Manhaul

Last updated

"Manhaul"
The General Motors Hour episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 4
Directed by
Teleplay by Osmar White
Produced by
  • Rod Kinnear
  • John Sumner
Original air date8 September 1962 (1962-09-08)
Running time60 mins [1]
75 mins (Melbourne) [2]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Candida"		Next →
"Shadow of the Vine"

"Manhaul" is a 1962 Australian television film. It aired 8 September 1962 as part of The General Motors Hour , an occasional series which presented various one-off productions. It aired on 8 September 1962 on ATN-7 in Sydney, [3] [4] on 8 September 1962 on GTV-9 in Melbourne, [4] and on 15 September 1962 on QTQ-9 in Brisbane, [5] despite the two stations having severed their relationship with the formation of the Nine Network.

Contents

Filmink magazine later wrote "Tell us this doesn’t sound like it would be awesome?... Australia's own version of The Thing ... Well, with no creature but still ... a murder mystery at a base in Antarctica ... How cool is that?" [6]

Plot

At an Australian outpost in Douglas Bay in the Australian Antarctic Territory, there are seven men, who have served there for 12 months. They are meant to be relieved but then their departure is delayed.

Frieberg is a Jewish man which a power over Norwegian, Sven Nordstrom, which results in Nordstrom doing Frieberg's work. Other men include the Australian Dinny, the camp doctor Dr. Lewis Hilton, a meteorologist called Sietel and the expedition leader, Charles Forrester.

Frieberg is found dead in the snow with a bullet in his back The expedition cannot be relieved for another six months. Forrester took the only rifle and seal gun, locked himself in a separate hut, and let everyone think he did it. The expedition members decide to manhaul over the ice rather than stay in cap, but Forrester stopped that by driving the only tractor into the bay.

Eventually Sven reveals Frieberg's power over him became about because Sven's father commanded a concentration camp, leading to blackmail and murder. [7]

Cast

Production

The play was written by former Australian war correspondent Osmar White, who had accompanied the 1955-58 expedition to the South Pole.

The cast was all-male and consisted of six Melbourne actors and one Sydney actor (Gordon Glenwright). Most of the play takes place in three snow huts built in the Melbourne studio from the authentic patterns of those constructed in the Antarctic. [1]

It included footage shot in the Antarctic. [8]

It was produced and directed jointly by the team of Rod Kinnear and John Sumner who had previously collaborated on the adaptation of The One Day of the Year . [1]

It was shot at GTV-9 studios in Melbourne. Shooting took two Saturdays. [5]

Running time

There is conflicting information on the running time. The Age listed it as airing in a 75-minute time-slot, while the Sydney Morning Herald listed it airing in a 60-minute time-slot. [1] The running time excluding commercials is not known (for example, hour-long Homicide episodes from the mid-1960s often run 45–47 minutes, while Bandstand episodes could run as long as 51 minutes. 1960 television film Reflections in Dark Glasses , which aired in a one-hour time-slot runs 48 minutes).

Reception

The TV critic for the Sydney Morning Herald said "a well-built set and two or three good performances... did much to enliven" the production and that it was "a good idea" but "unfortunately, Mr White seems to have been in some doubt whether to make his play a simple whodunit or a study of the kind of men who for reasons not purely scientific, might seek refuge from life in a world of isolation. The compromise required in attempting both was damaging to the play... If local TV drama is to be taken seriously, it will need better productions than this one... and better plays" " [9]

The play was criticised by the Anglican church for the language used by the characters. [10]

The Bulletin called it "impossible.... though well produced, mounted and photographed on tape, the whole affair was preposterous and only productions which set out to be just that, to provoke laughter, can stay the viewers' itchy tuning finger whe unlikely things begin to happen on the screen. Perhaps the oddest aspect of all was the credit given to the Commonwealth Antarctic Division for its co-operation, exact nature unstated, in the production. "Manhaul" was neatly calculated to give us the impression that some part of our taxes are used to maintain groups of men in bickering idleness down in the Antarctic. The characters in view were nearly all "here for the money" but did nothing visible to earn it, seemed willing to talk forever about their personal problens but almost never about their official business below 40 decrees S., and maintained occasional outside contact with a Morse outfit." [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Shell Presents</i> Australian TV series or program

Shell Presents was an early attempt at Australian television drama, being an umbrella title for several different productions. It debuted on 4 April 1959, and aired on ATN-7 and GTV-9, who split production of plays for the series between them. It was an anthology series, each program being a self-contained play for television. The series won a Logie award in 1960 for TV Highlight of 1959. As the title suggests, it was sponsored by Shell. It was described as "a very big deal for the station: major institutional sponsorship from international companies for locally produced drama." It would be followed by The General Motors Hour.

<i>Blue Murder</i> (1959 film) 1959 Australian TV series or program

Blue Murder is an Australian live television play which aired in 1959 on ABC. Broadcast live in Sydney on 2 December 1959, a kinescope ("telerecording") was made of the broadcast so it could be shown in Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">They Were Big, They Were Blue, They Were Beautiful</span> 4th episode of the 1st season of Shell Presents

"They Were Big, They Were Blue, They Were Beautiful" is an Australian television movie, or rather a live television play, which aired in 1959. It aired as part of Shell Presents, a monthly presentation of standalone productions which aired from 1959 to 1960 on ATN-7 in Sydney and GTV-9 in Melbourne.

The Big Day (<i>Shell Presents</i>) 5th episode of the 1st season of Shell Presents

"The Big Day" is an Australian television film, or rather a live television play, which aired in 1959. The fifth episode of the Shell Presents presentations of standalone television dramas, it originally aired 11 July 1959 on Melbourne station GTV-9, a video-tape was made of the broadcast and shown on Sydney station ATN-7 on 25 July 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Picnic Tomorrow</span> 11th episode of the 1st season of Shell Presents

"No Picnic Tomorrow" is an Australian television drama one-off which aired in 1960 on ATN-7 in Sydney and GTV-9 in Melbourne. Part of the Shell Presents series of one-off television dramas and comedies, it was produced in Melbourne, but first shown in Sydney on 9 January 1960.

<i>Killer in Close-Up</i> 1957 Australian television film

Killer in Close-Up was a blanket title covering four live television drama plays produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1957 and 1958. It could be seen as the first anthology series produced for Australian television.

"The Big Killing" is a 1965 Australian television film which aired on ABC. A murder drama aired in a 70-minute time-slot, it was produced in ABC's Sydney studios. Producer was James Upshaw, whose previous works had included variety series The Lorrae Desmond Show.

The Case of Private Hamp is a 1962 Australian television film which aired on the ABC. Despite the wiping of the era, a copy of the presentation exists as a kinescope recording.

Traveller Without Luggage is a 1961 Australian television film directed by Henri Safran and starring Ric Hutton. It was Safran's first English language work.

Marriage Lines is a 1962 Australian television play directed by Christopher Muir.

Who Killed Kovali? is a 1960 Australian television play. It had previously been filmed for British TV in 1957.

<i>Murder in the Cathedral</i> (1962 film) Australian TV series or program

Murder in the Cathedral is a 1962 Australian television play adapted from T. S. Eliot's 1935 play Murder in the Cathedral, about Thomas Becket.

<i>Light Me a Lucifer</i> 1962 Australian TV series or program

Light Me a Lucifer is a 1962 Australian television comedy film which aired on ABC. Written by John O'Grady, it starred Frank Thring as the devil, along with Wyn Roberts, Edward Howell, Joan Harris, Ken Goodlet and Lynne Flanagan. It was produced in Melbourne.

<i>Barnstable</i> (film) 1963 Australian TV series or program

Barnstable is a 1963 Australian television play which had been performed on British TV. It was filmed in Melbourne. Sandra Power was the barrell girl from In Melbourne Tonight making her acting debut.

Ruth (<i>Shell Presents</i>) 7th episode of the 1st season of Shell Presents

"Ruth" is a 1959 Australian television play. It was presented as part of the Shell Presents program and starred Lyndall Barbour. It was written by John Glennon, an American actor and writer who appeared in the production, and directed by Rod Kinnear. The play aired in Melbourne on 5 September 1959 and in Sydney on 19 September 1959.

"You, Too, Can Have a Body" is a 1960 Australian television play that screened as part of The General Motors Hour.

<i>The Criminals</i> (film) 1962 Australian film

The Criminals is a 1962 Australian TV movie. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antarctic Four</span> 9th episode of the 1st season of Australian Playhouse

"Antarctic Four" is the ninth television play episode of the first season of the Australian anthology television series Australian Playhouse.

<i>The Devil Makes Sunday</i> (1962 film) 1962 Australian TV series or program

The Devil Makes Sunday is a 1962 Australian television play by New Zealand -born author Bruce Stewart. It was broadcast live from Melbourne, and taped and shown in other cities at a later date.

"The Grey Nurse Said Nothing" is a television play episode from the Australian television series The General Motors Hour. It was produced and directed by David Cahill. It was made by Channel Seven who later called "the most ambitious dramatic production ever attempted in Australia... [written by] one of the world's foremost authors of television plays and the cast is Ihe largest ever assembled for an Australian television dramatic production.... the greatest care has been taken to achieve the maximum possible standard in the production of the play which covered a total period of approximately eight weeks." The episode aired on 28 May 1960 in Sydney and Melbourne, and on 11 June 1960 in Brisbane.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Australian Play Set In Antarctic". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 August 1962. p. 14.
  2. ↑ "TV Guide". The Age. 6 September 1962. p. 14.
  3. ↑ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 September 1962. p. 15.
  4. 1 2 "TV Guide". 6 September 1962. p. 31.
  5. 1 2 "Who Was the Murderer?". TV Times. 13 September 1962. p. 20.
  6. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  7. 1 2 Roberts, Frank (15 September 1962). "Dinny was bloody Tinny". The Bulletin. p. 34.
  8. ↑ Marshall, Valda (26 August 1962). "TV Merry Go Round". The Age. p. 92.
  9. ↑ "Polar Drama". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 September 1962. p. 7.
  10. ↑ "Australian TV production 'Blasphemous'". The Canberra Times . Vol. 37, no. 10, 390. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 23 November 1962. p. 13. Retrieved 21 February 2019– via National Library of Australia.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.