Cirrus@Austlit

An adaptation of Hugh Hastings's play for ITV's anthology series.

The third film/television version of Alec Coppel's play, and the second to have a script by Coppel.

Conceivably, this may have been filmed to the same script as the 1948 BBC version, which was also scripted by Coppel, but in the absence of any information confirming that (and in the presence of an entirely different cast and production company), this work has been considered an entirely separate work.

An adaptation of Ralph Peterson's The Square Ring, which takes place exclusively in the dressing room during a boxing match.

A murder mystery set in Cobar, New South Wales, in the mid-nineteenth century.

It aired first in the UK as part of anthology series ITV Play of the Week, then in the US as part of anthology series The United States Steel Hour, then in Australia as part of anthology series General Motors Hour.

A contemporary review offers the following detailed synopsis:

'The story starts when one of the young men of the town of Cobar, western New South Wales, is found battered to death. A man called Jem was lying in a drunken stupor beside the body and the murder weapon, an iron bar, is found near the scene of the crime.

'Jem is immediately accused of the crime, but floods prevent his being sent to an established court for trial.

'Coldringer, an old German opal prospector, suggests to the townsfolk that they set up their own court and have the trial in the town.

'The locals agree that the best way of ensuring that Jem is given a fair trial is to make Rigger, the father of the murdered man, defend Jem, and let the prosecution be handed by Kirk, who was Jem's employer.

'Neither Rigger nor Kirk is happy with the townsfolks' decision, but they eventually agree to accept the court arrangements.'

Source: 'Murder Trial in a Bush Town', The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 September 1960, p.7

'A young and talented research worker's past as a member of the Communist Party begins to affect his career and marriage.'

Source: BFI (http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/262021). (Sighted: 9/10/2013)

A review in The Times notes:

The setting–big business in Australia–is exotic enough to inspire immediate interest. The situation–an electronics expert up against it because his employers have found out his background and want his resignation or a guarantee that he will be 'sensible'–should give rise to some gripping drama, especially in the inevitable board room confrontations.

And so it did, despite too many awful lines (cliché and whimsy) which an efficient editorial blue pencil would have removed. The character of the chairman of the board was credibly ruthless and practical, and the hero, cussed, always ready (even eager) to stick his neck out, but basically weak, an obvious case of a martyr complex, was maddening but believable.

Source: 'A Case of Martyr Complex', The Times, 27 June 1962, p.15.

Little is known about this version of The Shifting Heart beyond its airdate.

A contemporary newspaper report offers the following synopsis: 'The story deals with a crew which deserts a ship to find a fortune on the NSW goldfields of the 1850s and the efforts of the captain to lure them back on board.'

Source: '"Combat" Private in a Ballad', Canberra Times, 2 August 1965, p.1.

A series of four television plays, all starring actor Patrick Wymark, each by a different author, including London-based Australian Raymond Bowers. The four plays aired sequentially on ITV Play of the Week: Paul Lee's was about 'the relationship between a member of a distinguished profession and a girl much younger than himself'; Mike Watts' play 'deals with the owner of a sleazy pin ball saloon'; Allan Prior's was a 'strong contemporary story' about a farm; and Raymond Bowers' play was a 'straightforward comedy involving Patrick in affairs of the nation and of the heart' ('Four Rediffusion Plays for Patrick Wymark', The Stage and Television Today, 7 January 1965, p.17.)