Word: witnessed
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...impact. It is the tale of a feeble-minded old man and of the noose he hangs up for his prodigal son to hang himself with if he should return. The prodigal does return, but does not hang himself--which seems too bad, because his ironic old half-wit father has tied his hidden fortune to the far end of the hangman's rope. Why he should want to help his detestable son instead of killing him is unexplained, but he fails totally. So, in a most frustrating manner, do his son, his daughter, and her husband, in their attempts...
...where they should--but only occasionally. The truth is that Shaw himself sometimes misses, for this is not one of his most satisfactory plays. It contains the usual quota of talk, and much of it is brilliant. But there are other long stretches when the great Shavian spring of wit runs dry, and the playwright's dislike of doctors appears as little more than a querulous mania. The most unfortunate part of the play, however, is the totally unnecessary last act, which serves only to confuse the problem which the work poses...
Best described as an eighteenth century gentleman, Professor von Blanckenhagen has the reputation of being a brilliant conversationalist with a ready and sardonic wit, sometimes almost playful. He is an astute critic of his adopted country and is as firm in his standards of political and public behavior as he is in his standards of art. Yet his friends assert that one of the most remarkable things about this rather enigmatic man is his ability to laugh at himself and at the world. With a combination of strictly disciplined yet imaginative logic and endearing generosity, interest and vitality, there...
Since it is also a short film, the Exeter has padded the program with The History of the Cinema, a rather primitive cartoon imitating the UPA method and wit with lame success. There is also a ten-minute visit to England's Trooping of the Colours, one of the world's few surviving large scale pageants. The film is appropriately impressive and colorful...
...trade only after he had won stardom. His talent was evident as long ago as From Here to Eternity, but now his education is complete. The present film proves that he can deliver a long and involved speech, and that he possesses enough technique to outline a character with wit and skill and economy. His is an admirable job of acting...