Film on Friday an improvement

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33386, 19 November 1973, Page 4

Film on Friday an improvement

Perhaps all the complaints about the quality of the feature films on 'television are having some effect. In recent weeks there has been a decided improvement in material, although Saturday night’s “Modesty Blaise” was a let-down. "‘Tunes of Glory,” the colour film on Friday night, may not rank among the great motion pictures, but the rather thin material was given strength by Sir Alec Guinness and John Mills, two of Britain’s outstanding actors. The colour—for which the N.Z.B.C. apologised in advance—was something of a disappointment, but the principals in this story of conflicting personalities made it well worth .while. But “Modesty Blaise,” the female James Bond, was weakly absurd. There is something especially soothing and pleasant about Maori singing, and the well-presented “Pupuri Ra” again filled in a quarter-hour I satisfactorily. But one wonders whether it is not time that "Billboard" was introduced with something :more topical than Rugby football. Friday’s “The South Tonight” was notable for another very successful bit of nonsense from Bryan Allpress; what high regard I viewers have for this programme.

There had been a promise, a week earlier, that “World Scene,” now in colour, would contain something' more cheerful than the regu-i larly depressing, often horrifying items shown in this collection of news clips. The promise was hardly carried out. Some interesting aspects of America’s fuel problems were explained, but the piece on Libya’s ambitious' leader would not have raised’ many hearty laughs. —R.T.B.