Antony and Cleopatra (1959 film)

Antony and Cleopatra is a 1959 Australian television play based on the play by William Shakespeare.[2] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[3]

Antony and Cleopatra
Based onplay by William Shakespeare
Written byArthur Chipper
Directed byChristopher Muir
Country of originAustralia
Original language(s)English
Production
Running time125 mins
Production company(s)ABC
DistributorABC
Release
Original networkABC
Original release17 June 1959 (Melbourne) (live)[1]
8 July 1959 (Sydney, taped)

It was broadcast live in Melbourne then recorded and screened in Sydney. The ABC also broadcast a production of Hamlet at the same time, which was broadcast live in Sydney then recorded and screened in Melbourne.[4] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[3]

Cast
  • Bettie Kauffman as Cleopatra
  • Keith Eden as Antony
  • Kevin Miles as Caesar
  • Laurier Lange as Lepidus
  • Edward Howell as Agrippa
  • Judith Godden as Charmain
  • Paul Bacon as Alexas
  • Beverly Dunn as Octavia
  • Frank Gatliff as Pompey
  • John Morgan as Menas
  • Keith Hudson as Eros
  • Alan Tobin as Procuecius
  • Colin Eaton as Soothsayer
  • Philip Stainton as Clown
  • Hugh McDermott as first messenger
  • George Ogilvie as second messenger
  • Alan Hopgood as first soldier
  • Alan Morley as second soldier
  • Ken Goodlet as Enobarus
  • Soula Paulay, R de Winter, Antonio Rodrigues and Albert la Guerre as Cleopatra's attendants
  • Nevil Thurgood, John Godfrey and Peter Diess as soldiers

Production

Arthur Chipper did the adaptation, which made a number of alterations from the play, including reducing the characters and opening it in Rome not Alexandria.[5]

It was shot at ABC's studios in Rippon Lea. There were 15 speaking parts and six extras. The set was designed by Jon Peters. It was Keith Eden's first performance as a "straight" actor on TV - he was better known as a radio actor.[1] There were 31 scene changes.[6] Keith Clarke did costumes.[7]

Reception

The critic for The Age thought the play was "not for television."[8] Another critic for the same paper said it "was a gallant and praiseworthy attempt in the face of heavy odds" but did not think the play suitable for television although he liked the two lead performances.[9]

The Sydney Morning Herald critic wrote that:

Not much of the pomp and poetry came through the rich texture of Shakespeare's language in the... production.. although as a straightforward account of love and war this Melbourne performance Was satisfactory enough. Two things helped to lower the temperature of the love and the language; first, Arthur Chipper's rearrangement of the first half of the play was quite skillful, but the cutting was on a political rather than on a passionate bias, and second, producer Christopher Muir'_s use of cameras and- lighting did little—except in a few scenes — to imaginatively underline the play's mood, atmosphere, and growing tensions.[10]

The Bulletin also gave it a bad review.[11]

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See also
  • List of live television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1950s)

References
  1. "Shakespeare Dramas ABC TV Project". The Age. 23 April 1959. p. 12.
  2. "A BIG NEW DEAL FOR COLOR TV". The Australian Women's Weekly. 27 (7). 22 July 1959. p. 50. Retrieved 21 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  4. "Two Productions of Shakespeare". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 June 1959. p. 17.
  5. "Second Presentation of Shakespeare". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 June 1959. p. 13.
  6. "Shakespeare Test for TV Techniques". The Age. 11 June 1959. p. 12.
  7. "Producer Checks Costumes". The Age. 11 June 1959. p. 14.
  8. Janus (25 June 1959). "Shakespeare Not for Television". The Age. p. 14.
  9. "Shakespeare in "Live" TV Shows". The Age. 18 June 1959. p. 3.
  10. "Live Antony and Cleopatra on TV". Sydney Morning Herald. 9 July 1959. p. 6.
  11. The bulletin, John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1880, retrieved 23 March 2019


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