For 73 uninterrupted minutes yesterday evening, Omnibus offered Orson Welles in his American television debut as Shakespeare's "King Lear." The minutes were swift with power and pity. The story of a prideful King of England who divides his kingdom and disinherits Cordelia, his only loving child, was stripped bare for its television occasion. The performance, however, was not too naked for understanding or intensity. Welles, despite his habit of muttering and whispering to no one at times, was brilliant. At the needful moments, he displayed foolish vanity, bewildered madness and a delicate nobility. His mood moved easily from the foolishness to the nobility which came only as he neared death...
For 73 uninterrupted minutes yesterday evening, Omnibus offered Orson Welles in his American television debut as Shakespeare's "King Lear." The minutes were swift with power and pity. The story of a prideful King of England who divides his kingdom and disinherits Cordelia, his only loving child, was stripped bare for its television occasion. The performance, however, was not too naked for understanding or intensity. Welles, despite his habit of muttering and whispering to no one at times, was brilliant. At the needful moments, he displayed foolish vanity, bewildered madness and a delicate nobility. His mood moved easily from the foolishness to the nobility which came only as he neared death...
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