Based on a story by William Golding. 90 mins.
Premise
In Ancient Rome a (fictitious) emperor has retired to Capri for a holiday to reflect on his life. He is visited by Phanocles, a Greek rationalist and inventor and has invented three things - a pressure cooker, a steamship and an explosive missile. The emperor likes the pressure cooker but is wary of the others.
There is rivalry between the emperor's heir, Postumus, and the Emperor's illegitimate grandson, Mamillius.The nephew, a man who has always despised matter of wordly care, falls in love with a girl whose brother is the inventor.
The steam enging devours Postumus' ships so he uses Phancoles' missile to storm the villa. Phanocles' sister Euphrosyne, removes the arming vane, the brass butterfly, causing the projectile to explode and kill Postumus.
Mamillius proposes to Euphrosyne and converts to Christianity. Phanocles envisions a new dawn of science involving a compass, printing press and public libraries. But the emperor has been shaken and sends him on a slow boat to China as envoy extraordinary.
Cast
- Peter Collingwood as Emperor
- Ron Graham
- Sue Condon
- Peter Rowley as Mamilius
- Mark Albiston as Postumus
- Alistair Duncan as scientist
- Diana Ferris as Euphresne
Original story
It was based on a comic 1958 play by William Golding based on his 1956 novella Envoy Extraordinary. A copy of Envoy Extraordinary can be borrowed here.
The play was first performed under the direction of Alistair Sim, who commissioned the play and also performed the lead role. It opened in Oxford in Feb 1958 with George Cole also in it. It made its way to the West End in April but received mixed reviews and was not a commercial success. It closed after a month.
A 1958 review of the published play in the SMH is here. You can borrow a book on Golding here.
Other productions
It was performed on stage in Sydney in 1964. A review is here.
Production
It was directed by John Croyston. In his interview with Graham Shirley he said "that's a good one." He recalls having a lion, panther and leopard in the studio. He recalled one lion had an aversion to Ron Graham - whenever that actor appeared the lion would roar, which is pretty funny. He said he did half of it live.
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| SMH TV Guide 25 Sept 1967 |
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| SMH 27 Sept 1967p 21 |
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| TV Times 4 Oct 1967 |
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| TV Times |
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