By Steven Suskin
16 Jul 2007

Who played the male lead in "The Philadelphia Story"? Cary Grant, of course. And how about "Sabrina"? Humphrey Bogart. Yes; but both films began life as hit Broadway comedies, with Joseph Cotten opposite Katharine Hepburn in the first and Margaret Sullavan in the second.

Cotten had a major Hollywood career, with Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane," Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" and Carol Reed's "The Third Man" among his credits, along with "Gaslight," "Portrait of Jennie" and "Duel in the Sun." But when the studios could get a Grant or a Bogart, a journeyman like Cotten wasn't even in the running.

On Broadway, though, he remained a popular leading man. Cotten started out on stage with Welles in 1937, in the Mercury Theatre's Julius Caesar. By 1939, Cotten was starring as C.K. Dexter Haven opposite Hepburn in Broadway's Philadelphia Story. When Welles went Hollywood, Cotten served as Jed Leland to Orson's Kane. (If you can for a moment picture Welles as Woody Allen — which, admittedly, makes quite a picture — Cotten serves in the Tony Roberts role.) Cotten moved on to such films as "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "The Farmer's Daughter," among many others. Even so, he returned to Broadway for starring roles in Sabrina Fair, Once More with Feeling and Calculated Risk.

Stage performances are ephemeral, as noted above in our Tony Award discussion, but Cotten's value can clearly be seen in The Third Man, which has just been reissued in one of those smashingly assembled two-CD packages from the Criterion Collection. "The Third Man" is probably Cotten's finest film; many consider it one of the best British-made movies ever. This is the one in which he plays Holly Martins, writer of second-rate pulp fiction, on the loose in post-war Vienna trying to solve the murder of his childhood friend Harry Lime. Welles, in one of the cinema's most impressive star turns, manages to turn up late in the movie — Harry is not so dead, after all — and steal it, despite limited screen time. Welles did not direct the film; Carol Reed did. Nor did he write it; it was all Graham Greene, with the exception of that obviously Wellesian "cuckoo clock" speech. Even so, Welles looms over "The Third Man," like that famous shot of Harry Lime's oversized shadow on the wall.

"The Third Man" gives us a chance to see the artistry of both Cotten and Welles (himself a wayward Broadwayite). And it is totally mesmerizing as well. Be forewarned, though, that it will take a long time to get that zither music out of your inner ear.

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Also of note is the second DVD in what is likely to be a long line from the "High School Musical" franchise. This is the 2006 Disney TV movie in which the star basketball player hangs up his sneakers in order to join the drama club. Don't laugh; this little item, which started as just another made-for-cable kid's show, has caused a veritable revolution across the land, making it cool to be in the school play. Now, even the basketball players want to audition.

A stage version, High School Musical: The Musical, is currently on tour, and the musical is obviously sure to become a stock and amateur staple. Last fall, Disney sent out a 40-date concert tour featuring most of the TV cast. High School Musical: The Concert (Disney) has now been released in what they call the "Extreme Access Pass" edition. This gives you live highlights from the concert, along with some of the cast members singing additional songs. (Drew Seeley subs for Zac Efron, who was off making the Hairspray movie.) Also included is a making-of short and an interactive feature which gives you alternate camera angles so you can edit your own version of "High School Musical: The Musical." (Do you think we could get this for West Side Story?) Oh, and they also include a brief preview of "High School Musical 2," coming to the Disney Channel on Aug. 17.

"High School Musical: The Musical" might be kid's stuff, folks, but this is where the next generation of theatre audiences is being groomed. Ever so much more promising than in years past, when expressing interest in Broadway shows was in many circles distinctly uncool.

(Steven Suskin is author of "Second Act Trouble," "Show Tunes," and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.)