Antony and Cleopatra (1959 film): Difference between revisions
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==Production== |
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Arthur Chipper did the adaptation, which made a number of alterations from the play, including reducing the characters and opening it in Rome not Alexandria.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=6 June 1959|page=13|title=Second Presentation of Shakespeare}}</ref> |
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It was shot at ABC's studios in Rippon Lea. There were 15 speaking parts and six extras. The set was designed by Jon Peters. It was Keith Eden's first performance as a "straight" actor on TV - he was better known as a radio actor.<ref name="age"/> There were 31 scene changes.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=MDQ-9Oe3GGUC&dat=19590611&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|title=Shakespeare Test for TV Techniques|date=11 June 1959|page=12}}</ref> Keith Clarke did costumes.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|title=Producer Checks Costumes|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=MDQ-9Oe3GGUC&dat=19590611&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|date=11 June 1959|page=14}}</ref> |
It was shot at ABC's studios in Rippon Lea. There were 15 speaking parts and six extras. The set was designed by Jon Peters. It was Keith Eden's first performance as a "straight" actor on TV - he was better known as a radio actor.<ref name="age"/> There were 31 scene changes.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=MDQ-9Oe3GGUC&dat=19590611&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|title=Shakespeare Test for TV Techniques|date=11 June 1959|page=12}}</ref> Keith Clarke did costumes.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|title=Producer Checks Costumes|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=MDQ-9Oe3GGUC&dat=19590611&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|date=11 June 1959|page=14}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 09:10, 30 May 2020
Antony and Cleopatra | |
---|---|
Based on | play by William Shakespeare |
Written by | Arthur Chipper |
Directed by | Christopher Muir |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Running time | 125 mins |
Production company | ABC |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | 17 June 1959 (Melbourne) (live)[1] 8 July 1959 (Sydney, taped) |
Antony and Cleopatra is a 1959 Australian television play based on the play by William Shakespeare.[2] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[3]
It was broadcast live in Melbourne then recorded and screened in Sydney. The ABC also broadcast a production of Hamlet at the same time, which was broadcast live in Sydney then recorded and screened in Melbourne.[4] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[3]
Cast
- Bettie Kauffman as Cleopatra
- Keith Eden as Antony
- Kevin Miles as Caesar
- Laurier Lange as Lepidus
- Edward Howell as Agrippa
- Judith Godden as Charmain
- Paul Bacon as Alexas
- Beverly Dunn as Octavia
- Frank Gatliff as Pompey
- John Morgan as Menas
- Keith Hudson as Eros
- Alan Tobin as Procuecius
- Colin Eaton as Soothsayer
- Philip Stainton as Clown
- Hugh McDermott as first messenger
- George Ogilvie as second messenger
- Alan Hopgood as first soldier
- Alan Morley as second soldier
- Ken Goodlet as Enobarus
- Soula Paulay, R de Winter, Antonio Rodrigues and Albert la Guerre as Cleopatra's attendants
- Nevil Thurgood, John Godfrey and Peter Diess as soldiers
Production
Arthur Chipper did the adaptation, which made a number of alterations from the play, including reducing the characters and opening it in Rome not Alexandria.[5]
It was shot at ABC's studios in Rippon Lea. There were 15 speaking parts and six extras. The set was designed by Jon Peters. It was Keith Eden's first performance as a "straight" actor on TV - he was better known as a radio actor.[1] There were 31 scene changes.[6] Keith Clarke did costumes.[7]
Reception
The critic for The Age thought the play was "not for television."[8] Another critic for the same paper said it "was a gallant and praiseworthy attempt in the face of heavy odds" but did not think the play suitable for television although he liked the two lead performances.[9]
The Sydney Morning Herald critic wrote that:
Not much of the pomp and poetry came through the rich texture of Shakespeare's language in the... production.. although as a straightforward account of love and war this Melbourne performance Was satisfactory enough. Two things helped to lower the temperature of the love and the language; first, Arthur Chipper's rearrangement of the first half of the play was quite skillful, but the cutting was on a political rather than on a passionate bias, and second, producer Christopher Muir'_s use of cameras and- lighting did little—except in a few scenes — to imaginatively underline the play's mood, atmosphere, and growing tensions.[10]
The Bulletin also gave it a bad review.[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Shakespeare Dramas ABC TV Project". The Age. 23 April 1959. p. 12.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "A BIG NEW DEAL FOR COLOR TV". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 27, no. 7. 22 July 1959. p. 50. Retrieved 21 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
- ^ "Two Productions of Shakespeare". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 June 1959. p. 17.
- ^ "Second Presentation of Shakespeare". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 June 1959. p. 13.
- ^ "Shakespeare Test for TV Techniques". The Age. 11 June 1959. p. 12.
- ^ "Producer Checks Costumes". The Age. 11 June 1959. p. 14.
- ^ Janus (25 June 1959). "Shakespeare Not for Television". The Age. p. 14.
- ^ "Shakespeare in "Live" TV Shows". The Age. 18 June 1959. p. 3.
- ^ "Live Antony and Cleopatra on TV". Sydney Morning Herald. 9 July 1959. p. 6.
- ^ The bulletin, John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1880, retrieved 23 March 2019
External links