Australian TV Plays: Act of Violence (25 Mar 1959)

Another production of a script by Iain MacCormick.

The 54th live drama from the ABC (according to advertisements)! My count has it as 55.

It was shot in Sydney and aired in Melbourne on 1 April.

Premise

It is set in the capital city of a country that has endured war and revolution and the rule of dictators. Alexander is a leader who inspires students Karl, Voller and Katina.

Alexander's plans of power bring uneasiness to the mind of old blind Professor Kroz.

A former leader attempts to assassinate the dictator.

A political leader's girlfriend is a nightclub hostess.

From the radio synopsis:

A drama set in an unnamed European country, exploring the reasoning and the emotions of a dictator. But it is not a political play; it is concerned with the man rather than with his ideas. He is a not unfamiliar figure of modern times; a man so consumed with the quest for power that he has no room for any of the warmer emotions. Ruthlessly he exploits those who love and support him. Overshadowing the dictator and his followers is the haunting image of the one man he must kill to attain absolute power.

Cast

Owen Weingott as Alexander
Joan Landor as Leonara
Annette Andre
Lou Vernon
Max Osbiston
John Barnard
Douglas Bladon
Henry Gilbert
John Gray
Charles McCallum
Robert McDarra
Peter Wagner
Ossie Wenban

Original play

The play debuted on British TV in 1956. Aussie expat Keith Michell was in the cast. MacCormick himself directed and Michell appeared "courtesy of London Films" i.e. Alex Korda.

It was the first time MacCormick had directed according to this article. He called the play "an unabashed melodrama". It was his seventh play for the BBC.

Michell played an assassin called The Man. An article about that is here.

A review is here.

Other adaptations

The play was adapted for Australian radio in 1956 and again in March 1958.

Production

An advertisement at the time said the production "was in line with ABC policy, followed since the establishment of television, regularly to present fine plays with Australian casts."

The ad also claimed it was the ABC's 54th live TV drama.

It was shot in Sydney. I think this was Paul O'Loughlin's last production for drama. He moved more into management... he took over Neil Hutchison's job when Hutchison went off to run the Elizabethan Theatre Trust for three years (he was "acting head").

Alan Burke and Ray Menmuir would be the main Sydney directors.

I think this was the last MacCormick script the ABC did. Neil Hutchison would soon move to the Elizbaethan Theatre Trust, and he was a big MacCormick fan. Also, MacCormick's writing career seemed to decline around this point.

NAA say it has a copy of the script. See here. Not online.