Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-06-14
Ry Horrv MACARTHUR

form in television writing" ac-
cording to Worthiilgton Minor,
producer Of Studio One" (WTOP-
TV-Monday, 10 p.m.).
He needs nothing but cutting,
Minor goes on. Ills stories can be
told straight and, in fact. are far
more effective when they are so
told Not all of Shakespeare
plays can be fit into the conven-
Itional hour which television per-
mits a drama, of course. Many of
them have complex story lines and
the adapter either sacrifices good
scenes for the sake of story or
preserves good scenes and good
verse In what Minor calls "a
framework of utter confusion"
"CoriolanuS," the producer feels
/ is among the Shakespearean works
which can be done in an hour
and he proved his point this week,
| if it hadn't already been proved
by Julius Caesar" and Tanning
lof the Shrew" on Studio. One >
An unread play by Shakespeare
is to be approached more warily
than an unread play by Christie
lpher Fry. but Mr.. Minor and an
excellent cast headed by Judith
Evelyn and Richard Greene made
it eminently clear what was go
ling on.
\ There was a drama akin to
that of Greek tragedy about the
Studio One" adaptation Of the
STORY of the Roman warrior, who
was exiled and waged a war of
vengeance on his homeland. Even
that CHS television camera which
nosed too quickly into the Roman
forum didn't mar the dramatic
effect of "Coriolanus." 1t was
| a worthy TV hour.
| X y
| All television plays cannot be
by Shakespeare. of course, so
other sources are called upon, oc-
casionally extraordinary sources
Take the drama, "Checkmate," by
Hugh Pentecost, which was seer
last night at $3.50 on 1.-THE Web
II (WTOP-TV). web" Producer
Franklin Heller, in the course Of
giving Writer Pentecost Somt
technical advice on magazine
short story about a murder or
a TV set, came across the de.
scription of a non-existent TV
drama.
"They were coming to the quar-
rel scene. the climax of the story,
read Heller. THE chief charac-
ter is a middle-aged husband,
married to a young wife who
wants his money. There is q
conspiracy between the wife and
a young doctor to convince the
husband he is going insane. In
THE scene just finishing, the wife
comes home with a big bag of
groceries, which she takes into
an imaginary kitchen. A quarrel
starts. which results in running
verbal fight down the hallway to
the front door. The wife leaves.
1.-THE husband comes back into
the living room and throws him.
self down on the couch. Then
the wife reappears. She is carry
ing an identical bag of groceries.
She is sweetness and light, acting
as though she hadn't been there
before. The husband, convinced
he has suffered some kind OF
mental ALTERATION, goes to the
phone and calls the doctor, telling
him he'll submit to 1uncay COM
mission.
The intrigued producer called
the author. do you ever write
backwards" he asked.
Backward. forward, sideways"
| Pentecost replied. IF I have
ideas, I write. If don't, I 90
out and dig in the garden
| And that's how those two para
graphs in a short story became a
half-hour drama on 1.-The Web, .
written backwards.
h X \ II x
Well-Behaved: When she wa.
here recently, CHS Telestar Mary
Sinclair was bemoaning a problem
What can I do when the pho
Itographers demand cheesecake?
she asked a visitor in her suite
IT don't want cheesecake. I'm q
dramatic actress and don't know
Anything about cheesecake pic
lures. What can ! do?"
If you saw last weeks issue OF
Life magazine. you know what
Miss Sinclair did when at least
one photographer asked for
cheesecake pictures. She, like any
good little actress, did what her
director told her to do.
| X X II X
Programs and People: A new
afternoon news show, to be seen
Mondays through Fridays at 3:45
on WMAL-TV. will be launched
Monday by Jack Henry. 4. Ruth
Gates. who plays Aunt Jenny on
Mama" (WTOP-TV-Friday 8
p.m.), is a member of the cast of
the original Broadway play. "I
Remember Mama" the only one
in the TV cast. oThe Alan
Young Show" (WTOP-TV-Thurs-
day. 9 p.m) has been renewed by
It's sponsor. 1t will continue
through the first week of July,
then 60 off for the summer and