Feldman-Took comedy very poor quality

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32460, 21 November 1970, Page 4

Feldman-Took comedy very poor quality

The “Marty” series must rank among the funniest screened in New Zealand; Marty Feldman is undoubtedly among the great comedians. But as a script writer, he falls a long way short of success, if Thursday night’s “The Making of Peregrine” is an example of his work. This was in the “Comedy Playhouse” series, and Feldman shared with Barry Took, well known in this particular field, responsibility for one of the most vulgar and pointless productions it has been our misfortune, to see. There will be strong objections to the N.Z.B.C.’s choice of this film for programming, and they will not all come, by] any means, from those whoi suffer chronically from Vic-; torian prissiness. Vulgarity is a poor substitute for humour, < and this one had some;

Weather and News. 8.40: Point of View. 9.05: The World’s Favourite Piano Music. 9.30: Books for the Week. 10.0: This is my Own, my Native Land. 10.30: N.Z.B.C. News, Weather. 10.49: The Epilogue. 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz) 7.0 p.m.: Bach: Cantata No. 140: Sleepers, awake!Elly i Ameling (soprano), Theo Altmeyer (tenor), Hans Sotin i(bass). South German Madrigal Choir. Consortium Musicum under Wolfgang Goennenwein. 7.36: Salzburg Festival, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Karl Boehm. 19.12: Fine Arts Newsletter. 1927: Peter Warlock: Cycle: (The Curlew. 9.52: Haydn: Sinfonia concertante in B flat, Op. 84—Emanuel Hurwitz (violin), Keith Harvey (cello), Peter Graeme (oboe), Martin Gatt (bassoon), English Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim. 10.14: Ibert: Suite symphonique (1930)—Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia under Anshel Brusilow. 10.27: Schumann: Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 121—Christian Ferras (violin), Pierre Barbizet (piano). 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz)

7.2 p.m.: Music Roundabout. 730: Hancock’s Half Hour. 8.0: Game Without Rules. 92: Trials for Murder. 9.45: Crombie Murdoch Trio. 10.15: Ceili Time from Auckland. 11.50: The Epilogue. The Rev. R. A. Lowe. 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilohertz)

7.0 p.m.: Singing Sweethearts. 7.30: The Beat of the Bands. 8.0: Folk Sounds. 9.0: Sunday Concert. 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH Orchestra. 9.02: Trials for Murder. 9.43: Craig and Dale. 10.15: The Cheesman Orchestra. 11.50: The Epilogue.

rough stuff in it. Dick Ejnery was cast as a father in the "Till Death Do Us Part” style, who is longing for his son to “become a man” by taking to smoking, liquor and fornication.

It had very little indeed to commend it. "Gallery” had another night off, so to speak. Austin Mitchell was on again, with some mildly interesting conversation with people thinking about emigrating to New Zealand or other parts of the Commonwealth. If was old hat.

’ On the other hand, '“Mis- ' sion Impossible” was worth ■ watching, because it was far , funnier than the FeldmanTook thing. The same old 1 opening format: one has the mischievous hope that one day Peter Graves will not i find his instruction tape at , the appointed place. Why in (fact do they not send it to I him through the mail? Or if I that might mean it failing .into enemy hands, how do !they tell him where to go to pick it up? Does he first have |to take another journey to find another tape which tells him where to go to find the important one? “Mission Impossible" has run clean out of ideas, long ago, although it seems to have an unendirig supply of: Latin-American countries to rescue from disaster at the hands of some cruel dictator or the scheming second in command of a benevolent statesman.

And Peter had to go through that nonsense of sorting out the photographs again, to pick his staff for the job. As if he is going to leave out Landau, Bain, etc! It is a gifted sort of team, all right. Time after time

they walk straight into a foreign country and Within minutes have jacked themselves up cover jobs which allow them to walk right into the centre of the web unchallenged. Greg Morris once more spent interminable periods in semi-darkness perspiring profusely over his bits of gadgetry, Martin Landau contributed a large number of anxious expressions, the villains were -finally exposed, and off they all went again. “Mission Impossible” is surely high in the heap of televisioin garbage— PANDORA.