"The Scent of Fear" is television play written by
Ted Willis
Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (13 January 1914 – 22 December 1992) was an English playwright, novelist and screenwriter who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. In 1941 he became the General Secretary of the Young ...
. It was originally written for British anthology series ''
Armchair Theatre
''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968.
The Canad ...
'', adapted from the story "Stowaway" by
Mary Higgins Clark
Mary Higgins Clark (born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins (December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020) was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of he ...
which was reportedly based on a real story that happened in 1949. It was filmed for Australian TV in 1960.
Plot
A youth in an Iron Curtain country, to escape from police, hides in a plane that is to fly to the UK. An air hostess finds him and he begs her not to turn him in. She has to hide him from various policemen.
1959 British TV Version
The play was first produced by
ABC Weekend TV
ABC Weekend TV was the popular name of the British broadcaster ABC Television Limited, which provided the weekend service in the Midlands and Northern England regions of the Independent Television (ITV) network from 1956 to 1968. It was one ...
for the British
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
network in 1959.
Cast
*
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...
as Colonel Kralik
*Lorenza Colville as Eva Kralik
*Frederick Schiller as Neumann
*Alexis Chesnakov as Pechka
*
Neil McCallum as Karl Schling
*
Dorothy Tutin
Dame Dorothy Tutin, (8 April 19306 August 2001) was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two ''Evening Standard'' Awards for Best Actress. She was made a CBE in 1967 and ...
as Joan Bridey
*John Carson as Tom Brook
*
Barrie Cookson
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...
as Harry Mylner
*Jack Stewart as Dusty Fraser
*Jacqueline Ellis as Peggy Court
*Carl Duering as Sten
*Wolfe Morris as Mueller
*David Ritch as Brandt
*
Walter Gotell
Walter Jack Gotell (15 March 1924 – 5 May 1997) was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the Roger Moore-era of the James Bond film series,Tom VallancObituary: Walter Gotell ''The Independent'', 20 June 1 ...
as 1st Policeman
*Jan Conrad as 2nd Policeman
1960 Australian TV Version
The Australian version was directed by
James Upshaw
James Upshaw, an Australian producer and director, best known for his work in TV in the 1960s including early variety show ''The Lorrae Desmond Show'', which garnered its hostess Lorrae Desmond as the fist female recipient of the '' Gold Logie A ...
. Broadcast live on ABC's Sydney station, it was
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 194 ...
d ("telerecorded") for showing on other ABC stations.
Cast
*Max Meldrum as the youth
*Eric Reiman as Colonel Kralik
*
Diana Perryman
Diana Perryman (9 November 1924 - 10 January 1979) credited also as Diane Perryman, was an Australian actress, who appeared in stage, film and television.
Perryman was notable for her roles in early TV soap operas and appeared in miniseries a ...
as Joan Bridey, the hostess
*Owen Weingott as Sten, disguised Communist head of police
*Deryck Barnes
*Brian Anderson
*Colin Croft
*Noni Rathesay
*Carlotta Kalmar
*
Leonard Teale
Leonard George Thiele AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant baritone voice. He is be ...
*George Roubiceck
*Kenneth Hacker
*Custl Korner
*Peter Williams
*Tony Standen
*Barry Davies
*Felix Martin
*John Bell
*Val Zika
Production
The show was filmed at ABC's Sydney studios with exteriors shot at Sydney's Kingsford Smith airport.
Diana Perryman, who played an airhorstee, had been done.
Reception
''
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 ...
'' gave it a mixed review, but noted that "Max Meldrum made a superbly terrified fugitive"'' and ''"Owen Weingott was excellent as Sten, the disguised communist head of secret police".
US Screening
The play was bought for screening in the US by CBS in 1961 along with another Australian play, ''
Outpost''.
See also
*
*
References
External links
1959 British tv versionat
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
1960 Australian ''The Scent of Fear'' on IMDb1960 Australia ''The Scent of Fear''
at National Film and Sound Archive
1960 television plays
Australian television plays
Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming
English-language television shows
Black-and-white Australian television shows
Australian live television shows
Armchair Theatre
Television shows produced by ABC Weekend TV
{{Australia-tv-film-stub