Evening star., 1955-02-17
FRA
On the Air
You Can Coll SegoI Genius
And Get No Argument Here
By Harry Macarthur

There are agreat many people
who seem quite content to call
Alex Segal a genius. After the
Job he did Tuesday night with
"Freighter" on the ABC-TV
,"U. S. Steel Hour" it is not easy
to disagree with them. either. It
came out on the screen as a
tense, highly charged melo-
drama and Author George Low
ther can thank Director Segal.
The extent of the Segal skill at
creating a mood while telling a
story with. a camera was even
more obvious to a visitor on the
set than to a viewer at home.
This was one of the most ambi-
.tious TV drama productions ever
attempted at ABC-TV's studios
on West Sixty-sixth street in
New York, or anywhere else for
that matter.
The drama as you know II you
were magentized by it took part
on a freighter at sea In heavy
weather and in imminent danger
of foundering. The action swept
from gangplank to captains
cabin, topside to the wheel house,
below to the boiler deck and back
again. To capture it, Segal had
his cameras in the center of a
rough circle of half dozen real
istic sets designed by Al Hes
chong.
It was possible, as this viewer
did, to walk of of that stage full
of make-believe bits and pieces
of ship, sit down in clients
booth to watch TV screen and
be taken in by Segal's realism.
From a production standpoint
this was as fine a job as tele-
vision drama has seen.
It also was a noteworthy tri-
umph of director and players
lThomas Mitchell. Henry Hull,
James DAILY, ct all over scenario.
Mr.. Lother's play was not lack
ing in theatrical excitement. 1t
had that in plenty and it had
suspense. It's fault was that the
nv playwright bit off too large a
melodramatic chunk to be
chewed. let alone digested. in the
81 minutes allotted to the play
in an "hour- long" television
play.
Mr.. Lowther had two main
plots and several sub-plots 60
ing. First, there was the captain
of the freighter (Hull). advised
that his ship Of several decades
was to be scrapped and that he
was to be beached; he'd see her
on the bottom first and that's
where he tried to take her. Then
there was the new first officer
DAILY, an abject alcoholic hope
lessly dreaming of recovery this
time because he's about to be
a father. Hanged If a few mo-
ments of crisis on the bridge
didn't effect a complete cure.
A major subplot involved the
chief engineer (Mitchell) and q
young protege who was despair
ing of ever passing the exam to
get his second class ticket. The
young man got involved in the
rusted-boiler-tube sub-subplot,
allowed himself to be slid in over
the banked fires to repair the
damage and emerged confident
that he'd get that license on the
next try.
All of this and more made
"Freighter" a decidedly plot
heavy vessel. not always sea-
worthy In the rough going. AS |
Mr.. Mitchell observed afterward.
there is no time to linger over |
the finer nuances in a melo- |
drama Of this sort. You just get |
In there and belt 1t out.
Belt 1t out, he did. using an |
array Of the acting tricks he
has perfected through the years.
It was a thoroughly credible
performance and added consid- |
erably to the excitement.
Mr.. Hull, another competent
and seasoned man, was effec-
tive. too, though circumstance
and Mr.. Lowther robbed him Of
some believability. His mental
collapse that brought on his at