TV REVIEW : AN O. HENRY TALE TAGGED TO LIFE OF ITS AUTHOR

In a television season that has brought a deluge of anthology shows, the dramatization of an O. Henry short story would seem to be the last thing we needed from “American Playhouse.” But the producers of tonight’s “Valentine’s Revenge” on PBS have come up with a twist of their own that makes this hourlong film eminently worthwhile.

Rather than simply re-create the O. Henry story, which concerns a notorious safecracker who tries to go straight, they’ve made it part of a larger drama depicting the author’s life in prison. It was while serving a sentence for embezzlement at the turn of the century that William Sydney Porter began writing stories under the pseudonym O. Henry.

The effect is to give viewers not only the pleasure of the fictional story but also an insight into what motivated the author to write. In addition, by contrasting the grim realities of prison with the romantic whimsy of O. Henry’s story, we get a sense of how satisfying it must have been for him to escape into a world of his own making, a world where, unlike life, happy endings are easily devised.

The production, written by Paul Lally and directed by Paul Saltzman, who co-produced with Simon Christopher Dew, airs tonight at 8 on Channel 50, at 10 on Channel 28 and at 10:30 on Channel 15. It stars Mark Strange as O. Henry and Victor Ertmanis in a dual role as the fictional safecracker Valentine and the dying prisoner who inspired him.