Word: grizzard
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Playhouse 90 (CBS, 9:30-11 p.m.). The irresistible force of political pressures meets what should be an immovable object: a scrupulously honest man. The Hidden Image stars Franchot Tone, Martin Gabel, Nancy Marchand and George Grizzard...
...thankless role of the chased and chaste Hero, Chase Crosley is lovely indeed. Her suitor Claudio, in the hands of George Grizzard, is frankly poor; he does not seem to know what he is saying, and cannot approach the classical diction required of a Shakespearean "proper squire." Robert Blackburn is a cheerful Don Pedro; William Swetland is a good enough Leonato; and Sydney Sturgess is comely as the gentlewoman Margaret...
With Jason Robards Jr. impressive as a collapsing standard bearer for his era and vocation, and with George Grizzard excellent as the younger writer, the main narrative has many moments, such as Halliday's proud roll call of Jazz Age names, that are vibrantly nostalgic, as it has others, such as Halliday's white-knuckled attempt to summarize a scenario that has never been written, that are tensely moving. Elsewhere, at times, the main story is wordy and under-dramatized. Despite Rosemary Harris' period appeal as the wife, the flashbacks seem inadequate, do more to catch...
...acting of George Grizzard, as Shep Stearns, the young writer who accompanies Halliday, is usually a hindrance, especially in the beginning. Gizzard continually overacts and, like many of the other performers, including Robards, mistakes volume for intensity. At many points, the grating quality of Stearns' performance, make audience participation impossible. Stearns' best moments are his comedy scenes with Robards, and these scenes form the most memorable part of the play. This is, in a sense, unfortunate, since The Disenchanted is not meant to be a comedy...
There are a good many moments when Father or fisticuffs, Angier or Mrs. Duke make life at 2104 Walnut Street fun. In the title role, Walter Pidgeon seems an authentic enough Biddle, though perhaps not an eccentric enough Anthony J., and George Grizzard proves an engaging Angier. But there are a good many moments when Philadelphia might as well be Kansas City, when the Biddle clan might as well be cardboard, when there is no elegance or stuffiness to point up Father's antics, and when, accordingly, there is very little fun to the show. What has too often...