Man Of Destiny (film)
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''Man of Destiny'' is a 1963 Australian television play directed by Christopher Muir. It was based on the 1897 play '' Man of Destiny'' by
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
. Just like the play it revolves around the early career of
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
.


Plot

In Tavazzano in May 1796, after the battle of Lodi, Napoleon meets a young Lady who he believes could be a spy, but to whom he is attracted.


Cast

*Edward Hepple as Napoleon *Felicity Young as the Lady *Stewart Weller as Guiseppe Grando *David Mitchell as the Lieutenant


Production

It was Hepple's first production in Melbourne though he had done numerous TV plays such as ''The Square Ring'', ''The Little Woman'' and ''The Patriots''. While he made the production he rehearsed a Shaw play at the Union Theatre, ''Arms and the Man'' and ''The No Hoper''. "I've never acted in a Shaw play before and here I am in two," said Hepple. "My greatest difficulty is the scarcity of books on Napoleon at this part of his life."


Reception

The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' said director Muir "threw away much of the impact" of the central situation by casting Edward Hepple as Naploeon saying Heple "in many ways an excellent actor but he is better at portraying craftiness than common sense" and saying it was " an outwardly competent production that missed most of the special slang and flavour of Shaw's view of history."


1967 Production

The play was re filmed by the ABC in 1967 as an episode of '' Love and War''. That aired on 13 September 1967 (20 September 1967 in Brisbane). It was filmed in Melbourne, Patrick Barton directed. ''Filmink'' said "l the way through watching this, I was wondering why the hell the ABC were making it – especially as they’d already filmed it four years previously. I mean, seriously, only four years – and it wasn’t very well known Shaw either."


Cast

*Brian Hannon as the Young Napoleon *
Anne Charleston Anne Charleston (born 30 December 1942) is an Australian actress, notable for her career locally and in the United Kingdom in theatre and television. Charleston started her career in theatre in the mid 1950's, and has been a staple of the small ...
as the Young Lady *Dennis Miller as the lieutenant *Stanley Page as the innkeeper


References


External links


''Man of Destiny''
at National Film and Sound Archive Australian television plays Films based on works by George Bernard Shaw Depictions of Napoleon on film Films set in France Films set in 1796 1962 Australian television plays 1962 in Australian television Films directed by Christopher Muir ABC television plays Television plays filmed in Melbourne Television plays directed by Chris Muir {{Australia-tv-film-stub