The Sergeant from Burralee

Last updated

The Sergeant from Burralee
Sgt from Burralee.png
Advertisement from The Age 14 Jun 1961
Written by Phillip Grenville Mann
Directed by Raymond Menmuir
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time75 mins [1]
Production companyABC
Original release
Network ABC
Release22 March 1961 (1961-03-22) (live, Sydney) [2]
Release14 June 1961 (1961-06-14) (Melbourne) [3]
Release27 March 1962 (1962-03-27) (Brisbane) [4]

The Sergeant from Burralee is an Australian television play written by Phillip Grenville Mann. The play was also broadcast by the BBC and screened for West German television. [5]

Contents

It was turned into a radio play in 1970. [6] Mann then adapted it into a play Day of Glory.

Plot

In the 1830s, a white settler is speared in the Newastle district. An Aboriginal, Jacko, is charged with the crime. However Captain Alcot interrogates Jacko, becomes convinced of his innocence, and sends a despatch to Sydney saying he is going to release the man. That night a party is held in the officers' mess and, in a drunken stupor, Lt Ned Louden shoots Jacko in the back.

Urged on by Nathaniel Carlton, the resident magistrate, Captain Alcot writes to Sydney to explain the situation. Louden is arrested and brought to Sydney for a trial. Thomas Morland, the acting attorney-general, is sent to Newcastle to investigate the murder.

Captain Alcot wishes to keep on the good side of the land-hungry Carlton so they attempt to defend the drunken lieutenant who has shot a native. Neither believe the prisoner Jacko had anything to do with the murder of a white settler, since he was captured 60 miles away from the crime. So they bribe Sergeant Constantine, who arrested Jacko, into saying that the place of arrest was close to Newcastle.

At a trial in Sydney, the lieutenant is charged with murder by the Acting Attorney-General. False testimony by Constantine brings a verdict of not guilty; but the playwright makes it clear that it is as much a victory as a defeat—"people will have second thoughts" about molesting aborigines after this.

Cast

Production

The play was based on a real life trial when a soldier was charged with the murder of an Aboriginal. It was written by Philip Grenville Mann, an Australian writer who was living in England. He got the idea for the play after reading historical records at Australia House in London; he read about the accidental shooting of an Aboriginal during the time of Governor Phillip and did further research. He wrote it originally under the title The Sergeant from Lone Pine. [7]

The play won equal first prize in the 1959 New South Wales Journalists' Club Award out of 250 entries. [8] (The other winner was J.V. Warner's World Without End.) President of the Journalists' Club was Kenneth Slessor and the judges, representing each of the three Sydney television stations, were Brett Porter (ATN-7), Raymond Menmuir (ABN-2) and Peter Benardos (TCN-9). [9] [10] Menmuir says the moment he read it, he suggested the ABC buy it. "It's a darned fine play," said Menmuir. "The scenes are short, the action moves swiftly and smoothy and it has a universality of appeal." [4]

Mann returned to Australia in 1961 after six years in England and replaced Rex Rienits as the ABC's drama editor. He would later write the historical ABC drama series The Patriots. [7]

It was shot live at the ABC's studios in Sydney. Alistair Duncan was an English actor who had recently settled in Australia and had played Captain Bligh's secretary in Stormy Petrel. Sets and costumes were by Geoff Wedlock. [11] Nine sets were constructed for the play, including gaols and courtrooms. [4]

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that "it is an admirable play, dealing searchingly with the impulses, compulsions and motives of a gallery of characters...The production... was quite gripping; the play itself, most notably in the courtroom scenes, showed how telling a medium TV can be... this play was one of the best the A.B.C. has done." [12]

Val Marshall from the Sunday edition of the Herald said it "let me with that rather unsatisfactory feeling of a good piece of material well handled, but which could have been a great deal better than it was" saying that "it got first rate treatment from Raymond Menmuir" but felt 90 minutes was too long and Duncan was miscast." [13]

1961 BBC version

In May 1960 the BBC announced they would film the play, then known as The Sergeant of Lone Pine. [14] The play was filmed by the BBC in 1961 as The Attorney General It was directed by Harold Clayton. [15]

Cast

Reception

The Daily Telegraph called it "strong drama... an uncommonly interesting 90 minutes." [16]

The Sunday Times called it "a solidly made, thoroughly decent piece of joinery." [17]

Radio

It was also adapted for radio. [18]

Day of Glory

Mann adapted the story into a play Day of Glory which had its debut in 1964 at the Old Tote in Sydney. [19] [20]

The play was revived in 1970 in Melbourne. [21]

The Age called it "a play of good ideas treated with good stagecraft." [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

Raymond Edward Menmuir was a British-Australian director and producer. His career included producing 44 episodes of The Professionals and directing 12 episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs. He also produced an Australian version of The Professionals called Special Squad for the Ten Network in 1984.

The One Day of the Year is a 1958 Australian play by Alan Seymour about contested attitudes to Anzac Day.

<i>The Patriots</i> (TV series) Television series

The Patriots was an Australian television drama mini-series. A period-drama, it aired for 10 episodes on ABC in 1962.

Bodgie is an Australian television movie, or rather a live television play with filmed sequences, which aired on ABC during 1959. Originally broadcast on 12 August 1959 in Sydney on ABN-2, a kinescope recording was made of the program and shown in Melbourne on ABV-2 on 2 September 1959.

Treason is a 1959 Australian television live drama, which aired on ABC about the 20 July plot during World War Two. Originally broadcast 16 December 1959 in Melbourne, a kinescope ("telerecording") was made of the program and shown in Sydney on 13 January 1960. It was an adaptation of a stage play by Welsh writer Saunders Lewis, which had previously been adapted as an episode of BBC Sunday-Night Theatre.

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.

A Little South of Heaven is Australian live television play which aired in 1961 on ABC. It was based on a radio play by D'Arcy Niland and Ruth Park.

<i>Ballad for One Gun</i> 1963 Australian television film

Ballad for One Gun is a 1963 Australian television film about Ned Kelly broadcast on ABC.

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.

Phillip Grenville Mann was an Australian actor, playwright, stage director and manager, and writer.

<i>Corinth House</i> 1961 Australian TV movie

Corinth House is a 1961 Australian TV movie based on the play by Pamela Hansford Johnson and directed by Bill Bain. It was sold overseas.

Turning Point is a 1960 Australian television play.

Wuthering Heights is a 1959 Australian television play adapted from Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. It was directed by Alan Burke and based on a script by Nigel Kneale which had been adapted by the BBC in 1953 as a TV play starring Richard Todd. It was made at a time when Australian drama production was rare.

Murder Story is a 1958 Australian television play.

<i>Shell Be Right</i> 1962 Australian television play

She'll Be Right is a 1962 Australian television play which aired on the ABC.

<i>A Night Out</i> (1961 film) 1961 Australian TV series or program

A Night Out is a 1961 Australian television play. It was based on A Night Out by Harold Pinter. It starred John Ewart and Richard Meikle.

Eye of the Night is a 1960 Australian television play. It was written by Kay Keavney and directed by Christopher Muir.

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

Kain is a 1966 play loosely based on the biblical story of Cain and Abel. It was the first co production between the ABC and the BBC.

Burst of Summer is a 1961 Australian television play based on the stage play Burst of Summer by Oriel Gray. Burst of Summer was written by Gray and Rex Rienits and was released on 9 August 1961 in Melbourne, on 4 October 1961 in Sydney, on 11 October 1961 in Brisbane, and on 19 December 1961 in Perth. Filmink called it "a genuine landmark of Australian television".

References

  1. ↑ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 20 March 1961. p. 18.
  2. ↑ "Television". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 March 1961. p. 27.
  3. ↑ "TV Guide". The Age. 14 June 1961.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Killing of Jacko". TV Times. 22 March 1962. p. 7.
  5. ↑ Marshall, Valda (3 September 1961). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 92.
  6. ↑ Radio play information at AustLit
  7. 1 2 Marshall, Valda (19 March 1961). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 86.
  8. ↑ "Murder in the Colony". Sydney Morning Herald. 20 March 1961. p. 17.
  9. ↑ "Two Share £500 TV Award". Sydney Morning Herald. 19 April 1960. p. 16.
  10. ↑ "Two Share £500 Prize for Best T.V. Play". The Canberra Times . Vol. 34, no. 9, 578. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 18 April 1960. p. 6. Retrieved 20 February 2019– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "TV Guide". The Age. 8 June 1961. p. 31.
  12. ↑ "Live TV Play By A.B.C.". Sydney Morning Herald. 23 March 1961. p. 17.
  13. ↑ Marshall, Valda (26 March 1961). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 86.
  14. ↑ "Title Australian Prize Play For B.B.C.". The Times. 18 May 1960. p. 18.
  15. ↑ The Attorney General at IMDb
  16. ↑ Vain Battle for Justice Authors: L. L. and J. F. W. Date: Friday, June 23, 1961 Publication: The Daily Telegraph (London, England) Issue: 33025 p 17
  17. ↑ Celebration of Living Author: Maurice Wiggin Date: Sunday, June 25, 1961 Publication: The Sunday Times (London, England) Issue: 7206 p 40
  18. ↑ "Walter Sullivan in historical role". The Age. 20 July 1961. p. 12.
  19. ↑ Day of Glory 1964 performance at Ausstage
  20. ↑ "Music and Theatre". Sydney Morning Herald. 12 February 1964. p. 16.
  21. ↑ Day of Glory 1970 performance at Ausstage
  22. ↑ "Theatre". The Age. 31 July 1970.
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.