"Rusty Bugles" is a

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television mov ...

episode of the Australian

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 ...

television series ''

Wednesday Theatre ''Wednesday Theatre'' is a 1960s Australian anthology show which aired on the ABC. Many of the episodes were imported from the BBC. However a number of episodes were made locally. Episodes 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Wednesday Theatre ...

'' which aired on 23 June 1965.

Cast

* Jack Allan as Mac * John Armstrong as Andy * Stuart Finch as Gig Ape * Kerry Francis as Rod * Guy le Claire as Darky *

Robert McDarra Robert Bundy McDarra (1931– 23 December 1975) variously credited as Robert McDara and Bob McDara was an Australian stage, television and film actor. He won the 1973 AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work on the film '' 27A'' ...

as Sgt Brooks * Rod Moore as Keghead *

Graham Rouse Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

as Vic * Michael Thomas as Ot * Mark Edwards *

Reg Gorman Reg Gorman (2 August 1932 – 5 August 2021) was an Australian television and film actor, and comedian, he was known best for his role in TV serial ''The Sullivans'', as Jack Fletcher. and children's series ''Fergus McPhail'' as Harry Patters ...

* Charles Little *

Tony Bonner Anthony Frederick Bonner (born 23 November 1943) is an Australian television, film and stage actor and singer. Bonner became famous in the 1960s children's television series '' Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', later moving on to lead roles in the ...

* John Salter * Mark Edmonds

Production

It was Alan Burke's first production for the ABC since he returned from England where he had directed a TV production of ''The Harp in the South''. it was shot at the ABC's studios in Sydney. Some of the language of the play was toned down for the adaptation. Burke said "I'm very excited about the play and I feel sure viewers will react the same way after they see it on tv." It was designed by Kevin Brooks.

Reception

The critic for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' thought the adaptation blundered by not establishing where and when the play was set, saying the director "wasted speculation while a huge cast of strange characters passed before him — too many, in fact, to be accommodated comfortably in such short playing lime." He also felt the word "flamin' " was overused. Another reviewer for the same paper noted the high use of the word "flamin" ("it got a flamin' good workout") while "the other word, which the wowsers took such exception to when the play was first staged in Sydney some 15 years ago, hardly got a look-in." However he thought "Alan Burke's production was a good, smooth job" and did "draw the pathos from the story." The TV critic for ''The Age'' said it "came through as a worthwhile piece of Australiana which one should have seen." The ''Bulletin'' said "most of the flavour" of the play came through in the adaptation. The production was repeated in March 1966.

References

External links

* 1965 television plays 1965 Australian television episodes 1960s Australian television plays Wednesday Theatre (season 1) episodes {{tv-episode-stub