Roundabout (1957 film)

Roundabout
Ad from 4 Jan 1957
Based on	play by Michael Clayton-Hutton
Written by	William Sterling
Directed by	Bill Eldridge
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
Production
Running time	30 mins[1]
Production company	ABC
Original release
Network	ABV-2
Release	4 January 1957 (1957-01-04)[2]

Roundabout is a television movie, or rather a live television play, which aired on Australian television in 1957. Broadcast 4 January 1957 on ABC station ABV-2, it is notable as the first example of television drama produced in Melbourne.[3][4]

It was made at a time when Australian drama production was rare.[5]

"Official" television broadcasting in the city had only begun two months earlier. There seems to have been a Melbourne production and a Sydney production, as happened with The Twelve Pound Look.

Plot

The original TV listing in The Age newspaper described the plot as "a woman's reactions to her husband's suspected affair with another woman".[6]

Melbourne cast

• British actor Patrick Horgan
• Mary Ward as the wife
• Beverley Dunn as the other woman
• Sydney Conabere
• Mira Carleton

Production

The show is based on a 1952 one-act play by Michael Clayton-Hutton.

A Melbourne production was aired live on 4 January 1957 over 30 minutes. Production was by Bill Eldridge.[7] Filming took place at ABC's studios at Ripponlea. Star Patrick Horgan was appearing on stage at the time and had to get in a taxi to the theatre after filming.[8] Beverly Dunn went on to appear in a number of live TV productions.[9]

Sydney production

Roundabout
Based on	play by Michael Clayton-Hutton[10]
Directed by	Raymond Menmuir
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
Production
Production company	ABC
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	19 February 1957 (1957-02-19)[11]

A Sydney production was directed by Raymond Menmuir and aired February 19, 1957.[12][13]

Cast

• Roger Climpson as David
• Anne Bullen as Ruth
• Judith Godden as Paula

See also

• The Passionate Pianist
• Box for One
• Tomorrow's Child
• Ending It
• The Shadow of Doubt
• List of live television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1950s)

References

1. "TV Guide". The Age. 3 January 1957. p. 20.
2. "Advertising". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 4 January 1957. p. 18. Retrieved 11 May 2020 – via Trove.
3. "From School Plays to Success on TV". The Age. 19 September 1958. p. 20.
4. "Gaslight on TV with Melbourne Cast". The Age. 2 January 1958. p. 8.
5. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
6. "ABC Channel 2". The Age. 3 January 1957. p. 11.
7. "TV Guide". The Age. 3 January 1957. p. 8.
8. "Drama, Interviews "Live" on ABV-2". The Age. 3 January 1957. p. 15.
9. Lane, Richard (2000). The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama Volume 2. National Film and Sound Archive. pp. 132–134.
10. "TV—Channel 2 ABN". ABC Weekly. Vol. 19, no. 7. 16 February 1957. p. 31.
11. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 January 1957. p. 14.
12. "TV—Channel 2 ABn". ABC Weekly. 19 February 1957. p. 39.
13. "TV, Radio Programs". Sydney Morning Herald. 19 February 1957. p. 13.

External links

• Roundabout at IMDb