Evening star., 1951-10-24
On the Air
On the Air
Shakespeare
Gives Video
Excitement
By Harry Macarthur


at them when you start to COM
plain about television.
The Minor" Studio One" brief
was the presentation Monday
night of Shakespeare's Macbeth, {"
production which lent enough
luster to CBS-TV that it must
have sat up with a smile and for
gotten for a while to lick its latest
wounds of the color battle. 1t had
style and flourish.
Cutting Macbeth" to bring it
within the confines of television
hour takes something from it, of
course, but on the other hand, as
any one in the writing trade
knows, almost any statement but
Jesus wept" can stand editing.
Producer Minors abridgement of
Macbeth" seemed most intelli-
gent job and If it lost anything it
was none of the passion and ex-
citement of Shakespeare's mur-
derous melodrama.
This was one of those things in
which the script. the physical as
poets of the production and the
playing were blended into a unity
of flowing dramatic force. a tri-
umph in which Director Franklin
Schaffner ought to be taking a
great deal of pride.
An able cast was headed by
Judith Evelyn as Lady Macbeth
and Charlton Heston in the title
role and they turned in a pair of
performances which will stand
among the television seasons
memorable ones. The sets we're
impressively vast. solid and moody.
no mere authentic backdrops but
active factors in the drama. Di-
rector Haffner used his cameras
with skill and Imagination on both
players and settings to bring
Macbeth" as close to unquali-
fed success as you could ask.
Every so often Studio One
has to rise up and show everybody
who is still boss around here in
TV drama and Shakespeare's
rousing melodrama was Just the
thing to do it. If any of televi-
sion's private eyes could get half
this much excitement into his
weekly adventures he'd be so far
ahead the pack would never
catch him.
Blues in the Night-Gene Kla-
van. WTOP's boy wonder (ex-
boyish type). has come again to
television, this time in a simulcast
Of his Capital Punishment, :"
which has been a popular nightly
feature Q2:30 to 2 ann on
WTOP-AM and FIN. Since Mr..
Klavan himself has coined the
expression for what happens to an
audience in a case like this-it
simulsufers-there is no point in
picking on him.
He did nothing on the opening
TV performance of Capital Pun
ishment" to change this depart
ment's opinion that photograph
ing a disc jockey at work is
something less than the most
imaginative sort of television. He
does. however. have the advan-
tage. at least comparatively speak
ing, of being rather heavily spon-
sored, so he seems to be talking a
large part of the time rather
than sitting there listening to-
records.
His director achieved something
novel on this first show. too, by
showing. instead Of a picture OF
a man listening to a record.
picture of the chair he was Sit
ting in before the record started.
This, conceivably. is an advance
in the television art.
AS matter of fact there's not
much point in evaluating Mr..
Klavan's nightly session as a tele-
vision show, and not only because
it's hard to care what happens
to television between 1890 and 2
a m. 1t isn't a television show, but
the Klavan fans, who are legion,
probably will be happy to watch
it.
Correction - Readers of the
early editions will please be ad-
vised that yesterdays TV column
referred to the seasonal" not the
sensational" debuts of several
comics. There was nothing SEN
sational about the performances
Sunday of Jack Carson and Jerry
Lester, no matter what that limo
type machine upstairs thought.
n 4 Il X
Weather's Fine-Long range
weather reports indicate that
short wave reception in this coun-
try of British stations should be
excellent tomorrow. according to
word from the Halicrafters Co.,
which, only incidentally of course,
makes short wave radios. The
special interest in tomorroW's re-
ception is inspired by the fact
that it will be election day in the
British Isles and there's consider
able interest here in Just who will
turn which rascals out or in. The
BIC will have special continuous
election broadcasts beamed to the
United States, starting at S pm
EST (9 pm. London time), when
the polls close, on Clio and 1926
megacycles Other London broad
casts may be picked up on 1881,
11.82. ITS and 9.51 me.
4 x X
Voice of DoOm-Man we know
around here who has been holding
out firmly in the face of tele-
visions advances, took his family
to the movies the other night. He
was enjoying himself in spite
Of the talkative 5-year-old lin
the row behind until the tot
turned his attention to the screen
and demanded in loud tones:
Mama, what channels that on?"
Our man could have turned and
| shouted "Only on your movie