Glorious Triumphs and Great Tragedies
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: D Program: B-
Leonard
Nimoy proved very early on that he was not Spock, his iconographic Star Trek character, when he surprised
the entire TV industry by doing the voice-overs for the syndicated series In Search of…. in the 1970s. It offered some then-unprecedented success
for a show in the syndicated market. By
that time, Trek became one of the
most successful rerun series of all time, even more so than any of its most successful
sequel shows ever will.
Though he
joined Mission: Impossible
after Martin Landau and Barbara Bain left, the series is not thought of as a
hit show due to his participation. Like Trek though, In Search of…. gave Nimoy a rarity in show-business: a second
typecasting. That is why he is here on Glorious Triumphs and Great Tragedies,
sponsored in part by Reader’s Digest Magazine, offers 13 landmark events that
brought the world great joy, sorrow or both.
Offered are as follows:
Egypt: Treasures of Tutankhamen
Everest:
Adventure at the Top of the World
Gettysburg: The Bloodiest Battle
The Holy Land: The Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Jerusalem: Mystery of the Lost Ark
Normandy: The D-Day Invasion
The North Atlantic: The Titanic Disaster
The Panama Coast: Against All Odds
Pearl
Harbor:
Day of Infamy
Pompeii: Day of Destruction
St.
Petersberg: Last Days of the Romanovs
The Taj
Mahal: A Love Story
and The Tower of London: The Tragedy of Ann Boleyn
To put in
bluntly, when the material is written intelligently, few can read it better
than Nimoy. He always sounds interested
and is constantly compelling. His
phrasing makes him an original, with diction that slyly holds subtle
implications about the gravity of how each and every event is a good or bad
thing. You just cannot stop watching and
listening. Fortunately, this is a more
recent production than the 1970s and things look and sound clearer beyond the
decent full frame color picture and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (which has Pro
Logic surround). Though there are no
extras, this is plenty interesting enough.
This is
also a whole lot of fun to watch. Maybe
you can reduce it to kitsch or shtick somewhat, but the material is good and it
is worth your time.
- Nicholas Sheffo
