Objector (film)

Objector is a 1966 television play by Tony Morphett broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.[2] It was part of the Australian Playhouse series.[3] Morphett went on to become one of the leading writers in Australian television.[4]

"Objector"
Australian Playhouse episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 24
Teleplay byTony Morphett
Produced byBrian Faull[1]
Original air date3 October 1966
Running time30 mins

Plot

A man is conscripted to fight in Vietnam. He wants to go to court to argue against his and his father, a war veteran, calls him a coward.[5]

Cast
  • John Derum as the son
  • Syd Conabere as the father
  • Julie Costello as the girlfriend

Production

Morphett originally wrote the story as a short story for the Adelaide Festival Literary Contest. It was written soon after the Federal Government introduced conscription for Vietnam, but Morphett says it is not “a propagandist play.” [5]

It was filmed in Sydney.[6]

Reception

The Bulletin TV critic said the "play kept wandering from prose poetry to plain Australian and back again, like a novice punter trying to pick a two-horse race without a form guide."[7]

The Age said it was "a drama so true to life it hurt."[8] A different critic from the same paper said it "wasn't really a play. It was merely sort of a visual illustration of a voice told by a narrative in the background. The viewer was supposed to exercise his imagination... An actor is supposed to play a part."[9]

The same paper later called it "a noteworthy example how a dramatist can contribute to a worthy understanding."[10]

See also
  • List of television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1960s)

References
  1. "Conscription". The Age. 29 September 1966. p. 33.
  2. "Varied views on Conscription today". The Canberra Times. 43 (12, 177). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 December 1968. p. 13. Retrieved 11 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "TELEVISION Nothing dull on a Wacky Ship". The Canberra Times. 41 (11, 505). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 October 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 1 March 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. The bulletin, John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1880, retrieved 23 March 2019
  6. "When a play gets up and walks". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 1966. p. 86.
  7. The bulletin, John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1880, retrieved 23 March 2019
  8. "Teletopics". The Age. 6 October 1966. p. 13.
  9. Monitor (8 October 1966). "For parents and teachers". The Age. p. 25.
  10. Televiewer (29 December 1966). "Staying true to one's viewing". The Age. p. 9.


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