Manhaul

"Manhaul"
The General Motors Hour episode
Episode no. Season 3
Episode 4
Directed by Rod Kinnear
John Sumner
Teleplay by Osmar White
Produced by Rod Kinnear
John Sumner
Original air date 8 September 1962 (Sydney)
Running time 60 mins[1]
75 mins (Melbourne)[2]

Manhaul is a 1962 Australian television film. It aired 8 September 1962 as part of The General Motors Hour, an occasional series which presented various one-off productions. It aired on ATN-7 in Sydney and GTV-9 in Melbourne (it is not known if it aired on other stations across Australia), despite the two stations having severed their relationship with the formation of the Nine Network.

Plot

At an Australian outpost in the Antarctic, there are seven men, who have served there for 12 months. They are meant to be relieved but then their departure is delayed. Tensions flare and one of the men is murdered.

Cast

  • Wyn Roberts as the skipper
  • Fred Parslow as the camp doctor
  • George Fairfax
  • Gordon Glenwright as an Australian
  • Kurt Ludescher as a Norwegian
  • Dennis Miller
  • Bruce Barry as the murdered man

Production

The play was written by former Australian war correspondent Osmar White, who had accompanied the 1955-58 expedition to the South Pole. The cast was all-male and consisted of six Melbourne actors and one Sydney actor (Gordon Glenwright). Most of the play takes place in three snow huts built in the Melbourne studio from the authentic patterns of those constructed in the Antarctic. It was produced and directed jointly by the team of Rod Kinnear and John Sumner who had previously collaborated on the adaptation of The One Day of the Year.[1]

Running time

There is conflicting information on the running time. The Age listed it as airing in a 75-minute time-slot, while the Sydney Morning herald listed it airing in a 60-minute time-slot.[1] The running time excluding commercials is not known (for example, hour-long Homicide episodes from the mid-1960s often run 45–47 minutes, while Bandstand episodes could run as long as 51 minutes. 1960 television film Reflections in Dark Glasses, which aired in a one-hour time-slot runs 48 minutes).

Reception

The TV critic for the Sydney Morning Herald said "a well-built set and two or three good performances... did much to enliven" the production and that it was "a good idea" but "unfortunately, Mr White seems to have been in some doubt whether to make his play a simple whodunit or a study of the kind of men who for reasons not purely scientific, might seek refuge from life in a world of isolation. The compromise required in attempting both was damaging to the play... If local TV drama is to be taken seriously, it will need better productions than this one... and better plays" "[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Australian Play Set In Antarctic". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 August 1962. p. 14.
  2. ↑ "TV Guide". The Age. 6 September 1962. p. 14.
  3. ↑ "Polar Drama". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 September 1962. p. 7.


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