form y separately published work icon The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me single work   film/TV  
Adaptation of Dr. Homer Speaks : 'Oh, Ai-lar-tsua Farewell' : A Satire Ric Throssell , 1963 single work drama
Issue Details: First known date: 1965... 1965 The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Digger Smith comes back from World War II to his wife Shirl and baby daughter Betty and his modest house. Dig is a happy, uncomplicated man until the wave of prosperity catches up with him.'

Source:

[Television guide], The Canberra Times, 28 July 1965, p.19.

Notes

  • Television play.
  • A considerably shortened and altered television adaptation of Ric Throssell's drama Dr. Homer Speaks, The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me was broadcast in 1965. While Pictures Australia suggests 1962, the drama did not actually premiere on stage until 1963 (Canberra Repertory Society). Dennis Carrol, in 'The United States in Recent Australian Drama' (1973) notes that the production made no great impression but 'later on a shortened television version reached a wider audience' (p. 345).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • c
      Australia,
      c
      :
      Australian Broadcasting Commission ,
      1965 .
      Extent: 45min.p.
      Series: y separately published work icon Wednesday Theatre Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1965-1969 7118326 1965 series - publisher

      An ABC anthology television series that played single-episode television programs from overseas, but also produced and promoted new Australian works.

      The individual works had no explicit thematic connection to one another, and the term 'theatre' was applied loosely: some instalments were adaptations of stage plays, but many appear to have been written directly as 'television plays'. The series also semi-regularly aired operas.

      In some instances, the productions were imported wholesale from other countries: 'Collect Your Hand Luggage' (aired 20 October 1965), for example, is a re-titled broadcast of ITV Television Playhouse episode 'Collect Your Hand Baggage' (originally aired in 1963).

      In other instances, the episodes are Australian productions of international works: 'Tartuffe' (aired 13 October 1965), for example, is an Australian production of the Moliere play, produced Henri Safran and with an Australian cast. These productions are only indexed individually on AustLit if there is a discernible Australian script-writer and/or localisation of the production.

      Wednesday Theatre followed a common pattern for anthology series on early Australian television, in that the Australian content rapidly dropped away and the series became primarily re-screenings of British productions: see also Stuart Wagstaff's World Playhouse.

      For a full listing of episodes and airdates, see under Film Details.

      Number in series: 1.30

      Holdings

      Held at: National Library of Australia
      Local Id: Rick Throssell Papers - MS 8071
      Note:
      Manuscript.

Works about this Work

Forgotten Australian TV Plays : The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me Stephen Vagg , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: FilmInk , 27 June 2021;
60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s Stephen Vagg , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 18 February 2019;
Canberra Writer's Play on ABC This Week 1965 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 26 July 1965; (p. 13)
Canberra Writer's Play on ABC This Week 1965 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 26 July 1965; (p. 13)
60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s Stephen Vagg , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 18 February 2019;
Forgotten Australian TV Plays : The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me Stephen Vagg , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: FilmInk , 27 June 2021;
Last amended 26 Nov 2014 15:20:37
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