Television: Big Battle

Of the many tragedies that coalesce into the great American tragedy of Gettysburg, the most compelling is the failure of Robert E. Lee. In less than 60 hours, his bold venture to carry the fight into the heart of the North was lost, and with it the Confederacy’s last chance to turn the tide of the Civil War. What caused his failure? The obvious answer is: the Union Army. But there are many who insist that the answer is more subtle, that the blame lay in General Lee’s constant concern for the feelings of his subordinates—a concern so deeply rooted that it diluted his ability to command.

By focusing down to this controversial theme, ABC’s Omnibus this week brought big historical drama to television. Lee at Gettysburg, a 78-minute play written in lucid, often eloquent blank verse by young (35) TV Dramatist Alvin Sapinsley, opposed the general’s two chief subordinates like tongs of a forceps with which to lay bare and probe Lee’s fatal flaw.

“We brave them in their very gardens, now,” Lee exults on the eve of battle. “Their war’s come home to them; they feel its breath …”

But where is Jeb Stuart, “the eye of the army”? Off where he should not be, and his cavalry boxed by the Federals, because he exploited the courteous imprecision of Lee’s orders in hopes of recouping some personal glory. And Long-street—why did he not attack as told, while opportunity still lay before him? “He wouldn’t disobey commands,” says a lesser general. “That’s true, sir. But he might refuse requests,” replies another. With the expert advice of Bruce Catton and Drama Critic Walter Kerr, Director Delbert (Marty) Mann and Author Sapinsley underscored the theme bluntly, as in peevish Longstreet’s mockery: “Lee says: ‘I’d be much obliged if you could see your way clear to go out and die.'”

At battle’s end there are still 21 months of fierce war to be fought, but Omnibus foreshortens history to have Lee (played with quiet dignity by James Daly) reflect:

I see the end of this crusade, the end of all

Nobility in war, we’ll never fight

As gentlemen again . . .

And that’s the saddest task a man could choose:

To fight to win while knowing he must lose.

Lee was a typically ambitious Omnibus undertaking—but less ambitious in size than it started out to be. Two years ago, after listening to a British general expound over cocktails how Gettysburg “changed the course of civilization,” Omnibus Executive Producer Robert Saudek decided to re-enact the battle on TV. At first it was to be treated as a classroom demonstration, with tin soldiers on a sand table. This gave way to a plan to film the battle at Lenox, Mass, on terrain resembling Gettysburg without the monuments. One hundred and fifty bearded and costumed actors and volunteer extras, all Civil War buffs, armed with polished muzzle loaders and supported by cavalry and authentic 19th century cannon, stood by for four days as the October 1955 rains pelted them. Cost of the washout: $3,000. Back in their Manhattan workshop, the planners decided they could get big scope by closing down to the suggestion of epic Greek tragedy in the plight of Lee at Seminary Ridge, a majestic central figure brought down by circumstances beyond his control.

Gettysburg was a subject worthy to join the nuggets that Omnibus has been throwing into TV’s current season of dross. In recent weeks it has served up a stunning Oedipus (TIME, Jan. 21), an illuminating and instructive essay on the dance by Agnes de Mille. and Leonard Bernstein’s brilliant primer on modern music. To do this, Omnibus must virtually ignore the rest of TV’s unabashed efforts to please at any price. Such is Omnibus’ charter. So far it has spent some $8,900,000of Ford Foundation funds in its five seasons (about 65% recouped from sponsors) in the praiseworthy hope that diligence and quality will some day reverse Gresham’s law so that the good will drive out the cheap.