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 Hannam "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.

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

Adventure Unlimited is a 1965 Australian anthology TV series. It was produced by Lee Robinson and associate produced by Joy Cavill. The directors included Ken Hannam. It was made by Waratah Film Productions a short lived company that came out of an unsuccessful attempt to gain a third commercial television licence.

Jenny is a 1962 Australian TV drama.

The Concord of Sweet Sounds is a 1963 Australian television play starring Stuart Wagstaff, directed by Henri Safran and written by Patricia Hooker. Henry Gilbert played a musical genius. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.

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).

<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.

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.

<i>The Fighting Cock</i> 1963 Australian TV series or program

The Fighting Cock is a 1963 Australian television play. It is an adaptation of a play by Jean Anouilh whose original French title was L'Hurluberlu. In English, it had a run on Broadway, starring Rex Harrison.

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 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.

In Writing is a 1961 Australian television play by an Australian writer living in London, Raymond Bowers, and directed by Kevin Shine.

Noel Robinson is an Australian writer of many television and radio plays in the 1960s. Split Level (1964) was her first original screenplay. Filmink called her "a writer who should be better known." She moved to London where she worked for over a decade.

<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. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  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.