TV Reviews : ‘By Dawn’s Early Light’: ‘Strangelove’ Revisited

The nuclear thriller “By Dawn’s Early Light” (on HBO tonight at 9) applies the “what-if?” scenario to a military and political horror story.

Dissidents inside the Soviet Union have duped their own government into launching missiles into the vicinity of Pennsylvania Avenue. Whoops, sorry about that, cables the Soviet president to the U.S. President (played by Martin Landau with rich dimension).

With most of the U.S. government leaders dead and Landau assumed dead, the script by Bruce Gilbert takes a delicious if derivative turn. The next in line of succession is a totally inept and blustery Secretary of the Interior (Darren McGavin), who reminds you of James Watt. He’s in so far over his head that he falls prey to a Hawk (Rip Torn) who manipulates a retaliatory nuclear strike against the Soviets.

Thus, we have a “Dr. Strangelove” nightmare revisited, except this isn’t satire. In the production’s hardware, pacing and form, “By Dawn’s Early Light” (adapted from the novel “Trinity’s Child” by William Prochnau) is a frightening variation on the movie “The Hunt for Red October.”

The strength of the show is the splendid cast, which includes James Earl Jones, Peter MacNicol, Jeffrey De Munn, Powers Boothe and Rebecca De Mornay.

Since we’re in assorted airplanes most of the time, the nuclear havoc is visibly limited to distant fires. With imminent doom ticking away, director Jack Sholder’s crosscutting does get confusing, particularly in alternating scenes between the good plane and the bad plane (both of them ours).

The cold war lives . . . sort of.