COURIER-JOURNAL Wednesday, December 12,1984 14 TELEVISION George C. Scott Shines as Dickens' Scrooge By Henry Herx Scott makes him somewhat enport (Silas Scrooge) and develops between, young New York (NC) — George redeemable and his Edward Woodward (Ghost Daphne Manners (Susan C. Scott portrays Ebenezer transformation in the end of Christmas Present). Wooldridge) and Hari Scrooge in a spirited produc­ becomes all the more credible Roger O. Hirson's script is Kumar (Art Malik), an tion of Charles Dickens' "A and touching. faithful to the spirit of English-educated Indian. Christmas Carol," airing Dickens' tale, and Clive Scott's performance is but Also courting Daphne is Monday, Dec. 17, 8-10 p.m. Donner directs the produc­ one of the reasons for the the local police/*'superin­ EST on CBS. tion with careful attention to success of this new British blending moody fantasy and tendent (played with menac­ Rather than turning out yet production. Backing him up vibrant realism. ing intensity by %jjin Pigot- another caricature of Scrooge is a fine supporting cast, t-Smith). She turns fern down as misanthropic miser, Scott including such veterans as This adaptation succeeds gently but firmly: 0e is jeal­ invests the role with some David Warner (Bob Crat- better than most in conveying ous of her friendship with dignity and not a little sym­ chit), Susannah York (Mrs. Dickens' concern for the Kumar, whom |>e despises pathy. By playing Scrooge as Cratchit), Frank Finlay poor and the importance of because of his independent less than a total monster, (Marley's Ghost), Nigel Dav- our sharing with them. manner. With ejyjj unrest That's the central message of growing in the asga.*, tragedy "A Christmas Carol" and seems unavoidable.^ MOVIES the reason it has become a perennial part of the season. There is considejaole depth • • • to these character^ and the ominous times in_MKhich they Capsule Film Reviews "Masterpiece Theatre" find themselves^ ^However, moves from Anthony before becoming'£ too in­ New York (NC) — The following are synopses of Trollope's 19th-century volved in the Ijgries you movies recently reviewed by the staff of the U.S. Catholic England to 20th-century In­ should know thatrjjie second Conference Department of Communication. dia with "The Jewel in the episode gets intotlfprd-edged "Beverly Hills Cop" (Paramount) Crown," a 14-part series tragedy. .•"" An Eddie Murphy vehicle whose particulars are of little premiering Sunday, Dec. 16, importance. If you like Eddie Murphy, you'll like this 9-11 p.m. EST on PBS. The When Daphne js raped by because he's at his good-natured best. Because of its other episodes in the series a gang of toughs.! *-the police violence and rough language, this story of a supercool are one-hour programs. superintendent bjames the Detroit detective in the conspicuous consumption capital of deed on her Indian lover. The Adapted by Ken Taylor superintendent, a sadist as the universe has been classified A-II1 — adults — by the from Paul Scott's "The Raj U.S. Catholic Conference. The Motion Picture Association well as a racist, has Kumar Quartet," the dramatization arrested on falsified evi­ of America rating is R — restricted. takes place durirg the years "City Heat" (Warners) dence, savagely tQttured and 1942-47, a period beginning imprisoned without trial. Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds as, respectively, a in the darkest days of World police detective and private eye who talk rudely to each War II, with Imperial India These scenes of Kumar's other whenever their paths cross in the course of a struggle threatened by Japanese in­ physical and psychological between two rival mobs in Depression-era Kansas City. vasion and by Gandhi's miss brutalization arq 'as graphi­ These exchanges are supposed to be terribly funny, but movement against British cally violent as fthey are they're not, and the violence and the in-joke nature of the rule. Japanese arms are de­ morally repugnant. In repre­ whole enterprise gets quite wearing. Because of its graphic feated but Gandhi's passive senting the arrogance of total violence, it has been classified A-Ul — adults — by the resistance succeeds in 1947 power and the hejpjessness of U.S. Catholic Conference. The industry rating is PG — with the creation of an (in­ those subject to: it, this parental guidance suggested. dependent India. | particular sequence is con­ David Warner stars as Bob Cratchit, and Anthony "Mass Appeal" (Universal) Set in this historical con­ vincingly realistic, and power­ Zealous young deacon jars middle-aged pastor out of his text of conflict between fully effective in its con­ Walters plays Tiny Tim in a new production of "A complacency in this screen adaptation of the hit play. In cultures and national inter­ demnation. [, Christmas Carol," which stars George C. Scott. the more realistic film medium, the humor and force of the ests is a story of individuals -- Such scenes are unusually individual problems are set original become much diminished. The slightness of the of the ruling class and of |the with Jim O'Brien, this film's Catholic content, marked by omissions and inac­ strong for television fare and Grenada Television series firmly in the historical tapes­ ruled ~ whose lives are en­ adults seeking Jight enter­ try of the period. curacies, becomes all too apparent. Mediocre entertain­ tangled in the events leading begins its twilight-of-empire tainment are adyjsed to look saga with a fascinating col­ ment at best. The U.S. Catholic Conference has classified it to independence. elsewhere. « A-II — adults and adolescents. The industry rating is PG lection of characters — in­ Filmed in India, the pro­ — parental guidance suggested. • The first episode is cen­ Produced by Christopher cluding a missionary modeled duction is visually rich and tered in a tragic romance that Morahan, who -"co-directed on Mother Teresa — whose always captivating to the eye. BOOKS New Book Explains Spiritual Value of Suffering "I Need Souls Like You," lands who is tending the sick, letters of the sick and suffer­ property owned bya woman A wealthy widow might instances, from their own by Kathryn Spink. Harper homeless and lonely. ing. became her husband's upon have considerable indepen­ journals and family letters. and Row (New York, 1984). "When Christ hung mo­ This book would be a fine her marriage. Divorce was dence. As, for instance, Lady The book is alive with 95 pp., $10.95. tionless on the cross, appar­ gift for a sick person who is unheard of, and: if a woman Anne Clifford. After two anecdote after anecdote. ently useless, he was saving truly dismayed at her inabili­ separated from her husband very unhappy marriages she It is a very long work, Reviewed by us," says Jacqueline De De­ ty to help others. It could she immediately Became pen­ enjoyed life as a patroness of carefully researched and fully Ruth Ann Hanley cker, a Belgian woman who provide that sense of purpose niless. l: the arts and benefactor of the annotated, a volume to be poor. A friend of poet John NC News Service was the first Sick and Suffer­ and self-worth' through "The weaker vessel," a dipped into and enjoyed A eucharistic minister vis­ ing Co-worker to offer her Christ. It would also be Donne, she wrote her from time to time. There is title from Tynedaje's 1524 autobiography. This in spite iting a sick and incapacitated pain for the work being done excellent for the complainers translation of the New enough material and plenty and gripers and all the rest of the fact that women woman in a nursing home by Mother Teresa. Testament, well describes her that is interesting in its pages with problems and frustra­ writers were frowned upon — to provide for several books. heard her complain that This small volume contains plight. I "you are out there working tions who see their com­ indeed, any kind of learning a long essay on the trials and plaints as less than a gift. In spite of all these handi­ was thought unsuitable for (Mrs. Hoffman is a free­ in the world, while -all 1 can illness in Jacqueline's life. ladies. do is sit here and say my caps, there were some star­ lance writer based in Indi­ Her illness destroyed forever Be advised, however, that tling exception? to the con­ ana.) rosary." her hope of becoming a it would take a bit of pre­ Many marriages, however, ventional view of the sex. were happy, although women "Who's to say," replied missionary sister. disposition, or grace, to read There was even a forerunner were married off by their the visitor, "that all the Yet today, Jacqueline and this little book, and maybe of our present political running around I do might even a belief that "God can activists. In 1§49 a group families without any regard 3,000 others are able to "of­ for their wishes. Lucy not look like the dog chasing fer their pains for a second be at work in the delays" of presented "The Humble Hicks Davies, later Countess of its tail from the Lord's self," a missionary. life. Petition of divers well- perspective, whereas it is just (Ms. Hanley is a free-lance affected womeji inhabiting Huntington, was married at Home Heating Inc. As Mother Teresa writes: the age of 10, although she possible that you, sitting here writer for the Catholic and the City of Lpjidon, etc." HEATING-COOLING < in this room, offering all that "What a beautiful vocation secular press.) asking for the release of did not actually live with her you can do, might be earning is yours, a Missionary of political prisoners.