Village Wooing | |
---|---|
![]() Ad in The Age 18 Jul 1982 | |
Genre | comedy |
Based on | play Village Wooing by George Bernard Shaw |
Directed by | William Sterling |
Starring | Michael Denison Dulcie Gray |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Running time | 60 mins |
Production company | ABC |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | 18 July 1962 (Melbourne) [1] |
Release | 26 September 1962 (Sydney) [2] |
Village Wooing is a 1962 Australian television play directed by William Sterling and starring Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray who were touring Australia at the time. It was based on the play by George Bernard Shaw. [3] [4]
It was the first Australian TV production of a play by George Bernard Shaw. [5]
In the 1930s a young woman, "Z", an assistant in a village shop, determines to marry a man, "A". she meets on an ocean liner. She fails, but the two meet again when the writer is on a walking tour going through the woman's village on Wiltshire Downs. He fails to recognise her but she suggests he buy an annuity for an elderly shop owner and take over the business. He says if he did that she could stay on as an assistant but that she could make her own matrimonial arrangements.
He buys the business. She then tries to convince him she has wifely qualities.
In June 1962 it was announced the ABC would broadcast an adaptation of the play with Michael Denison and Duclie Gray. [6] Denison was touring Australia at the time in a production of My Fair Lady; his wife Gray flew out to Australia at the end of June to meet him and to appear in the play (she was not in the production of My Fair Lady; her last visit to Australia had been in 1956 when she appeared in a touring production of Tea and Sympathy). [7]
It was the first production at the ABC of a play by Shaw. It was produced in the ABC's Melbourne studios. [8]
The TV critic of The Sydney Morning Herald thought Denison "gave his part fluency and charm, bringing more poetry to the closing moments than one might have hoped for from the astringent Shaw" but thought Gray "was less suited to her role; she is the kind of English actress who cannot shed her trim upper-class charm, and her rural accent was unconvincing" and said Sterling's production was "quietly appropriate". [9]
Dulcie Winifred Catherine Savage Denison,, known professionally as Dulcie Gray, was a British actress, mystery writer and lepidopterist.
John Michael Terence Wellesley Denison was an English actor. He often appeared with his wife, Dulcie Gray, with whom he featured in several films and more than 100 West End theatre productions.
Ramer Lyra "Dulcie" Pitt, who performed as Georgia Lee was an Australian jazz and blues singer and actress from Cairns. She is credited with being the first Indigenous Australian artist to record blues songs with her album, Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under (1962).
Jenny is a 1962 Australian TV drama.
"A Season in Hell" is a 1964 Australian TV movie broadcast on the ABC which originally aired as an episode of Wednesday Theatre. It was directed by Henri Safran from a script by Patricia Hooker and was shot at the ABC's Gore Hill Studios in Sydney. "A Season in Hell" aired on 1 April 1964 in Sydney, on 22 April 1964 in Brisbane, and on 29 April 1964 in Melbourne.
Hamlet is a 1959 Australian TV play starring William Job and produced by Royston Morley.
Gaslight is a 1958 television play broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation based on the 1938 play Gas Light by Patrick Hamilton. It starred Beverley Dunn.
Two Headed Eagle is a 1960 Australian television play directed by William Sterling and starring Margo Lee. It was based on a play by Jean Cocteau which had been first presented on the London stage in 1946. The adaptation was by Alan Seymour who wrote a number of TV plays around this time. The play had been produced with Tallulah Bankhead.
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.
Eye of the Night is a 1960 Australian television play. It was written by Kay Keavney and directed by Christopher Muir.
Marriage Lines is a 1962 Australian television play directed by Christopher Muir.
Man of Destiny is a 1963 Australian television play directed by Christopher Muir. It was based on the 1897 play Man of Destiny by George Bernard Shaw. Just like the play it revolves around the early career of Napoleon Bonaparte.
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.
A Man for All Seasons is a 1964 Australian television play. It is an adaptation of the play by Robert Bolt.
The Prisoner is a 1962 Australian television play based on a play which had been filmed with Alec Guinness. Many Australian TV dramas at the time were based on overseas stories.
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.
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.
Fly By Night is a 1962 Australian TV play broadcast on the ABC and filmed in London. Written expressly for television, it starred Sophie Stewart who was also in The Little Woman.
The Chinese Wall is a 1963 Australian television play. It was the television world premiere of a farce by contemporary Swiss playwright Max Frisch. The play first aired on 17 April 1963 in Melbourne and later on 15 May in Sydney.
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.