Split Level (TV play)

Last updated

Split Level
Written by Noel Robinson
Directed by Ken Hannam
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerDick Cohen
Running time60 mins [1]
Production companyABC
Original release
NetworkABC
Release7 October 1964 (1964-10-07) (Sydney) [2]
Release14 October 1964 (1964-10-14) (Melbourne) [3]

Split Level is a 1964 Australian TV play directed by Ken Hannam and written by Noel Robinson. [4] It aired on 7 October 1964 and was shot in Sydney at ABC's Gore Hill Studios. [5]

Contents

Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. [6]

Plot

Stephanie is married to architect Mike. They live in a house on Sydney's north with their two children. Stephanie hears gossip that an old school friend of hers, Rosemary, has been having an affair, leading to the end of her marriage. Over the course of the day, Stephanie realises that the man Rosemary has been seeing is Mike. [7]

Cast

Production

The original title was A Day in the Sun and The Woman Who Has Everything. Jack Montgomery was the designer.

It was Noel Robinson's first original script produced for TV, although she had done a number of adaptations. [8] Director Ken Hannam said "this is the best constructed TV play to come to me from a local author. I have no doubt Miss Robinson will become a most important writer in the next few years." [9]

Reception

According to the Sydney Morning Herald "as an exercise in how to make a very small amount of plot fill out an hour of television drama" the play "was technically a success" but "left a good deal to be desired" being "a soap opera transposed to the upper social scale with a faintly intellectual flavour of play-readings, feature walls and flower arrangements." The critic allowed that director Hannan "extracted welcome liveliness from plenty of scene and camera angle changes, and thus at least kept the eye busy even when the mind tended to wander." [5]

Filmink wrote "It’s a simple script, one of details and observations rather than heavy conflict, but all grounded in truth... it is a very well-realised television play and a tribute to the skill of Noel Robinson, a writer that should be better known." [8]

Related Research Articles

Ken Hannam was an Australian film and television director who also worked in British television drama.

I Have Been Here Before is a play by J. B. Priestley, first produced by Lewis Casson at the Royalty Theatre, London, on 22 September 1937.

Ending It was a 1939 BBC TV one-off play, written by Val Gielgud, and starring John Robinson, Joan Marion, and Dino Galvani. It was 30 minutes in duration. It was broadcast live on 25 August 1939.

<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.

"The Scent of Fear" is television play written by Ted Willis. It was originally written for British anthology series Armchair Theatre, adapted from the story "Stowaway" by Mary Higgins Clark which was reportedly based on a real story that happened in 1949. It was filmed for Australian TV in 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.

Australian Playhouse was an Australian anthology TV series featuring the work of Australian writers.

Swamp Creatures is a play by the Australian author Alan Seymour. He wrote it for radio, stage and TV. It was Seymour's first produced play.

Jenny is a 1962 Australian TV drama.

The Quiet Season is a 1965 Australian half-hour television play. It aired on the Australian Broadcasting Commission stations Australia-wide and was produced in the Toowong studios of the Brisbane,Queensland, station (ABQ).

Turning Point is a 1960 Australian television play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Tongue of Silver</span> 8th episode of the 1st season of Shell Presents

"A Tongue of Silver" is an episode of the 1959 Australian TV drama anthology Shell Presents. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. It starred John Meillon, who had been in Thunder of Silence in the same series.

<i>Dark Under the Sun</i> 1960 Australian TV series or program

Dark Under the Sun is a 1960 Australian TV play. It was written by Brisbane author, Chris Gardner, who also wrote The House of Mancello (1962) and A Private Island (1964). Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. The play concerned an interracial romance which led Filmink magazine to think it was "an indication that Australian television was willing to confront some of the nation’s trickier social issues head on." Other Australian TV plays to deal with racial issues included Burst of Summer. However the Aboriginal character is played by a white actor in blackface.

Everyman is a 1964 Australian television play. It screened on the ABC and was directed by Christopher Muir, who filmed the whole script.

The First Joanna is a 1943 play by Dorothy Blewett that was adapted for radio and television.

The End Begins is a 1961 Australian television play shot in ABC's Melbourne studios. Like many early Australian TV plays it was based on an overseas script. It was a rare Australian TV play with a science fiction theme and a black lead actor, although no recordings are thought to have survived.

The Hot Potato Boys is a 1963 Australian television play.

The Big Client is a 1961 Australian television play. It was directed by James Upshaw. It screened "live" on the ABC on 19 July 1961 and was recorded in Sydney Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.

<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.

Michael Wright was an Australian writer of radio and television drama. He was from Adelaide.

References

  1. ↑ "TV Guide". The Age. 8 October 1964. p. 28.
  2. ↑ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 October 1964. p. 31.
  3. ↑ "Drama Sorts Out Domestic Rift". The Age. 8 October 1964. p. 13.
  4. ↑ "ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT When Will the Sleepy Giant Turn Over? Reassurance for an elderly relative". The Bulletin. 10 July 1965. p. 50.
  5. 1 2 "TV Play on Channel 2". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 October 1964. p. 16.
  6. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  7. ↑ "TV Guide". The Age. 8 October 1964. p. 26.
  8. 1 2 Vagg, Stephen (21 May 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Split Level". Filmink.
  9. ↑ "Sydney Woman Writer's Play". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 October 1964. p. 30.
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.