Reel 731

A ONE-MAN SHOW; British actor Robert Hardy, who portrayed Winston Churchill (1874-1965) in a 1983 "Masterpiece Theatre" serialization, reprises the role in a 90-minute performance set in an American lecture hall in 1946, following the statesman's Parliamentary election defeat. Mixing anecdotes and witticisms with frank and sometimes painful recollections, Churchill reflects on a variety of personal and political topics . . . His tribulations at boarding school: "The only unhappy days of my life." His combat experiences in India in 1898: "There's nothing more exhilarating than being shot at—without results." The Irish: "We in Britain have always found the Irish to be a trifle odd—they refuse to be English." His passion for cigars: "Smoking one is like being in love or making a political speech—you must never, never, never let the fire go out." Neville Chamberlain's inaction during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia: "I told him, 'You had the choice between war and dishonor, and you have chosen dishonor—and you will get war.'" The "bloodthirsty guttersnipe" Adolf Hitler: If he were "to invade the realms of Hell, I'd find some way of making at least one favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons."

MASTERPIECE THEATER; Parts 1 thru 5.

A ONE-MAN SHOW; British actor Robert Hardy, who portrayed Winston Churchill (1874-1965) in a 1983 "Masterpiece Theatre" serialization, reprises the role in a 90-minute performance set in an American lecture hall in 1946, following the statesman's Parliamentary election defeat. Mixing anecdotes and witticisms with frank and sometimes painful recollections, Churchill reflects on a variety of personal and political topics ... His tribulations at boarding school: "The only unhappy days of my life." His combat experiences in India in 1898: "There's nothing more exhilarating than being shot at-without results." The Irish: "We in Britain have always found the Irish to be a trifle odd-they refuse to be English." His passion for cigars: "Smoking one is like being in love or making a political speech-you must never, never, never let the fire go out." Neville Chamberlain's inaction during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia: "I told him, 'You had the choice between war and dishonor, and you have chosen dishonor-and you will get war'." The "bloodthirsty guttersnipe" Adolf Hitler: If he were "to invade the realms of Hell, I'd find some way of making at least one favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons."

MASTERPIECE THEATER; Parts 1 thru 5.