Misery Me

Misery Me is a 1959 Australian television movie, or rather a live television play, which aired on ABC. It was a satirical comedy written by British playwright Dennis Cannan[3] and had originally been a stage play.[4]

Misery Me
Newspaper ad, 15 Jul 1959
Directed byAlan Burke
Based onplay by Dennis Cannan
Distributed byABC
Release date
15 July 1959 (Sydney, live)
5 August 1959 (Melbourne)[1][2]
Running time
60 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[5] At the time, most TV plays presented on Australian television were adaptations of overseas stage plays. It is likely that the experience gained from these productions allowed ABC to later produce dramatic programs with more local interest, such as Stormy Petrel.

The program was originally shown in Sydney (on ABN-2) on 15 July 1959. A kinescope ("telerecording") was made of the program and later shown in Melbourne on 5 August 1959 (on ABV-2). In 1959, two additional ABC stations began operations, in Adelaide and Brisbane respectively, and it is not known of the program was also shown in these two cities.

The archival status of the program is not known.

Plot

A young couple make a suicide pact at a mountain resort. Matters are complicated by the arrival of two former suitors of the girl, Cornelia.

Cast
  • Diana Davidson as Cornelia
  • Barbara Eather
  • Gordon Glenwright as Carlo Bambas
  • John Huson
  • Don Pascoe
  • Lionel Stevens as Julius Ring
  • Hugh Stewart

Production

The play had been performed in 1955 and adapted for TV on the BBC in 1955.[6]

Reception

According to director Alan Burke the play received "tiny ratings" like many ABC plays around this time.[7]

The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the "oddly uneven ingredients of political satire and romantic farce" that featured in the play "were not mixed with enough smoothness" to make the TV adaptation "entirely satisfying" adding that the play suffered from being reduced to an hour ("hardly gave the players or the ideas time to properly ferment"). However he did think there that "when attractive acting was combined with flexible production" there were "some charming and amusing individual scenes."[8]

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See also
  • Blue Murder
  • Black Limelight
  • Bodgie
  • List of live television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1950s)

References
  1. "Untitled". The Age. 30 July 1959. p. 13.
  2. "TV Guide". The Age. 30 July 1959. p. 33.
  3. "Tv Guide". The Age. 30 July 1959. p. 17.
  4. Shorter, Eric (17 October 2011). "Denis Cannan obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  5. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  6. Misery Me 1955 British TV version at IMDb
  7. Interview with Alan Burke
  8. "Misery Me': A Live Telecast". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 July 1959. p. 6.


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