Cirrus@Austlit

An Australian-made version of the Sumner Locke Elliott script initially produced as part of American anthology series Playhouse 90 the previous year. The Australian version had an entirely different cast and crew from the original American production.

The drama was intended as the flagship program for a planned anthology series called General Motors Hour, based on the radio series of the same name (see 'Harry Dearth Will Host G.M.H Drama Venture on TV'.)

Locke Elliott's script was based on the so-called 'Shark Arm Case' (1935), and Patrick Brady, the defendent in that trial, brought an application for an injunction to prevent ATN (Channel 7) from televising the court scene in The Grey Nurse Said Nothing, which his lawyer argued was defamatory. The application was denied (see 'Application to Stop T.V. Play Rejected').

According to the news article on Brady's planned injunction, lawyers for ATN/Channel 7 claimed that 'the production would have a cast of 72. It was the most ambitious T.V. play produced in Australia, and cost more than £4,000 to produce'.

Further Reading

• 'Application to Stop T.V. Play Rejected', Canberra Times, 28 May 1960, p.7.

• 'Harry Dearth Will Host G.M.H. Drama Venture on TV', The Age, 18 February 1960, p.12.

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 television adaptation of Alan Seymour's play.

'Set in an Australian outpost in the Antarctic, the play opens when the seven members of the expedition, who have served 12 months at the base, learn that they are to be marooned for another 12 months because the relief ship is unable to get through. Tension mounts and one of the men is murdered.'

Source: [Television guide], The Age, 6 September 1962, p.7.