The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me: Difference between revisions

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| teleplay = [[Ric Throssell]]
| teleplay = [[Ric Throssell]]
| producer =
| producer =
|music=[[Nigel Butterley]]<br>Frank Lvons<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|date=22 July 1965|page=31|title=TV Guide}}</ref>
| photographer =
| photographer =
| airdate = 28 July 1965 (Melbourne)<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|title=Play Satirises Keeping Up|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QXJVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k5YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4540%2C3831898|date=22 July 1965|page=11}}</ref>
| airdate = 28 July 1965 (Melbourne, Sydney)<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|title=Play Satirises Keeping Up|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QXJVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k5YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4540%2C3831898|date=22 July 1965|page=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 July 1965|title=TV Guide|page=23}}</ref>
| length = 60 mins
| length = 45 mins
| guests =
| guests =
| prev = [[Waiting in the Wings (film)|Waiting in the Wings]]
| prev = [[Waiting in the Wings (film)|Waiting in the Wings]]
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'''''The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me''''' is a 1965 Australian television film which aired on ABC as part of ''[[Wednesday Theatre]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/60-australian-tv-plays-1950s-60s/|magazine=Filmink|title=60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s|date=February 18, 2019}}</ref>
'''''The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me''''' is a 1965 Australian television film which aired on ABC as part of ''[[Wednesday Theatre]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/60-australian-tv-plays-1950s-60s/|magazine=Filmink|title=60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s|date=February 18, 2019}}</ref>


A satire about suburbia, it was written by Canberra-based writer [[Ric Throssell]], and based on a stage play titled ''Dr. Homer Speaks : 'Oh, Ai-lar-tsua Farewell'.''<ref>http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105762798</ref> Aired in a 60-minute time-slot, it was produced in ABC's Sydney studios by [[Henri Safran]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105762820 |title=WEDNESDAY |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=39 |issue=11,217 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=26 July 1965 |accessdate=20 March 2017 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Original music was composed by [[Nigel Butterley]] and Frank Lvons.
A satire about suburbia, it was written by Canberra-based writer [[Ric Throssell]], and based on a stage play titled ''Dr. Homer Speaks : 'Oh, Ai-lar-tsua Farewell'.''<ref>http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105762798</ref> Aired in a 60-minute time-slot, it was produced in ABC's Sydney studios by [[Henri Safran]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105762820 |title=WEDNESDAY |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=39 |issue=11,217 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=26 July 1965 |accessdate=20 March 2017 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>


Per a search of their website, the National Archives of Australia may hold an (incomplete?) copy of this program, with running time listing as 43:44.
Per a search of their website, the National Archives of Australia may hold an (incomplete?) copy of this program, with running time listing as 43:44.
Line 31: Line 32:
==Cast==
==Cast==
*[[Ron Haddrick]] as "Digger" Smith
*[[Ron Haddrick]] as "Digger" Smith
⚫
*[[Lynette Curran]] as Betty
*Chuck Kehoe
*Chuck Kehoe as Elmo Senior
*Brian Hannan as Elmo
*Brian Hannan as Elmo
*Doreen Warburton as "Shirl"
*Doreen Warburton as "Shirl"
⚫
*John Armstrong as lift attendant
⚫
*[[Lynette Curran]] as Betty
⚫
*Bill Mullikie as parson
⚫
*John Armstrong
⚫
*Bill Mullikie
*Lynette Haddrick as Betty as a child (Ron Haddrick's own daughter)<ref name="smh">{{cite news|title=Play titles at suburbia|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 July 1965|page=22}}</ref>
*Lynette Haddrick as Betty as a child (Ron Haddrick's own daughter)<ref name="smh">{{cite news|title=Play titles at suburbia|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 July 1965|page=22}}</ref>
*Max as Elmo as a Child


==Reception==
==Reception==

Revision as of 06:24, 21 June 2020

"The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me"
Wednesday Theatre episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 30
Directed byHenri Safran
Teleplay byRic Throssell
Featured musicNigel Butterley
Frank Lvons[1]
Original air dates28 July 1965 (Melbourne, Sydney)[2][3]
Running time45 mins
Episode chronology
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"Waiting in the Wings" 		Next →
"The Winds of Green Monday"
List of episodes

The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me is a 1965 Australian television film which aired on ABC as part of Wednesday Theatre.[4]

A satire about suburbia, it was written by Canberra-based writer Ric Throssell, and based on a stage play titled Dr. Homer Speaks : 'Oh, Ai-lar-tsua Farewell'.[5] Aired in a 60-minute time-slot, it was produced in ABC's Sydney studios by Henri Safran.[6]

Per a search of their website, the National Archives of Australia may hold an (incomplete?) copy of this program, with running time listing as 43:44.

According to one paper "throughout the play the author pokes his tongue at suburbia, materialism, education and television, among other things. "[7]

Plot

"Digger" Smith returns from World War Two to his wife "Shirt" a baby girl, Betty, and a modest house in the suburbs. A happy, uncomplicated man, "Digger" Smith stays so until prosperity catches up with him and he makes strenuous efforts to "keep up with the Joneses." Betty's boyfriend is Elmo.

Cast

  • Ron Haddrick as "Digger" Smith
  • Lynette Curran as Betty
  • Chuck Kehoe as Elmo Senior
  • Brian Hannan as Elmo
  • Doreen Warburton as "Shirl"
  • John Armstrong as lift attendant
  • Bill Mullikie as parson
  • Lynette Haddrick as Betty as a child (Ron Haddrick's own daughter)[7]
  • Max as Elmo as a Child

Reception

The Sun Herald critic wrote "it was well done, whatever it was.... It was fast moving, all right. Elmo started out as a baby, and finished up as a grey-haired tycoon. Somewhere in the one hour of bafflement there was also Ron Haddrick brilliantly playing something or other, and Doreen Warburton as his wife. Accents switched from Australian to American, dollar bills floated from the sky, and it wound up in what looked like the Australian bush. Somewhere there was a message, but it escaped me. At any rate, it is good to see the A.B.C. with enough courage to tackle such an offbeat offering... Whatever it was, they did it extremely well."[8]

The Age called it "clever but unconvincing."[9]

The Bulletin said his "only possible reaction is to sit like a stunned mullet wondering was it all a ridiculous dream, and finally peering around to discover whether he is alone in all this."[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 22 July 1965. p. 31.
  2. ^ "Play Satirises Keeping Up". The Age. 22 July 1965. p. 11.
  3. ^ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 July 1965. p. 23.
  4. ^ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. ^ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105762798
  6. ^ "WEDNESDAY". The Canberra Times. Vol. 39, no. 11, 217. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 26 July 1965. p. 14. Retrieved 20 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ a b "Play titles at suburbia". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 July 1965. p. 22.
  8. ^ "Well done whatever it was". Sydney Morning Herald. 1 August 1965. p. 104.
  9. ^ Cotton, Leceister (30 July 1965). ""The Sweet Sad Story of Elmo and Me" on ABC". The Age. p. 7.
  10. ^ The bulletin, John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1880, retrieved 2 April 2019

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