The Proposal and The Bear (24 April 1968)

Based on two plays by Anton Chekhov, The Proposal and The Bear. They were filmed in the ABC's Melbourne studios using the same cast for two plays.

Premise

"The Bear" - a widow is challenged to a duel by a rough farmer 

"The Proposal" - a woman, although desperate for a husband, fights with her only suitor.

Cast - The Proposal

• Terry Norris as Chubekov
  
• Dennis Olsen as Lomov
• Gerda Nicolson as Natalyia
  

Cast - The Bear

• Gerda Nicolson as Popova
  
• Dennis Olsen as Looka
  
• Terry Norris as Smirnov

Original play

The Bear was first performed in 1888, The Proposal in 1890. 

You can read the text here.

Other adaptations

The bear was filmed for BBC TV in 1949 and 1954.

Production

The plays were shot in Melbourne. 

The Proposal and the Bear appeared as part of a three week season of ABC plays on the topic of greed. Others were Volpone by Ben Johnson, and Salome by Oscar Wilde. It was the last time (I think) the ABC did a run of TV plays based on the works of foreign authors. After that it was all Australian.

Lighting - Leigh Hardy. Technical production - Robert Forster. Set design - Gunars Jurjans. Producer and director - James Davern.

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald said the show "required goodwill in the viewer to force the fun. It's not what-you do but the "verve with, which you do it — at least, in farce."

SMH 17 April 1968 p 20

 

SMH TV Guide 23 April 1968

SMH 25 April 1968 p 27

SMH 23 April 1968 TV Guide p 1

The Age TV Guide 18 April 1968 p 11

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)...

The Proposal and The Bear (1968)

Like Duet, this was a double bill from the one author that screened on the same night, the scribe in this case being that Russian playwright everyone pretends they like, Anton Chekhov. Chekhov’s best known for his dramas, including The Seagull which the ABC filmed in 1959, but he also liked to turn out the odd one-act comedy, including these two which he wrote back in the 1880s (you can read the text here). In 1968, the ABC had both filmed in Melbourne under the direction of James (A Country Practice) Davern, using the same cast and crew.

The Proposal [above] is about a man (Dennis Olsen) who turns up trying to marry the daughter (Gerda Nicholson) of his neighbour (Terry Norris), but they keep fighting. The ABC had actually filmed this back in 1957 but for some reason decided to do it again. The Bear concerns a widow (Nicholson) who has to deal with the debtor (Norris) of her dead husband. There’s a lot of banter and costumes.

The plays were both shot on film, with the actors all hamming it up. It looks great; how much you enjoy it will depend on how funny you find Chekhov in comic mode. It’s a shame that the stories were not relocated to Australia; it would have been easy enough to do.

Incidentally, the double bill of The Proposal and The Bear [above] comprised one-third of a three week-season of ABC plays on the topic of greed. Others were Volpone by Ben Johnson, and Salome by Oscar Wilde; I’ve written about the latter. It was the last time (I think) that the ABC did a run of TV plays based on the works of foreign authors. After that, it was all Australian.