A Little South of Heaven

A Little South of Heaven is Australian live television play which aired in 1961 on ABC. It was based on a radio play by D'Arcy Niland and Ruth Park.[4][5]

A Little South of Heaven
Based onradio play by D'Arcy Niland
Ruth Park
Written byGeorge F. Kerr
Directed byAlan Burke[1]
StarringOwen Weingott
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerLes Weldon
Running time60 mins
Production companyABC
Original release
Release19 April 1961 (1961-04-19) (Sydney)
Release13 September 1961 (1961-09-13) (Melbourne, taped)[2][3]

Plot

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Set in Sydney. An Italian widow who has moved to Australia plans a marriage for her son Primo to an Italian, Serena, despite his affections for an Australian, Ruby. However he sends Serena the photo of Primo's more handsome cousin Franki.[6]

Cast

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Radio play

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It was based on a radio play that had been performed in Australia and on the BBC in 1960.[7] The BBC production starred Ina De La Haye and Robert Rietty.

Reception

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The Sydney Morning Herald TV critic called it "rather stale fare" as the plot and characters were too predictable, adding that thematically the play "a warm-blooded extension of an Immigration Department pamphlet; bur its mainspring was a device as old as comedy and diplomacy... A neat, visually fluent, but also stodgily predictable, 60 minutes of viewing."[8]

Val Marshall of the same paper thought it was almost as good as The Big Day, "a play that has remained pretty much par for the course for Australian TV drama ever since". She felt "in spite of some miscasting and an occasional spot where action bogged down in words... [it] came off remarkably well."[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "LIVE DRAMA AND MUSIC ON ABC TELEVISION". The Canberra Times. 11 December 1962. p. 27. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Migrant's Home is South of Heaven". The Age. 7 September 1961. p. 12.
  3. ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 7 September 1961. p. 31.
  4. ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 7 September 1961. p. 16.
  5. ^ Radio play details[permanent dead link] at AustLit
  6. ^ "Drama Set in Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. 17 April 1961. p. 11.
  7. ^ The Age 12 Feb 1959
  8. ^ "Sydney play on television". Sydney Morning Herald. 20 April 1961. p. 7.
  9. ^ Marshall, Valda (23 April 1961). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 84.
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