There will also be footage of the torch being removed for reconstruction. Portions not available for preview include sequences taped this week aboard the USS Independence anchored at Liberty Island. Ordinary citizens with an understandable affection for the statue will also be seen and Schlatter has even included a visit with William Gaines, publisher of the very American Mad magazine, because Gaines, it seems, has an ample collection of Statue of Liberty memorabilia. Right after that segment, a sequence of still and newsreel photos of immigrants arriving accompanies Betty Buckley's recording of "Memory" from "Cats." This works pretty well, but somehow not as well as those few shots in "The Godfather, Part II" of young Vito Corleone approaching Manhattan with other hopeful souls from other lands.Īmong those who will also participate in the broadcast are Kirk Douglas, Emmanuel Lewis and Ben Vereen (who seem to bring out the best in each other), Brooke Shields, Ray Charles, the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, the Charlie Daniels Band, breakdancers from the film "Breakin'," Menudo (singing, unfortunately, not one of their infectiously authentic Latin hits but instead their deflatingly homogenized "Like a Cannonball"), and his excellency Walter Cronkite, who introduces Sinatra and, standing apparently on the lawn of his summer home on Martha's Vineyard, recites, with his right hand raised, the pledge of allegiance to the flag. The song is fine (though Sinatra's '40s hit "The House I Live In" might have been more appropriate), but Sinatra's introduction, in which he talks about his parents and his Italian heritage, is even better - moving and eloquently direct.Ī Kenny Rogers rendition of the Lionel Richie song "Lady" has been put to a striking photographic montage of the Statue - this will be included on the first half hour of the program - and even though he has sung it on television before, Anthony Quinn's craggy performance of "I Am Free," from the musical "Zorba," has added resonance because this time it was sung on Ellis Island, once the gateway to America. Only about 20 minutes' worth of pre-taped features from the program were available for preview, but they and an outline of the show make it sound enticing and promising, and the production is under the sure hand of George Schlatter, who never shrank from patriotic subjects on the canceled (but still in reruns) "Real People."Īmong the segments screened was a performance of "Come Rain or Come Shine" by Frank Sinatra taped on the stage of Carnegie Hall. The pro- gram, unusually all-starry for a summer show, has been designed to drum up support for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, now being overhauled so as to put forth a more presentable face for her centennial in 1986. This week's dose of tele-patriotism wasn't so hefty that there isn't room left for "Salute to Lady Liberty," a two-hour CBS special Sunday night at 8 on Channel 9.
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