The Times
29 September 1966
"From our television critic"

"Saved by captain from the brink of melodrama"

BBC1 last night attempted one of those intense Russian stories in "A Hero of Our Time," taken from a novel by Mihail Lermontov, a young writer of the last century. Ian Dallas's adaptation sometimes caught the undertone of mockery undoubtedly intended by this tragic study of high society in a Caucasian watering place, and it was presumably helped by having Henric Hirsch, of Hungarian origin, as director.

The play, to my mind, was always on the verge of melodrama, perhaps because most of the actors tended to make stilted little speeches of their lines. It was just as well that Alan Bates, as the dashing but doomed young captain, had such a sure touch for foreboding and bravado; as it was essentially round him that the play revolved some dramatic interest was sustained to the concluding duel. The captain, with despair in his heart, was fated to ruin all his experiences of life, not least his love affairs.

As one of his old loves, Mary Miller was the best of the other players, but on the whole the piece seldom came to life. |||