''I Found Joe Barton'', also known as ''The Adventures of Al Munch'', was a 1952 film made for American television starring

Bud Tingwell Charles William Tingwell AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian film, television, theatre and radio actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his ...

and

Lloyd Berrell Lloyd Berrell (13 February 1926 – 30 December 1957) was a New Zealand actor who played Reuben "Roo" Webber in the original Sydney production of ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll''. He worked extensively in Australian radio and theatre, appearin ...

. The first Australian drama show made specifically for television, it was the pilot for a series which did not eventuate called ''The Adventures of Al Munch''. However it screened in some cinemas.

Plot

Al Munch (

) is an American private eye who served in Sydney during World War II and decided to stay on. He is hired by Hollywood film producer, Frankoff, to find Joe Barton, an American crime figure thought to be dead but who is now said to be alive in Australia. Frankof has made a film of his life but needs a clearance from Barton before he can release it and hires Munch to locate him. Munch contacts a lawyer, Timothy O'Leary, to find Barton, but then O'Leary is murdered. Munch discovers Barton and hands him over to the police for O'Leary's murder.Albert Moran, 'Some beginnings for Australian television: the first Governor-General', ''Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture'', vol. 4 no 2 (1991) Edited by John Hartley
/ref>

Cast

as Al Munch *

Margo Lee Margaret Stella Lee (20 June 1923 - 16 October 1987) credited as Margo Lee, was an Australian actor and singer of radio, stage, film and TV. She worked briefly in Hollywood. Filmography Film *'' Into the Straight'' (1949) *'' The Twelve Poun ...

Production

The series was the brainchild of American radio producer

Grace Gibson Grace Isabel Gibson AO, (17 June 1905 – 10 July 1989), also known as Grace Atchison and Grace Parr was an American Australian radio entrepreneur, executive and producer. She was best known for her long-running serials Dr. Paul and the local ...

, who was the largest packager of radio drama in Sydney. Although television was not introduced in Australia until 1956, she wanted to make a show for the American market using an Australian cast and crew, but American writers and directors. There were a number of Australian radio serials at the time about American characters. Gibson originally got

Ken G. Hall Kenneth George Hall, AO, OBE (22 February 1901 – 8 February 1994), better known as Ken G. Hall, was an Australian film producer and director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. ...

to direct Alan White in a test scene and sent to it some American colleagues but they were not impressed. American director Francis D. Lyon was flown out to do tests with Joe McCormick,

Ken Wayne Ken Wayne (1925–1993) was an Australian actor of radio, theatre, film and television. He made his film debut in '' Sons of Matthew'' (1949) and appeared in a number of movies including ''Dust in the Sun'' (1958). He was also well known for hi ...

, White and

. Tingwell was eventually cast and the film was shot over ten days.Don Storey, 'Interview with Charles Tingwell', ''TV Eye'', No. 4, February 1995
/ref> There was emphasis on Australian flora and fauna: Frankof has a pet koala in his room, Munch travels by boat across Sydney harbour, there are plenty of gum trees and kangaroos.

Reception

The series did not sell to American television. Tingwell claims this is because they wanted Gibson to guarantee 39 episodes in 39 weeks and she was not sure she would be able to fulfil this order. However, it did sell to an American distributor and play as a self-contained episode on independent TV stations in the US. In Australia it screened as a support feature in cinemas. According to ''Filmink'' "The episode is a lot of fun to watch today if you don’t mind seeing all these American characters run around Sydney in what is basically an American story, complete with tough guy dialogue, a femme fatale, gunplay and a high death toll. There are campy laughs to be had with the producer holding a koala bear in his office, and Al Munch traipsing through the bush and seeing a kangaroo. There’s lovely location work of the Sydney CBD, Sydney Harbour and the bush. The photography is of extremely high quality and it helps immeasurably that it was all shot on film instead of video tape. The story itself is solid, with plenty of twists and turns; it is absolutely up to the standard by which it was to be measured (i.e. a 30 minute 1950s American detective show)." In 1952 Charles Tingwell wrote a letter to a newspaper claiming the sale of old Australian films to US television would be bad for Australia's reputation.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Al Munch''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

1952 films 1952 television films Australian television films 1950s English-language films 1950s Australian films