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1 Q OME bilious old ^ cynic once cautioned the world never to build a monument to a person before he dies. The idea, of course, is that you can never tell —a clean living fellow may turn out to be a regular rascal in his dotage. But indefatigable Ralph Edwards, a re¬ formed prankster from radio, isn’t waiting around for the mortician. He has created a TV show that eulogizes people before they reach the shawl & rocking chair stage. Called “This Is Your Life,” the program is pitted against the Wednesday night fights, probably more by design than by accident. Fisticuff fans aren’t much for schmaltz. And “Life” is schmaltzy, plenty schmaltzy. Yet, under the guidance of the former ^‘Truth or Consequences’ emcee and cut up, “This Is Your Life” comes off as TV’s most intelligently handled tear-jerker. The big element is surprise. Each week Edwards dreams up an ingenious conspiracy to lure an unsuspecting “Life” candidate into the studios of the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. From the time that the hood¬ winked subjects (some are unknown, others well known) get the surprise intonation from Ralph that “This is your life!” there are a few happy tears, many memorable reunions and lots of good old corn. llJatt ®ni Snu’rr Edwards, a persistent guy when he puts his mind to it, spends as much as a month secretly investigating a profile possibility. The danger of a “leak” always being immi¬ nent, the research process is carried out with all the official hush-hush of an FBI operation. Once when Jeanette MacDonald was lined up for a show, she almost unwittingly un¬ covered the plot. Lured to the studio on the premise of presenting Edwards with an award, Jeanette was told by the parking lot attendant to pull up next to Nelson Eddy’s automobile. Somehow the coincidence didn’t register so as to ruin the surprise element of the show. Eddy, her famous singing part¬ ner of the thirties, was of course, one of the guests on hand to recreate Jeanette’s life. When he sang her wedding song. Miss Mac¬ Donald broke down. (Showman Edwards secretly loves a crying jag.) Actress Joan Caulfield was asked to appear on “Life” to pose for pictures with a Henry Wilson, “an old Colorado miner,” and sup¬ posedly the surprise guest of the evening. But when the program began and Edwards began reading from his memoir book, “This is the story of a little girl born in East Orange, New Jersey, the story of Joan Caul¬ field Ross,” the actress’ knees buckled. “I felt as if someone had hit me in the pit of my stomach,” she later confessed. Probably the most composed of the lot of 24 TV FORECAST AND GUIDE