The General Motors Hour was an Australian radio and television drama series.
The radio series was a regular one hour drama broadcast over the Macquarie Radio Network at 8 pm on Thursdays. [1] It is believed to have commenced in the late 1940s and lasted into the early 1960s. Producers included Robert Peach [2] and Harry Dearth. [3] The announcer was John Dease. 15 episodes are available on the RadioEchoes website. [4]
The television version of The General Motors Hour was a loosely scheduled occasional series which aired on Australian television from 1960 to 1962. The series aired on ATN-7 in Sydney and GTV-9 in Melbourne, as well as on other affiliated stations across Australia. The presentations ranged from adaptations of overseas stage plays and anthology episodes, to locally-written drama and a documentary.
Its first show was a production of The Grey Nurse Said Nothing . [5]
Three of the TV episodes - Suspect, Candida, and Shadow Of The Vine - had been produced by English producer Peter Cotes for HSV-7 in 1961, but were shelved due to lack of sponsorship. Sponsorship was provided by GM-H in 1962, and plays were run on HSV-7 and TCN-9 under the "General Motors Hour" title. [6] [7]
Sumner Locke Elliott was an Australian novelist and playwright.
Bruce Robert Stewart was an actor and scriptwriter best known for his scripts for television. Originally from New Zealand, he lived for several years in Australia, working in the theatre, before moving to the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. There he worked on many projects for both the BBC and ITV, notably Out of the Unknown and Timeslip.
Reginald Thomas Lye, was an Australian actor who worked extensively in Australia and England. He was one of the busiest Australian actors of the 1950s, appearing in the majority of locally shot features at the time, as well as on stage and radio. Lee Robinson called him "one of the best character actors in Australia." He moved to England in the early 1960s,, but returned to Australia when the film industry revived in the 1970s.
"Shadow of a Pale Horse" was a television play written by Bruce Stewart which was produced for British, US and Australian TV.
"Long Distance" is a 1961 Australian television film. It was based on a 1948 American radio play, and retained the U.S. setting. It was among the first local drama productions by station HSV-7, and aired in a 30-minute time-slot. It was telecast on 8 June. An excerpt from it appeared in a 2006 documentary called Studio One, suggesting Long Distance still exists despite the wiping of the era. The film was produced by British producer Peter Cotes and starred his wife, Joan Miller. It was recorded in March 1961 but its air date was pushed back to 8 June 1961, due to a talk by the Prime Minister. It was the only one of Cotes' Australian productions to air while he was in Australia; the others were not screened until the following year.
David Cahill was an Australian actor, writer producer and director, notable for his work directing in TV in the 1950s through to 1970s. It has been argued he was one of the best directors working in Australian TV.
"The Grey Nurse Said Nothing" is a television play written by Sumner Locke Elliott. It was based on elements of the Shark Arm case but is mostly fictitious. The play was screened in the US in 1959 as an episode of Playhouse 90. It was performed on American and Australian television.
Who Killed Kovali? is a 1960 Australian television play. It had previously been filmed for British TV in 1957.
The Devil Makes Sunday is a television play about a convict break out on Norfolk Island by Bruce Stewart, who had just written Shadow of a Pale Horse. It was based on the real life Norfolk Island convict mutinies.
"Suspect" is a 1961 Australian television play. It was originally made for HSV-7 then presented as part of the General Motors Hour It was produced by Peter Cotes, who had made Long Distance. "Suspect" aired on 3 June 1962 in Sydney and Melbourne, and on 7 October 1962 in Brisbane and Adelaide.
"Candida" is a 1962 Australian television play.
"Shadow of the Vine" is a 1962 Australian television play adapted from a 1949 play by Beverly Nichols. It aired on 7 October 1962 in Sydney and Melbourne, and on 3 June 1962 in Brisbane and Adelaide.
"Thunder on Sycamore Street" is a 1960 Australian television play directed by David Cahill. It was based on a script by Reginald Rose. It aired on 23 July 1960 in Melbourne and Sydney.
This Is Television is a 1960 Australian television documentary which appeared as an episode of The General Motors Hour. It included behind the scenes look at the following:
Quiet Night is a 1941 Australian play by Dorothy Blewett.
Seagulls Over Sorrento is a 1960 Australian television play. It was based on the popular stage play Seagulls Over Sorrento and was produced by Crawford Productions for Melbourne's HSV-7, airing on 1 May 1960 as an episode of "ACI Theatre". It screened on TCN-9 in Sydney on Sunday 12 June.
Frank Waters (1915–1972) was an Australian actor. He was from Adelaide and worked extensively in Australian theatre, radio, TV and film.
Ric Hutton (1926–1996) was an Australian actor. He worked in Britain, Australia and the United States of America. He was best known in Australia as the voice of "Black Jack Seager" in the hit radio series The Castlereagh Line written by Ross Napier.
"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.
"Shadow of a Pale Horse" is a television play that was produced for Australian TV by Sydney station ATN-7, it was also shown in Melbourne on station GTV-9, as this was prior to the creation of the Seven Network and Nine Network. "Shadow of a Pale Horse" aired on 17 September 1960 in Melbourne and Sydney.