Australian TV Plays: Light Me a Lucifer (19 Dec 1962)

Australian original from John O'Grady.

Premise

In Hell, Satan reproaches his Australian agent, Stoker for not bringing enough Australians to Hell. Stoker persuades Satan to come to Sydney with his wife Lilith to study the situation.

Satan arrives in an industrial suburb of Australia as Stoker's boss, Nick Devlin.He meets married couple Doris and Harry, their 19-year-old daughter Barbara who is engaged to Sid, and a neighbor Bill.

Lilith tries to seduce Bill but he is scared off by her. Nick flirts with Barbara who prefers him to Sid. Sid punches out Nick. When Lilith slaps Bill, Bill comically manhandles her.

Nick orders Stoker to burn down Stoker's house in Australia, and they return to the underworld. Harry and Bill arrive, and reveal they tried to save Nick - they are now dead. They go off to Heaven. Stoker, who was being punished by being made Lilth's servant, is allowed to return to Australia.

Cast

Frank Thring as Satan/Nick Devlin
Kenneth Goodlet as Harry Harmon
Joan Harris as Doris Harmon
Edward Howell as Stoker
Wynn Roberts as Bill
Lynne Flanagan as Lilith/Lil Devlin
Bruce Webster
Lyndell Rowe as Barbara Harmon
David Mitchell as Sid, Barbara's boyfriend

Production

It was an original script from John O'Grady best known for They're a Weird Mob, which was published in 1957 and became the best selling Australian book of all time. The background to that is here.

In October 1960 O'Grady was reported as working on a play called Light Me a Lucifer - he'd been an amateur writer before his big success, including one act plays.

It was shot in Melbourne directed by Will Sterling. When he got the gig Culotta wrote to him saying "good on you mate glad you're going to do it".

The production was announced in September 1962.

William Sterling cast according to type.

O'Grady attended rehearsals and made some minor cuts and dialogue re-working.

Cas Van Puffen did the design.

The full script is at the NAA and is here.

Thoughts on the script

Not as funny as its premise - Satan being sent to Sydney. Frank Thring played Satan and you know he would've been wonderful. I do sense though that O'Grady can't really think of what to do with Satan when he gets there. He meets a family (man, woman, daughter) and their neighbour... and they all feel fairly interchangeable. The most fun comes from Satan's wife who tries to seduce the neighbour

The people on land feel too similar they should have been differentiated and the role of Satan is mixed up with his helper, Stoker. They should have had Satan and his wife romance people more - if that was too sexy, then made Satan and his wife siblings so they were single. There's a stand of misogny - everyone is a terrible husband: Satan, Harry, Sid... Lilith tries to seduce Bill who says he likes to do all his own chasing.

Some funny lines and moments but doesn't have a story up to its concept, which is brilliant. Still, I can't wait to watch this. I think how it killed off Harry and Bill that's good.

Watching the play (much later)

Fascinating. Actors very good. Thring superb. Ditto Lynn Flanagan. Ken Goodlet and everyone good. Wyn Roberts not really good looking enough but that's part of the joke. Play goes for too long. Feels like a stage play. Easy to have cut 10-15 minutes out of it. Poorly directed. Starts off very well but Sterling shoots the whole thing in mid shots, two shots - no close ups. Frustrating.

Reception

Paul O'Loughlin called it "a stinker".

The Age TV critic said it "was not the success it might have been had the author, I imagine, had more time to study television techniques. Ten minutes of talk and hardly any action stalled the play... and, for me, it never got going again."

The Sydney Morning Herald TV critic called it a "brilliant Melbourne production" which "gave a candid picture of the unsubtle and rough-diamond Aussie, but was in itself subtle and refined in all the details of manner, pronunciation and setting which make up the Australian in-the-round. The main points in this witty study of Australiana were never rammed home they came up naturally in the dialogue" and "the cast portrayed them to perfection."

The Sunday Herald called it "neither a good play nor a bad play but something in between" in which O'Grady "has a sure and accurate ear for the Australian way of speech... but jammed into 75 minutes of television it wasn't enough to bolster a basically weak comedy."

Frank Roberts of the Bulletin said it "could become a fairly good television play, but not for English ears. The audio side of it would be a torment for them. It was to mine, too, in places... it tried to stretch a thin situation to 75 minutes, which was at least 15 minutes too long for a small joke." However old Frank allowed it was "a good cut above any other of 1962’s efforts to present an acceptable Australian play on television." How big of you, Frank.

TV Times called it "lamentable" disliking the seduction scene.

Frank's full review

TELEVISION BAR THE SHOUTING
Light Me a Lucifer. John O’Grady. A Melbourne ABC production. 4I
OVERWRITTEN t hough it was, it still ‘”’presented the standard of Australian writers’ (television) plays. It is strange how consistently they fail.” This was Peter Black’s comment, in the London “Daily Mail”, on Alan Seymour’s “The One Day of the Year” or anyway, the version of Black’s comment that appeared in our newspapers. But that was not only less than a good play, it was too much centred around Anzac Day, an institu tion which no English critic could begin to understand. The same can be said of John O’ Grady’s “Light Me a Lucifer”, which could become a fairly good television play, but not for English ears. The audio side of it would be a torment for them. It was to mine, too, in places.

Offered a play set in Sydney, the ABC naturally produced it in Melbournte where many people use louder voice probably to be heard over Australia noisiest traffic. Whether product William Sterling was reflecting the loci tonal qualities or O’Grady felt th. everyone should shout, that’s certainl what all members of the “weird mot did. And in doing so they cut much o the humor, if that’s what lines sue! a 1 “She’s not a bad old bag (the wife! could be called. Grumbled affectionately maybe, but shouted raucously, no. The shouting was one of the mai faults in “Lucifer”. Another was that tried to stretch a thin situation to 1 minutes, which was at least 15 minuti too long for a small joke. Lucifer isn’t getting enough recruits from Australia and his agent, Stoker, challenges him to do better. He tries, but cannot sell pride, lust or any other deadly sin to the “weird mob . Some of the tries are cruder than we should expect from Frank Thrings stock Lucifer and his missus , Lilith, as por- trayed lushly by Lynne Flanagan. On one occasion when a weirdo ambled into one occasion wnen a vyeuuo amoieu into her bedroom in search of a drill to fix his bike, she hauled him straight on to a bed, which is no way to seduce a galah. He babbled that “a man likes to do his own chasin’ ” and ran. There is always a hidden crevasse be- tween lusty humor and crudeness, and on television it is easy to plunge. This , . j r. I .u- scene was plain crude. But despite this r and many other reservations, including some about the writing, too many fluffs by the cast, and the fact that the play aimed for belly laughs or at least cackles but failed to rock me, “Lucifer” was a good cut aboye any other of 1962 ’ s effort§ tQ present an acceptable Austra television Mr O’Gradv u ,? , y ? n 1 eV 0 : Mr D Grady should be begged to write another, and Flan aaan TTarric anH Pnwp the Ml . sse . s Flanagan, Harris and Rowe to act in The y were g° od -° h - One thing sure to puzzle the English viewer, if shown the Melbourne version, is the Australian housewife who lives in a modern home but cleans her carpets with a millet broom. Those wonderful, weird Australians.

FRANK ROBERTS