Trio from Britain

When the chips are down, expenses up and ratings quavering, go with a proven winner. As applied to TV drama, this calls for an adaptation of the famous movie based on the well-known play derived from the bestselling novel. The practice hardly encourages new playwrights, but last week it at least proved that even a rereretread can sometimes wear wonderfully well.

When it comes to playing conniving old dames, Judith Anderson is matchless. So Charlton Heston found out in NBC's adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's Elizabeth the Queen. Though it is essentially a two-character play, Dame Judith as the queen hissing "Go to Ireland--go to hell" made it a one-woman show. Torn between pride for country and passion for the Earl of Essex (Heston), she played the tug of war with exquisite skill, slowly losing grip and, in the end, turning into a living mummy. Heston, unfortunately, seemed slightly embalmed to begin with.

"A man will gasp and crumple in agony," said the ads for Luther, "and the Christian world will split. Tonight. In your living room." Now who could afford to miss that? And just to make sure that no one did, the ABC cameras zeroed in for so many closeups that it seemed as though the lenses were affixed to the actors' noses. But that was all right, for the furrowed brow and blazing eye said a lot. Filmed in London, the adaptation of John Osborne's play about Martin Luther's supposed psychological dilemmas glinted with bright character roles for which the British are renowned. In Robert Shaw, the play had the actor to give it go power. He gasped, crumpled and split the Christian world with facile abandon.

From its catalogue of "Plays We (and the Sponsors) All Know and Love," ABC also presented an adaptation of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. But what were they thinking about when they signed Britain's classical actor Nicol Williamson to play Lennie, the hulking, simple-minded American farm hand? That seemed a little like casting David Niven as Quasimodo. Well, in short, Williamson was an extraordinary Lennie. Of the trio of Britons who dominated the tube last week, his performance was the most remarkable. Bug-eyed and slackjawed, gangly and gawky, stammering and shuffling, he gave touching insight to his credo, "I got you and you got me." George Segal as George and Will Geer as Candy gave Williamson first-rate support.

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