Television: Review

Producers' Showcase stripped the Old Vic's 2½-hr. Romeo and Juliet down to a tidy 72 minutes last week, and the operation was a dramatic success. Apart from the quicker tempo and TV's obvious advantages of closeups, fadeouts and greater fluidity, the presentation also contributed Otis Riggs's clean, spare scenery which released play and players from the Old Vic's 19th century picture-book designs. John Neville, in the role that Olivier once dismissed with Mercutio-like disdain ("Romeo is really a jerk"), was carved out of beaverboard; he crashed parties and climbed vines gracefully enough, but...

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