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Max Afford Max Afford i(A32752 works by) (a.k.a. Malcolm Afford)
Born: Established: 8 Apr 1906 Parkside, Unley area, Adelaide - South / South East, Adelaide, South Australia, ; Died: Ceased: 2 Nov 1954 Mosman, Cremorne - Mosman - Northbridge area, Sydney Northeastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 form y separately published work icon Under a Thousand Eyes : A Radio Play of the Vaudeville Theatre Max Afford , (Manuscript version)x400809 Z854859 single work radio play
1 form y separately published work icon Tales of the Supernatural Max Afford , (Manuscript version)x400807 Z854853 series - author radio play
1 form y separately published work icon Out of the Bag Max Afford , (Manuscript version)x400802 Z854838 single work radio play
1 y separately published work icon Seven Days Wonder : A New Comedy Max Afford , (Manuscript version)x400787 Z854779 single work drama
1 y separately published work icon Black Sheep Max Afford , (Manuscript version)x400785 Z854773 single work screenplay
1 y separately published work icon Two Locked-Room Mysteries and a Ripping Yarn Max Afford , Mississippi : Ramble House , 2008 17314133 2008 selected work short story
1 y separately published work icon Owl of Darkness Max Afford , Mississippi : Ramble House , 2006 20255640 2006 single work novel crime

'Written by Max Afford in 1942, this is a classic impossible crime novel about a villain dressed as an owl terrorizing a quaint village.'

Source : publisher's blurb

1 form y separately published work icon Mischief in the Air : Radio and Stage Plays Max Afford , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1974 Z334737 1974 selected work drama radio play
1 form y separately published work icon The Franchise Affair Max Afford , Sydney : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1954 Z854820 1954 series - publisher radio play

An adaptation of Josephine Tey's novel (published six years earlier) about the disappearance of Betty Kane and her subsequent reappearance, badly beaten and claiming to have been kidnapped by two respectable country women.

1 form y separately published work icon The Sundowners Max Afford , 1953 (Manuscript version)x400806 Z854850 1953 single work radio play
1 form y separately published work icon Murder's Not For Middle Age : A New Jeffrey Blackburn Adventure Max Afford , 1953 (Manuscript version)x400798 Z854823 1953 series - publisher radio play detective thriller

'In the new adventure, Jeffery and Elizabeth Blackburn are contentedly retired to a cottage in Kent, raising tulips. Jeffery awakes on the morning of his 45th birthday to find himself and Elizabeth involved in a fantastic crime sequence.'

Source:

'Women's Interests on the Air', Sydney Morning Herald, 13 August 1953, p.7 [Women's Section].

2 form y separately published work icon Out of this Nettle : A New Radio Play Max Afford , (Manuscript version)x400804 Z854844 1952 single work radio play

'David Noble, son of a wealthy Australian cane farmer, returns from abroad with his English wife, Vinnie. David has told Vinnie of the comfort and luxury of his father's creeper covered home, set in the wide cane fields, but from the moment Vinnie sets foot there and encounters Ann Berriman, capable, matter-of-fact daughter of the neighbouring farm, she realises the bitter, latent antagonism which permeates the old house.

'David's father deliberately contrives a situation which tests the young people's endurance to the utmost; how they face up to it forms the basis for a drama of conflict between human frailty and the relentless natural forces of the land.

'It is a story that excellently catches the mood and colour of the cane lands.'

Source:

'Saturday Playbill: Out of This Nettle', South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 21 January 1952, p.2 [feature section supplement].

1 form y separately published work icon Stranger Come In : A New Serial Written for Radio Max Afford , 1951-1954 (Manuscript version)x400801 Z854832 1951-1954 series - publisher radio play

'The lives of three families who migrate from England to Australia are traced in Max Afford's serial, Stranger, Come In... Those represented are the Wingates, a middle-class family living at Tonbridge Wells, Kent; the Bradleys, who keep a "pub" at Lambeth; and a Polish family, the Ruslcas.'

The Age, August 16, 1951

1 form y separately published work icon Space Explorers Max Afford , 1951-1954 (Manuscript version)x400800 Z854829 1951-1954 series - publisher radio play children's science fiction
2 form y separately published work icon Silver Ridge : An Australian Adventure Serial Max Afford , 1951 (Manuscript version)x400799 Z854826 1951 series - publisher radio play

A story of sudden death and industrial espionage in a mining town.

Silver Ridge began airing immediately after Afford's adaptation of The Franchise Affair, but received considerably poorer reviews.

2 form y separately published work icon Lazy in the Sun Max Afford , Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1951 8632316 1951 single work radio play

'Alice Morton, wife of a wealthy Sydney bookmaker, took time off from her "full rich life" of card parties, committees, fashion parades and race meetings to send a food parcel to England. Her conscience salved, she immediately forgot the action. But it was recalled twelve months later when Valerie Hickman, a young woman from London called on Mrs. Morton to thank her for the gift.

'Bill Morton, young and impetuous, was immediately attracted to Valerie. She became introduced to the Morton set–wealthy, irresponsible, selfish. Valerie also met Greg Broderick, a disabled war hero, in whom she confided her fear that the moral decay of the Australian people had placed this country in grave danger.'

Source:

'Lazy in the Sun', South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 10 December 1951, p.3 [supplementary feature section].


Characters

ANNOUNCER

ALICE MORTON

ARTHUR MORTON

GRACE Alice's sister

ANNA the housekeeper

VALERIE HICKMAN

BILL 

GREG

CONSTANCE 

HAL

2 y separately published work icon Dark Enchantment Max Afford , 1949 8637492 1949 single work drama fantasy thriller

'The story revolves round a young girl whose early fascination for a foreign ventriloquist leaves her with his doll, £1,000, and an accompanying "dark enchantment".'

Source:

'Australian Play "Needs Overhaul"', News, 28 June 1949, p.15.

1 y separately published work icon The Vanishing Trick Max Afford , Australia : Project Gutenberg Australia , 2014 12972503 1948 single work short story crime

Based on Afford's earlier radio play, one of the adventures of Elizabeth and Jeffrey Blackburn.

3 form y separately published work icon Consulting Room Max Afford , 1948 (Manuscript version)x401310 Z1075697 1948 single work radio play fantasy

Clem and Carla are adamant that they will never bring a child into a world ravaged by war—a world where cancer tragically takes people’s lives. They see senseless death all around them. After travelling very far to see Sir Earnest in his Consulting Room, they are dismayed to discover that they do not have an appointment. However, in this mysterious, fantastical place, they will find themselves in the company of a young man and an elderly spinster who will change their lives forever.

A fantasy drama, described in contemporary newspapers as 'Locale midway between life and death; characters, the unborn, the living, and the dead; moral — boosting the birthrate.'

Source:

'Radiopinion: You Can Say What You Like', Sunday Mail, 13 June 1948, p.6.


Characters

CARLA

CLEM

NURSE

MISS EDWARDS

SIR EARNEST

DOCTOR

DAVID

1 form y separately published work icon Out of This Nettle and Silver Ridge with Three Other Radio Plays : Also Notes on Writing for Radio Max Afford , Leslie Rees , 1948-1951 (Manuscript version)19602333 13015943 1948 collected work radio play
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