King Lear

As an artifact of early TV history, this restored and remastered offering of the October 11, 1953 program aired on the CBS series Omnibus is obviously significant, marking the television debut of Orson Welles. But as a representation of Shakespeare's great tragedy about the monarch who unwisely gives his kingdom to his two thankless daughters while ignoring the one who truly loves him, Peter Brook's staging of King Lear is a grave disappointment, with both subplots and characters ruthlessly excised. (Host Alistair Cooke says Brook insisted that even if he'd been allotted three hours he'd still have pruned the play, but Brook's later 1970 film version with Paul Scofield presents the full text.) The supporting cast is at best adequate, while Welles is hardly towering in the title role: with his mellifluous voice, Welles might have been a superb Lear on radio, but at 38 he was far too young to physically represent the king; encased in old-age makeup, he appears both stiff and inexpressive here. The DVD boasts some interesting extras, including three Omnibus segments: the first on the legendary Globe Theatre, the second featuring a live 1954 broadcast from the Yale Shakespeare Festival, and the third a 1953 interview with Walter Kerr (drama critic of the New York Herald Tribune) discussing the staging of Hamlet. Although a must for academic collections specializing in television history, this is optional elsewhere. (F. Swietek)