Word: superbness
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...variety show imported by Steve Parker, travel-happy husband of Cinemactress Shirley MacLaine (TIME, June 22). Ballad-belting M.C. James Shigeta imitates Elvis Presley with accurate Occidental accent, Belly Dancer Rie Taniuchi (34-21-35) oscillates through a Latin American cha cha cha, and the Nagata Kings pantomime a superb slapstick parody of baseball. What was missing from the start, by Vegas standards, was a satisfactory supply of nudes. But by week's end a number called Kyoto Doll was turning nightly into a rousing scene of near rape and samurai swordplay. Naturally, before the fight ends...
...entirely different mood, neither nymph-like nor villainous, Ellis Rabb is absolutely superb. It is no news that Mr. Rabb is a fine classic actor (having appeared as Hamlet and Lear to great critical acclaim); but as Smee, Captain Hook's sentimental side-kick, he is just plain riotous. He has but to walk across the stage to get a laugh. The characterization is similar to one he used as Starveling in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Stratford last summer; but since he has considerably more to say as Smee, the concept is considerably enlarged. The shaky voice...
Sidney Poitier is superb as Porgy! His performance is certain to win him another Academy Award nomination, and he may well walk away with it this time. Mr. Poitier has always been commended for his sensitivity; but in his Porgy we see a new dimension for it, for this is the first time, to my recollection, that he has been cast in a truly gentle role...
Less rare than any of these items, but never before recorded in full, is Das Rheingold, Wagner's thunder-throated masterpiece, presented by London (3 LPs, mono and stereo) in a superb performance. Conductor Georg Solti leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with anvil-stroking power; Kirsten Flagstad sings with serene beauty; and George London's Wotan towers with granitic strength. The majestically rolling accompaniment of the gods' procession to Valhalla is sure to lift almost any listener out of his seat...
Though his nature descriptions are superb, chrysanthemums and moon mist rarely monopolize Author Mishima's vision. He is especially good at charting the whiplash currents of the Japanese temperament, swerving in an instant from refinement to cruelty. His tilt with tradition is spirited but distinctly un-Japanese. Since 1950, the Kinkakuji has been meticulously rebuilt, and may well gaze at its limpid image in the Kyoko Pond for another demi-millennium...