Television
Replay
Richard Ingrams
After the row about Channel 4 some way16`)Ple are predictably going the other The 'ncl saying it isn't as bad as all that. ttenY:ven claim to have seen good pro- iteme'es on it. Two or three critics for ex- el N. s,eeril mystified that the production rev tcnolas Nickleby was watched by so tliisodrie(31.31e, but having seen only the first 'flick -me I myself was not the least surprised. adaptations are something the Year, Is quite good at and in the last few e;theY have done a good Nickleby and Old Curiosity Shop starring - reacock as Quilp. In contrast to fort qUite stylish productions the RSC ef- Ne:as crass and lacking in any delicacy. ke7teMPt was made to play down the ex- iliita;ations which may be necessary in a big Oquee-re and certain characters like Fanny and Smike were turned into grotes- hkici 'a this one could detect the heavy kliow Qf Trevor Nunn, a director not best p for his lightness of touch. tar oersonally 1 have found nothing at all so kitidiLChannel 4 that has afforded me any itetii"' satisfaction. But I was delighted to ikelhat the new channel intends to show the Tati film Mon Oncle at Christmas elso',Wilich may, as long as it is shown at a gle 1.1-aule hour, go some way to repairing Nth 1,4111 done by all the obscenity and 4ing of Tati, I was, needless to say, Nem" to see on Sunday that the BBC in- reil.""ei. to broadcast a 'tribute' to the great genius who died last month. Unfor- 1rib:ill', like so many of these so-called • (//44,,,s'es', it turned out to be just an old .14S interview dredged up for the occa- Ibt,ery ;,:tsh no attempt made to bring the '4g "P-to-date. Filmed at the Hotel de la e, St %eel Marc sur Mer, where Tati made '1.eurated film M. Hulot's Holiday, this re41ee,W With Gavin Millar, an earnest tYPe if ever there was one, was a affair which contrasted oddly with clips ue; ,_°f film. Tati, a gloomy-looking c,14'1,4," a polo-necked sweater, tried to tu his thick French accent that his ph,ere based on the idea that the way uehave in public is always funny. He described coming out of early morning rehearsals at the Finsbury Empire to find the street market full of people doing funny things naturally. 'I want the movie to start when you leave the cinema,' he said. Funni- ly enough I had exactly this experience in the summer on a family outing to the Bar- bican to see two Tati films. We emerged to find ourselves in a Tati world in which peo- ple struggled desperately to find their way out of the architectural maze. There were no rude references to the Bar- bican on Monday when as usual 'a vast con- stellation of talent' assembled for 'a glitter- ing occasion' organised by the Society of West End Theatres at the Grosvenor House Hotel to mark a 'most splendid evening of celebration in the London theatre' and see 'coveted trophies' being awarded to assorted actors and actresses by other actors and actresses. The host was the ubiquitous Barry Norman, whose hair has now come to look very odd indeed, as if he is wearing a wig. Barry seemed determined to endear himself to the assembled thespians by in- sulting the Minister for the Arts, Mr Paul Channon, who he said was not giving nearly enough of our money away to keep them all in business. Mr Julian Lloyd Webber was then brought on to play his 'cello and Dr Jonathan Miller made a courageous attack on Mrs Whitehouse whilst referring to the apparently phallic design of the trophy which he accepted on behalf of the English National Opera.
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