The Angry General

The Angry General is a 1964 Australian television play written by Australian author Allan Trevor.[2][3]

The Angry General
Written byAllan Trevor
Directed byPatrick Barton
Country of originAustralia
Original language(s)English
Production
Running time60 mins
Production company(s)ABC
DistributorABC
Release
Original networkABC
Original release11 March 1964 (Melbourne)[1]
15 April 1964 (Sydney)

Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[4]

Premise

The play is set in London in the present day. Former wartime minister, Lord Athol Medway, publishes his memoirs attacking the leadership of Major-General Forbes Barrington-Hunt in the war during a disastrous commando raid. Barrington-Hunt sets out to clear his name.[5]

Cast
  • Raymond Westwell as Major-General Forbes Barrington-Hunt
  • Edward Howell as Lord Athol Medway
  • Williams Lloyd as Sir Geoffrey Bryson
  • Norman Kaye as Major Derek Barrington-Hunt
  • Joan Letch as Jane Barrington-Hunt
  • Dorothy Bradley as Elizabeth Barrington-Hunt
  • Joan MacArthur as Miriam Barrington-Hunt
  • Campbell Copelin as Gen George Chaesling
  • Douglas Kelly as Dobson
  • Kenrick Hudson as Dickie
  • Raymond O'Reilly as Hodge
  • Neville Thurgood as Benbow
  • Christine Calcutt as sister

Production

It was one of 20 TV plays produced by the ABC in 1964 (and one of only three Australian scripts).[6]

It was a play by Australian actor and author Allan Trevor and was produced in Melbourne. Trevor called the play "a study in motives — the motives that make people accept what is not right to achieve their own ends." He said the plot was "based very loosely on the case history of one of the numerous generals 'bowlerhatted' for no apparent reason during World War II." [7]

Reception

The TV critic for The Sydney Morning Herald thought that despite "a liberal sprinkling of cliches and a pattern of stilted patches in its dialogue" the play "maintained a high degree of tension... Two major merits distinguished it. One was the originality of its theme, and the other a consistently capable standard of acting."[8]

gollark: Exactly.
gollark: And you DO NOT WANT your AI to be working out the most convenient loopholey way to satisfy the letter (well, the code) of "do not harm humans".
gollark: * osmarks.net
gollark: Well, evolved systems generally.
gollark: Also, if you've ever seen genetic algorithms, you'll know that they will ruthlessly exploit any quirk of the fitness functions.

References
  1. "TV Guide". The Age. 5 March 1964. p. 37.
  2. "Training For The Showring". The Canberra Times. 38 (10, 820). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 April 1964. p. 12. Retrieved 19 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "New series on 3". The Canberra Times. 41 (11, 754). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 31 July 1967. p. 13. Retrieved 19 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. "ANGRY GENERAL". The Canberra Times. 38 (10, 820). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 April 1964. p. 12. Retrieved 19 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "ABC Plans to Show Significant Works". The Age. 20 February 1964. p. 13.
  7. "Australian Play Has a War Theme". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 April 1964. p. 13.
  8. "The Angry General Produced on ABN". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 April 1964. p. 8.


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