The Merchant of Venice (1961 film)

The Merchant of Venice is a 1961 Australian television adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare. [3] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[4]

The Merchant of Venice
Directed byAlan Burke
Based onplay The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
StarringOwen Weingott
Production
company
Australian Broadcasting Commission
Release date
13 September 1961 (Sydney)
25 October 1961 (Melbourne)[1]
Running time
120 mins[2]
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Cast

Production

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "the most important television play of the year. and among Sydney's actresses the role of Portia was the most sought after."[7]

It went to the relatively inexperienced Tanya Halesworth who was a presented at the ABC. Director Alan Burke said he saw Portia "as a beautiful debutante, the darling of the deb set of her day. I wanted a beautiful girl for the role, one with wit, astuteness, vivacity; but one with a little bit of edge to her tongue. Tanya has all these."[8]

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "a masterful piece of work in which a predominant young cast gave the play flesh-and-blood virility".[9]

The play was screened in Melbourne along with two other Shakespeare plays on the school syllabus, A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Royston Morley production of Hamlet.[1]

References
  1. "'Clever' Ghost in TV Hamlet". The Age. 21 September 1961. p. 22.
  2. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 September 1961. p. 15.
  3. ""The Merchant" a TV triumph". The Australian Women's Weekly. 29 (17). 27 September 1961. p. 19. Retrieved 9 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. Sydney Morning Herald 14 September 1961 "The Merchant on Television" p.13
  6. http://barry-creyton.com/biography.html
  7. "Tanya's Surprise Portia Role". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 September 1961. p. 12.
  8. "Tanya-an alluring, vivacious Portia". The Australian Women's Weekly. 29 (14). 6 September 1961. p. 19. Retrieved 9 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ""The Merchant" on Television". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 September 1061. p. 11.


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