Captain Carvallo

Captain Carvallo is a traditional comedy play in three acts by Denis Cannan, telling the story of a philandering young army officer, Captain Carvallo.

The comedy was an immediate success when it opened at the St. James Theatre on 9 August 1950, as the second production under Sir Laurence Olivier's management.

The play was first tried out in March 1950 at the Bristol Old Vic, where Cannan was acting at the time. A few months later, Laurence Olivier boldly restaged the play – billed as a "traditional comedy" – at the St James's theatre in London, with James Donald in the lead role, opposite Diana Wynyard. It was a great success, although Cannan preferred the Bristol production. "His play shimmers with ideas wittily juxtaposed, and it is funnier than the Crazy Gang", wrote the critic Harold Hobson.

A television production of the play was broadcast on the BBC the following year, with Patrick Macnee in the lead. Cannan adapted the play himself for a Rediffusion production later that decade. In 1988 the play was revived at the Greenwich Theatre. A version aired on Australian television in 1958.[1]

Plot

A young army captain invades a make believe country.

Original cast (St. James Theatre, 1950)
CharacterActor
Captain CarvalloJames Donald
Smilja DardeDiana Wynyard
Professor WinkePeter Finch
Caspar DardeRichard Goolden
Private GrossThomas Heathcote
AnniJill Bennett
The BaronAnthony Pelly

1957 Australian TV Version
Captain Carvallo
Directed byWilliam Sterling
Based onplay
CinematographyRay Hammond[2]
Production
company
ABC
Distributed byABN-2
Release date
21 May 1958 (Melbourne, live)[3]
16 June 1958 (Sydney)[4]
Running time
60 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

The play was filmed by the ABC in 1958 when Australian drama production was rare.[5] It was the first "live" play produced from the new studios of the A.B.C. in Melbourne, which had opened on 21 May 1958.[6]

Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[7]

Cast
  • Neil Fitzpatrick as Carvallo
  • Mary Ward
  • Syd Conabere
  • Frank Gatliff

Production

It was the first presentation at the ABC's new studio at Rippon Lea, Melbourne. At that point, the ABC were using a small studio at Rippon Lea and telecasting its bigger productions from Coppin Hall. A third studio at Rippon Lea would be open in September.[8]

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

References
  1. Captain Carvallo (TV Movie 1958) - IMDb
  2. "Untitled". The Age. 23 May 1958. p. 21.
  3. "TV Guide". The Age. 16 March 1958. p. 33.
  4. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 June 1958. p. 16.
  5. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  6. "Melbourne Comedy". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 June 1958. p. 15.
  7. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  8. "BBC Live Play to Open TV Studio". The Age. 20 March 1959. p. 11.
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