A Man for All Seasons (1964 TV film)

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A Man for All Seasons
Man for all Seasons in Australia.png
Ad in The Age 16 Oct 1963
Based on A Man for All Seasons
1960 play
by Robert Bolt
Written by Noel Robinson
Directed by William Sterling
StarringJohn Gray
Wyn Roberts
Neil Curnow
Music byRobert Hughes
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerWilliam Sterling
Running time90 mins [1]
Production companyABC
Original release
Network ABC
Release16 October 1963 (1963-10-16) (Melbourne, live) [2]
Release15 January 1964 (1964-01-15) (Sydney, taping) [3]

A Man for All Seasons is a 1964 Australian television play. It is an adaptation of the play by Robert Bolt. [4]

Contents

It was directed by William Sterling who thought the play was "the finest in construction and conception on the large heroic scale to come out of England since the War. Bolt has captured the seething historical background of the period as well as conceiving magnificent character studies of famous people of the time." [5]

Plot summary

Cast

Production

The play debuted on stage in Australia in 1962 for the Elizabethan Theatre Trust with Robert Speaght as Sir Thomas More. [2]

The show was shot in Melbourne. [6] Sterling elected not to use "fades" in his production. [2]

Reception

The Age said it "translated convincingly on the TV screen" call it a "production which, though not perfect gave glamor to honesty." [7]

The TV critic from the Sydney Morning Herald thought that "the stage devices" of the original play "were all too evident for the good of its TV adaptation", notably the reliance of one set for all the action, and the use of the device of the Common Man, adding "the black and white directness of television demands less pageant-like solemnity. But it was able to assist valuably when the dialogue came alive with character and force." [6]

The Bulletin said William Sterling is perhaps the most distinctive and stylistic producer in Australian television. In each of his shows he rarely misses an opportunity for adventurous experiment with lighting or camera-angles." He called the production of A Man for All Seasons "superb" adding that it "succeeded where some of his [Sterling's] previous productions have failed, because all his gimmicks worked, and worked magnificently, so that the effect was exciting where it may have been (and has been) merely tricksy and pretentious." [8]

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References

  1. ↑ "TV Guide". 10 October 1963. p. 35.
  2. 1 2 3 "Role of Saint is Difficult to Play". The Age. 10 October 1963. p. 12.
  3. ↑ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 January 1964. p. 13.
  4. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. ↑ "Historical Drama". The Canberra Times . Vol. 38, no. 10, 745. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 15 January 1964. p. 25. Retrieved 15 February 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  6. 1 2 "Robert Bolt Play on TV". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 January 1964. p. 7.
  7. ↑ Televiewer (24 October 1963). "Teletopics". The Age. p. 25.
  8. ↑ Daniels, William (25 January 1964). "TELEVISION Sterling Value". The Bulletin. p. 35.
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