''Small Victory'' is a 1958 television play broadcast by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. It was set during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. It was directed by William Sterling and was shot in Melbourne where it aired 26 March 1958. It was based on a play by Australian author Iain MacCormick. The ABC later broadcast '' Sound of Thunder'' and ''

Act of Violence ''Act of Violence'' is a 1949 American film noir starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan and featuring Janet Leigh, Mary Astor and Phyllis Thaxter. Directed by Fred Zinnemann and adapted for the screen by Robert L. Richards from a story by Collier Yo ...

'' (1959) by MacCormick. Australian TV drama at the time would customarily consist of adaptations of stories that had been tried overseas.

Plot

During the Korean War a group of people are trapped by North Korean troops at the Mission School of the Sacred Heart, including a priest, Father Riley, and a nun, Sister Annalissa. American war correspondent Thompson helps Korean orphan Sophie sneak into the Mission School.

Cast

*Beverly Dunn as Sister Annalissa *Brian James as Father Riley *

Sydney Conabere Sydney Leicester Conabere (8 July 191815 July 2008) was an Australian actor. He was notable for his work in theatre, film and television drama in a career spanning more than fifty years. In 1962 Conabere won the Logie award for Best Actor, for ...

as Thompson *Kira Daniels as Sophie *John Morgan as the political leader *Bettine Kaufman *Neville Thurgood as Sgt Little *Judith Godden *Laurier Lange *Kira Daniel *Tony Roberts

Production

BBC lighting expert W.R. Whitmore helped with the production (he was in Australia giving lectures on lighting in Sydney and Melbourne). Whitmore had helped light the BBC version. James, Dunn and Morgan had just appeared in the TV play ''

Gaslight Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either direct ...

''. It was one of a number of TV plays featuring Dunn. Director Will Sterling borrowed a machine gun from the army.

Reception

According to ''The Age'' the production was "well received".

References

External links