The Twelve Pound Look (1956 Film)
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''The Twelve Pound Look'' is a 1956 live television play which aired on Sydney Australia station ABN-2 (part of ABC) during the opening night of the station. Based on a British stage play by
J.M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...
, it is significant as it was the very first drama produced for Australian TV. The play was produced in Melbourne for the ABC the following year. In the early days of Australian television it was common for dramas to be versions of overseas stories.
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 1940 ...
recording existed at the time, and a copy of the play was made - it survives, albeit without sound.


Premise

Harry Sims is a wealthy businessman who is about to be knighted. He is married to Lady Sims. On the eve of the ceremony Harry engages a typist, Kate, to answer letters of congratulation. Lady Sims and Kate have a conversation, then Kate meets Harry. It is revealed that Harry and Kate used to be married, until she abandoned him for another man. Harry demands to know why and who the man was. Kate explains that there was no other man, she needed to leave him for her own self respect. She leaves, with Lady Sims none the wiser to her true identity.


Cast of 1956 production

*
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 Pound ...
as Kate *
Alexander Archdale Alexander Mervyn Archdale (26 November 190513 May 1986) was a British actor, manager and theatre producer. He had a very long career in both the theatre and in film, stretching from the 1930s to the 1980s. He spent the latter part of his life an ...
as Sir Harry Sims *Joan Lord as Lady Sims


Production

The play had been performed several times on ABC radio in Australia. The television adaptation was broadcast live from the Arcon Studios in Sydney (this was before the ABC's better known studios at Gore Hill were open).
Thelma Afford Thelma May Afford (née Thomas) (1 December 1907 – 21 August 1996) was an Australian costume designer, theatre performer, and fashion journalist who worked in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. Biography Early years Afford was born Thelm ...
did the designs. "All colour is reduced to a scale of nine grey tones," said Afford. The play was rehearsed at a studio in Forbes St. "We were probably all a bit nervous, but everything went very smoothly," recalls script assistant Ruth Page. Joan Lord was later in '' Elizabeth Refuses'' and ''The Wraith''. The budget was £335.


Reception

''Australian Women's Weekly'' called the 1956 version "hard to fault. Acting, direction, camera work, make-up and lighting were all excellent."


Melbourne 1957 production

A different adaptation of the play aired in Melbourne on 1 April 1957. It cost more than the Sydney production, the final budget being a reported £684. It aired on ABV-2 (also part of ABC) and was also approx. 30 minutes. Archival status of this version is unknown.


Cast

*Henry Cuthbertson *Elizabeth Wing *
Mary Ward Mary Ward may refer to: Scientists and academics * Mary Ward (nurse) (1884–1972) English nurse to the boat people on the waterways * Mary Ward (scientist) (née King, 1827–1869) Irish amateur scientist, was killed by an experimental steam car ...
*Alfred Bristowe


Production

Henry Cuthbertson was an ABC drama producer. Mary Ward had recently returned from overseas.


See also

*
List of live television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1950s) A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...


References


External links

*
''Twelve Pound Look'' 1956 Production
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 ...

Text of original play
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Run down of first night of ABC TV broadcasting - includes ''Twelve Pound Look''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twelve Pound Look Australian television plays 1956 Australian television plays 1956 television plays Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Australian English-language television shows Australian live television shows Black-and-white Australian television shows 1957 television films Television plays filmed in Sydney Television plays filmed in Melbourne Australian Broadcasting Corporation television plays Television plays directed by Paul O'Loughlin