Fear on Trial

Here's one of the best TV movies, telling the tragic true story of television personality John Henry Faulk, who fell victim to the McCarthyite blacklist in the 1950s and, with his career ruined, decided to sue for libel. William Devane gives a moving performance as Faulk and George C Scott is magnificent as his lawyer Louis Nizer. This riveting saga is expertly told by director Lamont Johnson and writer David W Rintels, working from Faulk's autobiography. TV producers David Susskind and Mark Goodson play themselves, and Bruce Geller, the creator of TV series Mission: Impossible, plays his real-life father, the presiding judge in the case. It's a subject seldom touched on by TV since many still working in the medium have no cause to be proud of their pasts.