British play from Donald Bull about refugees.
Premise
Geoff Aubrey is in charge of allocating refugee children to new homes. He is unable to find a home for a Hungarian boy, Kolya, and decides to take the boy in himself.
Cast
- Nigel Lovell as Geoff Aubrey
- Henry Gilbert
- Peter Wagner
- Mark McManus
- Janice Dinnen as Pam
- Ethel Gabriel as Mrs Aubrey
- Desmond Bellamy as Kolya
- Philippa Baker
- Eve Hardwicke as Helen
- Susanne Haworth as Daphne
- John Llewellyn
- Gaynor Mitchell as Pat
- Gail Spiro
- Al Thomas
Original play
It was based on a TV play by British writer Donald Bull (1913-1993). It played on the BBC in 1962 as To Whom it May Concern.
Other adaptations
It was adapted for radio in Australia by Joy Hollyer. This aired in November 1964 on the ABC. It was played again in 1967.
Production
It was shot in Sydney. Henri Safran directed.
Reception
The Sydney Morning Herald criticised the "excessive detail" and called it "dour, plodding, earnest" but said it "explored its chosen situation thoroughly enough to illuminate not so much a social problem as the complex interdependence of ordinary family life."
The Bulletin (William Daniels not Frank Roberts) said "this banal story, of an insufferable do-gooder and his equally insufferable family of long-suffering stereotypes faced with practising what they preach in the adoption of a refugee boy, rubbed its second-hand humanity in the audience's face with all the subtlety of Sonny Liston wielding a nine-pound hammer. Only Janice Dinnen’s remarkably mature performance as the eldest daughter and Ethel Gabriel’s complaining grandmother achieved any semblance of sympathy or credibility."
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| The Bulletin 13 June 1964 p 49 |
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| SMH 4 June 1964 p 11 |
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| Canberra Times 1 June 1964 p 15 |
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| SMH 1 June 1964 TV Guide |
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| SMH 3 June 1964 p 22 |
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| The Age TV Guide 23 July 1964 p 2 |
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| The Age TV Guide 23 July 1964 |
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| The Age 29 July 1964 p 14 |
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| NAA Corres B |
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