User Reviews

A disillusioned Hollywood screenwriter returns to his old neighborhood bar, where he meets an alcoholic genius and undergoes an epiphany.

I liked this program but I did not "Love It". The acting is very good except the fake accents get tiring fast however, this runs less than 30 minutes.

If you come across this give it a try. It is a very good example how early television was really golden.

The production is very good but in reality it comes across like a condensed play.

Now Is this greatest thing you will ever see? Well "Of course Not". What this is a pleasant show that shows iff the talents of David Niven

If you know Carolyn Jones only as Morticia Addams, then get ready for a treat. She plays a failed showgirl with a blonde dutch boy hairdo, who is always ready for a chance at a big break.

She more than makes up for the silliness of the play's third act.

David Niven who usually is seen in more debonair attire on the big screen, dons the apparel of a gentleman alcoholic tramp in this Four Star Playhouse Christmas show.

The Answer tries really too hard to cover a lot of metaphysical territory. As it opens Niven is being given the heave-ho by bartender Nestor Paiva. But just as Niven is ceremoniously departing Anthony Caruso who is a screenwriter from Hollywood and Paiva's nephew arrives. Niven intrigues Caruso so he invites him back and then Niven tells him he's also the writer of an unfinished work.

Niven has accumulated a knowledge of trivia that would astound. But that's because he's started to write a play concerning the collection and repository of the accumulated wisdom of mankind.

In the end it gets distilled down to a few well known sentences.

On the small screen as well as the big David Niven is asked to carry a show on his considerable charm. The Answer is sincerely written, but as a concept it doesn't quite cover the huge field it stakes out.

Oddball entry that takes place in a sleazy bar where frustrated Hollywood screenwriter (Caruso) meets up with alcoholic genius (Niven) who knows eveything and apparently has The Answer to the world's most urgent question. So, what is that question and answer.

Good acting makes up for static setting, that is, if you can get past Niven's high-falutin' language, which may require a dictionary for translation. Catch Jones as scarcely veiled barroom hooker, unusually explicit for its time. All in all, the 1953 entry's mainly a matter of taste whose subtext is very much a product of its Cold War era. Niven fans however may exult at his second half spotlight.