Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-25
On the Air

second OF his great ShakeSpear-
can roles to television yesterday
afternoon and old Will himself
should have been nothing short
of delighted. The Evans produc-
ton of King Richard H." on a
special two-hour Hall of Fame"
telecast over NBC (WNBW) did,
as Sarah Churchill said in her
opening remarks, add "a new
milestone to the plays history"
For that matter. it may as we'll
be called a milestone in televi-
sion's history. too. The large
Hall Of Fame" audience was
seeing an actor in the role which,
on the stage. has brought him as
much praise as an actor ever
gets.
Shakespeare and television
were well-met again yesterday.
Richard" must have come as
pleasant surprise to any of the
TV melodrama fans who CHANGED
on it and hung around long
enough to find out what was 60
ing on. This is no dusty historical
chronicle. II is a passionate
story Of connivery. back-stabbing
(flgurative and literaD and per-
sonal tragedy.
It sweeps along with a hard
drive toward its inevitable doom
for its central figure.
y
There is a certain kinship be-
tween Hamlet and Richard, at
least Evans Richard, which is
almost universally agreed to be
the best within memory. Each,
at any rate, arrives at his un-
happy end with nobody to blame
but himself. or. at least, heading
the list of those to blame.
In Richards case the fault is a
full belief in the divine right of
kings. In his arrogance he fails
until it is too late to realize that
Gods will will not keep his
crown on his head if somebody
decides to knock it off.
Beneath the surface melo-
drama of Richard H." Shakes
peare had several things to say
and said them with some of his
most poetic passages. He might
have been a modern day drama
fist writing of modern dictators
and the evil uses man makes
Of power.
1t is Bolingbroke who COM
nents on this power in the open
ing passage after his sentence of
Punishment has been cut from
10 years to six. How long a
time lies in one little world" he
says. -Four tagging winters and
four wanton springs end in
word; such is the breath of
kings"
In the end 1t is Bolingbroke,
having seized the crown, who
demonstrates that the despot, not
necessarily the man, is arrogant.
"The guilt of conscience take
thee for thy labor" he tells Exton
on the latter's report of Richards
murder, "But neither my good
word more princely favor; With
Cain 60 wander through the
shade Of night, And never show
thy head by day or light"
II this is not the better man
winning, it at least is an ex-
ample Of survival of the fittest.
Richard thought the crown was
his by divine mandate. Boiling
broke knew his power came from
the people and he would not In
cur their wrath by condoning a
murder he had ordered.
= - 4
The Evans television produc.
ton of Richard" was a wonder
fully lucid one. 1t occupied about
an hour and 40 minutes of the
two hours and. sandwiched
though the three acts were be-
tween greeting card commerce.
ais, IL SClIl maintained a high
dramatic pitch.
The NBC press department
really needn't have bothered with
that summary it sent to column
lists a week or so ago. Mr.. Evans
and company made every word
Of 1t eminently clear. Especially
did Mr.. Evans recite his Shakes
peare with d clarity. a feeling,
and a music all too seldom en-
countered on television. Or any,
where else, for that matter.
Evans Richard is a man for
whom it is easy to feel some
sympathy. for all the fact that
he starts out by being the villain
Of the piece. On a whim, simply
because two Of his mobiles, one
Of them his cousin. won't patch
up q quarrel, he banishes them
from their native land. On his
uncle's death. Richard appro-