Lost in the Stars

One of the weakest of the American Film Theatre's 'stage records', this adaptation of Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country was the last musical scored by Kurt Weill. Opened up by screenwriter Alfred Hayes to little effect, and ploddingly directed by Daniel Mann, Paton's story of a black clergyman (Peters), who discovers the horrors of repression and racism when he travels to Johannesburg in search of his son, is transformed into a series of well-intentioned clichés. Weill's music is marvellous.