Finch film better than the average

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33060, 30 October 1972, Page 4

Finch film better than the average

It might not have been one of the great films, but “No Love for Johnny” was a good one. This tale of an ambitious, lusty British politician who eventually came to see the truth about himself had a rare ring of sincerity about it.

Peter Finch played Johnnie with easy efficiency, bringing out the man’s strengths and weaknesses clearly. And although it was a portrait of a person, there was a twist in the tail which hit home effectively. Mary Peach played the female lead appealingly; and the cast was almost a preview of British television in this country, containing just about everyone, from William Tel! to Brian Stead. 4:

The Friday film, "I Confess,” did not have many of the usual Hitchcock trappings and sprang no surprises. Montgomery Clift went stoically on through a story of a priest charged with murder because of circum-

stantial evidence, and the fact that he could not reveal the fact that the murderer had already confessed to him. It was very ordinary fare, distinguished briefly by the smooth, telling but poisonous cross-examination by the crown prosecutor (Brian Aheme). # #

“Z Cars” was notable for the performance of Graham Haberfield who, as Jerry Booth, has become perhaps the most likeable character on “Coronation Street.” It was a strange and pathetic tale about the vague, simpleminded and muddled Brian. Graham Haberfield brought off a minor triumph with his handling of a difficult assignment.

Otherwise, there was little of note on Friday or Saturday evenings. “The Partners” managed to raise a laugh here and there, but the grimvisaged James Amess did not succeed in making “Gunsmoke” worth watching. It was terribly obvious and corny, and the two N.Z.B.C. products, “Graphline,” and “Saturday,” held less interest than usual.—Pandora.