Evening star., 1951-05-03
On the Air
Studio One
| Portrait Is
Effective
By Harry Macarthur

BY Harry Macarthur
Studio One" is the most de-
endable dramatic program on
lewiston. It's standards are high
n production and acting and its
Erecting usually is imaginative. It
lis willing to disregard some Of the
|taboos which construct the movies
and at the same time it maintains
good taste.
It even goes so far, when the oc-
|casion demands, as to follow q
story to an unhappy conclusion II
that is the logical one.
Studio One" which is seen
every Monday night at 10 on
WTOP-TV, occasionally flubs one,
to be sure. The surprise it inspires
when it does is a tribute to the
fact that it does it so seldom and
that its quality generally is so
high.
Occasionally, too. Studio One"
comes through with a super
production, as If Producer Worth
ington Minor and his staff decide
periodically that 1t is time again
to show every one who Is boss
around here. This weeks play,
Portrait by Rembrandt. was an
other Of these excursions into what
the movies call colossal and 1t was
one of the most satisfactory tele-
vision dramas yet. on all counts.
The scenario, an original play
for television. was written by Irve
Tunick, who also did the bio
graphical drama, 1.-THE Trial of
John Peter Zengler," for Studio
One" It tells Of the latter years
of Rembrandt's life, after the
death of his wife. Saskia, when
the painter and his model, Hen
drickje. battled poverty together
even though they did not break
Saskia's will by the formality of
wedlock. It covers a span Of az
actual years, but Writer Tunick
has knit it together well and a
flesh-and- blood portrait emerges.
Portrait Of Rembrandt" was
brought of well on its first tele-
vision playing Monday night by
a cast headed by Maria Riva and
Berry Kroeger and directed by
Paul Nickel. Miss Riva, especially,
demonstrated much Of the quality
which has inspired CHS to sign
her to a starring contract in her
portrayal of Hendrickje. the model
found by Rembrandt in the
marketplace, who came to love
him and lived with him through
long years that were rich If bereft
OF financial security.
Barry Kroeger's Rembrandt
may have been marked q little by
memories of Charles -Laughton's S
playing Of the same role (and his
brush work was not as sure as the
old masters must have been)
but It was q human Rembrandt
that emerged.
The elaborate production pro-
vided by Mr.. Minor ranked as
just about the best yet seen in
live television drama. It was q
mounting worthy Of a Rembrandt.
- -
A Lesser Painter: At almost the
time the life Of another painter
the fictional life. that is, Of Gau-
gin, as told in Somerset Maug-
hams Moon and Sixpence," story
Of Charles Strickland. who left his
British wife and brokerage to go
to Paris and the South Seas be-
cause he had to paint-was be-
ing recounted on Somerset
Vaughan Television Theater"
(WNBW-alt. Mondays, 9::30p.m0
This departments Somerset
Vaughan authority couldn't re-
port on this since. after seeing
"Theater". he is convinced that
Vaughan on television is fo-
people who never read Maugham
in a book. He did admit. however,
that Lee Cobb is, at this point.
his wife's favorite actor. She
couldn't abide Mr.. Cobb before,
but his playing Charles Strickland
last Monday night won her over.
Mr.. Cobb. in fact. seemed to
this viewer to be doing quite well
with Mr.. Maugham's portrait of
an artist but 10 o'clock came.
Rembrandt was q better painter
than Charles Strickland, or even
Gaugin. and he won.
Play Ball: FIN listeners will find,
as Of yesterday. a new set of call
letters on the dial-WFAN-in a
new location. 1908 megacycles.
It's the new Identification of what
used to be WOOK-FM, which
feels the WFAN call more fitting
for the station which carries all
Nat ball games plus the American
League game of the day."
\
Program Notes: Margaret Phillips
and William Prince head the cast
Of Dead on the Vine," to be pre-
sented tomorrow night on Ford
Theater" (WTOP-9) Wanda
Hendrix and Spring Byington will
play leading roles in a television
Of Thornton Wilder's "The Happy
Journey" tomorrow night at 9 or
'P ulitiZer Prize Playhouse"
(WMAI-TV1 Tiant Gop