with Lloyd Bochner and Frances Hyland create genuine sentiment. It was all an enormous triumph for Tyrone Guthrie and his players, among whom are Bruno Gerussi, outstanding as Miss Hyland’s household Fool, and Douglas Rain as the arrogant and humbled Malvolio. A tremendous lot is owed to Miss McKenna, who gave credulity to the incredulous. Friend, if you like players and playacting, your life will have a great big empty space if you don’t get to Stratford this year. And that theatre! July 10, 1957