Adaptation of a play by Frederick Knott who wrote Dial M for Murder.
Premise
The play tells the story of the brothers Clive and David Rodingham, who inherit the family fortune upon the death of their father. They then
meet business man Charles and his wife Julie, a would-be thriller
writer.
Charles is anxious to work with the brothers on property deals,
and so encourages David, who is also a writer, to co-author a murder
story with Julie. It isn’t long before the two concoct the perfect
crime, which is soon twisted into a reality…
Cast
- Rhod Walker as Clive Rodingham, a playboy with expensive tastes and limited funds
- Alan Edwards as David Rodingham, a writer of murder stories
- John Gray as Charles Sturrock, a rough scrap merchant who wants to buy Rodingham Manor
- Judith Fisher as Julie Sturrock
- Gwen Plumb as Elizabeth Wooley
- Bob Haddow as Constable Hackett
Original play
The play made its New York debut in 1961 and ran for 196 performances.
It played on stage in Sydney in 1962.
Other adaptations
It was filmed by the BBC in 1964.
Production
Kenneth Hayles did the adaptation. He was a British novelist who moved to Australia.
The show was made in Sydney. Francesca Crespi did the design. Henri
Safran, who directed, said the drama came from not wondering "whodunnit"
but from "will the murderer get caught".
Reception
The Bulletin said "Safran tried to force life into the mummified corpse of another of those traditional British murder mysteries, set in a decaying mansion and
suffering from mouldy plot."
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