Noel Coward's timeless "lyric-tragic" story of two married strangers who meet in a train station and begin a passionate but unconsummated affair, so intensely British in its themes of repression and class, sees the heroine's nationality changed from British to Italian to match the star's own nationality; such a change has raised the eyebrows of Coward purists, but, says Efron, Loren is "the very physical incarnation of the British heroine" of the story. And despite the change, Loren says, "the love story remains what it was, because Love with a capital L never dies and never gets old-fashioned."
"Power and confidence emanate from this cool, beautiful woman," Efron observes, and "Brief Encounter" producer Cecil Clarke says that in working with her, he was struck by "her immense intelligence. Every comment, every question she's raised, has been strikingly intelligent." An excecutive at Britain's ATV echos these impressions; "She's got tremendous power, tremendous presence. You see her mind working constantly." After spending a few hours with her, Efron notes how difficult it is to reconcile this with her "sex-goddess-next-door-who-cooks-pasta" reputation in the world press. "Ho, you know, not everyone says that about me," she shrugs. "It all depends on the writer. That kind of story always surprises me. I'm not like that."
From 1963 to 1976, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever they appear, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era.
Love is an important part of Sophia Loren's life—"I need to love and be loved," she says—and believes strongly in that aspect of Coward's stories. "Private Lives" remains a favorite of hers; "Noel Coward was a great friend of mine; he wanted to do 'Private Lives' with me and with Cary Grant." She is drawn to romantic art and literature, and the music of Chopin, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky, filled with combinations of beauty and torment, love and pain. It is, in many ways, an outgrowth of her childhood during the war, her subsequent move to Rome in her early teens, a time she calls "trying to find my way out, trying to do things, to find out how to live." She has always been looking how to make life "something beautiful, something important, something extraordinary." It hasn't stopped despite her stardom. "Shall I stop living now, because I have got what I wanted? No—there is still something exciting—I don't even know what it is—something wonderful that I look forward to."
The reviews for "Brief Encounter" are not kind, particularly when it comes to the production end. Of Loren's performance, the New York Times critic John J. O'Connor says that, if anything, she was too beautiful for the part of an ordinary English housewife. (We should all have such problems.) But, having experienced her up close and personal, Efron knows that she has "a profound affinity with the romantic Noel Coward world." For that world, she is a "good choice for the heroine of that little British masterpiece." Perhaps, even, "an inspired one."
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From 1963 to 1976, TV Guide's weekly reviews were written by the witty and acerbic Cleveland Amory. Whenever they appear, we'll look at Cleve's latest take on the shows of the era. Between The Bold Ones and Good Morning America, David Hartman starred in a series called Lucas Tanner. It was about a schoolteacher who was dedicated to his craft and his students; television hadn't yet caught up to the idea of doing a series about crummy schoolteachers. And, let me tell you, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest has nothing on the earnestness of this series. It is, as Cleveland Amory says, "Sensitive with a capital S," and I suppose there are worse things for a TV series.
There's always a backstory in shows like this, and Lucas Tanner's is that his wife and child were killed in an automobile accident, for which he blames himself. (I want to say that there were some marital troubles involved and that his wife was returning to him at the time of the accident, but I may be confusing this with some other Sensitive series out there.) Looking for a way to make a difference in life, he decides to leave his profession as a sportswriter and become a teacher. His methods are unorthodox, of course; that's the way of it with all heroic teachers. But his students need him, and ultimately that's what matters.
On weeks when we can, we'll match up two of the biggest rock shows of the era, NBC's The Midnight Special and the syndicated Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and see who's better, who's best.
Why did Meredith leave such an outrageously successful program, one that had brought him fame to surpass that which he achieved as quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys? "We got so illogically successful that it was ridiculous," he says. "How could three guys sitting in a booth at a football game stir such commotion, gain such fame and earn so much?" He cites one calculation that more people see a single MNF broadcast than saw Gone with the Wind, The Sound of Music, and Fron Here to Eternity combined, and more than had seen Hamlet. "Weighing this in my head, I knew that values were twisted somewhere. I am not completely pure of mind and spirit, but I knew this was crazy." He became jaded and lazy, and wound up wishing he'd left a season earlier.
I hadn't particularly planned on writing about movies this week, but there's a surfeit of material here, and another reminder (as if we needed one) as to how much network television has changed without the presence of movies in the weekly schedule. With some help from TV Guide's resident movie critic Judith Crist, we'll look at what the week has to offer, beginning Saturday with the fourth airing of one of the classic made-for-TV movies, Brian's Song (8:30 p.m., ABC), with James Caan, Billy Dee Williams, and Jack Warden. It's not the only sports movie of the night, though, as NBC counters with Winning (9:00 p.m.), a "simple-minded, stale-plotted auto-racing movie" that nonetheless proved a box-office smash with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Richard Wagner, and Richard Thomas, along with a host of real-life racing figures. As an extra reward, it also features an excellent score by Dave Grusin.
We do know what she thinks of the Wednesday Movie of the Week, though. The Gun (8:30 p.m., ABC), written by the famed combo of Richard Levinson and William Link, and directed by John Badham, is the story of a gun, from the time of its manufacture to its useage. "Without a polemic or a push, with a completely credible series of human-interest episodes that demonstrate the effect of the gun on the lives of those who own it, the authors make their message crystal clear—and you will have a thrilling time absorbing it." Oh, and if you want to check out Lucas Tanner (9:00 p.m., NBC), you find Lucas helping out that neighbor boy next door (Robbie Rist), whose grandmother, with whom he lives, is battling a critical case of pneumonia.
In fact, as Cleve notices, everyone seems to need Lucas: sensitive female students and old female friends, who are "always throwing themselves at him"; the boy next door, who's on a first-name basis with him; the principal, who overlooks his unorthodox methods because they produce results; and the scriptwriters, becuase, "if there's one thing a Hollywood scriptwriter wants to be besides a psychiatrist, it's a teacher." It's all designed to give you a warm feeling when it's all over, and for the most part it does. And if nothing else, it puts on display all those qualities David Hartman has that made him so successful on morning television for so many years.
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Kirshner #1: Two different syndicated Kirshner episodes this week; in the first one, Donovan, Felix Cavaliere, and Michael Murphy are the guests. Songs include "Sunshine Superman," "Catch the Wind." (Donovan)
Kirshner #2: The Ohio Players ("Jive Turkey," "Skin Tight"); John Sebastian ("Black Satin Kid," "Dixie Chicken"); and Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show ("Insane Asylum," "Happy Trails.")
Special: Barry White, Love Unlimited, Love Unlimited Orchestra, and the Eric Burdon Band. Songs include "Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up," "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe," "I've Found Someone," "Love Train," "You're the First, the Last, My Everything."
I suppose I'm showing both my age and my viewing habits by admitting that I've always had a soft spot for Barry White; "Love's Theme" served as the opening for ABC's golf coverage for more than 20 years, and hearing it automatically takes me back to high drama on the back nine in the final round of the U.S. Open. And while that's not listed as one of the songs on this week's Special, old allegiances die hard. Add in the Eric Burdon Band, and you've got an unbeatable combination no matter which episode of Kirshner it faces, and gives The Midnight Special the prize this week.
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Since I just raised the topic of sports, let's look at Melvin Durslag's talk with Don Meredith, now the former "resident humorist, country philosopher and sometime Cosell-baiter" of ABC's Monday Night Football. For the last four seasons, Meredith was part of the announcing team that made MNF one of the most culturally significant sports shows in television history. After the end of last season, though, Meredith made the decision to leave ABC for NBC, signing a three-year, $750,000 contract for appearances "in sports, drama and variety offerings."
Meredith denies that the move had anything to do with animosity between himself and his frienemy, Howard Cosell. It's true, he allows, that there were times when he and announcer Frank Gifford had their fill of their colleague. "But at no time did we reach the stage where we coldn't live with each other." There are similarities to his decision to give up playing for the Cowboys in 1968, after just nine seasons. "[I] came to the point where I didn't care for the blood attitude of the game. It was out of 'synch' with my way of thinking. I felt there had to be experiences in life more enjoyable."
Not that he regrets his experience on MNF. It saved him from a career in a brokerage house in Houston, an experience he loathed. He gives Cosell proper credit for making Monday Night Football must-see TV. But beyond the money, the personal appearances, the endorsements, he was becoming more and more disenchanted. "The money was great, but I didn't like what I had to do for it." Speaking of on-air friction with Cosell, he says, "I decided I was taking it out on Cosell because of the respect I had lost for myself." Letters praising him for giving it to that "abrasive, Brooklyn-reared Jew" made him sick. (Meredith's wife is Jewish.) Looking around the Orange Bowl last season and seeing all the fan-made signs glorifying the three of them was apparently the last straw. "I thought about the trouble required to make those signs. Why would people waste their time?" He and his colleagues had become bigger than the game—something anathema to an athlete who respected the sport. "Monday Night Football had been good to me. But now it was a trip I wanted no part of."
He's now part of a far-more sedate broadcast booth, working with Curt Gowdy on NBC's primary game of the week. He also hopes to become a full-time actor, and goes on to make recurring appearances on the network's drama Police Story. He makes a comeback to Monday Night Football in 1977, remaining until 1984, retiring after working ABC's first Super Bowl, but much of his original enthusiasm seemed to be missing. Sometimes you can't go home again.
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If you haven't had your fill of Paul Newman yet, you've got two more opportunities on Sunday afternoon's matinee movies, with a choice between his Oscar-nominated perforamnce in Hud (4:00 p.m., WTNH in New Haven) and his take as a cynical private detective in Harper (4:00 p.m., WLVI in Boston) The highlight, though, is the television premiere of Dr. No (9:00 p.m., ABC), the first movie in the James Bond franchise, with Sean Connery unforgettable as the British super-spy, Ursula Andress memorable as Honey Ryder, Jack Lord as the first incarnation of Bond's CIA contact Felix Leiter, and Joseph Wiseman as the refreshingly unexaggerated title character. It's the start of a long and successful relationship between the Bond movies and ABC.
It's another TV-premiere on Monday, with Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett starring in Pete 'n' Tillie (9:00 p.m., NBC). The story of a romance and marriage bedtween two "middle-aging realists" starts out strong, but cliches, and "too many jokes about age and homosexuality" deflate the movie. Tuesday, it's that Hall of Fame broadcast of "Brief Encounter," as well as an ABC Movie of the Week, All the Kind Strangers (8:30 p.m.), starring a pre-Mike Hammer Stacy Keach and Samantha Eggar as motorists being held hostage by a family of orphans looking for new parents. Strangers wasn't available for preview, so we don't know what Crist thinks of it, but we can only guess.
On Thursday, we get a breather from the movies, unless you want to count Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (9:00 p.m., CBS), the fourth in the series, with Roddy McDowall now elevated to star status. "This one's brightly scripted, tightly directed, imaginatively designed and good fun." The night's other offerings include the season premiere of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau (8:00 p.m., ABC), with Joseph Campanella narrating "Life at the End of the World," a journey that traces Darwin's travels in the 1830s. Later, on the excellent detective series Harry O (10:00 p.m., ABC), Harry provides protection for a murder witness (Barbara Anderson) who refuses to believe her own life might be in jeopardy. Ah, it's a private detective's headache assignment.
We'll stick with ABC for Friday night, where two of the three primetime shows boast either new days or new times or both, starting with part one of a two-part Kung Fu (8:00 p.m.) that finds Caine back in China with the priests of his temple under attack. That's followed by The Six Million Dollar Man (9:00 p.m.), and Steve trying to clear Oscar Goldman of involvement in a plot to pilfer $25 million in government gold. Since Richard Anderson played a bad guy (or a suspicious one) in many a TV series over the years, it's a plausible plot. The night wraps up with The Night Stalker (10:00 p.m.), and Kolchak uncovering a mystery—and a vicious dog—as part of an ambitious politican's campaign. If you still want a movie, check out the classic version of King Kong (10:00 p.m., WLVI), with Fay Wray trapped on the top of the Empire State Building. I think you can give the Cathy Lee Crosby made-for-TV version of Wonder Woman a pass (11:30 p.m., ABC) a pass, though; it just isn't the same.
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Finally, some industry news. Robert Blake is set to star in a new television series being produced by Universal. They may or may not have known it at the time, but that series will be Baretta. Talking of Baretta always leads to its predecessor, Toma, and its star, Tony Musante, has turned down a 12-episode deal to make more episodes for ABC. He's also wrapped up work on the ABC Theater presentation of "The Trial of Lt. William Calley," in which he plays the officer at the center of the My Lai Massacre; the network is holding on to it until the Calley case has been resolved. (It airs in January, 1975.) Adam West is back doing a guest shot on Emergency! after having spent some time working overseas. The Law, an NBC telemovie starring Judd Hirsh, has generated enough enthusiasm in the executive suite that three one-hour sequels have already been filmed; it's rumored as a replacement for the aforementioned Lucas Tanner, said to be on the chopping block. And the best news of all: William Conrad will be hosting the Thanksgiving Day parade coverage on CBS. It's just around the corner, you know. TV
