''Bodgie'' is an Australian television movie, or rather a live television play with filmed sequences, which aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

during 1959. Originally broadcast on 12 August 1959 in Sydney on

ABN-2 ABN is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television station in Sydney. The station began broadcasting on 5 November 1956. Its original studios were located in Gore Hill and were in use up until March 2004, when they were co-located wit ...

, a

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...

recording was made of the program and shown in Melbourne on

ABV-2 ABV is the name of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television station in Melbourne, Victoria. History The station began broadcasting on 19 November 1956 and is transmitted throughout the state via a network of relay transmitters. ABV ...

on 2 September 1959. At the time, most live plays broadcast on Australian television were simply performances of overseas plays. ''Bodgie'' was based on a British story written by an Australian, Rex Rientis, which was adapted to be relocated to Australia by another Australian writer,

Alan Seymour Alan Seymour (6 June 192723 March 2015) was an Australian playwright and author. He is best known for the play ''The One Day of the Year'' (1958). His international reputation rests not only on this early play, but also on his many screenplays, ...

. It is not known if the kinescope recording of the broadcast is still extant or not.

Plot

Kenny is a "

bodgie Bodgies and widgies refer to a youth subculture that existed in Australia and New Zealand in the 1950s, similar to the rocker culture in the UK or Greaser culture in the United States. Most bodgies rode motorbikes but some had cars, many of ...

" who lives in Kings Cross with his ex-convict father (Douglas Kelly). Kenny has a girlfriend (Lola Brooks) and is forced into blackmail of a politician (Nigel Lovell). He tries to protect a woman (Thelma Scott) and murder results.

Cast

John Ewart Jon Ewart (06th May 1996) is a British television and film actor. Ewart attended the prestigious National Youth Theatre, Identity School of Acting and has appeared in many successful Television shows. Biography Career Ewart, who was born in M ...

as Kenney *

Don Crosby George Wallace Donald Crosby, Order of Australia, OAM (29 October 1924 – 3 December 1985) was an Australians, Australian actor of radio, stage, television and film, radio producer, stage manager, airman and trade unionist. Early life The fift ...

* Lola Brooks * Douglas Kelly as Kenney's father * Nellie Lamport *

Nigel Lovell Nigel Tasman Lovell (27 January 1916 – 13 December 2001) was an Australian stage, radio, film and television actor, and producer of opera and both stage and radio drama. History Lovell was born in Sydney, a son of Tasman Lovell, Professor of ...

Thelma Scott Thelma Marjorie Scott (17 June 1913 – 23 November 2006) was an Australian character actress whose six-decade career in theatre, radio, film and Australian made her one of her country's most recognisable and beloved personalities. Having st ...

* Louis Wishart

Production

The story was originally written by Rex Rienits and previously filmed in Britain as the film '' Wide Boy'' (1952). Rienits also adapted this story as a radio play and as a novel. Rienits' script was adapted for Australian TV by

, who relocated it to Australia. It starred John Ewart and was produced by

Ray Menmuir Raymond Edward Menmuir (10 September 1930 – 26 March 2016) was a British-Australian director and producer. His career included producing 44 episodes of ''The Professionals'' and directing 12 episodes of '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. He also produc ...

, who had previously collaborated for the ABC in ''

Murder Story ''Murder Story'' is a 1958 Australian television play. It was based on a script by Ludovic Kennedy based on the Croydon roof top murder and starred Neva Carr-Glynn, John Ewart and Douglas Kelly. It was directed by Raymond Menmuir. Plot A 19-ye ...

''. While mainly a live drama, it also featured exterior scenes shot in King's Cross, Darlinghurst and North Sydney. A number of police worked as extras; Ray Menmuir had to get permission for this to be done.

Reception

The critic for the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' wrote that:

The thoroughly professional qualities of Rex Rienits' writing in his play ''Bodgie'' were fairly satisfactorily matched in production and acting... Mr Rienits has said very little that is new in his neatly tailored but conventional plot about the eroding effects of crime and its spurious glamour on a weak character, or about the relative moral positions of the blackmailer and his victims - around whom the play revolves. But then his aim, justifiably, is not sociological comment but entertainment. Not that social comment was entirely missing. John Ewart as the "bodgie" at least showed how the mind of a lay about turned involuntary murdered, works, although the part gave him little opportunity to reveal why it gets that way. This was a well-observed performance in which Ewart gave a convincing air to the egg-shell thin toughness covering a profound insecurity, and the desperate hysterical bravado used as a cloak for cowardice. This may not have been the picture of a typical "bodgie" but it was a good portrait of a scared, lonely, weak - and as a result of this, criminal - young man. With its use of filmed Sydney backgrounds, and some carefully designed studio sets, Ray Menmuir's production added some refreshing authenticity to the tensions generated by the author's clever writing and Alan Seymour's adaptation...
support cast Support may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Supporting character Business and finance * Support (technical analysis) * Child support * Customer support * Income Support Construction * Support (structure), or lateral support, a ...
acted adequately, but without much imagination.

Valda Marshall, the TV critic from the ''Sun Herald'' called it "a neat and imaginative little drama of the more seamy side of King's Cross life" with "sympathetic acting from" Ewart, Kelly and Brooks but "not quite so convincing in secondary roles were " Lovell and Scott. She felt the play "suffered slightly from rather obvious differences in quality between the prefilmed exterior scenes and those done live from the studio. But all in all it was a worthwhile effort."

References

External links

* * *
''Bodgie''
at

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...