CINEMA
Black Orpheus (French). Director Marcel Camus (no kin to Novelist-Playwright Albert) has fashioned an impressive, poetic film from an adaptation of the Orpheus legend. The unknown Negro cast, the graceful transformation of the original, and the breathtaking image presented of life as a tropical carnival earned it the 1959 Grand Prix at Cannes.
The 400 Blows (French). The story of a small boy's flight from the soiled, loveless world of his parents adds up to a moving metaphor for all humanity trapped in the relentless round of daily life.
Ben-Hur. Despite shortcomings, including a hero who is pretty much an overgrown boy scout, Director William Wyler's $15 million film version of Major General Lew Wallace's Biblical bestseller (1880) is the most expensive and the best screen spectacle ever produced.
Third Man on the Mountain. James Ramsey Ullman's Banner in the Sky is turned into an alpine adventure for kids, with a juvenile hero (James MacArthur) and spectacular scenery.
They Came to Cordura. Hero Gary Cooper, the man of courage through a long cinematic career, turns coward in this $4,000,000 western but achieves, with Rita Hayworth's help, a different, spiritual bravery.
Pillow Talk. A songwriting satyr (Rock Hudson) and an interior decorator (Doris Day) share a party line--and more--in this flashy film. But Comic Tony Randall comes off with the pillow's best feathers.
The Magician (Swedish). Writer-Director Ingmar Bergman mixes his murky symbols into a witch's brew that, though stirred with confusion, is well worth sampling.
TELEVISION
Wed., Dec. 23
Presidential Mission -- An Appraisal (ABC, 7:30-8 p.m.).* John Daly leads a wrap-up program from New York and Washington, analyzing Ike's trip.
Armstrong Circle Theater (CBS, 10-11 p.m.). The Boy on Page One deals with forgotten four-to ten-year-old orphans, shows how agencies in Hamilton, Ontario, have found homes for them.
Thurs., Dec. 24
Amahl and the Night Visitors (NBC, 8-9 p.m.). NBC Opera Company's annual Christmas performance of Gian Carlo Menotti's modern classic.
Christmas Midnight Mass (NBC, midnight-1:25 a.m.). From Manhattan's St. Patrick's Cathedral, the telecast will be narrated by the Very Rev. Timothy J. Flynn, director of the office of Radio and TV of the Archdiocese of New York.
Fri., Dec. 25 A Festival of Seven Lessons and Carols (NBC, 10-11 a.m.). From Washington National Cathedral come Scripture and readings and carols, presided over by the Rt. Rev. Angus Dun, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Washington, and Dr. Francis B. Sayre, dean of the cathedral.
Sat., Dec. 26
Orange Bowl Regatta (CBS, 2-3:30 p.m.). Every sort of powerboat will compete in races on Miami's Biscayne Bay, some in the International Grand Prix for the Baker Palladium Trophy. Also water skiing.
The Copper Bowl (CBS, 3:30 p.m.). In Phoenix, Ariz., a team of all-stars from Southwestern colleges takes on a team of all-stars from the rest of the U.S.
Sun., Dec. 27
Conquest (CBS, 5-5:30 p.m.). Princeton's Forrestal Research Center aerodynamicists explain and discuss The Landing Barrier. Problem: as planes fly ever faster, what devices can slow them down enough to land on the limited space of airports near metropolitan centers?
The Twentieth Century (CBS, 6:30-7 p.m.). A documentary history of the modern Olympics.
Journey to Understanding (NBC, 8-9 p.m.). A summary of Ike's tour.
The Chevy Show (NBC, 9-10 p.m.). Dinah Shore's guests: Giselle MacKenzie, Sally Ann Howes.
Prologue 1960 (ABC, 9:30-10:30 p.m.). With John Daly as moderator, ABC calls in its correspondents from the world over, presents a year-end review and preview.
Tues., Dec. 29
Ford Startime (NBC, 9:30-10:30 p.m.). Meet Cyd Charisse, in a musical revue, with Tony Martin and Eve Arden.
The Garry Moore Show (CBS, 10-11 p.m.). Guest: Dorothy Collins. Featured: Allen Funt's Candid Camera.
THEATER
On Broadway
Five Finger Exercise. Despite contrived moments and false notes, John Gielgud's eloquent direction and Peter Shaffer's sharp dialogue give atmosphere and tension to this play (with Roland Culver and Jessica Tandy) about an English family and the young German tutor who unwittingly feeds the fire of its discontent.
Fiorello! An uneven but lively and enjoyable musical which brings back an engagingly dynamic La Guardia and his gaudy, high-kicking era with a bang.
The Miracle Worker. Remarkably acted by Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, William Gibson's fairly makeshift story of Teacher Annie Sullivan's turbulent grappling with the deaf, blind, mute child, Helen Keller, most of the time emerges an unsentimental human document and memorable theater.
The Tenth Man. Playwright Paddy Chayefsky's story about a young girl believed possessed by a dybbuk (evil spirit) fails to save fantasy from sentimentality but succeeds as a genuine theater piece.
Heartbreak House. Shaw's metaphorical portrait of pre-World War I English society, while too miscellaneous and uneven as a whole, offers often brilliant conversation, manifold wit and moments of wisdom. Maurice Evans, Pamela Brown, Diana Wynyard.
Take Me Along. Although this musical version of Eugene O'Neill's Ah Wilderness! does not dazzle the senses, it leaves a generally pleasant nostalgic aftertaste. With Jackie Gleason.
BOOKS
Best Reading
Flower Shadows Behind the Curtain, translated by Vladimir Kean and Franz Kuhn. A wry and readable 16th century Chinese tale about a virtuous widow and the Decameron-like crew of thieves, usurers, pimps and "powder faces" who surround her.
The World of James McNeill Whistler, by Horace Gregory. A sober but well-done biography of the greatly gifted American painter, exotic showman and rebel against Victorian conventions.
A Touch of Innocence, by Katherine Dunham. In an eloquent and reflective autobiography, the noted dancer's troubled childhood seems a long night's journey into day.
The Wisdom of the West, by Bertrand Russell. With spirit and skill, the 87-year-old author compresses the history of Western philosophy into 320 pages.
The Liberation of the Philippines, by Samuel Eliot Morison. The 13th volume in the author's massive U.S. naval history of World War II describes the fighting through the summer of 1945.
The Longest Day, by Cornelius Ryan. An expert, exciting and microscopic examination of Dday.
In the Days of McKinley, by Margaret Leech. A first-rate biography which, if it leaves Mark Hanna's picked President as colorless as ever, also leaves him better understood.
The Anger of Achilles: Homer's Iliad, translated by Robert Graves. A charming prose-and-verse Iliad in which the customary flavor of chalk dust is replaced by sharp-tasting satire.
James Joyce, by Richard Ellman. A massive biography that details Joyce's quirks without losing sight of his greatness.
The Armada, by Garrett Mattingly. An exciting history of the great sea battle, and of the climate of political and religious strife that brought the English and Spanish fleets into collision.
Best Sellers
FICTION
1. Advise and Consent, Drury (1)*
2. Hawaii, Michener (2)
3. Poor No More, Ruark (4)
4. The Darkness and the Dawn, Costain (3)
5. The War Lover, Hersey (5)
6. Exodus, Uris (7)
7. Dear and Glorious Physician, Caldwell (8)
8. The Ugly American, Lederer and Burdick (6)
9. The Devil's Advocate, West (9)
10. A Fever in the Blood, Pearson (10)
NONFICTION
1. Act One, Hart (1)
2. This Is My God, Wouk (3)
3. Folk Medicine, Jarvis (2)
4. The Status Seekers, Packard (4)
5. The Longest Day, Ryan (7)
6. The Joy of Music, Bernstein (8)
7. The Armada, Mattingly (5)
8. The Elements of Style, Strunk and White (9)
9. For 2-c- Plain, Golden (6)
10. How I Turned $1,000 into $1,000,000 in Real Estate, Nickerson (10)
* All times E.S.T.
* Position on last week's list.
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