The Skin of Our Teeth (film)

The Skin of Our Teeth is a 1959 Australian television play based on the play by Thorton Wilder. It starred John Ewart.

The Skin of Our Teeth
Directed byAlan Burke
Based onplay The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder
Distributed byABC
Release date
25 February 1959 (Sydney)[1]
6 May 1959 (Melbourne)[2]
Running time
90 mins[3]
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

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

Premise

The story of life on Earth as lived by Mr and Mrs Antrobus, and their two children - and their maid, Sabina.

Cast
  • John Ewart as Henry
  • Leonard Teale as Mr Antrobus/Mr Everyman
  • Aileen Britton as Mrs Antrobus/Mrs Everyman
  • Diana Davidson as Sabina the maid
  • Beryl Marshall as Gladys
  • Robert Hunt as the fortune teller
  • Nick Tate as the telegraph boy

Production

The film was directed by Alan Burke who had directed a production of Skin of Our Teeth on stage in Canberra in 1953[5] and had spent a day talking to Wilder in the US at the latter's New Haven home.[6] Burke had met him through a letter of introduction while on a UNESCO scholarship. Burke considered the meeting with Wilder one of the most important of his life.[7]

"He is the most knowledgeable man I've ever met," said Burke. "He is a great humanist and has great faith in, mankind."[8]

Two sets were used, one for the Antrobus house the other for Atlantic City boardwalk.[9]

Reception

Burke said although the play had "tiny ratings... it represented the big break-through in the production of television plays."[10]

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

References
  1. "All the TV Programmes". ABC Weekly. 25 February 1959. p. 31.
  2. "TV Guide". The Age. 6 May 1959. p. 5.
  3. "Tv Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 25 February 1959. p. 10.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. ""THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH" BY REPERTORY". The Canberra Times. 28 (8, 174). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 November 1953. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "CANBERRA DIARY". The Canberra Times. 28 (8, 171). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 10 March 1954. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. Oral interview with Alan Burke
  8. "Cast of 30 in New Live Show". Sydney Morning Herald. 23 February 1959. p. 13.
  9. "Untitled". 30 April 1959. p. 23.
  10. Interview with Alan Burke at ABCTV Gore Hill


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