Word: mr
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...jolly school teachers, find only a certain whimsical humor in the supposition that any sane, intelligent undergraduate would want to live outside the amenable ivy walls of their domains. They seem puzzled, and try to figure out what whims of motivation could be making certain students act so strangely. Mr. Conway, after he admits there was much pressure to live out, blandly observes that the policy of private residence was "a good thing in itself, demonstrating the values of House life." That is, everyone who lives outside the warm House walls this year will find the big world so cold...
...Mr. Scott is magnificent--a word not used lightly in these pages. I doubt if there is in nature anyone who would talk and gesture quite as he does; but director Robert Mulligan has wisely refused to force him down to life-size, and on the stage every stroke carries conviction. Bring on the grand old adjectives ("magnificent," above, will serve as a starter) for George C. Scott...
...there is a play surrounding Mr. Scott. It is not bad fun, either, since lively and emphatic family spats are going on almost all the time. However, except for Mr. Scott's setpiece, Comes a Day is badly contrived and badly phrased. Speed Lamkin wrote it, but he appears to have had a good deal of unwitting help. See if you can match up the elements from Comes a Day in Column A below with the plays in which these elements have previously appeared (Column B).* Column A Column B 1. Mother slaves away all day to support her family...
Most of these situations are still effective when well-handled; if that were not the case, serious American drama would practically be wiped out. But Mr. Lamkin's dialogue is spotted with cliches. "And we laughed, oh, how we laughed. We were the happiest people on earth, without a care," and "Talking won't bring it back, Isabel. It's gone, it's gone," are representative samples. Mr. Lamkin writes so well for Mr. Scott that it is difficult to understand how he can write so badly for nearly everyone else. Many of these excrescences will probably be written...
...actors its merits deserved, the results would be difficult to imagine, though some clues are provided by Arthur O'Connell as drunken father Lawton and Brandon de Wilde as his (overwritten, overdirected) son. The daughter of the Lawton household--a perceptive character study by the way; score one for Mr. Lamkin--wants to marry Mr. Scott's character for his money, but is torn by an enormous letch for a hot water heater salesman. Diana van der Vlis is excellent in this role, and Larry Hagman is good as her stud. Ruth Hammond is conventional but highly competent...