“The Revenue Men” was just short of quality

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32676, 4 August 1971, Page 4

“The Revenue Men” was just short of quality

After Sunday’s feast, it was back to ordinary rations from CHTV3 on Monday evening. But .if. the evening’s viewing lacked the very high quality of Sunday’s shows, it was good and substantial.

Hie standard of acting in “Nicholas Nickleby” for instance, is extremely good, but this is no more, with a screening time of about 20 minutes, than hors d’oeuvres. “Love American Style” was amusing, but not as funny as the earlier programmes in this series. In

“Love and the Phone Booth,” Peter Kastner (we think it Was him) was engaging as the shy country boy and Pamela Austin a very charming partner. “Love and the Doorknob” was not quite as successful; a bridegroom with a doorknob stuck in his mouth gave it an amusing twist, but it was forced along a little laboriously. The , brief sketches which pepper the show were again bright.

There was something lacking in “The Revenue Meh,” which ended after a long run. It somehow missed being really good, although it was usually interesting. There was no lack of conviction in the acting, some of the stories were quite strong. But it seemed a pale imitation •of some of the better television detective series, and at times the photography was quite murky, and a poor reflection of Glasgow’s climate. The last story, “The Golden Spider” very nearly had Smith in real trouble, for against a doctor’s orders he questioned a man who had collapsed at an airport and who was found to be carrying a modest £lO,OOO worm of gold. And the man died.

“The Golden Spider” was principally a vehicle for George Waring, who played the unfortunate gold-carrier Filby, .and for Stella Tanner, who had a very difficult assignment as his hardbitten wife. They both carried off difficult tasks capably. » * «

The profile of Henry Kissinger, President Nixon’s national security adviser, was a most revealing one.

The stresses and strains of his job were made clear. But the documentary, in keeping with the American outlook on such subjects, went into personal details of Kissinger’s life to a much greater extent than a New Zealand production of a similar sort would dare to go. It seems to be taken for granted in America that a public figure has to he shown almost in his underwear. Perhaps this is good reporting, perhaps it is presumptuous; it all depends on one’s outlook.

The evening ended with another “Gallery” special on the National Party conference at Dunedin. Each of these summaries of the day’s activities has been worth watching, for they have been balanced and informative. But they would have been the better had speakers been identified. They were, on one evening, but not on others, a strange inconsistency, and an irritating one. —PANDORA.