Words and Deeds

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 495, 17 December 1948, Page 11

Words and Deeds

HE programme which introdtices liv- '" ing celebrities is rather a sticky business sometimes. Unless the great happen to be celebrities of some walk of life in which public speaking plays an important part, they don’t always show to advantage before the microphone.

Here the producer of the programme is wise if he adds to the professionals appearing on the session a few trusty actors who can be relied upon to keep the show alive and interesting. Professional Portrait, a

BBC production dealing with the life of a cricket professional, did introduce some people who were both good cricketers and good speakers; and probably for the cricket enthusiast the brief appearances of Compton, Washbrook, Ames, and Barnett) would speak more volumes than the actual short lines they were allotted. But apart from the celebrities, there were some efficient BBC people who gave us a careful account of the professional cricketer’s training, life, and prospects, in a dramatized style that proved highly interesting. The producer’s final touch of authenticity was the inclusion of C. Aubrey Smith, both cricketer and actot; and this excellent programme r 4

ended with his gallant but forlorn declaration that he wished he could get the Americans interested in cricket, "but it looks-I say looks-too easy!"