Version of American TV play by Reginald Rose. The first Shell Presents shot in Melbourne. With Michael Pate, an Australian who had been working in America.
Premise
In a small town, a group of migrant workers are employed at an aircraft
factory and live in a trailer park. When a girl claims she has been
attacked, a group of men, led by Frank Doran, attempt to find out who is
possible. They seize a Mexican boy, Raphael Infante, and threaten to
lynch him. A tolerant man called Alec Beggs attempts to stop them.
Cast
- Michael Pate as Alec Beggs
- George Fairfax as Frank Doran
- Paul Karo as Raphael Infante
- Marjorie Archibald as Mrs. Fisher
- Carol Armstrong as Dotty Fisher
- Susan Armstrong as Inez Infanti
- John Cousins as Repulski
- Marcel Cugola as Julio Infante, Raphael's father
- Earl Francis as Mickey Doran
- John Garry as Muller
- Frank Gatliff as Matt Fisher, the parent of the teenage girl
- Tim Goodlett as Anderson
- Alan Hopgood as McCarthy
- Edward Howell as Harry Phillips
- Bettine Kauffmann as Dolores Infante
Original play
The script had originally been filmed under the same title on The Alcoa Hour in the US in 1956. Sidney Lumet directed it. A clip is here.
Reginald Rose was one of the best known of writers from the first golden age of American TV, the others including Rod Serling, Gore Vidal and Paddy Chayefsky.
Other adaptations
The script was filmed for British TV in 1958 - Armchair Theatre. So it had been done in England.
Production
The production starred Australian Michael Pate who was based in
Hollywood from 1950 until the late 1960s. He made the film on a
temporary return visit to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in late April
to begin rehearsals.
The play was shot in Melbourne. It's a shame this couldn't have been relocated to Australia.
Rod Kinnear directed. He told Albert Moran in an oral history that Shell Presents was originally going to be done in Melbourne by Raymond Menmuir, who was borrowed from the ABC. Kinnear says that Menmuir selected Tragedy in a Temporary Town as the play. However Kinner says that Menmuir and Colin Bednall, who owned GTV-9 in Melbourne, fought over what the second play would be and Menmuir left. So Bednall offered the job of directing Rod Kinnear best known for In Melbourne Tonight. Kinnear had never directed drama but said he would give it a go.
Michael Pate wanted to stay in Australia. He appeared in a play Tunnel of Love. He discussed appearing in Whiplash but was stuffed around. "There is a stack of work waiting for me back in the States. I just couldn't wait any longer for certain connections to make up their mind... The work was too slow in coming in and the money wasn't up to what I was getting overseas." This was said in TV Times where the header said "Actor Pate Flies Back the US in a Huff".
Reception
The TV critic for The Age called it "promising" with an "outstanding performance" from George Fairfax.
The TV critic for the Woman's Weekly called the production
"a tragedy all right... the play was notably unrealistic, its star,
Michael Pate, disappointing... a brave and expensive experiment for a
commercial channel... [but] miserable viewing."
The TV critic for the Sydney Morning Herald said it "did
not make its potential impact because of uninventive direction and, with
the tension factor suffering accordingly, some lack of subtlety in the
characterisations."
Listener In TV said it "did not make good television".
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The Age 14 May 1959
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TV Times Vic 30 Oct 1959 p 3
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SMH 25 May 1959
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