''The Flowering Cherry'' is a 1958 play written by
Robert Bolt
Robert Oxton Bolt (15 August 1924 – 20 February 1995) was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Doctor Zhivago'', and '' A Man for All Seasons'', ...
.
The play was performed on Broadway in 1959.
Plot
In an English household, the father dreams of giving up his job selling insurance to run an apple orchard, the mother dreams of him giving up his dreams, and the two children have problems of their own .
Adaptations
The play was adapted for British television in 1963.
1963 Australian TV adaptation
It was filmed for Australian TV in 1963, directed by
Colin Dean
Colin Dean (1919-2007) was an Australian producer and director who worked in Australian TV in the 1950s and 1960s.
He worked in the UK in the late 1940s, and returned to Australia in the 1950s.
Select credits
*''The Queen in Australia'' (1954)
* ...
and starring
Grant Taylor, Peter Adams, Don Pascoe, Elizabeth Ferris,
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 ...
, Frank Taylor and Rosalind Seagrave.
It was the first drama to be simultaneously presented in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne via coaxial cable.
Plot
A man abandons his life as a clerk to start an orchard. His dreams of fulfilment are linked to his memories of growing up in Somerset.
His wife decides to leave him.
Cast
*
Grant Taylor as Mr Cherry
*
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 Isobel Cherry
*Rosalind Seagrave as Judy
*Peter Adams as Tom
*Frank Taylor
*Elizabeth Ferris
*Don Pascoe
Production
The production was filmed in Sydney.
At the time Grant Taylor was appearing on stage with
Googie Withers
Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO (12 March 191715 July 2011), known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who was a dancer and actress with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. ...
in ''Woman in a Dressing Gown''.
Elizabeth Ferris who made her acting debut was a diving champion whose name was linked romantically to Murray Rose.
Reception
The TV critic for the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' thought "Grant Taylor was well in command" of his role but that Colin Dean's production "was rather too crowded."
Val Marshall of the Sunday edition of the same paper called it "a first rate production" in which Taylor and Lee were "brilliant".
''The Bulletin'' wrote that "Given a stronger plot, livelier dialogue, less stagey sets, more imaginative cameras, some television actors, and better make-up, it could have been a good play. Lacking them, it was still tolerable, because the viewer could feel that at least everyone was trying, and that is not a bad beginning for ABC drama production in 1963."
See also
* for more information
References
External links
1963 Australian TV Playat
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 ...
1958 plays
1963 television plays
British plays
West End plays
1963 Australian television plays
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