Double bill from Colin Free. It aired under the title Duet for Wednesday (or just Duet). Both were produced by Oscar Whitbread in Melbourne.
How Do You Spell Matrimony?
Premise
Two brothers, Jack and Mort, live and work at an orchard they inherited from their father. Jack decides to find a wife by correspondence. The two brothers clash, egged on by their neighbour, Willie.
The lady turns up, Ada. She forms a bond with Mort and they get married.
The story ends with Mort and Ada squabbling while Jack happily listens to his headphones.
Cast
- Alan Hopgood as Jack
- Frank Rich asMort
- Terri Aldred as Ada Muldoon
- Syd Conabere as Willie
Original play
It was based on a radio play which had been performed in 1962.
Other adaptations
The play was later adapted for radio as "A Walk Among the Wheeneys"
Free also developed it into a TV series Nice'n'Juicy (1966–67) starring John Ewart. (See below)
Face at the Clubhouse Door
Premise
Millet wants to get into an exclusive jai alai club. He gets cross examined by powers at the club: Fisk, Hammett, and John. His wife Em is cross examined by Mrs Savage of the woman's auxiliary.
Fisk, Hammett and John listen to a private detective who has looked into Millet's past. Millet's application is turned down. However he buys his way into the club.
Cast (in order of appearance)
* Peter Aanensen as Millet, who wants to join the club
*Julia Blake as Em, Millet's wife
* Terry Norris as Archie, a waiter
*Jeffrey Hodgson as Jim, a club member
*Norman Yemm as John (Norman Yemm courtesy of Elizabethan Theatre Trust)
*Paul Karo as Fisk
*George Whaley as Hammet, a member of the club
*Sheila Florence as Mrs Savage
*Nevil Thurgood as private detective
Production
The complete script for this is on the NAA website. Link is here. The plays were shot at Ripponlea with Oscar Whitbread directing.
Whitbread called Face "a vehicle for social comment on clubs... The Snobbery, corruption and maliciouness of some of the characters is brought to the forefront in th play - so much so that we are forced to admit them as true. Anyone who belongs to some sort of club will I know be able to identify some fellow members with characters in Face at the Clubhouse Door."
Other adaptations
It was performed for radio.
Reception
TV Times praised both plays declaring it was the emergence of a "very promising playwright".
TV Times also called Free "the most promising playwright to emerge in a number of years" drawing parallels with SUmner Locke Elliot's Invisible Circus.
Nice n Juicy
How Do You Spell Matrimony led to a TV series Nice n Juicy which ran for 13 episodes. The series was commissioned by Drew Goddard of the ABC. This was to replace the annual mini series they had been doing since Stormy Petrel. They intended to make another regular series, Marcellus Jones, based on script by Pat Flower but that appears to have not been filmed.
The excellent Classic Australian TV series website has a page on the series here.
Free told Albert Moran it was a "nice little comedy" of which "about six were good".
Premise
In the New South Wales town of Wyvern Creek, two brothers run a citrus orchard, Jack and Mort Hamlin. The elder brother, Jack, is conservative and wishes to develop the old family property. Mort wants to sell up and move to Sydney. However the property is subject to a double mortgage.
Cast
- John Ewart
- Carmen Duncan
- Willie Fennell
- Gwen Plumb
- Stuart Finch
Production
It replaced Marcellus Jones by Pat Flower.
Aug 1966 filming around same time as my name's Mc Gooley see here. Expected to premiere Sept 8. Aug 1966 SMH said it was a "cleanly made attractive series" see here.
31 Aug report that series extended to 13 eps see here.
Directed by Eric Taylrer.
SMH review of first ep called it "yes, nice and juicy" see here.
1st ep - "A Couple of Sorts" - 6 Oct (Syd), 2 Nov (Melb) - review here. Sunday SMH review here - "highly promising". - Mort has arranged a picnic, Jack is convinced he's been invited to an orgy. See here.
2 - "Pith and Kin" -13 Oct (Syd), 9 Nov (Melb)-
3 - In For a Duck - 20 Oct (Syd), 16 Nov (Melb)
- 27 Oct (Syd), 23 Nov (Melb)???
4 - Piece of Cake - 3 Nov (Syd), 30 Nov (Melb)
5 - The Big Squeeze - 10 Nov (Syd), 7 Dec (Melb)
6 - Mud In Your Eye - 17 Nov (Syd), 14 Dec? Melb?
Money Matters - 15 Dec (Syd), 11 Jan (Melb)
15 Dec (Melb)
The Family Way - 21 Dec (Melb)
? 28 Dec (Melb)
Brothers Keeper? 4 Jan (Melb)
Major Crsis? - 5 Jan (Syd)
Ladies Night? - 18 Jan (Melb)
Past History - 25 Jan (Melb)
The Big Wheel - 1 Feb (Melb)
Episodes: A Couple Of Sorts | Pith And Kin | In For A Duck | A Piece Of Cake | The Big Squeeze | Mud In Your Eye | The Family Way | Brother’s Keeper | Major Crisis | Money Matters | Ladies Night | Past History | The Big Wheel
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| Canberra Times 12 July 1965 p 15 |
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| the Age TV Guide 24 Feb 1966 p 3 |
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| The Age TV Guide 26 Oct 1966 p 2 |
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| NAA |
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| SMH TV Guide 12 July 1965 |
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| SMH 14 July 1965 p 11 |
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| SMH 14 July 1965 p 12 |
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| TV Times Qld 8 June 1966 p 1 |
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| TV Times |
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| Script |
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| Script |
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| Script |
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| SMH 11 Dec 1966 |
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| Vic TV Times 1965 |
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Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Seven Comedies from the 1960s
by Stephen Vagg
September 19, 2021
Stephen Vagg’s series on forgotten Australian television plays looks at seven different comedies from the late 1960s: How Do You Spell Matrimony?, Face at the Clubhouse Door, The Brass Guitar, The Proposal, The Bear, A Phoenix Too Frequent and Tilley Landed On Our Shores.
As any comedian knows, comedy goes in and out of fashion on Australian television. Sketch shows are in, then they’re out. Sitcoms are hot, then they’re not. They can’t get enough stand-up, then they don’t want any. The only network you can rely on is the ABC and they have limited funds and varying enthusiasms.
During the late 1960s, the national broadcaster was more open to comedy than it had been earlier in the decade. There was a mini-boom of comedy on Australian television in those years, due, I would argue, to the immense and immediate success of two programs on the commercial stations: The Mavis Bramston Show and My Name’s McGooley, What’s Yours? The ABC – more influenced by the commercials than it cared to admit – decided that it should get in on the hyucks. I have written about other comedies in previous pieces – The Man Who Saw It, The Lace Counter, The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me. This essay looks at seven different ABC TV plays from the second half of the 1960s. (I’ll admit it – I don’t quite have enough to talk about each play individually but anyways, here we go).
How Do You Spell Matrimony? and Face at the Clubhouse Door (1965)
Both of these were based on scripts by Colin Free, and aired together on the same night as a double bill under the title Duet.
How Do You Spell Matrimony? [above] is about two brothers (Alan Hopgood and Frank Rich) who live together on an orchard. Hopgood advertises for a wife, winds up with Terri Aldred, who winds up hitting it off with Rich. It’s a bright and lively play with a delightful feel for rural Australian vernacular. It’s of some historical importance, too: this was the first Australian television play to result in a spin-off series (something that was quite common on British TV but not so much in Australia). That was Nice ‘n’ Juicy, the ABC’s first sitcom, which ran for 13 episodes in 1966, and starred John Ewart and Willie Fennell as the brothers. (An aside: other TV plays which I think would have made a good series include The Slaughter of St Teresa’s Day, The Multi Coloured Umbrella and The Cell. But off the top of my head, the only other TV play that became a recurring series was Terry Morphett’s Dynasty.)
Face at the Clubhouse Door is about a man (Peter Aanensen) wanting to get admission into a sports club where the sport is… wait for it, jai alai. The cast includes recognisable faces like Julia Blake, George Whaley (without a beard), Norman Yemm and Paul Karo. You can read the script here. There are some funny lines and strong performances though it’s less focused than Matrimony.
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| NAA McNair/Anderson 1968 Pt 1 |
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| NAA McNair/Anderson 1968 Pt 1 |
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