Australian TV Plays: Dinner with the Family (26 Aug 1959)

Play that featured English star Jessie Matthews in her first Australian TV appearance - she was touring the country at the time - and was shot in Melbourne.

There had been some imported stars in these plays - Robert Helpmann in Box for One and Michael Pate in Tragedy in a Temporary Town.

Recorded in Melbourne. This showed in Sydney on 2 Sept.

It was another from Jean Anouilh.

Premise

A young man, Georges, married Christine for money and is unhappy because he has fallen in love with Isabelle. To escape from reality one night he hires actors to play his parents and a butler and invites over Isabelle.

But George's parents are determined to save their son's marriage - because his wife's money is supporting them - and turn up with George's worthless friend Jacques.

Barbara is Jacques' wife who is also Georges' mistress.

Cast

Tony Brown as Georges
Joy Mitchell as Isabelle
Alan Tobin as Jacques
Jessie Matthews as Madam de Montrachet
Paul Bacon as Delmonte
June Brunelle as Barbara, wife of Jacques
Marcia Hart Mme Delachaume
Laurie Lange as M Delachaume
Barbara Brandon as proprietress
Sydney Conabere as Emile

Original play

The original play was written in 1937 as Le Rendesvous le Senlis.

It was translated by Edward Owen Marsh.

A complete copy of the play is here.

A review of a 1957 production in Glasgow is here. This show went to London which is reviewed here.

This production was reportedly successful.

Other adaptations

It was filmed as an Italian feature in 1945.

There was a version for British TV in 1958 (with Denholm Elliott for ITV) and in 1962 (with Jeremy Brett for the BBC). The BBC did it for radio in 1953.

Alan Ayckborn admitted the play heavily influenced his own The Square Cat in 1959.

Production

The play had recently been performed in Little Theatre in Melbourne starring Sheila Florence.

It was announced in July 1959 that the ABC would film it with Jessie Matthews playing Florence's role.

Philip Albright did the adaptation. Christopher Muir directed. Muir told TV Times it was "an amusing but disturbing play. It's a play I saw in Paris a couple of years ago and one that I've always wanted to produce."

Star June Brunell had recently returned from England where she appeared in The Flying Doctors TV series.

Rehearsal took place from 10-24 August outside the studio, then they went into studio on the 25th and 26th of August.

Makeup - Ada Jacoby. Technical supervisor - Robert Forster. Wardrobe - Keith Clarke. Designer - Gunas Jurgens. Floor manager - john Dewey. Script assistant - Philipps Hessler.

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "a brave, but not really successful attempt to bridge the gap between quintessential theatre on the one hand, and the television screen on the other... Christopher Muir's production was precise, well-planned, and often Imaginative."

The Age TV critic said "it was not the sort of play to set the Yarra on fire" but felt it was strong in the scenes in which Matthews appeared, although her role was relatively small.

Ratings

In Melbourne it rated. 15% share.