Is violence becoming acceptable?

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32531, 15 February 1971, Page 4

Is violence becoming acceptable?

The penultimate episode ofc» “Marcus Welby, M.D.”—about the pregnant teenager with sue h uncomplicated thoughts as having her baby in the midst of a field—was deemed to be too stiff a mixture for younger viewers, and so was given a later time slot. It would be interesting to know whether the N.Z.B.C. assessed this particular Welby programme as being as disturbing to the adolescent mind as “The Name of the Game” on Saturday evening.

The programme started at ■ 9.22 p.m.—Thursday evening’s offering from Welby ' was screened at 9.13 p.m.— ' yet the subject matter was pure cyanide in relation to Welby’s molasses. The topic was survival—survival from a simulated interrogation course, vigorously pursued. Nothing was left to the imagination. It was not pretty to behold; in fact, many adult viewers might have felt squeamish at developments in and round the desert base. The glaring lights, the sing-song voice of the interrogator, the beatings, the drinkings, the incessant questioning—all were included, and in large measure. It was powerful stuff, compared with the flimsiness of the Welby programme. And it raised an important question—is violence becoming accepted as a normal part of television fare, while topics such as illegitimacy are handled with velvet gloves? Every Saturday evening,

from about 8 p.m., viewers are certain of seeing Mike Pratt given a brutal beating with fists, boots and knees in “Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased),” and are equally certain of seeing the grizzled Mr Pratt handing out like treatment to his tormentors before the end of the programme.

It is not many years ago since the hero of “The Wild, Wild West” suffered all sorts of fiendish tortures at the hands of his diminutive enemy, Dr Loveless, after the late news. Standards appear to have been relaxed a good deal since then.

♦ * * Friday evening’s late show, “The Outsider,” was very tame fare compared with "The Name Of The Game,” and it has certainly not been placed at the end of the evening’s viewing because of excessive violence. Rather, it could do with an injection of blood and thunder, for Darren McGavin has precious little to offer in the way of talent “Another Part of the Forest” the feature film on Friday evening, was bolstered by some powerful acting by Frederick March and Edmond O’Brien, with Florence Eldridge, Ann Blyth and Dan Duryea providing strong contrasts in characterisation.

Although it has now reached the venerable age of 23, the film was still good value, and the emotional conflict between the principals was as spell-binding as it was in 1948.

“Nearest and Dearest” showed a slight improvement on Saturday evening, mainly due to the enthusiastic efforts of Hylda Baker. But the other actors are decided light-weights—and that includes Jimmy Jewel, who

leans heavily on profanity to raise a laugh. Liberace had a few lightweights on his programme, too, and made a special effort to bring the ship back on an even keel by including a Liszt concerto in his repertoire. Nina and Frederick made an excellent offering, but surprisingly, were limited to one number. Yet George Gobel, an exceedingly lame comedian, was almost given the run of the show. And it is a puzzle how an act so lacking in talent as Andre Tahan and his puppet mice ever got past the man on guard at the stage door. * » #

Two of the evening’s highlights were the InterDominion trotting and pacing events from Addington and the feature on Morocco in "The Untamed World.” Unlike some aspects of the direct telecast of the Wellingon Cup, the trotting programme was handled with a deft touch; the camera work was excellent, and the production reflected credit on all concerned. The feature on Morocco represented a departure from the normal run of animal films in “The Untamed World," but it was at once educational and entertaining. It is unfortunate that this series has now come to an end.—PANDORA.

CHTV3 2.00: Headline news. 2.03: A Matter of Principle. Drama. (Repeat). 3.16: The Sense of Wonder. Documentary. (Repeat). 4.05: Green Acres. Comedy. 4.20: The Contestants. Sport. (Repeat). 4.53: Chigley. Puppets. (New series). 5.06: Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. 5.26: Carousel. 5.41: Headline news, weather. 5.44: Adventures in Rainbow Country. Adventure. 6.07: I Dream of Jeannie. Comedy. 6.31: Monster Music Mash. Alan Price. 7.00: Network news. 7.20: Weather. The South Tonight. 7.40: The Governor and J.J. Comedy. 8.05: The First Lady—“ The Whips Are Out” Drama. (Final). 8.55: Grandstand. Sport. 9.20: Newsbrief. 9.22: Girls Wanted—lstanbul. Play. 10.12: Memorandum. Documentary. 11.08: Late news, weather.

NATIONAL LINK

(Including 3YA Christchurch (690 kilohertz); 2YA, Wellington (570 kilohertz); 4YA Dunedin (750 kilohertz); and 3YZ Greymouth (920 kilo* hertz) 7.0 p.m.: N.Z.B.C. Sports News. 7.30: Vic Hammett. 7.46: Favourite Songs from Kathleen McCormack. 8.0: Highway of Jazz. 8.30: Weather and News. 9.0: Penn of Pennsylvania. 9.44: The Gunther Kailman Choir. 10.0: Eurolite. 10.30: N.Z.B.C. News, Comment, Weather. 10.45: Cossack Dances. 11.0: 8.8. C. News and Commentary. 12.6 a.m.: Doctor in the House. 1.30: Those Were the Days. 3.3: The Star Show. 4.9: Cabaret Time.

3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz) 7.5 p.m.: Vaughan Williams: Ward the Pirate; Ca’ the Yowes; The unquiet grave; The seeds of love; Early in spring; The turtle dove; An acre of land. 7.30: Human Mental Health and the Reform of Society. 7.59: Helsinki Festival. Helsinki

City Symphony under Neeme Jarvi—Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E flat (original 1915 version); Joonas Kokkonen: Cello Concerto Arto Noras, (cello) (Finnish Radio). 8.58: Samuel Barber: Give me some music; Give me my robe (Anthony and Cleopatra)—Leontyne Price (soprano), New Philharmonia Orchestra under Thomas Schippers. 9.17: Michael Tip* pett: Sonata for four horns (1955) —Barry Tuckwell Hom Quartet. 9.30: Sergei Prokofiev: A series of illustrated programmes by Dr Gerald Seaman (7) The Piano Music (N.Z.8.C.). 10.42: Bach: Motet: Sing unto the Lord a new song—Berlin Motet Choir under Gunther Arndt. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz)

8.2 p.m.: Double One Double O Requests. 11.2: Til the Midnight Hour.

3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilohertz) *7.30 p.m.: Things are Swinging. 9.0: Current Stream. 11.0: This is Blues.