Television Literary Marketeers

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31276, 24 January 1967, Page 7

Television Literary Marketeers

Britain is still trying enter the European Of • men Market. But » e 8.8. C. is already steps ahead of Mr Hfld Wilson. For some w it hss been operatinipuccessfully in a tefsion common markef for French classics. * far there have beenf complaints from GMF*! de Gaulle. / ; The market opj with the short stories stipe Maupassant, and Flaubß’ s “Madame Bovary." Nowf are being offered adniirw* versions of stories by A# ndre Dumas. The New Y<. began with "The Corsicw® r °therB.” The Count of Mfte Cristo has escaped f# the Chateau d’lf, and Three Musketeers” for the future. We»s leapt successfully in<t he television age with thlßß C ’s assistance; Dumas # ms likely to do the same. / 1 Duiw is not one of the | giantipf French literature. He v/too prolific, and often ; wrojf oo quickly. “The Three Muspeers” is a superb • rorfiee) the later adven- , tuf °f d’Artagnan, Athos, pfhos, and Aramis are s/cely remembered. But beJise of the number and comlexities of the Dumas charJeters they offer almost limitJess possibilities for teleAs classics the best known works of Dumas may be in the minor class. But they should appeal to a wider television audience than the stories of de Maupassant and Flaubert, which *we considered in some quarters to be caviare to the general despite the careful presentation by the 8.8. C. Duinas has more to hold viewers—adventure, excitement, intrigue, and romance. The BR.C. has shown in the past that it handles the classics with respect, devotion, and firmness. It is not easy to transfer a work of fiction to television, Straightforward stories of action or suspense are easiest to represent in visual terms, provided the casting is good. Period pieces like the stories of Pumas are more difficult. Costumes and properties, however well designed, are not our of the period, and the be-

haviour of the people in it. Long descriptions must be replaced by visual images. In its adaptation of “The Corsican Brothers” the 8.8. C. fulfilled these requirements perfectly. Corsica and Paris in the early 19th century were realistically represented, and the players were at ease in their surroundings. The casting was uniformly good. There were two fine performances by Alan Dobie as the twin brothers, and Gerald Harper as the cold-blooded duellist, Chateau-Renaud. Alan Dobie will be remembered by devotees of "The Plane Makers” as the shorttempered, irritable, ruthless aircraft designer who lost out in the power game against John Wilder. It is sufficient tribute to ,his acting to say that only his name linked the sensitive Corsican brothers with the designer. “The Corsican Brothers" was a good introduction to Dumas, and to another drama of revenge. In the early episodes “The Count of Monte Cristo” was presented with the same feeling for the period, and the author’s purpose. My memories of the story were coloured by the film version in which Robert Donat played Edmond Dantes. Looking back he impressed me as a romantic, swashbuckling hero. Alan Badel is a different kind of hero in the TV version. He is concerned with the development of the character of Dantes. His young, happy sailor, bewildered by the turn of events which leads to his imprisonment, ages and hardens in the dungeons of the Chateau d’lf, and the path of revenge he will follow when he gains the fabulous riches of Monte Cristo is clearly indicated. Badel’s powerful performance is matched by the excellent acting of a carefully chosen supporting cast, all of whom recall vividly the characters in the book.

One good thing about a TV classic is that it impels you towards the book again. I returned to “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and found how faithfully the 8.8. C. had followed the story. But I had forgotten that Monte Cristo was a drug addict, carrying in his pocket a box made from a single emerald with a golden lid, which con-

tained pills of a mixture of the purest Chinese opium and the finest hashish. Dantes the drug addict is unlikely to figure in later episodes. That does not matter. The 8.8. C. has done full justice to Dumas, and I now look forward to “The Three Musketeers,” perhaps “Twenty Years After,” and then “The Queen’s Necklace.” After Alexandre Dumas there is Dumas the Elder. He wrote a noted dictionary of gastronomy, and I am sure it would not be beyond the powers of the 8.8. C. to extract from it a programme which would make Graham Kerr and Alison Holst think again. ARGUS.