The first thing to be said of "Gideon" is that it has distinction and a haunting fascination…. Paddy Chayefsky's dramatization of the Old Testament story … combines bold imagination, intensity of searching contemplation of the relationship between God and man, and a delightful vein of humor. Its first act is completely successful. But I can't help feeling that, in the second half, Mr. Chayefsky courageously plunges in beyond his depth….

Mr. Chayefsky's conception is that Gideon, who vanquished the Midianites with his small army, was a gentle and modest dolt of a man chosen by God to lead the people of Israel to victory because his weakness and inadequacy made his unexpected triumph the clearest proof of the intervention of Heaven. The highly personal relationship between Gideon and the Lord results in sympathetic comedy of a warm and delicious kind.

Too kindly to be described as Shavian in its...