LIFE FOR RUTH / WALK IN THE SHADOW

Michael Craig

LIFE FOR RUTH (aka Walk in the Shadow/1962). Director: Basil Dearden.

"You put your personal faith before her welfare -- you let her die!

John Harris (Michael Craig) and his wife, Pat (Janet Munro), have an eight-year-old daughter named Ruth (Lynn Taylor). John has to rescue Ruth and a young friend when they go out on a boat in choppy waters to get the girl's ball. The boy is saved, but John is told that only a blood transfusion will save Ruth's life. John's religion, similar to Christian Science (although never named) is against transfusions and medical intervention and fears Ruth will be denied everlasting peace in the next world. Dr. Brown (Patrick McGoohan) is utterly appalled by Harris' attitude -- even Harris' wife eventually asks the doctor to do all he can to save Ruth but it's too late. Brown decides to see that Harris is prosecuted for his actions -- or lack of same -- and he is arrested on a charge of manslaughter under the "cruelty to children" act. Brown wants no more children to die because of simple-minded religious dogma so the whole thing will have to be resolved in a courtroom ... What makes the picture even more interesting is that Harris is not really portrayed as some kind of monster, but genuinely thinks he's doing the right thing, until he has a powerful epiphany in the courtroom. Michael Craig, who could play doctor playboys [Doctor in Love] and Civil War heroes [The Mysterious Island] with equal aplomb, proves his versatility yet again with his excellent portrayal of the simple yet tormented John Harris. Munro, McGoohan and the supporting cast, including Megs Jenkins as Pat's mother, are all excellent as well. Cinematography by Otto Heller [Richard III] and a score by William Alwyn [She Played with Fire] add to the film's quality.

Verdict: Powerful, well-acted, and completely absorbing. ***1/2.

RICHARD III

Laurence Olivier as Richard the Third

RICHARD III (1955 ) Producer/director: Laurence Olivier.

"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse."

"Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York."

Desiring the throne of England, Richard III (Laurence Olivier) schemes and plots to do away with any one who might impede his progress or limit his chances of ascending. His victims include his brother, George (John Gielgud); his little nephews, the princes; his associate, the Duke of Buckingham (Ralph Richardson), who balks a bit at the idea of murdering little boys; and others. Richard covets and seduces The Lady Anne (Claire Bloom), the widow of a man he killed on the battlefield, and suggests that the widow of the king has cast spells against him. He lies, manipulates, and agitates behind the scenes. He is a royal monster. Richard III, based on Shakespeare's masterpiece and preserving most of its text, is itself a masterpiece, a stirring drama that excels in performance, music (Sir William Wharton), direction (Olivier) and photography (Otto Heller). Gielgud and Richardson are superb, Bloom is radiant and excellent, and there are notable performances from Cedric Hardwicke as King Edward; Mary Kerridge as Queen Elizabeth; Laurence Naismith as The Lord Stanley; Michael Gough [Black Zoo] as the murderer Dighton; Alec Clunes as Hastings; Andrew Cruickshank [The Stranglers of Bombay] as Brakenbury; and others. The only problem with this wonderful movie is, oddly, Laurence Olivier [Carrie] in the title role. He plays Richard like a malevolent pixie, humorous and above it all, finding everything funny, an interpretation that isn't necessarily wrong, as such, but doesn't work for everybody. In love with the language and his own voice, he tends to rush through many lines, making them musical but obscuring their meaning, to the detriment of his character. Some will find him flamboyant; others hammy. Still, Olivier is by no means bad -- his performance, whatever its flaws, doesn't detract from the film's brilliance -- and he is so obviously having a ball that it's hard not to settle back and simply enjoy him as this nasty creature, Richard. His death scene is extremely well-played, as is the death of George in the tower; oddly the death of the princes was handled more powerfully in the 1939 Tower of London. Richard has also been played on film by Vincent Price. who was rather good, and Basil Rathbone, in the aforementioned Tower of London. Al Pacino also played the role in a few scenes in Looking for Richard and was also creditable. Modern-day adaptations of the play have to dumb it down for the audience by setting it in fascist fantasy lands or other more contemporary milieus.

Verdict: Who dares say Shakespeare is dull? ****.